The Minister of the Right coming with the ruler clearly meant that the man was here for Bai Yunfei. However the Minister of the Right was planning to go after Bai Yunfei, he didn’t know.

As Bai Yunfei and Wu Yang looked on in shock, the group was already near enough for Wu Hao to step forward. “Brother.” He nodded.

Wu Yang took that as his cue to step forward as well. “Father.” He bowed.

Snapping back to reality, Bai Yunfei tried his best to quash the bad feeling in his heart to look at the group in front of him. Bowing his head to the man in front, he spoke, “Ju....Junior pays his respects to His Majesty....”

Kowtowing to the ruler was a necessary thing to do, but Bai Yunfei had never done so before and was a little hesitant. As he was moving to his knee, a kindly voice spoke to him, “Haha, you must be Bai Yunfei? No need to be so reserved, you may dispense with the formalities.”

Dispense with the formalities....did that mean he didn’t need to kowtow?

Bai Yunfei sighed in relief, the pressure he was feeling in his mind was starting to lighten a bit.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Bai Yunfei spoke gratefully as he raised his head to look at the people in front of him.

The man in gold dragon robes was the very definition of dignified. His shoulders were straight and his chest broad. Aged forty in years or so, the man had a faint but noticeable smile on his face, though his calm and sharp eyes were measuring up Bai Yunfei. With how sharp the man’s eyes were, Bai Yunfei felt like his very soul was being searched.

This man was the current ruler of the empire, Wu Hong.

Bai Yunfei felt intrinsically small in front of this man. In his presence, Bai Yunfei felt like he was a little man staring up at a eternally tall mountain.

This!

This was what people meant by having a King’s Disposition! Even Wu Hao’s aura felt diluted by several degrees in comparison to this.

“Your old servant pays his respects to His Highness Prince Hao and Fourth Princeling Wu Yang.”

Whilst Bai Yunfei was feeling lost in the mighty aura of Wu Hong, the elderly man next to the ruler spoke, followed by the middle-aged man in purple who bowed to Wu Hao and Wu Yang.

“Cheng Yao pays his respects to Prince Hao and Fourth Princeling Yang.”

Another young man in white robes bowed as well.

This young man next to Cheng Yao was the first prince, Wu Ren. “Uncle.” He nodded to Wu Hao.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

“Well then, let’s talk more inside.” Wu Hong waved his hand to dismiss the guards around them. With a nod of his head, everyone walked into the hall.

......

Wu Hong sat himself at the topmost chair while Wu Hao sat to his left. Wu Ren sat down next with Bai Yunfei by his side. To show his respect for the title Bai Yunfei had as his instructor, Wu Yang sat to the right of Bai Yunfei.

To the right of Wu Hong was the Minister of the Right, Cheng Huayu. There was also the young man Cheng Yao, eldest son of Cheng Huayu and oldest brother to Cheng Xin.

After everyone was well and seated, Wu Hong smiled at Bai Yunfei. “Chairman Mo told me a while ago that the crafting class we have been trying to prepare for so long had finally opened, and that he appointed the instructor to be someone from the Crafting School. I have to admit, I was curious in seeing just what kind of genius Zi Jin would send over when I heard about it, but with so many things happening one after another, that had to be postponed until today, haha...Now that I see you, you are indeed a genius as I expected. Truly, you are fully deserving to be called Zi Jin’s disciple.”

‘Being worthy to be called the disciple of Zi Jin’. This type of praise from his seniors had always made Bai Yunfei feel a little helpless, but at the same time, it also help pointed out just how amazing his master was.

Even His Majesty, Wu Hong, had the light of respect in his eyes when he talked about Zi Jin.

“Your Majesty is far too kind. This....this junior is still unsure if this junior is worthy enough of being the instructor of the crafting class. This junior will try his best to live up to Your Majesty’s expectations.” Bai Yunfei spoke courteously. He didn’t know how to address himself in conversation with Wu Hong, so he decided to opt for calling himself ‘junior’. It was better than just saying ‘I’, ‘this one’, or even ‘this commoner’.

“No need to be so modest. I already know just what kind of achievements your crafting class was able to pull off in a single month.” Wu Hong smiled. “My son Wu Yang gave me a soul armament he crafted just two days ago, that in itself is already a fantastic feat. I had never thought that the crafting class would take off so quickly, but it is all due to your own efforts. As the ruler of the empire, I must thank you for allowing for my empire to have a new set of talents in this field.”

From the praise Wu Hong was speaking to him, Bai Yunfei could heard the pleased tone in his voice and was slightly at ease. Slowly, Bai Yunfei was starting to feel that Wu Hong was somewhat down to earth like anyone else and not at all that scary like he first imagined.

“Thank you for your encouragement, Your Majesty. This junior will do my best to continue to teach the crafting class well.”

“Yes, I have faith that you won’t disappoint us.” Wu Hong smiled. “Were the materials sent to you enough for you to teach with? Please ask if there’s any other requests you might have, even if its to the academy or the Royal Family, we will do our best. It’s only natural to supply your class with the best materials we can offer for your services.”

“Yes, thank you.” Nodded Bai Yunfei, “In truth, this junior has only been teaching the basics of how to craft, so the materials needed aren’t very particular, we only require a decent quantity of them. The warehouse in the academy has been more than enough for the lessons, so we should be fine for the time being.”

“Very well then.” Wu Hong smiled in response to Bai Yunfei. “Speaking of time being, I know your journey to the Capital was a long one. Have you grown accustomed to life here yet?”

“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. This junior has been living well in the Capital. It is all thanks to His Highness the First Prince for allocating a home for this one.”

He nodded to Wu Ren to show his thanks.

“Oh? Is that right? Very good....” Wu Hong gave Wu Ren a strange but pleased look.

......

After a few more basic words of conversation with Bai Yunfei, Wu Hong gestured to the silent Cheng Huayu to his left. “I haven’t introduced you two yet. This is the Minister Cheng of the Right, and this is his eldest son Cheng Yao. We are here today to discuss a matter several days ago....I heard that there was some friction between you and the youngest son of Minister Cheng?”

Bai Yunfei’s eyes widened fractionally, “Here it is!”

‘Friction’ though? It wasn’t friction but a full on out feud.....

What was Cheng Huayu planning on doing today? With his youngest son injured so badly, how would he try to take ‘revenge’?

Or perhaps His Majesty Wu Hong was here to try and have the two parties ‘compromise’ somehow?