Long Chen stood in silver armor at the top of Grand Xia City’s gates. Thousands of imperial guards were standing behind him with their armor shining brightly.

The path to the gates had been perfectly cleaned, and following the etiquette of receiving a diplomatic delegation, they had an army quietly standing there.

“What’s going on? They’re still not here? It’s been over an incense stick’s worth of time since the scheduled time.” Long Chen frowned.

“Reporting to the Great General, the Grand Han’s people are often late by up to three incense sticks’ worth of time,” said one of the high-ranking officers. He was very familiar with the Grand Han’s style.

“Ah, is that so? Then it’s simple.”

Long Chen was enraged upon hearing this. He disliked people who didn’t know how to be punctual. Did they think they could make him wait? That would be giving them far too much face.

“Alright brothers, we’re taking the rest of the day off. Everyone go back and seal the city gates,” ordered Long Chen. They thought they could be bigger posers than him? He directly ordered the city gates closed.

“Great General…” The other high-ranking officers all jumped. Was he crazy?

“It’s fine, I will take responsibility for any consequences. There are some people who just can’t be indulged. Close the gates,” declared Long Chen.

“The Grand Han’s imperial carriage has arrived!”

Just at this moment, a snow-white horse emitting a powerful aura appeared. It pulled a grand carriage as it rushed toward the city gates.

“Great General, they’ve arrived!” said one of the officers.

“So what? We’re off-duty. Close the gates. No one is allowed to open them,” said Long Chen as he began taking off his armor.

“My Grand Han’s imperial carriage has arrived. Why are the gates closed? Are you not going to come out and greet us?”

Amongst the hundreds of guards around the carriage, a man whose face was as big as a flat cake opened his mouth.

“Sorry, you’ve come late. We’ve already stopped working. If you want, you can go through the small gate to the side.” Long Chen shrugged helplessly. At this time, he had already taken off his imperial armor and was in casual dress, indicating he wasn’t on duty.

“You…! How can my Grand Han’s prince walk in through the gate for commoners? You are trying to humiliate us!” roared that person.

“What’s wrong with commoners? Can you not walk the same path as them? Well, they also eat food, drink water, and breathe air. Are you going to stop doing that as well? Tch, do you have a problem with your head? You’re the ones who arrived late, so who do you think is to blame? Let me make things clear to you: I’m already off duty, so either walk through the side door, or go back to wherever you came from.”

Long Chen didn’t give them any chance to reply. He directly turned and left.

Long Chen’s departure dumbfounded the other guards and officials. It seemed this didn’t conform with the Grand Xia’s etiquette. To refuse its guests outside the door would affect the Grand Xia’s image.

But their leader had already left, and they didn’t dare to go directly against his orders and open the gates on their own. They just stood there blankly.

“This Long Chen seems to be doing quite well in the Grand Xia.” Within the carriage, an extraordinarily handsome man with pretty features stared at the city gates indifferently.

This handsome man was one of the famed Three Monarchs of the Grand Han, Han Wenjun. He was also one of the Grand Han’s imperial princes.

“He probably wants to obtain the Grand Xia’s protection, which is why he’s hiding inside,” said an elder beside Han Wenjun.

This elder was surprisingly the master of the Heavenly Fate Pavilion, Xuan Jizi. After the Xuan Master’s slap in the face, he hadn’t been able to find any way to handle Long Chen.

He had decided to follow Han Wenjun on his trip to the Grand Xia this time. His target was Long Chen. If Long Chen didn’t die, he wouldn’t be able to set his mind at ease.

These days, he was always extremely tense, afraid that Long Chen would reveal what he had done.

Compared to Long Chen, Hua Shiyu wasn’t worth the panic. She had her large Hua family and had no choice but to consider her family’s safety first. So she wouldn’t dare to go against him.

However, Long Chen was different. His parents in the Eastern Wasteland had vanished. His family was gone, and he was free to do whatever he wanted. Such people were the most frightening.

“It’s unexpected that Long Chen actually managed to get his own official position in the Grand Xia. He’s intentionally making things hard on us. He already killed one of the members of my Grand Han imperial family despite our warning, and now he even dares to humiliate us by stopping me in front of the city. This suicidal bastard deserves a thousand deaths,” snorted Han Wenjun.

“The four ancient nations always maintained a subtle balance, refusing to raise their weapons against each other. It truly was an excellent decision to hide here. Furthermore, it’s not convenient for me to force things within Grand Xia City. I’ll need to take my time planning how to handle him. Moreover, our main goal is to form a good relationship with the Wine God Palace this time,” said Xuan Jizi.

The Heavenly Fate Pavilion had a grand position within the Grand Han, and Xuan Jizi’s status was almost on the same level as the Grand Han’s emperor. So he also didn’t need to have so many misgivings when speaking to Han Wenjun.

“Pavilion master, what do you think we should do? Are we supposed to just accept being given the cold shoulder?” Han Wenjun frowned slightly. Now it was a bit awkward.

