“Your Highness is still reading through some official letters. Master Yan, please wait here for a moment, I will announce your arrival.”“Eunuch, please do as you see fit!” Seeing that the eunuch was about to head off, Yan Liqiang asked again, “Oh right, may I ask what is His Highness working on these days?”

That elder eunuch turned around and answered with a respectful smile on his wrinkly face, “Yes, of course, His Majesty is very busy as usual, sometimes he would read official documents into the night. We all thought he was working too hard!”

“His Majesty is the leader of his people — of course he would be so busy and tired!” Yan Liqiang tried to pull a serious expression on his face.

“Indeed! Who can say he isn’t!” the elder said as he nodded before leaving the room for that announcement, leaving Yan Liqiang and another younger eunuch waiting on the side.

After Lin Qingtian, there was no Grand Chancellor in the imperial court. Without Lin Qingtian’s threat, the Emperor naturally obtained all the power, and the imperial board had been serving only the Emperor. This meant that the number of documents the Emperor needed to go through naturally increased significantly.

Yan Liqiang glanced at that young eunuch who sat there in the room with a peaceful expression. But many “dangerous” thoughts were scrambling in his mind. Letting all these people stay back and wait for their death while he is busy dealing with other ‘national businesses’ so selflessly everyday…does he really think of all these people as nothing?…

His mindset had changed. In coming to the palace this time, Yan Liqiang did not have that respect in his mind anymore — he looked at everything with a different perspective.

The first time he came here, he thought that the palace was extremely majestic and beautiful. Every plant and furniture in here was made by the most talented people on the land. But right now, all of the décor or even the bricks were made from countless people’s blood and sweat. If the people in the palace who enjoyed it all could not live up to these people’s expectations, then this kind of lifestyle would not be substantial. It would be doomed to be destroyed one day because the balance would be disturbed. In this world, no one could just take and take without giving, or perhaps this was indeed the reason that those powerful imperial capitals in the past had fallen.

With these thoughts in his head, Yan Liqiang suddenly felt his mind clear up.

He sat there for a bit longer as the elder eunuch who went to announce his arrival had not returned. The other eunuch led some other younger eunuchs into the room, disturbing the room’s silence.

“Oh! There is someone here already!” That eunuch gave Yan Liqiang a serious look before looking at the younger eunuch who was already in the room. “Little Xi, where is Eunuch He?”

Little Xi saw his arrival and reacted with respect. He hurried over. “Replying to Eunuch Sheng, His Majesty has asked for Master Yan, and Eunuch He went to Mingzheng Hall to report to His Majesty…

“Master Yan…” That eunuch glanced at Yan Liqiang before chuckling. “This is Master Yan, the Qiyun Protectorate…”

When hearing others saying his name, Yan Liqiang of course would not pretend that he had not heard it. Instead, he spoke to that eunuch with respect, “I am indeed Yan Liqiang. I wonder how I should address you?”

“Haha, my last name is Sheng. Eunuch Liu talks about you all the time…”

“Oh, you are a friend of Eunuch Liu’s, what a coincidence…”

“Haha, I have known Eunuch Liu for more than twenty years. We are like family, real family…” As he talked, he pointed at the two flower jars next to Yan Liqiang to the younger eunuchs that had followed him in. “Put away those two Twin Carpio bottles with gold lining back into the boxes. Be gentle, make sure you don’t chip them in the slightest. These twin jars are old antiques from Jiang Province. They are more than two hundred years, worth ten thousand gold. You cannot burn a pair this perfect even if you try to burn one thousand pairs of these. Even the slightest damage cannot be made up by cutting off your heads…”

“Eunuch…?” Yan Liqiang asked curiously.

Since the eunuch had already thought Yan Liqiang as “family”, so he said without thinking too much, “Remember His Majesty is about to travel down to the south, in case the place His Majesty is staying at is too shabby, we need to pre-pack these and send it over to those palaces he will be staying at and prepare for his arrival…”

“Oh, I see!” Yan Liqiang forced a smile. “Eunuch, what good thinking!”

“No, no, no, not at all. This is what we should do! Making His Majesty happy is not tiring at all…”

“You are right, Eunuch.”

Within a short period of time, those younger eunuchs had carefully packed all those two big flower jars before leaving the room.

After another while, that eunuch who brought Yan Liqiang in had finally returned. He was even more polite towards Yan Liqiang. “His Majesty has asked me to bring master Yan to the Guanglv Hall. Master Yan, please follow me.”

“Isn’t His Majesty in Mingzheng Hall?” Yan Liqiang asked as he stood up. He followed behind the elder eunuch.

“When His Majesty heard that Master Yan was here, he was very happy. He ordered me to prepare dinner in Guanglv Hall immediately. His Majesty wants to dine with Master Yan. Master Yan is indeed young and a high achiever. Only some of the elders from the board would have the honor to dine with His Majesty inside Guanglv Hall.”

“His Majesty gives me such honor! How flattering!”

After another five minutes inside the palace, Yan Liqiang finally saw the Emperor of the Imperial Capital.

He was the only one inside Guanglv Hall. He smiled and welcomed Yan Liqiang’s arrival with his eyes.

“Qiyun Protectorate Yan Liqiang greets Your Majesty!” Yan Liqiang took a deep breath, burning all his emotions deep down in his heart as he bowed in front of the Emperor.

“Hahah…” The Emperor laughed loudly. After Yan Liqiang bowed, the Emperor then walked around the table and down towards Yan Liqiang. He personally helped him up as he studied Yan Liqiang carefully. “It has only been a couple of years, and you have indeed not disappointed me. You helped the northwest with your own power to make it so much better, turning old things into treasures. Indeed surprising. If everything inside the palace was as capable as you, then I will never have to worry about the land’s future and the people ever again…”

“Your Majesty, you are flattering me! Indeed, because of Your Majesty’s blessing, I had a chance to do anything in the first place…”

The Emperor was extremely pleased. “Hahaha! You! Even now, you are still so humble. But I like you and your humble attitude…”

Seeing the Emperor being so happy, Yan Liqiang clenched his teeth. Again, he bowed in front of the most powerful man in the land. He said it respectfully, “This time I have come to see you, Your Majesty. There is something I have been waiting to say to you. Your Majesty…”

“Liqiang, are you trying to talk about next year’s Heavenly Tribulation ?” The smile on the Emperor’s face disappeared a little. But he was still gently smiling as he waved his hand carelessly. “Sun Bingchen has already informed told me. I have barely dine with anyone here in Guanglv hall, I am very happy to see you today — let’s not talk about such things in the palace…”

That one line made Yan Liqiang swallow all the things he wanted to say…