"Umm... Akag-" One glare shut him up as he saw her smile brightly when she spoke to his disciple...
With Xieren and Akagi taking turns at cuddling with Xiao Ling, people immediately started gossiping about the happenings involving the heir to the Qiu clan and the lady from the Hōjo clan.
"We seem to be making a scene here..." Xieren whispered into Akagi's eye as she glanced around at the people around them.
"I don't mind" She answered and hogged Xiao Ling all to herself.
"And Milord, you haven't answered my question yet!" Akagi spoke in a low voice, hoping other people would not hear them.
"Which one?" Xieren asked her.
"Your realm..." She then looked down and smiled at Xiao Ling who enjoyed the caresses on her head.
"Hmm... I would have told you but, something like that is often used as a trump card in times of danger..." Xieren politely refused to answer the question, leaving Akagi frustrated.
"Milord, you saw my cultivation without my knowledge, why can't you tell me yours?" She exclaimed.
"Because I'm stronger than you" Xieren said, trying to stifle his laughter resulting in Akagi pouting in annoyance.
Xieren could see the pout forming from under the veil and felt like taking a deep breath before he did anything idiotic.
"..."
"I'm sorry I'm sorry!" He laughed and wiped a tear from his eye while constantly dodging her attempts to pinch him.
"You-"
"HIS MAJESTY, EMPEROR TANG FAN HAS ARRIVED!"
Before Akagi could even start speaking, a loud voice boomed from the entrance of the Clan manor.
"Lady Akagi, if you will" Xieren gave her his hand to hold onto while keeping his other, on his disciple's shoulder.
Akagi had never touched a man's hand before and was quite nervous with how close Xieren was and looked at his face to see if some sort of secret agenda was to be revealed...
"I'm not trying to harm you Akagi..." Xieren's voice was soothing and felt warm, making her feel horrible for what she did to him.
She looked apologetic and gently placed her hand on top of his and shivered at the single shock of electric that went down her back.
'What was that?!' She shouted internally and blushed.
Xieren could only smile wryly seeing her reaction and walked over to where his family was. Seeing the two of them hold hands, with Xiao Ling by the side walking shyly, made the Matriarch feel very happy.
And by the looks of it, the daughter of the Hōjo clan seemed to be madly in love with her son, eventhough the poor girl did not seem to quite understand how it worked... but she's got the spirit!
"Your Lordship, Look at them..." She then turned to her husband, Duke Qiu, who squinted his eyes at his son.
"What's with the reaction pops?" Xieren asked them with a smirk, almost as if he was goading his father.
"..."
Duke Qiu knew he was being played with and huffed.
"You are too young to annoy me, brat! I have been through wars which would have made you soil your pants!" Duke Qiu grumbled as his wife face palmed and walked over to Xieren and Akagi, with the latter suddenly being flustered.
"Come on dear, we don't have much time" Lady Qiu spoke gently as she watched her husband's face darken at the sight of the Imperial carriage that had just entered the premises.
All nobles made a pathway and bowed at the carriage respectfully...
A man in his forties walked out of the carriage, he was adorned in yellow robes, with azure dragons sewn into place, and exuding from him an air of regality...
He had a smug smile that annoyed almost everyone who saw his face, the current emperor was an entity that was equally hated among the noble clans, he did not like the fact that noble clans had their autonomy and had considerable power over his own decisions.
Plus, with his ambitious dream of ruling over the entire continent, Tang Fan's first obstacle was his own allies...
"Duke Qiu, I apologise for being late!" Tang Fan laughed, he really did not place the man in his eyes and even attempted an apology which was poorly received.
"It is alright, your highness" Duke Qiu replied emotionlessly, every second this blasted emperor stayed in his manor was one more second of prolonged anger.
The other nobles stayed quiet, the ongoing tension between the Qiu family and the Imperial family was well known throughout the empire...
The cause of it all began centuries ago, when the Qiu family was dethroned as the Imperial family after being defeated by the traitorous Tang family.
However, up until the former emperor, the two families maintained an amicable relationship with one another, but the current emperor ruined everything.
They were on the knife's edge, with the relations being held by only a few strands of thread.
But do not be mistaken, the Qiu family does not desire the throne to the Empire, it is the Empire that is yearning to remove the Qiu family, which it considers, the biggest threat to it's regime...
"Oh? I hope you can also forgive me for not being able to bring any offerings!" Tang Fan smiled again, even his own guards felt uncomfortable with how shamelessly he was acting about.
Duke Qiu took in a long breath of air and released it, feeling better, he shrugged at the Emperor and helped him sit on his throne(1), which was brought over and placed by a few Imperial guards...
Tang Fan smiled smugly once again as his eyes sweeped through the personages present.
They stopped at Xieren and Akagi, who felt unnerved by the blatant display of lust coming from the emperor.
Xieren moved forward as to keep her away from the bastard's lust-filled eyes, resulting in Tang Fan frowning.
"That lady over there" His voice became tones softer, still looking at Akagi.
Duke Qiu immediately glared at the Emperor, but he would not take hasty steps and waited till something of insinuating in nature, happened.
Akagi was forced to leave her fiancé and kneel Infront of the emperor. Her eyes cold and emotionless, feeling disgusted by the lack of respect given to her, the Qiu family and most importantly, Xieren.
"What is your name, beautiful lady?" The emperor asked her softly with a smile.
"This one's name is Hōjo Akagi, your highness" Akagi answered.
'The Hōjo clan huh? I can take her with me once I destroy that clan anyway...' He planned and once again looked at Akagi and noticed her face was covered by a thin veil...
