By the time Jiang Yu returned to the Imperial Clan Court, darkness had fully fallen.
Prince Ning, Jiang Zhang, sat in the main hall, a cup of tea before him and a scroll in his hand.
His gaze was not on the scroll, however. He stared fixedly at the doorway, as though he had been waiting all along.
Only when he heard footsteps did he set down the scroll and look up.
"Father, I'm back!" Jiang Yu strode into the main hall, looking decidedly displeased.
He first bowed to Prince Ning, then plopped into a nearby chair and picked up the teapot on the table to pour himself a cup.
He gulped it down, only to spit it straight back out with a "Pah!"
"Those dog slaves! Can't they even serve hot tea?!"
"You can drink hot tea when we return to Xi’an Prefecture." Prince Ning spoke unhurriedly.
"Did you see Shen Duan?"
"I did," Jiang Yu answered sullenly.
"What did he say?"
"What else could he say?!" Jiang Yu's voice simmered with anger.
"Father, you made me wait outside the Shen Residence for three days."
Prince Ning said nothing, merely nodding slightly.
"Three days." Jiang Yu held up three fingers. "Back in Xi’an Prefecture, never mind three days-
"no one would have dared make me wait even three sticks of incense.
"But Shen Duan? He left me standing outside for three days without so much as a cup of tea.
"When I finally got inside, he actually..." Jiang Yu paused and gritted his teeth.
"He actually gave me a stern lecture, all righteous indignation.
"As if we were criminals guilty of every unforgivable sin, and he was some upright official dispensing justice on Heaven's behalf."
The more Jiang Yu spoke, the angrier he became. He rose and smashed his