53 Lame Response

"What's he doing here? He's never attended a court meeting so why now?" Whispers could be heard around the place as the officials all gossiped in hushed tones.

Gu Shang had never attended a meeting in the imperial court since he's arrival in the Domain. The emperor had even summoned him a few times but he had ignored all, so they were surprised to see him here.

They had a feeling he wasn't here to just show his face.

The door of the golden carriage opened. A young man with silver hair in silver imperial robes stepped out, he held no name plaque because he didn't need one.

All the officials bowed their heads the moment he stepped out of the carriage, only three head remained proudly standing, without bowing.

They were obviously the Prime Minister, First Chancellor and Grand Governor of the imperial court.

All the officials gathered there held their breath with their heads still lowered, they were expecting to see quite a show today, they remembered pretty well Gu Shang's first arrival in the capital, he had spilled so much blood, because some officials refused to bow down to him.

Gu Shang's father and grandfather looked at the young proud man Infront of them with regrets, the higher officials close to them couldn't help but snicker at the Gu clan's misfortune.

They were this close to attaining greatness and becoming a dominant clan in the empire, but they messed it up themselves.

Now they had to bow to the son they threw away for being worthless. That got to hurt.

The two old men scanned Gu Shang the moment he stepped out of the carriage.

Gu Shang put his hands behind him and glanced at the three men with an expressionless face.

If they had met him outside the walls of the imperial palace, then they would have to kneel, but they were now in the Dragon Nest,

They didn't have to kneel,in the Dragon Nest the only person they knelt to was the emperor, but Gu Shang was still the highest ranking official in the court so they needed to show him some respect.

The Prime Minister and First Chancellor smiled as if satisfied with what they saw, before they bowed to Gu Shang.

All the officials were surprised, they didn't expect the two crafty old foggys to give in like that, Those two old men barely showed any respect towards the emperor.

Everyone now turned their attention towards the Grand Governor, he was the clan lord of the most powerful clan below the imperial clan.

The Imperial clan had even bestowed to them the title of First Clan in the empire, they held massive influence and authority in the empire. Now the question they all wondered was that, would such a man with such power lower his head to any person other than the emperor.

The Grand Governor scanned Gu Shang for a long while, their eyes met and there was a brief silent battle between the two huge personalities.

This wasn't a fight of cultivation or martial arts or techniques, but a battle of who had charisma, and who commanded respect the most.

It was a battle to determine the true leader of the imperial court, everybody held their breath as the two battled it out with their eyes alone.

They all began to feel suffocated by the powerful aura the two were emitting.

Beads of cold sweat began to form on the forehead of the Grand Governor as his body began trembling under Gu Shang's aura.

Gu Shang aura was like a boundless wave of power sweeping his own away, he felt defenseless against Gu Shang aura, more importantly his will was breaking down, it wasn't a challenge anymore, he was fighting himself from submitting to Gu Shang's aura.

That's right, Gu Shang's aura was a tyranic aura, it was as if he's aura was demanding total submission with no room to refuse.

This greatly shocked him. Gu Shang was no older than his son, so where was this tyranic aura coming from, Gu Shang had the aura of a Supreme monarch, he begun to wonder what Gu Shang had been through to attain such a frightening aura.

Gu Shang on the other hand was quite surprised though it did not show on his face, he was greatly impressed.

The Grand Governor was not a cultivator, he was just a mere mortal but he able to resist and to some extent fight Gu Shang's tyranical aura.

Gu Shang knew himself best and knew what his aura could do to even cultivators.

The Qing Clan lord clasped his hands and bowed his head, "The Grand Governor pays his respect to the prince of the north!"

Everyone was stunned, "Why was he giving in so early??" They muttered.

The two old foggys looked shocked, "Did you feel that? That boy has the Supreme Monarch's aura, how is that even possible?" The first chancellor said to the prime minister in doubt.

The Prime Minister nodded his head, he was also clearly surprised as he stared at Gu Shang in deep contemplation.

Only Imperials could wield that kind of aura, and to what they knew, Gu Shang had no imperial blood.

Gu Shang raised an eyebrow, This Grand Governor was going to be hard to deal with, he wasn't as impulsive as the other nobles and aristocrat's, he knew when to bow and when to advance.

"Haah, The Grand Governor reputation indeed precedes him, you're as wise as I've heard" Gu Shang said with a nonchalant tone.

"I don't think I deserve such high praise from the prince of the north" the Qing Clan lord humbly said.

"No..no..no, you deserve all the praise, A lot of heads had to row and blood had to be spilled before the officials in court decided to submit to me, and show me some respect upon my arrival a few weeks ago. Thankfully I didn't face the same problem with you, Grand Governor" Gu Shang said with a sigh.

''As the highest ranking official in the Imperial court, It's only right that we show you the respect your status carries, all officials who fail to acknowledge that should be held accountable and punished" The Qing Clan lord said with a smile.

Gu Shang nodded his head in approval before glancing at the Fourth Rank Junior Official, who had been arguing with his Father-in-law a moment ago.

"Tsk, Grand Governor. Do you also believe that the nobles and Court officials, are the backbone of the empire?" Gu Shang asked.

Before the Qing Clan lord could even answer the question, an old man with long white beard in court robes stepped forward and clasped his hands.

"I'm Han Li, Tutor to the first prince. It is indeed true that nobles and court officials are the back bones of the empire"

Gu Shang glanced at him and asked with his hands behind his back, "How so?"

"Even though the nation belongs to the imperial clan, the true retainers of the nation are the nobles and court officials.

The nobles are the ones who give out their lands for the commoners to work on and make a living for themselves.

Without the lands we've provided for them, the common people would not survive and the nation will die

Without the policies of the court officials, the common people would be lost which would descend the nation into chaos,

Without us there would be no nation or common people, Without we the nobles, the nation cannot survive.

The nation cannot function without us, we are the back bones of the nation" The old man said with a loud and confident voice.

All the officials gathered there couldn't help but nood their heads in agreement, it was only thanks to them that the empire was able to survive, without them the empire would not be able to survive.

After Gu Shang heard this, he burst out in a loud laughter, causing the officials gathered there to frown.

"It's this the best you could come up with?" Gu Shang asked as he glanced around.

"That's the lamest explanation I've heard in all my life"