Chapter 25 — Journey to the Royal Capital 2
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 3
No sooner had the old king spoken than a gauze curtain beneath a nearby corridor pillar swayed faintly—yet no shadow of anyone appeared.
"And whatever you do, do not draw too close. If that truly is the legend of seven hundred years ago, a careless approach will certainly be noticed," the old king added.
The gauze curtain beneath the pillar did not stir again.
……
Gao Cenxing entered through the main gate of Sacred Frost Perch City and rode along the great avenue through the city. Nearly half the city's people had learned the news, and before the party reached the Silver Bastion they encountered the delegation the king had sent out to welcome them.
The welcome was lavish and the ceremony most grand: a red carpet stretched from deep within the Silver Bastion all the way to Gao Yang's feet; gorgeously attired attendants and maids scattered flower petals along the route; trumpeters and drummers played music in two files. All of it meant that His Majesty the King had likely prepared for more than a single day—yet Gao Yang could still be certain that had he altered his manner of entering the city, or arrived a day earlier, the welcome before him would have taken a different form.
Heaven only knew how many contingency plans that king had arranged for this moment.
Gao Yang himself had no experience of dealing with nobles or royalty, but the memories in his mind held no small store of relevant knowledge and experience. Though Gao Yang Cecil was a man of the savage age at the founding of Ansu, he had also lived through the glorious years of the Gondor Empire. He could not see what Ansu had become seven hundred years later, but he knew well what the Gondor Empire had been like seven hundred years ago.
That human empire, at its zenith seven hundred years past, had been of a complexity the nations of the present continent would scarcely dare imagine.
"Please follow me to the Silver Bastion. His Majesty the King has ordered the finest chambers and the best fare prepared, along with hot spring water to ease the guests' fatigue. The meeting is set for noon tomorrow—please rest well tonight."
A reception official of steady bearing—an inner-court noble of some house or other, Gao Yang could not tell which—stood before him and spoke with impeccable courtesy. Gao Yang glanced at Rebecca beside him, only to find the foolish girl gaping about with wide curious eyes.
Though she had striven to remain composed throughout the journey, before the Silver Bastion and amid the grand welcome ceremony, this lord's daughter from the countryside was thoroughly stunned. Her eyes could no longer take it all in; she hardly knew whether to look first at the neat and splendid honor guard or at the towering, majestic palace in the distance, its every outer wall plastered with silver foil.
"I rather thought that king would be eager to see me," Gao Yang said with a shrug, not dismounting but looking down at the reception official. "After all, a man who pops out of a coffin isn't someone you meet every day."
The official was briefly taken aback—likely he had not expected the legendary duke to speak in such a style—but he recovered quickly. "His Majesty took into account the fatigue of your journey, and so set the meeting for tomorrow."
"Is that so..." Gao Yang paused deliberately for a long while, until the reception official was on the verge of breaking into a cold sweat, before continuing. "Then I thank His Majesty for his kindness. But since we are not to meet today, there is no need for me to enter his castle. I am not accustomed to lodging in the Silver Bastion."
The reception official's expression shifted slightly. "Then you..."
"It would be more comfortable to stay in my own home," Gao Yang said with a smile. "Only I wonder—seven hundred years on, have you torn down Number Four Crown Street?"