Chapter 126: Hijacking (1)

"I have checked, and the people below report that he is very busy and has no time to come!" said another person. This individual had been going outside all evening to consult with his subordinates, whispering back and forth; it seemed this was the reason.

Every time he received news, his brow would furrow deeply, and he would wave for his subordinates to carry on.

"What on earth could be so important that he can skip this? If his negotiation methods weren't so unconventional, I truly wouldn't care if he came or not!" one person remarked, sounding both reproachful and helpless.

Brother Seven looked at these people with curiosity. Although he did not know who they were talking about, he understood that this person must hold an extraordinary position within the Thirteen Allied Nations; otherwise, these people would not be nursing grievances they dared not voice.

Why did he say they dared not voice them? It was simple: given the current circumstances—perhaps a turning point in the history of the Thirteen Allied Nations—if it were an ordinary person, they would have dragged him over already, rather than being so afraid to even speak.

Therefore, Brother Seven was very eager to know who this person was. It was not just curiosity; he wanted to see for himself exactly how "unconventional" this person's negotiation methods were.

Thus, Brother Seven asked, "Who is the person you are talking about?"

"He is the King of this Dofang Kingdom. Not only can he negotiate, but he can also decide on matters we cannot!" those people replied.

The most important thing now was to keep Brother Seven and the Ye family members here, preferably by answering his questions and piquing his interest.

A King?!

Come to think of it, having arrived here and not yet seen the King was truly unusual. He had felt something was strange yesterday, and it turned out to be the absence of the King.

Setting aside the negotiations, simply being hosted at the "Royal Palace" meant the King, as the host, should not have refused to meet them.

It was not just Brother Seven who found it strange; Ye Chengtian and the others felt the same. Ordinary people might not notice, but those who moved constantly among the powerful knew that such breaches of etiquette simply should not happen.

Unless one was intentionally putting on airs, but even then, one had to consider the audience. For a group like Ye Chengtian’s, even the emperors of the three great empires would not act so haughtily.

So, what was this King doing?

Brother Seven asked this question, but the answer was that they did not know. These people had never been able to figure out what the King was doing. They only knew that a day ago, the King had said he would come to negotiate, but after that day passed, he shut himself away and refused to let anyone disturb him.

"In that case, I had better not intrude!" Brother Seven bowed, preparing to take his leave. After all, even if the terms of the Thirteen Allied Nations were good, they were unlikely to satisfy him.

He had once been a high-ranking official of an empire; the scope of what he had managed alone was far greater than these Thirteen Allied Nations combined, let alone what the others managed together.

In the end, he negotiated only to amuse himself; he enjoyed the process, not the objective.

"How about this? Why don't we go over together and see what is going on with him!" The representatives, of course, would not let the negotiations end here and somewhat forcefully pulled Brother Seven along.

"..." Brother Seven felt it was hard to refuse such hospitality, and he was indeed curious to meet this King and see what kind of person he was.

Seeing this, Seventh Sister-in-law immediately blocked them, pulled Brother Seven away, and glared fiercely at the men, scaring them back a small step!

She was indeed a princess of the empire; she possessed an extraordinary aura.

Brother Seven smiled, took his wife’s hand, and felt very happy and sweet as he continued to follow the others.

Anyway, there was nothing else to do. Even if they went back now, they would have to wait for Ye Chengtian and the others to finish packing and get ready, which would take a long time.

"Who says there's nothing to do? I still need to help you wash and groom yourself. You didn't bathe yesterday. Plus, we need to eat breakfast together, and, and, you need to sleep..." Seventh Sister-in-law had strong opinions about having nothing to do and listed a whole bunch of tasks. Though they were minor daily chores, they were very important.

Well, at least to her, they were very important—more important than national affairs!

"I know, honey. We'll do it when we get back. But we really should see our host; he did host us for the night, after all!" Brother Seven said with a happy smile.

"Hmm!" Seventh Sister-in-law nodded obediently and strolled along, arm in arm with him.

Brother Seven had originally thought he would be the first to arrive, or at least among the first. To his surprise, when he reached the King's residence, he discovered—

"Oh? How did you two end up here too?" Ye Chengtian and his brothers, along with some others, were standing right outside the King's residence.

They seemed to have just arrived and were waiting to be announced.

"We came to thank our host, just a matter of etiquette," Brother Seven replied.

"Hmph, us too. But this King seems to have a lot of airs. Someone went in to announce us a while ago, and there has been no response at all!" Ye Chengtian said with great dissatisfaction, aiming his words at the representatives.

"Apologies, Marshal Ye, for keeping you waiting. I suspect King Gaofei is acting abnormally again. He does this often, and there is nothing we can do!" the representatives explained immediately.

They addressed Ye Chengtian as "Marshal Ye," a title from his time as a general that had stuck.

"If that is the case, then we shall take our leave. Please convey our gratitude to King Gaofei for his hospitality!" Ye Chengtian said, clearly annoyed.

For the king of a tiny kingdom to dare keep him waiting outside—it was simply absurd!

"Marshal Ye, wait a moment. Let me go in and call him. Please wait here a little longer!" one of the representatives, who seemed to be a man of some authority, said immediately.

"Very well, I can wait a little longer," Ye Chengtian agreed.

This was merely out of courtesy; a short wait was acceptable. However, later on, Ye Chengtian would realize that if he hadn't waited, things might have turned out very differently...

"Good, it won't be long!" the man said, rushing inside at a brisk pace, almost at a trot.

When he entered, he saw the person who had gone in to announce them earlier, standing in the outer room, pacing back and forth in anxiety...

"What are you doing here? Why haven't you announced us after all this time?!" the man said, looking at the messenger with irritation. He didn't even stop to consider the circumstances; they were being delayed.