Late at night, the royal palace in Sacred Mountain City was still ablaze with lights.
Wherever Li Chen went, everyone around him dropped to their knees.
Even his aunt, Li Xueying, performed a formal kneeling salute the moment she saw him. "Your humble servant pays her respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long, long live Your Majesty."
Her daughter, Tuoba Yan, knelt beside her as well.
As a member of the Imperial House, Li Xueying understood its rules.
On a formal occasion like this, even as Li Chen's aunt, she had to show the emperor absolute respect.
"You may all rise." Li Chen raised a hand.
He was seated in the palace's grand hall, on the throne of the Snow Eagle Court's Khan.
Besides the Northern Army's officers and soldiers, a number of surrendered officials stood before him.
Foremost among them was undoubtedly Huyan Lan. He had pledged allegiance to Li Chen before the fighting even began, and he held a certain standing in the Northern Region.
As the Northern Army fought its way here, he had provided both assistance and intelligence.
Huyan Lan ranked among the surrendered officials with the greatest contributions.
He had even persuaded quite a few tribal chiefs to surrender, putting genuine effort into serving Li Chen.
Whatever his original intentions had been, he had shown no trace of disloyalty so far, so he could be treated as a loyal subject.
Sacred Mountain City had a population of a million, and the Snow Eagle Court had spent many years developing it.
According to northern tradition, many women and children were supposed to enter the Great Snow Mountain before war broke out.
Most of those evacuated were nobles, however, and even they could not all be moved, so plenty of ordinary people remained here.
Some