Chapter 186 - Night Banquet (Part 1)

Chapter 186: Chapter 175: Night Banquet (Part 1)As a document fluttered out from the queen’s palace, the entirety of the empire boiled in excitement. When a queen formed her knights, it significantly reshuffled the powers of the northern territories. Anyone who could join the knights would see their family’s status greatly elevated. A quota of three thousand knights was enough to uplift hundreds of families from obscurity to the upper echelons.

Of course, the selection process for the Lorain Knights was exceptionally rigorous. Firstly, the candidates must have a clean history, with no involvement in treason within three generations of their family. Secondly, the age of the candidates was limited—they could not be more than three years older than the queen. This strict rule was set by the Wrathful Sun Queen herself. When she ascended to the throne and learned that her husband must be chosen from the Lorain Knights, she decreed there must be an age limit. The conditions during the Wrathful Sun Queen’s ascension were much better than Nono’s; the preceding queen did not die unexpectedly but doted on the Wrathful Sun Queen, allowing her to establish these rules.

The Lorain Knights would grow alongside the queen. Nono, not yet twenty years old, was the youngest in the history of these selections. The officials previously in charge of selecting the Lorain Knights were now grappling with how to select this batch of candidates. The previous methods and trials used for selection were not suitable for this young group. After all, how high could you expect the capabilities of twenty-somethings to be? They were plainly inadequate for the secretive realms usually used.

In just three days, over a hundred thousand young people had registered to join the Lorain Knights, mostly coming from various realms under the empire’s control. Many strong individuals had emerged from these families, but due to the differences in their realms, it was tough to gain divine favor. This selection process undoubtedly provided them an excellent opportunity to set their footing in divine favor.

Naturally, Lu Hong was also dragged to sign up, and he was internally selected without following the standard procedure. He advanced to become a prospective knight without needing to participate in the preliminaries. Of course, Nono’s method made Lily look down on Lu Hong once more, but luckily, the selection of the Lorain Knights depended on strength. No matter how influential the background, one couldn’t skyrocket to the top immediately. Such scum, relying on women to advance, would sooner or later be eliminated in subsequent trials, and by then, the queen would surely see this man’s true colors.

"Captain of the Guard, what are you thinking about?" Lu Hong asked, waving his hand in front of Lily.

"Ah?" Snapped back from her reverie, Lily quickly stepped back to increase the distance between them and said sternly, "Baron Yitian, please behave yourself!"

Lu Hong helplessly said, "Nono asked you to take me to the night banquet. If you don’t show me the way, how am I supposed to know where to go?"

"Hmph!" Lily had nothing more to say, even though she was at a disadvantage, and stormed forward.

"Woof! This, woof woof! Woman, woof woof! Must want, woof woof! to eat, woof woof! dog meat, woof woof!" Doggy barked from behind Lu Hong.

"Fuck your mother, egg!" Silver Wind kicked Doggy hard on the bum, sending him flying far away: "Goddamn, always thinking about eating dog meat, almost got me killed!"

"Woof woof! Acting, woof woof! like you, woof woof! haven’t eaten, woof woof! anything!"

"Get lost! I won’t fall for that again!" Unable to voice his grievances, Silver Wind fumed. After Lu Hong moved into the queen’s palace, Silver Wind and Doggy followed but were not permitted to roam freely. They were extremely bored, cooped up in a side hall every day. One day, Doggy tricked a well-fed, luxurious dog into the palace and convinced Silver Wind to stew the dog. They happily enjoyed a meal but barely half a day passed before the dog’s owner caught up to them.

It turned out the dog belonged to a beloved elder of the Xiahe family. Upon learning of his pet’s death, the elder almost died of grief on the spot.

Thus, Silver Wind and Doggy were thrown into a large pot as the Xiahe Elder swore bitterly to make those two felons suffer the pain of being cooked regularly.

Luckily, Lu Hong received the news in time and rushed over with Nono, pleading earnestly for a long time before finally saving them.

Now, Silver Wind was full of anger whenever he saw Doggy, his temper flaring at the sight. Despite being a Third Transition mighty warrior, he hadn’t even had a chance to defend himself in the queen’s palace before being overpowered by more than a dozen experts and nearly boiled alive in that large pot—an indelible shame in his life!

