Beginning to feel uncomfortable, Fan Xian took half a step back without anyone noticing. He lowered his face and scanned the hall out of the corners of his eyes.

There were no one extraordinary people among Northern Qi’s officials. What got Fan Xian’s attention was the gently swaying bead curtain besides the Dragon Throne. Light was reflected off the pools of the water and danced beautifully onto the beads.

Fan Xian knew that the empress dowager – the one who truly held real power in Northern Qi – was behind that curtain.

A while later, the emperor on the Dragon Throne yawned, showing his boredom.

"My diplomats, you’ve made a long and difficult journey. Please go get some rest." The young emperor dismissed the envoy with a wave of his hand. Fan Xian knelt with a face full of smiles. He and everyone else in the envoy saluted the Dragon Throne . He was planning to leave, find the officials of Northern Qi who were really in charge of things, and get poor Mister Yan out.

But things always develop unexpectedly.

"Mister… Fan?" The corner of the emperor’s mouth curled up as if in a smile. He looked at Fan Xian and beckoned quietly, "Stay here. Let us have a chat."

The officials were all slightly surprised to hear His Majesty refer to Fan Xian as "Mister" rather than the official t.i.tle. It was rather inappropriate. Fan Xian wasn’t thinking about that, however. He was quite shocked. Could this young emperor know something?

Fan Xian hurried to salute the emperor. "As this is my first visit, I do not know how to respond. Forgive me if I offend Your Majesty."

"Don"t worry about it." The young emperor seemed to be easy to talk to. He chuckled, "Your presence here pleases me. Mister Fan, I am excited to learn from you. I often read Banxianzhai Poetry Anthology, and even the Imperial tutor sings your praise. Now that the diplomatic matters have concluded for today, I must ask you to take a stroll with me. I have been looking forward to your arrival for a long time. And I can show you around the palace."

Since things had progressed to this point, there really wasn’t anything Fan Xian could say as a foreign diplomat. He was slightly shaken. The Imperial tutor of Northern Qi was the son of Zhuang Mohan. After the miserable treatment by Fan Xian in Qing palace, how could there be praise to give?

The envoy left the great hall, Lin Jing gave Fan Xian a worried look. Fan Xian returned a slight nod, signaling that he would be careful.

After the officials of Northern Qi also left, the great hall appeared to be even vaster. The sound of fish tail splashing the surface of the water could faintly be heard, while the soft footsteps of palace girls came from behind the mesh curtains.

The young emperor relaxed on his Dragon Throne. Stretching, he looked at Fan Xian with a chuckle and hopped down from his throne. Taking a towel from a eunuch, he randomly wiped his face. Finally, he patted Fan Xian’s shoulder, "Let’s go, I want to show the immortal poet of the south our divine palace of the north."

Fan Xian grumbled to himself silently; he wasn’t expecting His Majesty to be so childish. As he was about to follow the emperor, a cough came from behind the bead curtain.

The emperor of Northern Qi was slightly unnerved. With a bitter expression, he turned around and saluted toward the bead curtain, "Mother, I was very excited to see Fan Xian. Please forgive my rudeness."

A palace girl had already parted the bead curtain. As the beads b.u.mped into each other, they made a delicate sound, and a royal lady walked out from behind them.

Fan Xian immediately lowered his head, daring not to take a close look. But he still stared at the woman"s feet.

She was wearing a pair of golden shoes embroidered with silk flowers. They looked casual, but were incredibly luxurious.

What shocked Fan Xian even more was another pair of feet following those embroidered shoes from behind the bead curtain—in this world, who would dare to sit with the empress dowager of Northern Qi behind a bead curtain and listen in on a diplomatic mission?!

That other pair of feet wore a pair of simple cloth shoes, the bottoms of which were made from many layers of fabric using a method found typically in the villages. The top edges of the shoes were black and white, and near their wearer"s delicate ankles exposed a cheerfully patterned cloth. This type of cloth shoes could often be seen around the countryside during New Year. But it was very strange for them to make an appearance in an Imperial palace.

Fan Xian guessed who those cloth shoes belonged to. No longer caring for formalities, he raised his head. With calm eyes, he cautiously stared at her, at the girl Haitang, who still wore that patterned cloth around her head.

Fan Xian never imagined that it would be Haitang who came out from behind the bead curtain with the empress dowager!

Fan Xian and Haitang’s gazes clashed, and the atmosphere in the palace became uneasy. But in a flash, Fan Xian looked away and knelt to the empress dowager next to Haitang. "My Lady, I am Envoy Fan Xian. It is an honor to be in your presence."
The empress dowager looked at him and frowned slightly. "How can this Qing official Fan Xian be this handsome? One could even say he is cursedly good-looking. No wonder Duoduo had to come to the palace to have a peek. Could that girl…" She brushed her thoughts away and gave a slight nod. She then said to the emperor, "Haitang has returned. Since you want to take Sir Fan for a walk in the palace, take her along too."

