The Maple Continent.
A place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons lived.
This might be proven true by the high number of prestigious cultivation Academies it had, however, this saying was mainly used to describe the situation of the Imperial Palace of the Li Royal Family.
The number of high experts at their disposal made them the undisputed number one force on the Maple Continent. As they rule over the Maple Continent with an iron fist, their subjects would look at them with fear and respect.
On an ordinary day, everyone would stare from afar at the enormous golden gates at the entrance of the Imperial Palace, not daring to approach and taint such holy ground.
But on this particular day, a crowd consisting of people from all walks of life, from the old to the young, from the rich to the poor, have all gathered in front of the palace gates with bated expressions on their faces.
Today was a special occasion, the first concubine of the Emperor was bearing a child. Everyone was waiting here hoping to hear the news of a successful birth firsthand.
Suddenly, a clamor could be heard coming from the imperial palace that echoed in the ears of the anticipating crowd.
The crowd of people began to whisper upon hearing the loud commotion.
"What happened? Has something gone wrong with the child delivery?" Someone in the crowd said in a nervous tone.
"It would be horrible if something actually happen to the Emperor's second child." Another person in the crowd responded.
"You two don't jinx it!! What could possibly happen that the Royal Family didn't account for?"
As the crowd got noisier and noisier with people speculating the worst a palace guard suddenly appeared at the gate and spoke in a booming voice.
"The second prince of the Li Royal Family has been born!! Long live the Emperor!! Glory to the Royal Family!!"
The shout from the guard thundered over the crowd causing everyone to pause, but before long, loud cheering erupted from them, which echoed across the continent's capital city.
"Long live the Emperor!! Glory to the Royal Family. Long live the Emperor!! Glory to the Royal Family!!"
The news of the Emperor's second son being born started to spread like wildfire across the continent.
Meanwhile, the huge commotion in the Imperial Palace had calmed down.
In the throne room, the Emperor of the Maple Continent was sitting on a majestic jade throne. He wore golden robes that cascaded down to the marble floor tiles.
His features were that of a man in his early thirties, but with his cultivation being one of the highest, if not the highest on the Maple Continent, his actual age was hard to fathom.
His eyes were piercing as he glance over the people kneeling in front of him.
These people were his ministers and court officials. Any one of them in the outside world could call the rain and summon the winds. Their cultivations alone would cause them to garner respect from anyone on the Maple Continent, let alone their current position.
But even with so much prestige, all of them currently had their heads lowered with nervous looks on their faces. Some of them were even sweating so profusely that patches of sweat marks were visible on their backs and armpits.
The silence in the throne room was suddenly broken by the Emperor's biting cold voice, "The nature of my son's birth is never to be mentioned, understood?"
As the Emperor finished his words, the people kneeling in front of him all resembled chickens pecking the ground as they nodded their heads repeatedly.
"That's good, such a thing should be kept a secret from the public, least people with ill intentions found out."
One minister that had a goatee and was kneeling off to the side said, "Don't worry your majesty, as your loyal subject I will do everything in my power to make sure that the event of the Heavens' blessing the second prince is kept a secret."
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone turned to look at him as if he was an idiot.
'This fool, did he just mention what the Emperor specifically said not to mention?'
The minister with the goatee felt all the stares on him and frowned, then, it suddenly dawn on him what he had just said and his face drained of blood.
He raised his head and looked at the Emperor, only to see that he was staring directly at him with a cold gaze.
The minister with the goatee shivered and squealed, "Fo..forgive me, your majesty!! That was a slip of the tongue!!"
Bang!!
He slammed his head full force on the marble floor tile cracking it.
The marble floor, not his head.
Thud after thud, the minister began apologizing after each head slam.
The rest of the kneeling crowd just stared on slightly speechless.
As blood started to pool on the marble-tiled floor from the minister's repeated headbanging, the Emperor finally had enough and said, "Enough, you are forgiven just don't let it happen again."
When the minister heard those words, he felt like a man who had just heard he was sentenced to death by a judge, only for that judge to say jk a moment later and set him free.
"Thank you, your Majesty!! Your loyal subject is grateful for your benevolence!!"
The Emperor just ignored the groveling minister and turn to the youth that had just entered the throne room.
One could see the coldness in the Emperor's eyes lessening as he turn to the youth.
"Wei'er why have you come?" the Emperor asked.
The youth that looked no more than ten, adorned in imperial attire, hurried up the steps of the throne to the Emperor's side and said, "Father, mother won't let me see little Shen, can't I go?"
Before the Emperor could respond to his son's request, a melodious and soothing voice of a woman echoed in the throne room.
"So this is where you run off to after my refusal?"
Hearing the voice of the woman, the child's expression changed. He turned around to see his mother, the Empress, walking towards the throne.
"Mo..mother…" The boy stuttered nervously as if he had just been caught with one of his hands in a cookie jar.
The elegant and refined Empress only glared at him.
Under that gaze, the boy shriveled up hoping he could somehow turn invisible.
The Emperor smiled upon seeing this.
"Wei'er if want to see your new brother, you can go ahead."
The boy's posture suddenly straighten, before he bolted to the exit. His voice echoed as he went, "Thank you, father!"
The Empress frown at her husband and said, "You always spoil him, aren't you afraid he'll grow up to become as crude as you?"
The Emperor only gave his wife an amused smile.
However, the still kneeling ministers and court officials upon hearing that, couldn't help but break out in cold sweat. The only person who could speak to the Emperor in such a tone and get away with it was the Empress herself. If anyone else ever dear to, he or she would probably be killed with a single slap.