Dressed in a luxurious brocade, Nie Teng stood with his hands clasped behind his back. Glancing at Murong Bo who stood before him, he asked in a distinguished tone that hinted at his well-born status, "And you must be Sun Glory's Ruler, Murong Bo?"

"Yes, it is I, your humble host," he answered without hesitation. Before him, he dared not claim his sovereignty, and so he lowered the status by which he introduced himself. His Royal Highness, a prince of a sixth-grade country, far outranked him. To him, though Murong Bo was the ruler of an entire country, it amounted to of merit little in comparison.

Not to mention...

He furtively glanced at the eight people in his entourage and nearly swooned. All eight of them were immortal cultivators, surely with inestimable power! With a single look, Murong Bo could sense their intimidating potential, sending him into a cold sweat. Sure enough, immortal cultivators were leagues apart from mystic cultivators!

Thinking of this, he quickly steeled himself and said, "Your Majesty has traveled a great distance. Come into the palace and rest. This evening, I, the lowly Murong Bo, will prepare a feast for you to celebrate your arrival!"

"Mm," Nie Teng murmured with a slight nod as he drifted in through the palace gates led by Murong Bo.

The luxurious airs.h.i.+p behind them was not shrunk and collected but instead remained resolutely parked at the palace gates to be marveled at by onlookers and pa.s.sersby.

Entering the inner courtyard of the palace, Murong Bo personally led the prince to palace chambers that had been prepared for him and said, "We knew that Your Majesty would be calling on us any day now, so I ordered my servants to prepare these chambers for you so that your stay here may be one of some comfort."

Nie Teng glanced casually around the palace chambers, but without commenting much on his accommodations, he turned to Murong Bo and asked, "What news do you have of my marriage proposal to the Young Miss of the Feng Residence that my servant sent?"

Hearing this, Murong Bo hastily replied, "I immediately went to the Feng Residence to tell them of your servant's visit, but Feng Xiao and the Young Miss were of a different mind. Of late, however, troubles have befallen the Feng family. Feng Xiao fell into a stupor after an attempt on his life and the Old Feng Patriarch has gone missing. At this point, the Feng Residence is being held up by the Young Miss alone, and I believe they are on the verge of ruin. I am certain that the Young Miss is filled with grat.i.tude to know that she has not lost Your Majesty's favor. For Your Majesty's feast this evening, I will send a servant to invite her here to the palace to keep Your Majesty company!"

"Oh? Why haven't I heard of this?"

Hearing that this devastatingly beautiful maiden faced such difficulties and was forced to bolster an entire family upon her delicate shoulders tugged at his heartstrings and he asked Murong Bo in a subdued voice, "And you've found out who did this?"

Murong Bo dabbed the cold sweat from his brow and said, "No, we don't know who did this, but if I had to guess, I'd say that it was a foreign agent. Feng Xiao is a great general here in Sun Glory, so he surely has quite a few old enemies."

"The Young Miss Feng Qing Ge is my woman, so you must treat her affairs with the great importance that they deserve."

"Yes, yes. Of course, absolutely," he quickly replied, feeling a bit dizzy.

"Well, a feast awaits! There won't be too many others in attendance, so long as she is here to be with Your Majesty!" Murong Bo exclaimed as he gestured for him to rest.

"Yes. I'll be retiring now," said Nie Teng as he bowed his head, turned, and left.

Once Murong Bo had left, a middle-aged man dressed in black stepped forward and asked, "Master, shall I go down to the Feng Residence to investigate?" Because they had been careless, he and his master had learned of Feng Jiu's dark secret without so much as a fight, and this had been worrying him to no end.

Could such a cavalier and brilliant woman as her really land in his master's harem so easily?