"Master, please, try this dish! I had it specially prepared for you. I don't know what sort of dishes you like, so I had the imperial chefs make all the same dishes from two years ago..."
The king served Zhang Lie himself.
He had no need to worry about the quality of the meat. Zhang Lie had stayed on this world for quite some time, and he had set up a small farm of disaster-grade lifeforms in the world. After his departure, the new king revived that farm.
Although Zhang Lie and the Jinghun clan had taken away the larger part of peak- and superior-grade lifeforms from the world, there was still about ten percent of the original number left.
Most importantly, the world still possessed large numbers of regular- and mutated-grade lifeforms, which had been deemed too weak or worthless to claim.
Over the last two years, the new king had been diligently taking care of the farm, facilitating their evolution and speeding up the time within the farm by a factor of three.
Even without Zhang Lie's specialized attention, it had generated two or three disaster-grade lifeforms and huge numbers of peak- and superior-grade lifeforms. The new king had prepared these lifeforms as a gift in hopes of Zhang Lie's eventual return—and he made use of them now.
The new king sighed as he recollected his memories. "Do you remember when I was just a prince, Master? We had just come back from the royal hunt, and you commanded the kitchen to make so many dishes that we couldn't finish them all. Back then, I didn't have the same position I do now, but I truly did enjoy the time I spent with you."
Both he and Zhang Lie had been eating as much as they could stuff into their mouths, and the new king regretted that he hadn't observed what dishes Zhang Lie consumed most. Otherwise, he would know his master's favorite food.
Zhang Lie had a bite. "It tastes different from before."
The new king frowned. "I specially instructed the imperial chef from two years ago to prepare this feast! For the taste to have changed—"
The king might have been willing to overlook more minor mishaps, but for the chef to have made such a mistake for the king's most important guest...
The king frowned. "I specially instructed the chef to give this feast his best effort because it would be dedicated to you. For him to have made such a rudimentary mistake—is he trying to challenge my authority?!"
Zhang Lie placed his hand on the king's shoulder. "No, no, not like that. The meal tastes even better than before."
The new king relaxed. "As long as you like it, Master."
Zhang Lie sighed. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
As though he were still the ninth prince of two years hence, the king lowered his head. "I don't, Master. Would you illuminate me?"
"We're not the same people we used to be, and you're no longer the ninth prince of the past. Back then, you had no power or status to speak of—I'm sure you know this better than I do. Even if you made use of the crown prince's connections to have the imperial kitchen make a feast in your honor, the chefs would only do so half-heartedly."
Zhang Lie had another bite of food. "But now that you're the king of the realm, no longer the transparent slip of a prince you were before, the imperial chefs will naturally hang on your every word. They'll do their best to meet and even exceed your expectations, and it's obvious that the food should taste different. Do you understand?"
The king nodded. "Yes, Master!"
Zhang Lie was using the change in the taste of the food to allude to the change in the prince's identity.
Now that the ninth prince had become king, he would never be able to capture the taste of the food he had shared with his master in a small chamber two years ago, and he wouldn't be able to keep relying on Zhang Lie.
Just then, an announcement came from outside the great hall.
"Envoys of various nearby worlds have arrived!" a voice announced.
Zhang Lie turned to the king. "Have you invited those envoys to take part in the banquet?"
The new king frowned, some worry clouding his gaze. "I only informed them of the deaths of the black spirits. The situation unfolding now is somewhat beyond my expectations."
Zhang Lie had a cup of alcohol. "Send them in, then. I'd like to see what they're up to."
"As you will, Master." The king stood up and waved his hand. "Send the envoys in!"
The palace attendants immediately sprung into action, preparing additional seats, cutlery, and food for the new guests.
Zhang Lie turned to the king. "How do you feel about the neighboring worlds?"
"What do you mean, Master?"
"You'll see once they enter, I suppose," Zhang Lie replied, as though he had gathered their purpose, but he didn't elaborate.
The envoys quickly walked in. Some among them were the kings of their respective worlds, who had fled while the black spirits took over.
Upon entering the great hall, the envoys knelt on one knee. "Congratulations, your majesty! We owe you our heartfelt thanks for destroying the black spirits and saving our worlds. If not for your defense against their incursion, all our worlds would have been ruined."
The king shook his head. "I could hardly claim to have saved your worlds. The person you should thank is my master, not me."
The envoys' eyes glowed as they inspected Zhang Lie.
The king of the realm leading the envoys called out, "You're far too modest, your majesty! If not for you, would your master have made a move to save us?"
"In that case, I'll accept your thanks." The new king nodded. "You have great timing. We were having a celebratory banquet for successfully repelling the invasion, and you're welcome to join us." contemporary romance
The envoys did so.
Zhang Lie asked directly, "I'd like to know why all of you have come here so suddenly."
The envoys' leader replied with a smile, "To thank you and his majesty, honored sir."
Zhang Lie frowned. "In that case, do you grant us license to ignore any requests that you might subsequently make?"
The leader of the envoys was rather taken aback by Zhang Lie's abruptness. The envoys had been intending on flattering the new king before following up with their ultimate goal, but Zhang Lie had disrupted all their plans with this statement.
The leader of the envoys opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. Things were decidedly not going according to plan.
Zhang Lie had no interest in these rabble. It was evident that they had come with a request in mind, and he had no intention of allowing them to beat around the bush. Directly asking about their intentions would be the best plan of action.
The leader of the envoys looked toward the king, who looked back at them expectantly, without any intention of stopping Zhang Lie. Either he had no intention of going against Zhang Lie's decisions, or he was also hoping that his master would cut to the chase.
In either case, the envoys had to make their claims now.
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