Chapter 139: The Mermaid Slave Serves at the Banquet
Emperor Zhengzong of the Qing Dynasty had just received His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Holy Son a while ago, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not dare to neglect them. After a brief inquiry, they opened the city gate.
The highest-ranking local official, the garrison commander who introduced himself as General Feiyun, even held a welcoming banquet for the disciples of the Qing Zhengzong sect.
"What a huge city! Such high walls! Such well-organized streets! Everyone looks so rich!"
On the way to the general's mansion, Ye Xiaoman looked around curiously, just like Granny Liu when she first visited the Grand View Garden.
In a border city with prosperous economy and trade, many businessmen gathered in the city to do business. It was Ye Xiaoman's first time traveling far away from the world and seeing many things she had never seen before.
There were ghost cultivators with green faces and fangs, demon cultivators with fluffy tails hanging behind them, winged people with feathers covering their skin, and the imperial man with powder on his face and flowers in his hair that the eldest sister mentioned, all of them appeared in large numbers.
Strange and bizarre spiritual practice tools are sold on the streets.
Xiao Chujing carried his and Ye Xiaoman's packages on his shoulders, and held a disguised natal sword in his hand. He walked side by side with her at the end of the team, with a smile on his dimples, and indulged her as they walked and played.
He has been traveling for a long time, and this is not the first time Huang Chao has come to share some common sense with her.
"The Divine Realm is the most affluent place in the Six Realms. It is rich in resources, blessed with spiritual energy and beautiful scenery. It has numerous blessed caves and paradises that are conducive to cultivation. It has produced many talented people since ancient times."
"The Ji royal family has produced many powerful individuals over the past thousands of years. Through the efforts of successive emperors, the dynasty has grown stronger and stronger, annexing many countries on the Taiyuan Continent and currently becoming the most powerful force in the six realms."
When Ye Xiaoman reached the gate of the general's mansion, she couldn't help but stop.
The bodies of several monks, including men, women, young and old, were hung on the city wall, with notices posted on their bodies stating their crimes. Some of them had robbed the city, and some had harmed their fellow practitioners. The common point was that all of them were wearing Taoist robes.
"Of course, every faction is bound to have internal struggles for power and profit. The imperial dynasty governs a vast territory, with numerous powerful clans. Aristocratic families, divine authority, and imperial power are all deeply intertwined and engaged in long-term struggles."
Xiao Chujing raised his eyes, not surprised at all. "These are Taoist priests from the imperial dynasty. General Feiyun must be a Buddhist. He is just listing crimes and killing those who are dissidents in the city."
Basically, Buddhism and the aristocratic families have joined forces and are very powerful. In order to consolidate their power, the royal family supported Taoism to compete with them, and the two sides would make the other bleed from time to time.
Ye Xiaoman turned her eyes away from the corpse. "But Jiaying and Ji Weiming seem to have a good relationship."
Xiao Chujing said: "The friendship among the upper class is just superficial, but the struggle among the middle and lower classes has never stopped."
Ye Xiaoman: "What should I do? I just stepped into the divine realm and I already feel very dangerous."
Xiao Chujing stroked her shoulder and said with a smile: "What are you afraid of? Senior Brother will protect you."
Ye Xiaoman said with emotion: "Ji Wenyi is quite amazing. He is so young and yet he can manage such a large empire."
After the brawl at Xianxu, Xiao Chujing only felt disgust towards Ji Wenyi. When he heard Ye Xiaoman praising another man, he raised an eyebrow and said, "He's just good at playing power games."
They walked and talked, and were led by the general's subordinates to sit down at the banquet table.
In order to keep a low profile, they hid their identities and used pseudonyms of other disciples in the sect when they entered seclusion. Others did not know that they were the owners of the Emperor Sword and the Nameless Sword. They just regarded them as disciples who had just entered the sect and arranged them at the last seat.
Ye Xiaoman thought it was just an ordinary banquet at first, but soon she almost let out another ignorant explosion.
There was no doubt that the servants who walked around and served dishes at the banquet were weak and beautiful mermaids. The dynasty's wars, taking the inhabitants of the desert sea as trophies and plundering them as slaves on land, were all within Ye Xiaoman's scope of cognition.
Until the two mermaid slaves lay on the ground with their backs facing up, forming a human chair, General Feiyun sat on it as if it was nothing.
Other male and female mermaid slaves, male slaves accompanying female guests, female slaves accompanying male guests, their feet transformed into beautiful fish tails like smoke and mist, either lying down or sitting upright, guests can use their tails as seats at will, or sit directly in their arms.
One of the male mermaids seemed to like Ye Xiaoman very much and secretly tickled her calves with his tail fin.
General Fei Yun warmly entertained them: "These shark slaves are from the deep sea. Their bodies are cooler than ice. In the hot summer, they are just the right way to cool down. Please feel free to enjoy them, my dear guests."
"If any of them are lucky enough to catch the eye of a noble, they can take them away for the night. It would be their honor."
The people of the Qing Zhengzong had upright values and could not accept the custom of treating people as objects. They collectively refused, and the general then let Jiao Nu leave.
The banquet lasted until late at night.
The eldest brother declined the general's invitation to stay overnight, and the group returned to the flying boat.
Ye Xiaoman was still immersed in shock. The luxurious banquet and the mermaids serving at the banquet were enough for her to brag about for a long time when she returned to the sect.
His fellow students were amazed.
"Mermaids are very expensive, one worth tens of millions of gold. Some wealthy families buy large numbers of mermaids to use as slaves in order to show off their wealth."
"The sect leader once wanted to buy one and raise it in a spirit pond just to maintain his reputation. But he later learned that mermaids need to eat a spirit cow every day and bathe in spirit beads. He simply couldn't afford to raise one, so he gave up."
"General Feiyun alone possesses eight shark slaves."
"A wine vessel made of gold!"
"A mere border general is so arrogant and extravagant. I can't imagine how wealthy the dynasty is."
Ye Xiaoman was shocked after hearing the hatred towards the rich. “So Ji Weiming… Ji Wenyi came to our sect before, and the terrifying scene he put on was actually just a simple one.”
Xiao Chujing raised his eyebrows again, "Junior Sister, this is the second time you've mentioned his name today."
Ye Xiaoman looked at Xiao Chujing with melancholy. Ji Wenyi was rich and powerful, and she was just constantly evaluating the consequences of offending him.
The night in the border town is as bright as day.
Ye Xiaoman first saw a male cultivator walking by with two beauties in his arms, and then she saw a female cultivator leading a group of handsome young men into the alley.
His fellow students were envious again.
"It's a characteristic of the Divine Realm. As long as one has the ability, men can have multiple wives and concubines, and women can have multiple husbands and servants."
"I really want to be called my wife by several men, wuwuwu."
"With so many mistresses, how much does it cost every month for makeup? They really are wealthy people per capita."
Xiao Chujing firmly believed in monogamy and was disgusted by this custom. He covered Ye Xiaoman's eyes and said, "Don't look."
The world of flowers and beauties is fascinating, and he is very worried that Ye Xiaoman will learn bad things outside.
The eldest brother would feel uncomfortable if he didn't prick Xiao Chujing. "Junior Brother Xiao, you have to lick Junior Sister even harder. The Divine Realm is a den of vengeance. Many female cultivators who come here want to get married before leaving."
After this little episode, we continued on our journey.
After several days of traveling through wind and rain, they finally arrived at the imperial capital.
After these people's journey, Ye Xiaoman had a concrete understanding of the vast territory of the dynasty. No wonder Ji Wenyi had so many dream men and women.
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