Chapter 599 - The Strange Princess

“What? You fell asleep and dreamed up a murderer?”

Tang Wulin’s explanation almost caused the emperor to choke on his own spit. He had interrupted the imperial ceremony for such a ridiculous reason. If it weren’t for Tang Wulin’s diplomatic immunity, they would have charged with disgracing the Empire right there!

Cheeks warm and at a loss at what to do, Tang Wulin lowered his head. If he went with the excuse that someone shouted into his ear, then that could only have been Gu Yue or Xu Lizhi. Dragging them into this mess was something he couldn’t bear to do.

Taking in Tang Wulin’s docile behavior, the emperor silently mulled over how to handle the situation. There was no precedent for such a scenario!

Wu Zhangkong stood at the side in silence as well.

When it seemed like the silence would drag on forever, a servant in floral clothing entered the room, walked over to the emperor, and whispered into his ear. The emperor nodded, his stern expression relaxing.

Finally, he gave his verdict. “We are not without benevolence. We understand how strange your situation was, and for the sake of friendly relations between our two countries, We shall overlook the incident this time. Be careful not to cause any more trouble. You may leave for the banquet now.”

That’s it? Tang Wulin let out a breath of relief. Even Wu Zhangkong seemed to be in a daze. This incident involved the prestige of the Empire after all. It was wholly unexpected for the emperor to be so lenient.

☀

Meanwhile, in the imperial palace, Dai Tianling stared at his daughter with a sour, helpless look. “You troublesome rascal. You’re always doing whatever you want regardless of the setting. You’re lucky this was only a small matter this time. But what would you do if it was more serious? What if it caused a conflict between our two countries?”

“Imperial Father, my apologies. It was my mistake. I won’t repeat this mistake in the future,” Dai Yun’er said, her head lowered respectfully.

Dai Tianling had seventeen sons, but only one daughter. As a result, he had always doted on her since childhood. No matter what Dai Yun’er did, she was the joy of his life, the apple of his eye.

“You’ve already repeated that line so many times since you were a kid that my ears are going deaf to it. Won’t repeat the same mistake? Just last month, who was it that cut off half the hair of an imperial concubine? Then the month before that… Ah just thinking about it gives me a headache. Forget it.”

Dai Yun’er pressed her lips together, her eyes reddening and tears swelling up in the corners. “Imperial Father, do you not love me anymore?”

Since his ascendance to the throne, Dai Tianling had been praised as a man among men, guiding the empire into an age of prosperity. Under his rule, the empire suppressed the Green Skull Renegades that had been terrorizing its people for the last several hundred years. However, no matter how ruthless he acted in politics, his imperial dignity vanished when it came to facing his only daughter. He was powerless against Dai Yun’er’s pitiful expression.

“No no. Don’t cry.” Dai Tianling slapped his forehead. “Jeez. How am I supposed to deal with you? You’re truly the bane of my existence sent down by the heavens. Fine. I won’t punish you. But you have to promise me to not cause any trouble. Especially anything that would harm the prestige of our empire. Otherwise, I’ll have to put you under house arrest.”

“Imperial Father, you’re the best!” Dai Yun’er threw herself onto her father and hugged him around his neck. She kissed him on the cheek with a radiant smile, the previous tears nowhere to be seen.

Dai Tianling could only smile in resignation. But there was no denying that he was happy.

“Imperial Father, that boy was pretty funny today,” Dai Yun’er said, giggling.

Dai Tianling’s expression instantly hardened. “How was he funny?”

“You can’t blame me for pranking him! How could I not when he actually fell asleep during the ceremony? That was just disrespectful to our empire. Isn’t embarrassing him a bit just what he deserved? I’m impressed though. He could actually sleep standing up. I have to try that sometime too.”

“That’s enough. Even if it were wrong for him to fall asleep during the ceremony, he’s still a guest from overseas. You shouldn’t have pranked him and made the delegation from Douluo lose face,” Dai Tianling grumbled.

“I’ve met him on the streets before. I never thought he would be from Douluo,” Dai Yun’er said, an intrigued smile forming on her lips. “Imperial Father, he looked really strong, but I couldn’t identify his martial soul. Do you know what it is? No matter how much I think about it, I can’t even begin to guess what it is.”

Although Dai Yun’er was mischievous, she was still a talented soul master and incredibly intelligent. When she awoke her martial soul, she Awakened with rank 10 innate soul power. At fifteen years old, she had already obtained her fourth soul ring and was the greatest genius of the current Imperial Family. This was another reason Dai Tianling cherished her so much. He had said on multiple occasions that if only Dai Yun’er were born a man, she would be his successor. He truly did love and value her for many different reasons.

