Chapter 33: Palace Front Cooking (Part 1)

  The dazzling light had not yet dissipated when a stern dragon's roar suddenly echoed in people's ears. Immediately, a golden giant dragon burst out of the imperial seal in the emperor's hand and flew straight into the sky, flying up and down in the clouds for several rounds before falling back to the ground. It circled around the emperor, flying left and right, like a divine object protecting its master.

  The dragon's roar continued unabated, yet no one could pinpoint its exact location, as if it were a voice emanating from the depths of people's hearts, shaking their souls. The officials and several barbarian envoys stared blankly at this miraculous scene, their eyes wide with wonder, unable to utter another word.

  The scene of the dragon's play lasted for about a pot of tea, and the golden dragon in the sky seemed to have finished its play, let out a long sigh again, made several circles in the air, and disappeared on top of the imperial seal held by the emperor.

  Even the Emperor himself was stimulated by the golden dragon and the light, and he stood there in a daze. It wasn't until the golden dragon disappeared that he finally focused his gaze on the imperial seal, unable to tear it away.

  The seal looks like an ordinary seal, but the pattern on it has changed to a dragon shape. Moreover, the emperor can be certain that when he first got it, there were no patterns on it, and he doesn't know what's going on.

  The officials were already stunned, their eyes wide with shock for a long time, before one of them finally came back to his senses and made an exaggerated five-body prostration that was completely out of proportion with his stature, loudly chanting: "True Dragon protects the body! Long live Your Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand years, forever!"

  Others finally came to their senses and followed the clever minister in a swift surrender.

  "Heavenly blessings..."

  "True Dragon Heavenly Son..."

  "Long live our Emperor for ten thousand years..."

  ……

  All sorts of praises and cheers filled the air, finally converging into a single, sonorous and high-pitched "Long live Your Majesty, ten thousand years, ten thousand years, forever!"

  Several foreign envoys were already shocked by the magnificent view of this heaven and earth, subconsciously following the group of officials to kneel down, except for the sound of praise, they did not dare to have any other thoughts.

  Without any introduction, such a rare sight has emerged. What treasure can be more precious than this seal of the true dragon's protection? Tian Huang stone is just a slightly rare stone, with some dragon patterns added to it, at most it can be considered as a rare item among rare items. But this thing that triggers heavenly phenomena in one's hand, how can it be compared to the treasures of the mundane world?

  And this rare treasure, in Qin Yifan's words, was simply dug out from the fields and countryside. With Qin Yifan's embellishments, it was indeed very convincing. The Great Qing Empire is truly rich and vast, and a few small envoys from neighboring countries, unaware of the height of heaven and earth, dared to provoke the Son of Heaven so lightly in front of him. This time, they were thoroughly slapped in the face.

  Even Qin Yifan did not expect that the seal he had snatched from Yuan Qing's hands would lead to such a situation. At first, Qin Yifan only saw that among the treasures presented by those people, there was a Tian Huangshi seal, so he also took out an identical seal, never thinking that such a situation would occur.

  The Emperor might really be the True Dragon Son of Heaven, and when he held it in his hand, the aura on his body was activated by the Imperial Seal, triggering this extraordinary phenomenon. I thought that Lin Qiulü and the others from the Dragon and Phoenix Guard absorbing the true imperial energy beside the Emperor was just a joke, but it turned out to be real.

  Standing alone, with no one else daring to stand around him, this feeling made the emperor exceptionally comfortable. These people were still intimidated by their own imperial aura, although in the past it was also a crowd of people bowing down, but today's feeling was particularly different.

  Chang took a deep breath, and the Emperor, full of energy, shouted: "All officials, stand at ease!" He sat down first, and casually placed the warm seal on the table. He looked at it carefully again, liking it more and more, thinking to himself what words he should engrave on it in the future.

  The officials followed the order and returned to their seats, looking at Qin Yifan in the field with a different gaze. No wonder the emperor would allow this commoner to attend such a noble banquet, accompanied by the commander of the Imperial Guard, it turned out to be so.

  The seal was already like that, and I don't know what other wonders it has. Everyone's curiosity was mobilized, including the foreign envoys, who had long since abandoned their idea of using a few rare treasures to intimidate the Celestial Empire. All eyes were fixed on the tray in front of the emperor, where a round object lay.

  No one dared to underestimate the gift that Qin Yifan had presented, and even the Emperor was somewhat impatient to find out what was so extraordinary about this round pearl. However, the Emperor was still the Emperor, and he could still control his expression and demeanor at such a moment, without revealing any impatience.

  Under the gaze of everyone, the emperor picked up the pearl the size of a baby's fist. As soon as he held it in his hand, he felt a cool sensation, and his entire body seemed to be immersed in coolness, with all his pores opening up, taking a deep breath, feeling refreshed beyond words. With just this grasp, the emperor knew that this was an invaluable treasure.

  However, the long-awaited extraordinary phenomenon did not occur, nothing happened, and that round thing was just an ordinary pearl held in the emperor's hand. Now it is daytime, there is no special light, except for being slightly larger than usual, it can't be said to have any precious or rare qualities.

  The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Everyone originally thought that Qin Yifan was presenting two extraordinary objects, but unexpectedly only one of them had a dragon-like appearance, this pearl is really too disappointing, and even a bit unacceptable. Except for the emperor who felt the magic in his hand, no one could see its preciousness.

  Despite this, it was a huge blow to the arrogance of the barbarian envoys, making them understand that the land of China is not a place where they can afford to be ridiculed. Seeking trouble and provoking incidents on Chinese soil will only lead to self-inflicted humiliation.

  "Good!" A loud and clear voice came from the emperor's mouth: "Your heartfelt wish, I have accepted. What do you ask for? As long as it is within my power to grant, I will approve it all!"

  As soon as this was said, the officials were in an uproar. This was indeed the emperor's golden words and jade speech, spoken in front of all the officials and foreign envoys, a great blessing from heaven. As long as Qin Yifan uttered a single sentence, high-ranking positions, wealth, and glory would be within his grasp. Countless people regretted that it wasn't themselves who were presenting the treasure to Qin Yifan. Even more people speculated about what kind of request Qin Yifan would make.

  In the midst of everyone's attention, Qin Yifan knelt down to the ground: "To share my emperor's worries is our duty as subjects, I dare not ask for rewards again! I only hope that my emperor will be healthy and strong, and the four barbarians will surrender!" As for the casual request promised by the emperor, he didn't mention it at all.