Ninth In the World

The days became peaceful again.

Over time, people in the entire Jia He Town learned about Di Jiu. He was not a talkative outsider. He would go to the village after a while and spent most of his time in his cabin.

The only disadvantage was that he never went out for physical labor.

After discovering that Di Jiu did not like physical labor, people would send some food to him after some time. The people in the mountain village had simple hearts. Although some people looked down on Di Jiu’s laziness, most villagers did not care much.

In the eyes of these villagers, Di Jiu had been left with one leg and Gui Hai had brought him back. Furthermore, Di Jiu had even brought an auspicious sign to Jia He Town.

Any villager who gave something to Di Jiu would just take it to a small wooden warehouse outside Di Jiu’s house. When Di Jiu closed the door to recuperate, no one could see him.

In the eyes of the villagers in Jia He Town, Di Jiu knew his place. He had never asked the villagers to send him anything. If people brought something to his wooden house, he would not return it. If someone gave Di Jiu something and later felt a little regretful, he could go in and take it away at any time. Di Jiu had never said anything.

Gui Hai brought the most things to Di Jiu, but the most beautiful flower in Jia He Town, Gan Rou, looked for Di Jiu the most.

Gui Hai and Gan Rou saw Di Jiu very few times. Only when Di Jiu went out to walk could they see him and chat with him.

Cen Fa glanced at Nai Yisheng, who was by his side, and Nai Yisheng nodded his head. Then, Cen Fa scanned the officials on the ground. After a long time, he said with satisfaction, “Everyone, please rise. Ye Hang, let the officials offer the tribute.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” a pale, beardless eunuch who stood underneath hurriedly responded with a bow. Then, he said loudly, “Let the officials offer the tribute!”

As voices spread one after another, the first official to offer the tribute arrived below the hall, led by the palace eunuchs.

Ye Hang’s sharp voice spoke. “King Sha He presents five kilograms of purple gold, five kilograms of supreme-grade Covet Fragrance, a piece of extraterrestrial meteorite iron…”

The tributes behind Ye Hang were brought out of the Golden Imperial Hall.

After Ye Hang had read for dozens of seconds, he finished reading all the tributes.

Upon seeing Monarch Cen Fa nod, Ye Hang added, “The tributes have been received. King Sha He has worked hard.”

When he heard that, the man kneeling on the ground hurriedly shouted, “Long live, Your Majesty!” He then stood up and left the hall with a eunuch.

After King Sha He left, another man came in and knelt. Ye Hang continued reading out loud. “King Yi Yong presents fragrant twins, 108 Deep Sea Pearls…”

When Cen Fa, who was sitting at the top, heard about the fragrant twins, his eyes lit up. When he saw two stunning, elegant young ladies come in, he immediately said with a laugh, “King Yi Yong is thoughtful. You don’t have to take your leave, beauties. Come sit beside me.”

The two young ladies responded obediently and gracefully walked over and stood on either side of Cen Fa.

Cen Fa smelled a faint fragrance and felt increasingly happy. He even stretched his hands to embrace the two of them.

Ye Hang was still reading out loud as the tributes went around the Golden Imperial Hall. However, these tributes could not attract the attention of Cen Fa. His attention was now on the two fragrant women beside him. The faint fragrance made him seem a little preoccupied.

“Jia Zhou City Lord Wang Xie presents ten Sunset Peaches…”

Even Ye Hang was shocked. Despite reading out loud for so many years, this was the first time he had heard of someone presenting ten Sunset Peaches. He wanted to believe that he had not finished reading, but there was really nothing.

Ye Hang took a cold breath. Did he have a death wish? Ye Hang and all the chancellors in the hall were silent. He was clearly courting death, but he need not come here even if he was. He could just kill himself. The Chang Yuan Empire’s Monarch would not let anyone die happily.

“Yes!” Cen Fa, who seemed to sense the surrounding silence, lifted his head. “What is it?”

Indeed, he had not heard clearly what Ye Hang had read out loud.

“Your Majesty, a City Lord just presented ten Sunset Peaches,” answered a fragrant woman who was snuggling beside Cen Fa in a low voice.

“What?” A flame erupted deep in Cen Fa.

No one in the neighboring countries had dared send common Sunset Peaches. How dare an affiliated city present Sunset Peaches! On top of that, there were only ten peaches. Was he insulting Cen Fa?

Although he did not mind how precious the tribute gifts were, this was a completely different matter.