Dai Tianling narrowed his eyes at her remark. “I wasn’t paying too much attention and then the imperial guards blocked my view too. Hmm… I also wonder what his martial soul is.”

“It looked like a blue snake that also seemed to share the appearance of a dragon,” Dai Yun’er said. “But it didn’t have a dragon head. Actually, it kinda looked like a vine, except it had a vertebra inside of it. It’s really strange. But I’m certain I saw his soul rings. Three purple and one black.”

Dai Tianling gaped at his daughter. “Isn’t that the same as you?”

“He looked about the same age as me too. Are all of the people on Douluo so strong?”

A moment of thought. Dai Tianling said, “I recall that that boy’s actually from Shrek Academy.”

“Shrek Academy? Isn’t that one of the most influential organizations on Douluo? The one known as peerless under the heavens? The one that our Monster Academy is named after and based its principles on? That Shrek Academy?”

Dai Tianling nodded. “When I sent the diplomatic invitation, I specially invited Shrek Academy’s elites to join the mission. I had Sima Lanxiao invite the students from Shrek Academy to compete in the Continental Young Elites Tournament too. When the time comes, we can ascertain just how powerful Douluo is. The Shrek Academy team is on average fifteen years old, with the oldest only sixteen. The tournament allows participants up to twenty years old, so this should be a great opportunity for the most talented kids we have in our rising generation.”

Dai Yun’er’s eyes lit up. “Great! I’ll go out and beat them up too! I refuse to believe our Monster Academy can’t compare with Shrek Academy!”

Dai Tianling ruffled his daughter’s hair, a warm smile on his face. “Don’t get careless. Shrek Academy has been a legend for tens of thousands of years. They have an unimaginable history and a wealth of resources, their existence undoubtedly peerless even counting all three continents. Fortunately, we know quite a bit about Shrek Academy, like the fact that their Sea God’s Pavilion is a gathering of the most powerful people on their continent. We know that for the society of soul masters on Douluo, the Shrek Seven Monsters are the cornerstone of their strength.”

A daring smile graced Dai Yun’er’s lips. “Imperial Father, please don’t overestimate them and underestimate us.”

“Fine. I won’t say anymore,” Dai Tianling said. “Anyway, have you thought over the matter of your engagement?”

Dai Yun’er’s mouth instantly puffed up into a pout. “No! I don’t want to get engaged! I’m still way too young for that!”

“This is the responsibility of the imperial family. Every one of us has gotten married when we were fifteen. I don’t want to let you marry this young either, but we cannot break our traditions. All I can do is delay your marriage a little bit.”

“No! No! No!” Dai Yun’er shook her head stubbornly.

Dai Tianling wanted to try persuading her some more, but she ran off like a whirlwind before he could.

“That cheeky girl!” Dai Tianling grumbled in resignation, shaking his head.

At that moment, a middle-aged woman walked into the room, a wry smile on her face. “Your Majesty. Has that girl still not accepted this yet?”

Dai Tianling forced a smile. “She’s your daughter. Don’t you know what she’s like?”

“What do you think then?” the woman said.

Dai Tianling’s gaze sharpened, a regal air enveloping him. “I love her dearly, but she’s royalty. We can’t break the traditions passed down through the imperial family, otherwise, we would lose our integrity and the trust of our people. We’ll continue as previously planned. The day the tournament ends, she will choose her fiancé.”

“Yes.”

Dai Tianling glanced at the woman, his empress. “Keep a close eye on Yun’er. Knowing her temper, she will be furious when we force the engagement upon her. She won’t accept it easily. Maybe she’ll even try running away from home. Watch her carefully.”

☀

Tang Wulin watched Wu Zhangkong walk through the doors to the banquet hall with a solemn gaze. Then followed in himself. The moment he entered, he scanned the hall in search of a corner to hide. He was still embarrassed about the incident earlier that day. Even more so since he still wasn’t sure what had happened.

He had just been taking a nice nap standing up when he suddenly heard some shout. If it weren’t for that shout, he wouldn’t have embarrassed himself so hard! And now, be it the officials from Star Luo or the other members of the Douluo delegation, they all instantly recognized him from that incident.

After planting his feet in his chosen corner, Tang Wulin hid and quietly ate two dishes he picked up on the way. I just gotta make it through this banquet, then I’ll be fine.