Yang Qing exchanged a few pleasantries with the eldest prince who was seated next to him in the hall room. His name was Jia Wenyan. From their brief interaction, Yang Qing could finally understand why the king chose him from among the siblings to remain behind.
He was both tactful and natural when holding a conversation. In terms of cultivation, one couldn't say he was shoddy either since he was at the fifth stage of the core formation realm but if he was compared to his other siblings, one might say he was lacking a bit.
Of the seven siblings, one of the daughters had the highest cultivation base. Her cultivation base was at the ninth stage of the core formation realm. Among those present in the king's procession, she was amongst the top in terms of cultivation base.
However, she was hiding her cultivation base just like the old couple from Purple city. Yang Qing only managed to notice it because he habitually deploys his palace sense in unfamiliar territory and unfamiliar people. The artifact she had on her was useless against the spiritual sense of a palace realm cultivator.
Her real cultivation realm was at the ninth stage of the core formation realm but outwardly she revealed a cultivation base that was at the second stage of the core formation realm which was the weakest realm amongst the seven siblings.
Yang Qing didn't mention anything and chose to act incognizant of the matter.
The arrangement might be hers or her father's or some other sibling's ploy. The web of royal politics was not something he wanted to pour his thoughts into. It didn't interest him like the array field he passed on his way over.
As for the rest of the siblings, the least of them had a peak stage foundation establishment realm and from what Yang Qing could tell, he seemed to be the same age as him while the rest had core formation cultivation bases. The highest of them, excluding the princess who had hidden her real cultivation base, was at the seventh base of the core formation realm.
"The foundations of the Summerfield kingdom are not bad," Yang Qing mused to himself as he thought of everything he had seen to this point ever since he stepped into its territory.
....
As Yang Qing was lost in his thoughts, one royal guard entered the hall room they were staying.
He had an eighth-stage core formation realm. With the pressure he released, he seemed very close to breaking through to the ninth stage.
A person of his strength in Summerfield kingdom should be someone with a great rank since by and large the kingdom was a rank 4 kingdom. But he was currently being used as a messenger.
If Yang Qing were to guess the king's thoughts on such an arrangement, it was first to show Yang Qing respect and another, it was a display of strength to the organizations coming for the review.
The territory of the Spiritual temperance sect was a chaotic mess. New sects or clans were always popping out of the woodworks. Some were independent however the majority were just pawns of other rank 4 organizations of similar strength to the Summerfield kingdom while others were pawns inserted by outside forces.
The whole region was a cesspool of subterfuge, probes, hidden and open battles. The Summerfield kingdom could therefore not afford to be negligent with these organizations even with their assumed relationship with the Spiritual temperance sect.
The guard bowed to both of them first and then proceeded to speak of the reason that had brought him to the room.
"Master Yang Qing, about half of the list of the organizations you sent to the king have already arrived. Would you like them to be sent here right away or would you like for all of the organizations to have arrived first before you started the evaluation?" asked the guard.
"Mmmh, send them over, half is already a good enough number to start...As for the remaining half, just send them over as they arrive. There's no need to wait for all of them to gather," said Yang Qing.
"Use that same format for lining them up as they come in here...those who came earliest will be at the front and so forth and so forth," Yang Qing added after some thought.
"We will do just that," the guard firmly said.
"Many thanks uuum..."
" My name is Bu Zhe," the guard answered with a smile when he saw Yang Qing's awkward expression at struggling with how to address him.
"Thanks again Bu Zhe, for your hard work," Yang Qing said in a polite smile.
Bu Zhe bowed to both him and the prince and then rushed to make the arrangements.
The king had repetitively emphasized that they were not to be negligent even in the tiniest of matters. It was why, he the captain of the royal guards above many and below a few, almost holding the same level of power as some of the princes, was acting as a messenger and a guide today.
...
"I'm sorry Yang Qing for my negligence," the eldest prince hurriedly apologized in embarrassment.
He felt he was a bit negligent in his duties as an aid when he saw Yang Qing awkwardly try to address Bu Zhe. As a competent aid he felt he should have filled in Yang Qing on all matters no matter how small just like how the ministers do when preparing them for a major diplomacy meeting. They'd be fed all kinds of information concerning the coming parties and the event itself regardless of whether it was pertinent to the event or not.
"Hahaha you shouldn't worry too much about that prince Wenyan. I don't have the thick face to accept your apology since I'm the one imposing on you all here.
I owe you and your kingdom deep gratitude for your help and how quick you were to make the arrangements."
Yang Qing took out a jar containing peach blossom wine and two wine urns. He poured himself one and the eldest prince one.
"Think of this as my token of thanks," Yang Qing gently said as he raised his wine urn in a toast.
"Then I will have to shamelessly accept brother Yang Qing," said the eldest prince with a smile as he returned Yang Qing's toast.
They each took a single gulp from their urns each exhaling satisfied expressions more so the prince.
His pupils shrunk in shock at how exquisite the wine tasted. The wine had a mellow sweetness accompanied by a chilling sensation.
Seconds later his expression became even more exaggerated when the energy from the wine he had just drunk exploded within his body like a volcano. He hurriedly executed his cultivation art to circulate the energy before it went to waste or create a great strain in his meridians due to energy overload.
"Yi Jie has improved in leaps and bounds seeing how even a small sip is enough to shake a middle-stage core formation expert.
Too bad I won't be getting any new brew till he exits his seclusion," Yang Qing thought as he sighed.
He poured himself another cup to lighten his mood.
"Many thanks, brother Yang Qing but I don't think I can handle anymore. I will only embarrass myself if I do."
The eldest prince fearfully declined in embarrassment when he saw Yang Qing about to pour himself another cup.
His eyes were exhibiting a mixed mash of emotions. There was a hint of regret, fear, caution, and desire mixed in there as he eyed the jar containing the wine.
Yang Qing only smiled in response as he downed another cup with the prince enviously watching at the side.
A few minutes passed when the court got suddenly filled with a cacophony of small murmurs.