Xuan Jizi said, “Long Chen is just a scoundrel without any education or skills. Trying to reason with him is simply impossible. We definitely can’t go through the side door or we’ll be laughingstocks, so we should just retreat for now and send someone to tell them that we’ll come again tomorrow. But we definitely can’t arrive late, or Long Chen will be happy to close the gates on us once more.”

“Alright then, I’ll let that idiot be pleased for now,” said Han Wenjun icily as he looked at the tightly closed gates.

“Yes. Other than that, be careful. I’ve hidden my cultivation base so that no one knows I’ve come. Make sure to be careful with your movements so that I don’t get exposed. We don’t want to end up ruining our true business,” warned Xuan Jizi solemnly.

“Don’t worry, pavilion master. Disciple understands!”

Just like that, under the sight of countless citizens of the Grand Xia, Han Wenjun’s carriage left with his large procession.

Long Chen returned to the palace. He was in the midst of drinking with Xia Yunchong when Xia Youluo furiously stamped in.

“Long Chen, why did you refuse Han Wenjun at the gates?! Do you know how long I was waiting for?!” raged Xia Youluo.

At this time, Xia Youluo was dressed in thick imperial splendor. Her hair was tied in a high knot, and her face had been painted very elegantly, making her even more beautiful than normal. But at this time, her beautiful face only contained anger as she shouted at Long Chen.

Xia Yunchong’s expression sank. As soon as Han Wenjun was mentioned, he would get angry. Moreover, seeing Xia Youluo had gone to such an extent to prepare for their enemy, his fury immediately soared.

Sensing that Xia Yunchong was about to explode, Long Chen hastily grabbed him. Anger was unable to solve problems. Instead, it would just make things worse.

“Youluo, I wasn’t doing this to make things hard on him. I was simply acting in accordance with my Grand Xia’s etiquette system. If it had been up to me, just to give you face, I wouldn’t have minded waiting several days, let alone a few incense sticks’ worth of time. But this matter affected the relations between the two nations, so I had to carry out my official duty. I couldn’t let my emotions get the better of me, so please don’t blame me,” said Long Chen.

“Oh? It’s not because of me that… you intentionally didn’t let him in?” Xia Youluo was now a bit sorry.

“You’re overthinking things. I have no enmity with him, so why would I target him? Furthermore, I also want to see what he looks like to have so many maidens infatuated with him. In truth, I’m a bit competitive,” laughed Long Chen.

Only now did Xia Youluo’s fury vanish. But thinking of how she had acted out just now, she was too embarrassed and slipped away.

“This girl is getting more and more overboard.” Xia Yunchong’s expression was still dark.

“Brother Xia, you don’t understand her romantic feelings. When a person likes another person, they’ll become crazy and lose all their wits,” said Long Chen helplessly.

At this time, Long Chen received an imperial edict saying that the Grand Han’s delegation would arrive tomorrow morning, and he would be in charge of receiving them.

The next morning, Long Chen was once more standing at the top of the city gates. This time, Han Wenjun obediently came on time.

It was still the same carriage and the same hundred-plus guards. When Han Wenjun walked out of his carriage, Long Chen saw his oval face, and despite feeling disdain for him, he had no choice but to admit he truly was beautiful.

But he couldn’t see any hint of manliness on his face. With sixteen maidens waiting on him as he stepped off the carriage, Long Chen almost mistook him for a woman.

“I am the Grand Xia’s National Protector, Great General Long Chen. I represent the Grand Xia’s imperial family and Grand Xia City’s citizens in welcoming the Grand Han…” Long Chen held a document in his hands at the top of the gates, and he began to read off of it.

This was an etiquette that he didn’t quite care about. In any case, he just said whatever was written on it.

After going over the whole lengthy document, his mouth was starting to feel numb. Only then did he walk over to Han Wenjun. Both sides exchanged gifts and then entered the city.

“I’ve long since heard of your great name, Long Chen. I never expected to encounter you within the Grand Xia,” said Han Wenjun as he followed Long Chen into the city.

“I’ve also heard of the Three Monarchs’ names. Seeing you in person is the blessing of three lifetimes.” Long Chen smiled as he spouted absolute nonsense.

“I heard that you’re a core disciple of the Xuantian Dao Sect. Why would you come all the way to the Grand Xia? Are you trying to move to a better position?” asked Han Wenjun with a smile.

Hmph, I knew you would want to play. Alright, let’s play.

“Ah, it’s hard to explain. Back then, I set off from the Xuantian Dao Sect to defend the eastern sea. But as a result, my luck was bad, and I ended up being provoked by a tortoise[1]. I killed it, but who would have thought that this would cause a huge calamity? Brother Wenjun, you might not believe me, but it was that tortoise that attacked me first. But after I killed it, I was filled with regret. That tortoise’s strongest point was actually its shell! Its shell was extremely hard and capable of summoning an even bigger old tortoise! I was afraid the old tortoise would bite me, so I ran over to the Grand Xia. Fortunately, the Grand Xia kept me; otherwise, it’d be very troublesome to handle all the little tortoises the old tortoise sends after me.”

Long Chen sighed helplessly, while Han Wenjun’s expression sank.

[1] Tortoise=bastard.