The emperor appeared troubled, as if not wanting to take Haitang along. But he couldn’t go against his mother"s wishes. So, with a bitter smile, he asked Haitang, "When did you return to the capital?"

Haitang shifted her cold gaze away from Fan Xian’s face and saluted the emperor. "Your Majesty, I returned yesterday. Master is worried that there have been too many evildoers in the capital lately, so he sent me to the palace."

Fan Xian smiled uneasily, evildoers in Shangjing? Of course, Haitang was referring to him.

Walking together in the palace made Fan Xian remember an already-unfamiliar Chinese idiom, a remnant of his previous life: the fortune of the man from Qi. Because this palace truly was worthy of being deemed "divine", the Qi n.o.bles who lived in it truly were fortunate.

Tall trees extended over the black palace structure. They looked like aloof yet attentive women holding small fans. The green branches peeked out from the corners or rested weakly on the rooftiles. Flowers stretched out lazily on the ground, as if looking up at those delicate branches in contempt.

Trees could be seen intertwining everywhere. The mixture of black and green was a union of strength and gentleness too beautiful to be absorbed all at once.

The various palace halls were divided into many levels, all of which were built into the side of a mountain in a marvelous design. The trio proceeded onward while being served by a group of eunuchs. Together they walked around the long walkway next to the mountain creek and went up to the second level. Only now did Fan Xian start to calm down and carefully observe the scenery. He couldn’t help but be awed. In terms of both military and daily life, building a palace into the side of a mountain wasn’t exactly a wise decision. But seeing the clear water flowing past and the surrounding scenery, Fan Xian was able to understand exactly why people chose this location many years ago to build the palace.

It was simply too beautiful for words.

Unfortunately, Fan Xian was not a citizen of Qi, and therefore was without the fortune of the man from Qi. He didn’t have two stunningly beautiful women accompanying him, as the man from Qi had. All he had were His Majesty the emperor of Qi and Miss Haitang, Qi’s strongest martial artist in recent times, who had beaten Fan Xian into crawling on the ground like a dog.

The emperor wore a black outercoat. Around his waist was a belt made from golden silk. His sleeves were wide. The entire getup had an ancient look. With his hands behind his back, the emperor led the way, as if forgetting he was the one who forced Fan Xian to stay behind.

Fan Xian cautiously followed the emperor, occasionally throwing a sideways glance at Haitang. He and the girl had quite a bit of history. While Fan Xian believed she wouldn’t do anything rash in the palace, he still felt nervous.

Haitang, however, did not look at Fan Xian at all. She was acting as if she had never met him, never been poisoned by him, and never heard his biting remarks.

Fan Xian understood something and smiled warmly without speaking. A moment later, the young emperor appeared to be tired from walking. He pointed ahead at a pavilion and gently tapped his finger.

In a flash, a mob of eunuchs rushed over, tidied up the pavilion, wiped the seats clean, lit some incense, and prepared a tea set.

Walking into the pavilion, the mountain breeze blew by, picking up the faint moisture from the stream. The emperor stood next to the handrail, his hands behind his back, and said quietly, "Patting the handrail, the forest flowers blow against my temples and the mountain breeze cools me. My grand song startles and disperses the floating cloud."

Fan Xian responded, "That was well composed."

The emperor turned around. With intense curiosity, his clear eyes gazed at Fan Xian. A moment later, he suddenly said, "Among all the people who have flattered me, you are the first one to do so in such a casual manner."

Embarra.s.sed, Fan Xian could only clasp his hands together, "I did not mean to be so casual, Your Majesty."

"It"s good that you show proper etiquette, as long you don"t let it stifle you." The emperor sat down and took a sip of tea. Suddenly looking at Haitang, he grinned. "Why so formal today? Normally you don"t come even when you"re invited; you only want to plant vegetables in the garden. Well, I suppose it’s good that you agreed to come to the palace today and enjoy the scenery." The emperor then sighed lightly. "I always think this palace is too beautiful, to the point where I don’t want to venture outside of it."

That sentence sounded like it had another meaning, but Fan Xian pretended to not understand. Signaled by the emperor’s gaze, Fan Xian sat down and slowly sipped his tea, wondering why exactly this young emperor asked him to remain in the palace.

Haitang was also holding a cup of tea. She sat on the handrail at the edge of the pavilion, gazing at the flowing water, lost in thought.

"Fan Xian, what do you think of the palace scenery?"

Fan Xian was mildly startled. How many times had the emperor repeated this topic today? After giving it some thought, he replied, "The palace is in the mountain, the mountain has trees, there are trees in the palace; a refreshingly beautiful arrangement. What I found most fascinating is the fact that the many buildings seem to blend into the mountain. On one hand, the mountain scene is not overpowering the majesty of the palace. On the other hand, the grandeur of the palace is not taking away from the beauty of the mountain. It creates a sense of unity between Heaven and humanity. I have nothing but the utmost admiration for the palace."

"Eh?"

Without intending to, what Fan Xian said seemed to have shocked the emperor of Northern Qi.