Wandering around the queen’s palace for a long time, Lily pointed toward the brightly lit Qiming Palace under the moonlight and said, "\IYou can go by yourself. But let me kindly remind you, it’s better to keep a low profile at the banquet. Everyone attending is a young talent from various major realms. If you foolishly flaunt your title, I believe you will be beaten severely."

Lu Hong narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Lily as he didn’t understand why the close guard of the queen had targeted him from their first meeting, but her advice did carry some goodwill, "Thank you for the reminder, Captain. I’ll be careful."

"Hmph! I’m only concerned that her majesty the queen might have to save you later and lose face because of it." Lily spat and walked away briskly.

"Master, woof! This lady, woof! Are they, woof! Not, woof! Brain, woof! Got a problem, woof! Huh? Woof!"

"Don’t worry about it, just go eat and don’t cause trouble." Lu Hong patted the dog’s head and proceeded with Yinfeng into the venue.

Originating from the Queen’s inner palace, the guards naturally did not stop them, and upon entering the venue, they heard the rising and falling sounds of a noisy crowd. Young people from all over the empire gathered in small groups, talking and laughing with each other.

The Roland Knight Corps never refused female participants and even specifically allocated a hundred spots for women. Hence, there were quite a few women present at the banquet. As it was an Imperial Palace banquet, everyone was dressed very formally. Under the embellishment of exquisite evening gowns, these strong women also revealed a dazzling side, drawing attention.

From a selection of over a hundred thousand people, at least nearly eight thousand reserves remained, and the Qiming Palace was specifically built for large banquets. The influx of eight thousand people hardly felt crowded. The arrival of Lu Hong, Yinfeng, and the dog went unnoticed.

The dog was crazed upon arrival at the banquet, immediately dashing into the crowd and disappearing. Lu Hong did not bother to check on it; after all, if anything happened, he would just pretend not to know it. This dog, besides being gluttonous, was not interested in women and couldn’t stir up much trouble.

"Boss, what should we do next?" Yinfeng sat next to Lu Hong and whispered, "This is a great opportunity for you to become famous!"

"Famous? What kind of fame?" Lu Hong grabbed an exquisite pastry from the table and stuffed his mouth full.

"Hey, boss, you don’t know, I’ve been living in the palace these past few days and I’m really pissed off. Do you know what those maids in the palace are saying?" Yinfeng broke off a huge turkey leg and took a big bite before continuing, "These idle women are secretly saying that your title as Baron Yitian is undeserved, and you could never have killed the three high priests alone."

"Oh, let them talk; I indeed did not kill the three high priests alone." Lu Hong picked up a glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice from the table and drank it all.

Alright, if the boss doesn’t mind, his subordinate won’t say more. After all, following the boss without worrying too much is sure to be right. Before returning from Yuanhua, Lu Hong even got a relic from Caesar as a welcome gift for Yinfeng, which greatly suited him and further solidified Yinfeng’s loyalty. In other words, following the boss assures a bright future.

Lu Hong and Yinfeng’s carefree eating certainly didn’t attract anyone’s attention, but the dog was a different story.

It wasn’t long before a woman’s scream drew the attention of everyone present.

People turned their heads and saw that a large dog was continuously tearing at a woman’s dress.

"How dare you! Where did this perverted dog come from? Causing trouble in such a place!" A young hero with a strong sense of justice already pulled out his sword and fiercely slashed at the dog.

With a clang, the young hero flew back in disbelief, his level-five sword broken in his hand. He might have not understood why his sword, which had slain countless demon beasts, had honorably retired upon this seemingly ordinary dog.

"Woof! Stop hitting, woof! Bothering the old, woof! Dog, woof!" The dog growled threateningly, then continued to pin down and tear at the woman’s clothes. Blood was already visible, and the situation seemed to escalate.

Oh? Goodness! This dog can actually talk? The entire room was baffled~

"Boss, aren’t you going to do something? Your dog is causing trouble," Yinfeng kindly reminded, as even he found the dog’s behavior unbearable. How could it bite a defenseless woman? He truly didn’t understand what craziness had taken over the dog, and this time, it might even drag Lu Hong down with it.

"No rush." Lu Hong snatched another freshly squeezed juice from the servant’s hand. From the fluctuations of the contract, he could clearly feel that the dog was in a furious state. Perhaps there was some unknown secret behind it.