Chapter 84 - Arriving in Nanchang

Close to twilight, Feng Long and his subordinates arrive at Nanchang. Getting to the main gate, soldiers stop them as expected. 

Feng Long shows the official seal sent by Meng Zhang to one of the gatekeepers:

-I am Feng Long, emperor of Zhejiang. I want to meet with his majesty, Meng Zhang. 

The gatekeeper takes the letter from him. Meng Zhang happened to be circulating nearby and goes to meet them:

-Hey, let them in! 

Meng Zhang disperses the soldiers. Feng Long and his subordinates bow to him:

-Greeting to your majesty!

-Please, you can all rise. Welcome to Nanchang!

Meng Zhang, bows back, then helps them to rise. He guides them to the palace, showing his city:

-Wow, I'm impressed, Meng Zhang! It's been ages since I last visited this city, you had not even been crowned back them. - Feng Long smiles.

-Yu Lexuan visited us some time ago. I'm happy to know our empires are fighting together this threat. Ding Qi seems to be going well too.

-Yes, even though Huangshan is not considered an empire on its own, I think his loyalty to Bai Chongye may have weakened. 

-Do you think he might declare independence? 

-I don't think so. Huangshan is so small, as his army. We also couldn't defend him from an attack. I think he will keep this ambiguity for some time.

Reaching the palace, Meng Zhang notices they are exhausted from the journey:

-Please, I can see you all are tired from the journey. Do you want a room for each one? I have a single room with three large beds too. -Meng Zhang smiles.

-We are grateful to your majesty's consideration. I think this single room is better. - Yu Lexuan smiles.

-I agree with my prince. - Feng Long smiles.

-Well, so let's go there then. 

Meng Zhang guides them towards the room, which is located on the upper floor of the palace. Nearby, Xie Yun returned from a trip, and when he sees Feng Long, his hatred towards him explodes, but he restrains himself due to Meng Zhang.

When they are about to reach the room Meng Zhang chose, Xie Yun shows up. He stares at Feng Long aggressively:

-Well... Xie Yun has just arrived from a trip. I think there's no need to introduce him, so feel free to compliment each other.

Feng Long and his subordinates bow to him, he didn't retribute the gesture. Meng Zhang looks at him:

-Please, Xie Yun... Be courteous with our guests. Not bowing back to a guest emperor is extremely impolite and does not represent our values.

Meng Zhang smiles and moves closer to him. Xie Yun looks at Meng Zhang, and bows to him, not to Feng Long. Meng Zhang didn't like it, but let it pass:

-Well, this is the room you can use. You have pretty much everything you need here, and if you need anything, you can simply ask me, my room is at the end of this hallway. Tomorrow we can start talking, today I think you all have to take a rest due to the long journey.

-Yes, we are grateful for everything your majesty has said and offered us. We will take our leave.

-No problem. I wish you a relaxing night, visit me tomorrow. 

Feng Long and his subordinates bow to Meng Zhang. He smiles, turns, and walks away, pulling Xie Yun by his hand with him. Xie Yun keeps staring at Feng Long:

-Have you noticed how angry Xie Yun was, Feng Long? - Zhong Kunyi moves closer to him.

-Yes, I can see hatred burning inside his eyes. We need to be very careful to avoid confusion, Meng Zhang does have some control over him, but not that much. 

-He does not like me either... The last time I came here, he tried to hurt me. - Yu Lexuan smiles.

They walk into the room. Feng long starts to undress:

-Majesty, let me help you. - Yu Lexuan smiles.

-As you wish... this is not needed...

Feng long opens the door to the bathroom and was amazed to see how large it was. Yu Lexuan smirks:

-Finally, we can enjoy a bath together, Zhong Kunyi! 

-I think we do not have the required energy to do it now - Zhong Kunyi blushes.

-Yes, you are right... But at least, let's take a shower together.

Zhong Kunyi and Yu Lexuan join Feng Long and have a shower. They were exhausted from the journey and chose to take a quick bath before going to the bed instead of playing. Yu Lexuan and Feng Long sleep together. Zhong Kunyi chose to sleep in another bed close to them.

Nearby, Xie Yun was angry:

-Your Majesty, I can't believe Feng Long is inside our palace! You shouldn't have allowed them to even get inside the empire, even more to the palace! 

-We are going to negotiate new treaties, that make you happy or not. - Meng Zhang answers while writing calmly.

-Negotiate? How!!?? You cannot negotiate with Feng Long, he's eager to take our land!

-Xie Yun, calm down. Handling this matter with Feng Long is perfectly safe for us, and will bring benefits to our people. 

-But your majesty, you cannot see...

Meng Zhang feels fed up:

-Please, stop this. I am the emperor, you are my prince. I am trying to get a good deal out of it, and I will. You have mistreated Feng Long already, this was another embarrassment to me. 

-Embarrassment? I'll never ever bow to him! Did you hear that? Never!

-Xie Yun, please... Get out... This is a pointless discussion, I'm fed up already. Tomorrow, we will have a normal conversation with them, analyze their proposals, accept or reject them. Having you screaming around me will not help in anything other than pissing me off...

Meng Zhang sits down again, resuming his writing. Xie Yun left the room, slamming the door after leaving. He returns to his room and curls up over the mattress:

-Will Meng Zhang ever understands how I feel??? Why is he ignoring me???

He cries quietly. Meng Zhang keeps writing a poem, but he feels bad for having to treat his prince a bit too harshly. He knows Xie Yun hates Feng Long, and there's almost no way of convincing him otherwise, although he had never met Feng Long in person, just Yu Lexuan. Meng Zhang thinks:

-There should be a way to convince Xie Yun that Feng Long is not this demon he thinks he is... 

Meng Zhang stays up to almost midnight, then puts the book away and goes to sleep. By this time, everyone has already fallen asleep. 

 ...

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