"So it is Lady Hōjo... By the way, this emperor asks you to remove your veil, Lady Hōjo, can you do it?" Tang Fan said pompously as Xieren narrowed his eyes at him.
Speaking to someone is one thing, but blatantly forcing someone out of their comfort zone is another thing.
"Your highness, I believe that such a request will offend Lady Akagi" He spoke up, shocking the crowd even more.
'Mommy I want to go home!' Several nobles could not handle the tension and cried internally, hoping nothing would happen.
Tang Fan glanced at Xieren and scoffed.
"Who asked you? And how dare you disrespect this emperor?!" Tang Fan shouted angrily, his guards however did not move an inch forward.
"Who asked me eh? She is my fiancee so I can speak about how both she and I felt when you stared at her with your filthy eyes!"
"!!!"
His statement shocked everyone present including his own father who had initially thought his son was too timid to stand upto the blasted emperor.
"Young Lord Xieren please apologise to his Highness!" Several cries of nobles resounded the garden.
Tang Fan's face turned purple in anger but before he could speak, Xieren beat him to it.
"And please... do not talk about disrespect, you arrived at the premises two hours late and did not even apologise to our noble family! Not only that, you have not even compensated for your tardiness with even a single offering!"
"Being the leader of a nation requires certain qualities, in which you have none of that I can recognise. A spoilt fuck like you can't rule this country, let alone the continent!"
Xieren smiled at him, knowing his continuous jabbing had affected the shit stain.
Duke Qiu laughed when his son said so, but even he sucked in a cold breath of air when it came to the continent subject.
It was one of the more memorable moments in Tang Fan's coronation speech, and he had emphasized countless times that he had hoped to see a unified continent.
The continent unification was a very touchy subject even for the audience, the Emperor was shaking in his seat as Xieren helped Akagi up, who stared at him in daze...
"AHHH!! YOU BASTARD!" Tang Fan roared and lunged at Xieren who raised his eyebrow.
"A mere Celestial rebirth level side character!" Xieren scoffed and waved his hand, pushing Tang Fan and his gang of crooks that went flying towards the gates.
"QIU FAMILY I WIL-"
"Shut up!" Xieren shouted and slapped the emperor.
"yes" Xieren could swear he heard a small whimper of submission!
"And get out!" Tang Fan got on his carriage with his tail beneath his legs and hatefully glared at Xieren who smiled and waved his hand as the figure of the carriage became smaller and smaller until it disappeared from the horizon.
"HAHAHAHA!" Duke Qiu and Xieren laughed together at the sight of the man as an enraged Lady Qiu came over and grabbed both of them by the ear.
"Ai!" Duke Qiu cried out in pain while Xieren winced.
"You two idiots, yapping your blasted mouths! That was the emperor for God's sake!" She ranted on and on.
•••••
"Duke Qiu, we apologise for the sudden withdrawal from the banquet!" Many of the nobles that were invited left following the humiliation of the emperor at the Qiu manor by the Qiu family.
They wanted to quickly cut off all ties with the family before the emperor makes a move on them.
"HAHAHAHA please leave if everything that happened makes you uncomfortable!" Duke Qiu laughed merrily as the majority of the crowd slowly disappeared...
It was no more lively. The merry atmosphere has been overtaken by a suffocating tension.
The only ones remaining were the Wu family, the Yang family and surprisingly, the Hōjo family!
"Qiu Chen, I have always been your brother in all but blood, please allow my Wu family to stand beside you!" The Wu Patriarch cupped his hands together with a grin on his face.
"Brother He, this one will forever be in your debt!" Duke Qiu smirked and bowed.
"Duke Qiu, last time our family had offended you immensely with the wrong doings of my son, however you calmly let it be and allowed my family to be at peace. I shall thank you for your mercy by allying with your faction!" Patriarch Yang spoke emotionally, Qiu Chen could only smile wryly in embarrassment which forced Xieren to stifle his laughter but was pinched by Akagi who had to control him before things got awkward.
All heads turned to the Hōjo Patriarch who sighed solemnly and turned to his daughter who stopped all actions and returned the stare.
"...Akagi... I know that I was a horrible father... and a horrible husband to your mother resulting in your unfair childhood. Then... I gave you away like a political pawn as a way of increasing the clan's influence over the empire... but seeing you be so happy with the Qiu family's young master... I came to a decision..."
"If this one thing I did, made you happy, then I will keep it safe... No matter what! This is will be my retribution and redemption for all the wrongdoings I have committed against you... Lord Qiu, the Hōjo clan will support you!" Ikki stated, Duke Qiu respected men like Ikki and immediately accepted his request.
Akagi was left speechless...
She then shook, trembled and closed her eyes hoping her tears would not escape but Xieren who saw right through her, embraced her gently letting her hide herself from the man that had made her whole life one of misery...
"Umm... I too want to help!" Xiao Ling's voice lightened the mood as the Wu Patriarch who was struck by her cuteness started laughing.
"Huh? You help us? You are not even has tall as a treasure box!" The Wu Patriarch said teasingly as Xiao Ling pouted.
"I'm tall!"
"No you aren't!"
"I am!"
"Nope, still short!"
"...MUUUUUUU!!!!"
"..."
"AH! XIAO LING WHY DID YOU BITE ME?!" Xieren's pained scream echoed throughout the manor as were the laughs that followed soon after...
•••••••••
(1): This means that Duke Qiu as the host motioned the emperor to his seat, common courtesy! :)