As he arrived at the Imperial Palace, he was greeted by a delegation that escorted him toward the Throne Room.

A light surprise appeared in his eyes since he expected to meet the Blade Empress in her study as they were supposed to be past the official formalities and pretenses.

However as he saw two distinct groups of people standing by the grandiose-looking door a smile appeared on his lips.

The majestic doors started moving, and Wu Long made a step forward, only for a man from one of those two groups to step toward him to seemingly try and stand in the way.

“Hol-…”

As he opened his mouth, starting to raise his hand to make a halting motion, he suddenly froze, a thin line of light appearing in the air from his neck to the fingers of Butler Bang’s raised hand.

“You dare hinder Young Master’s path?”

Butler Bang’s eyes glinted as he spoke with what appeared to be genuine incredulousness at such a ridiculous attempt.

“You dare!!!”

“Where do you think this is?!?!”

“What impertinence!”

The guards standing by the door, both regular and some which were assembled here more than usual, as well as the two distinct groups of people that Wu Long noticed earlier all started exclaiming, some drawing their weapons, but none of them dared take any further actions or even make a step closer.

Because none of them even saw Butler Bang raise his hand, let alone the moment the steel thread wove around the neck of the man who tried to stop them.

“Haa~… what is happening there?”

A slightly weary but still full of regal majesty and authority female voice spoke through the still opening doors.

Butler Bang turned his gaze toward Wu Long, who did not even turn to look at the guard or otherwise changed his expression, and seeing a slight nod, jolted his hand, causing horror to appear for a moment in the eyes of the man whose throat was circled by the steel thread, before he realized that the old butler only withdrew the thread.

The man touched his neck with a trembling hand, and then as his face distorted into a grimace toward the two people he tried to stop, turned toward the door, kneeling and cupping his hands, lowering his head like the rest of the people around.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, I was only trying to have your guest’s servant stay behind, when they dared to show hostility in the Palace!

This humble one requests a wise decision from Your Ma-…!”

As the man started reporting, an even more weary sigh resounded from beyond the doors which gap now showed a little of the Throne Room’s interior.

“Haa~… it’s fine, let him through with whoever he wants to bring.

Not that you can stop him anyway…

Not to mention that this Empress specifically ordered for him to be escorted so that no one could try something stupid like this”

Nie Xiwang spoke, sitting on her throne in a regal white dress with golden accents that had long vertical side cuts on the sides and golden high-heels.

She was touching her forehead with thin and long, delicate fingers while looking slightly to the side and below, her expression subtly irritated with closed eyes and furrowed eyebrows.

Wu Long knew the source of her weary tone of voice and irritation, as well as the reason for her slightly more official way of speaking, which was also the reason he was escorted here and not to her study.

That reason started coming into view next as the two halves of the door continued moving to the sides, revealing a crowd of luxuriously-clothed men and women whose iconic outfits exposed them as ministers standing on both sides of the room.

Slightly further, closer to the podium on which the throne was, stood two of the three Chief Ministers, the one Wu Long met previously, Minister Du, curiously absent.

‘Heh, a clever man’

Wu Long thought as he looked at the hostile gazes of the other two he met for the first time, one man and one woman.

It was these two’s entourage that Wu Long noticed by the door, realizing the situation, and one of their subordinates currently sweating while kneeling on the floor after hearing her words.

The one in the hot seat, however, was not the one who tried to stop Butler Bang from entering, but the man responsible for the group escorting Wu Long.

“…! P-please punish this foolish servant, Your Majesty! This useless one has failed to-…”

He immediately changed his pose from kneeling on one knee to both knees and placing his hands on the floor kowtowed toward the Blade Empress, pushing his forehead into the floor.

“This Empress will, but not now, so move aside and let the guest in”

Nie Xiwang spoke with a cold tone causing the man to pale, involuntarily raising his head from the unexpected answer as he revealed a shocked expression.

‘Heh, did he think if he begged for punishment in this manner he wouldn’t receive it?’

Wu Long inwardly chuckled while starting to walk, seeing that expression and recognizing this behavior pattern.

He passed through the kneeling people with Butler Bang following him into the Throne Room.

“Greetings, Your Majesty”

Wu Long cupped his fists with a smile, Butler Bang behind him following his motion.

“Impertinence! You are before the-…”

“It’s fine! We have been over this, don’t make this Empress repeat myself.

Greetings, Daoist Wu”

As one of the Ministers to the side from Wu Long tried to make a comment about him not kneeling before the Empress, Nie Xiwang cut into the words of the government official.

‘My apologies for this farce, Daoist Wu. If it was within my power I would have avoided it…’

A sound transmission reached his ears and he smiled.

“Khu-khum”

One of the two Chief Ministers, the middle-aged looking but quite beautiful woman coughed into her fist, seemingly reprimanding the use of sound transmissions.

While the contents could not be heard, the use of sound transmissions was actually easily detectable from the fluctuations of natural Spiritual Qi in the air, and the legacy of techniques concealing them seemed to be lacking in this world.

‘Please don’t worry, Your Majesty.

I don’t really care about such insignificant things, nor would they be a problem.

And congratulations on your breakthrough’

A smile appeared on his lips as his voice resounded in her ears, this time not noticed by anyone around.

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