Chapter 273: Undercurrents!

Tap! Tap!

The Empress walked towards Duan Li with casual steps as her maids, attendants and Advisor Chen followed closely behind her. In addition, their overbearing aura made the whole crowd swallowed their saliva, not daring to look directly!

"Hmph! So that's the Queen? Husband, you only need to say the word and I shall kill her in an instant. To think that existences of our caliber would be forced to single kneel like this.." Queen Levy said to Duan Li telepathically with gritted teeth as anger was boiling within her!

"Shush! We need to keep a low profile before my coronation day. I don't want to complicate others around me, so you better stand down and not do anything else!" Duan Li stared towards the latter with a reprimanding look.

"Hmph!" Queen Levy could only pout and suppress herself even though she was not willing. Had this been the olden days, she would have killed everyone here without a doubt for witnessing her kneeling to a mere ant!

"You are Duan Li? Congratulations for being the Champion of the Competition tonight." the Empress said promptly, her tone indifferent.

In her eyes, the fellow in front of her was nothing but trouble. She had expected that Duan Li would win the fight, but she had imagined it to be an arduous battle consisting of a few gory scenes where he broke a few of his bones, ribs and the likes..

Not with a single punch!

A person with a fighting prowess as such would be nigh impossible to suppress once he becomes the official Imperial Overseer of the Jiu Empire! Not only that, the position and influence of the Royal family would be put in jeopardy!

Just what in the world was his husband thinking, electing this fellow as the Imperial Overseer?

"Thank you for the kind words your highness. Today was only won by a mere struck of luck, not worth a mention at all." Duan Li replied casually, trying to sound low profile as possible.

In his mind though, from what Queen Levy told him, it was highly probably that the puppet was tempered by the Empress herself. But since the Emcee told him that it will be explained to him later on; he refrained from asking, afraid that it would send the wrong interpretation to others around them if he carelessly asked.

"Y-You!" Advisor Chen was about to lash out at Duan Li for daring to speak with such an arrogant tone before the Empress.

To him, the underlying meaning behind Duan Li's words just now contained hints of disdain towards the Empress!

In other words, it could be translated as;

"Your petty tricks in the puppet before meant nothing to me."

However, surprisingly, the Empress signalled for him to not interfere.

"Interesting." the Empress smiled.

To think that not only this fellow has the brawns but also the brains as well!

This fellow is definitely the cunning type!

Meanwhile, Duan Li was oblivious to their inner thoughts. From his perspective, unless his opponent was above the Nascent Soul realm level which would give him some trouble, everything else was really nothing to him by now.

Thus, how could he know that his simple reply of nonchalantness would instead resulted in misunderstanding by the two people in front of him?

"Kukuku!" Queen Levy by the side could hardly suppress herself from laughing out loud.

My husband is the best! Take that you filthy woman!

The trio beside them; Wang Dong, Lu Bu and Zhang Liao was sweating profusely as their teeth clattered together.

Brother! We know that you are daring okay! But you are in close proximity to us right now! If something were to happen, we will be complicated!

That's the Queen of the Jiu Empire damn it!

In the Tian continent, hierarchy was kept extremely strict, especially between the commoners and royalties. If the former were to somehow offend the latter, then even if they were sent to the execution block, there was nothing they could do!

The only exception to this was of course, cultivator with great power. After all, in front of true power, titles meant nothing!

"Our meeting tonight is short, but seeing you like this face to face, I finally know just what kind of person you are. Let's hope that we will meet again next time for an even longer chat." the Empress said as she turned around and left, along with her followers.

Scratching his head, Duan Li could not help but to become confused.

"That's all? She sure is a person that don't talk much..."

...

After the Empress left, everyone in the hall heaved a sigh of relief. It was too much of a nerve wrecking when they can't move or talk, and the constant fear of possibly offending the Empress made them stand on their tenterhooks!

"Brother Duan Li! You sure are brave! I really admire you!" Wang Dong said with a thumbs up.

"Huh? I'm not doing anything?" Duan Li once again scratched his head.

"By the looks of it, the competition tonight was organized by the Empress herself, seeing that she came here to congratulate you personally." Lu Bu cupped his chin as he contemplated.

A Queen of an empire took it upon herself to organize such a competition?

"Hmph. She is also the one that purposely made the puppet stronger intentionally to scheme against my Lord. The gal!" Queen Levy by the side suddenly interjected.

Scheme?

Hearing this, Zhang Liao frowned as his mind started to piece the mystery together like the jigsaw of a puzzle.

Ling Shin and Ruo Hen was nowhere to be found after the competition, and even Bai Li as well..

Huh? Wait a moment..

If what she said is true.. then..

"It seems like.. there is a problem brewing inside your empire.." he said to Duan Li.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Duan Li was surprised.

Zhang Liao went silent for a while before explaining;

"I'm not too sure as well.. but did you realize that Ling Shin and Ruo Hen suddenly disappeared after the competition? They are not even present here tonight, despite being the champions for the Late stage platform."

"Yeah, now that you mentioned it. Was it possible that they didn't come because they held a grudge against me? Or were they in a hurry to return back to their empire?" Duan Li thought with a serious look.

"No, the invitation letter was of the Royal Insignia, there is no turning that down without heavy repercussion, even if we are outsiders. It is a cultural thing after all. Furthermore, those over there are their attendants, so that means they are still here in the Jiu Empire, possibly in their lodgings right now." Zhang Liao replied, hinting at their strict hierarchical system.

While they may not be punished by the Jiu Empire if they neglected the invitation, rumor will spread. Once they return to their empire, the Royal court will definitely call them for a hearing!

He then continued, "The only possibility is that, the invitation was directly negated by the Imperial Decree from Ling Shin and Ruo Hen's empire, the Doulou Empire! In other words, they are required to stay indoors tonight!"

It was at this moment that Lu Bu joined in with a solemn expression, "If even their Imperial Palace had ordered them for a house arrest, then the situation is truly dire! Just what is going on?"

Zhang Liao shook his head, "I don't know.. but one thing for sure is that, the Empress purposely tempering on the puppet before was not to scheme against you Duan Li, but something else. However, this is only my conjecture."

Hearing all these, Duan Li's brows creased together as he pinched his temples.

Someone is trying to cause a problem in the Jiu Empire? Who and why?

"Di Rou!" Duan Li suddenly said, before a figure in tight black clothing emerged from his shadow, causing the trio to become startled as they retreated a few steps to the back.

"Ah! Calm down! This is my subordinate. She gathers intelligence for me." Duan Li explained before turning around to talk with Di Rou.

Meanwhile, both the trio felt their backs to be drenched in sweat!

"That woman is definitely an Assassin! Highly skilled at that!" they simultaneously thought in their mind.

Of all the opponents that was the most difficult to handle, assassin was indubitably ranked amongst the top!

Moreover, the woman talking beside Duan Li did not even let out a sliver of her presence when hiding, undetectable to even Lu Bu and Zhang Liao whom possessed exceptional sensory abilities!

To think that such a powerful assassin was a subordinate of this new friend of theirs... Just what is his real identity?!

Gulp!

...