Qin Ze's words were like a sharp blade piercing Mai Lirui's heart. At this moment, he knelt down on the ground, his resentment making his breathing heavy.
As the Duke of Sauri, his status was exceptionally prestigious both domestically and internationally.
As someone with diplomatic missions, he visited many countries and met with many monarchs. Needless to say, the monarchs of those smaller countries even had to bow their heads before him, smile obsequiously, and receive him with the highest honors.
Powerful nations such as the Delta Federation, Hungary, and Luxembourg will treat him as an honored guest and will not show him any disrespect.
Of course, Emperor von Palen of the Delta Federation was arrogant, even overly conceited and conceited. In a previous meeting, Merriel had been intimidated by him, but that time he only knelt on one knee.
Grand Duke Saint-Ister of Hunli had a bad reputation and a volatile temper like a mad dog. Therefore, when visiting Hunli, Merriel deliberately sent his deputy to pay his respects while he himself stayed out of it, thus preventing Grand Duke Saint-Ister from taking the opportunity to lash out.
Strictly speaking, at least during his travels over the years, Merriel, who has visited many countries, has never felt insulted.
Now, at this moment, a strong sense of humiliation enveloped his entire body. Mai Lirui felt as if a sharp blade had pierced his body. He really wanted to stand up immediately, point his finger at the man in front of him, and curse him angrily.
How dare he insult me like this?!
But Merri knew he absolutely couldn't do that; the man before him was no less arrogant and conceited than Emperor von Palen.
His "crazy" personality was evident in the battles he fought; he always aimed to annihilate any enemy.
This insane act of killing people like slaughtering cattle and sheep would probably make even the Grand Duke of St. East bow down in admiration.
Therefore, after Qin Ze finished speaking, Mai Lirui took a deep breath and advised himself to be patient for the time being, as the priority was to keep the arrogant King of Yan in check.
Once the fleet arrives, he will surely repay the humiliation he suffered today a hundredfold!
immediately--
With a "bang".
He bent down and kowtowed.
With Marilyn leading the way, the foreigners behind him, though feeling resentful, dared not disobey and all began to kowtow.
Qin Ze crossed his arms and looked at them expressionlessly.
After kowtowing three times, Mai Lirui slowly stood up, lowered his head, gritted his teeth, bowed to Qin Ze, then his knees buckled and he knelt down again, kowtowing three more times.
The foreigners behind him followed suit and began to kowtow. After repeating this twice, the group had kowtowed nine times and were kneeling on the ground waiting for Qin Ze to tell them to get up.
At that moment, a chorus of howls erupted from the surrounding area:
"Good, good, good! Well done, well done!"
"I thought you foreigners were born with hard bones and couldn't kowtow, but it turns out you can kowtow too, hahaha!"
The people laughed with joy, their pent-up resentment vanished in an instant, and the feeling of triumph made everyone feel refreshed.
In an instant, regardless of gender or age, everyone was joyful, and the air was filled with happiness.
Mai Lirui's face flushed red and white, a mixture of shame and anger. After kowtowing several times, he had truly lost all face.
The Duke of Sauri had been so humiliated today, and in front of so many people. All Merri wanted was for this moment to pass as soon as possible.
He regretted it somewhat. If he had known this would happen, he would have preferred to go to Nanze with Prince Qing from the beginning, at least he could have avoided being humiliated.
Thinking of this, he slightly raised his head to look at Qin Ze, waiting for him to say, "Get up."
Qin Ze listened to the voices of the people, but remained expressionless and silent.
The wind howled through the air, and Mai Lirui and the others knelt on the ground, enduring the scorching sun. Having never knelt before, their knees were no longer just sore, but were now aching.
But they still didn't hear the words, "Get up."
Finally, Mai Lirui couldn't help but whisper, "Your Majesty, as you instructed, I have finished kowtowing."
Upon hearing this, Qin Ze coldly replied, "Finished kowtowing? How come I couldn't hear a single sound?"
"If you kowtow without making a sound, can you even call it kowtowing?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Mai Lirui shuddered, his anger burning fiercely in his chest, and his hands, which were pressed against the ground, clenched into fists.
He actually complained that the kowtowing wasn't loud enough! Did he expect him to kowtow nine more times?!
This is absolutely outrageous!
Mai Lirui gritted his teeth, finally unable to bear it any longer. He decided to defend his dignity and speak out in rebuttal!
Just as he was about to stand up and start cursing without a second thought, a foreigner behind him stood up first.
The one who stood up was Marquis Fernando of Hunli. He was a distant relative of King Saint-Ister and was originally a subordinate of Van Lilun. After Van Lilun's death, he became the leader of the Huns in this area.
Hailing from the St. East family, he shared a fiery temper. The humiliating nine kowtows had already pushed him to his limit; hearing that he was to kowtow again, he could no longer bear it and immediately stood up, shouting:
"Enough!"
"I'm done!"
"We are not people you can bully!"
"You're disrespecting us and causing trouble for your Yan Kingdom!" Fernando pointed at Qin Ze, his face full of anger.
Qin Ze lowered his arm and glanced at him sideways, saying:
"So, you don't want to kowtow? You're not convinced?"
When Fernando saw that icy gaze, his heart skipped a beat. But since he had already chosen to stand up, he naturally didn't want to kneel down again at this moment, because that would really make him lose all face.
He immediately replied, "Impossible! I will never kowtow again!"
"If I don't kowtow, are you going to kill me?!"
"Everyone here is a high-ranking official from their respective countries, while I am a member of the Saint-Ist family of Hungary! If you have any ill intentions towards me..."
But before he could finish speaking, a general leaped forward like a tiger hunting in the mountains and forests, and immediately pounced into the crowd!
Fernando's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stepped back.
It was too late.
With a sound of a blade being drawn, a long, gleaming sword flashed past his eyes.
Fernando's face still showed a look of horror. His eyes were wide open in disbelief as he saw his own neck, which had been severed by a single blow!
The foreigners around were horrified to see the severed head flying high into the air, and many fell to the ground, their horror evident in their expressions.
Blood gushed from the severed neck of Fernando's still-standing corpse, as if a rain of blood had fallen under the blazing sun.
As blood splattered, Qi Jiguang, soaked in the blood, reached out and caught the head falling from the sky.
His cold gaze swept over the foreigners one by one. Qi Jiguang held the bloodied head high in one hand, the blade gleaming in the other, and addressed them:
"If you disagree, then stand up."
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