Chapter 210: “Coercion (1)”
Early the next morning, without waiting for the morning court to commence, the Qing Yun Clan forced their way into the Imperial Palace’s main hall.
Mo Qian Yuan had just sat down upon the throne facing his officials and generals when the Qing Yun Clan’s domineering entrance scared them into retreating back out of the main hall and Mo Qian Yuan’s face darkened.
“Where is the Soul Jade?” Jiang Chen Qing had not noticed that their overbearing actions had trampled Mo Qian Yuan’s position as the Emperor into dust, when they burst in without announcements or notice, and scattered the various officials and generals before standing in the middle of the hall making their demands.
It might not have escaped his notice, but he just did not care to extend any pleasantries to the ruler of such a tiny speck of a kingdom.
Mo Qian Yuan suppressed the discontent rising within and said smilingly: “You are very early. Men! Provide seats for our distinguished guests.”
A group of eunuchs brought chairs in and the Qing Yun Clan delegation sat down.
“We’ll put aside Yun Xian’s folly for the moment, but I would like to reiterate that the deal agreed between the former Emperor and the Qing Yun Clan still stands and we don’t mean to create a disturbance in Qi, but we would ask Your Majesty to speedily hand over the Soul Jade over to us, and we can return to Qing Yun Clan with the completion of our mission.” Jiang Chen Qing went straight to the point. He might have used polite words, but his tone and demeanor had shown not the slightest sign of deferment.
Even the good natured Mo Qian Yuan was driven to anger but faced with the might of the Qing Yun Clan, he swallowed it and maintained his composure.
At that moment, he hated himself for not agreeing to Jun Wu Xie’s suggestion to kill off these arrogant scoundrels, instead of seeing them strut and bluster here now.
“Ahh, you came here for that, I had agreed to it yesterday and I had naturally commanded my people to retrieve the Soul Jade throughout the night. But they were met with a problem.” Mo Qian Yuan had thought out his script last night just for this.
“Problem? What problem?” Jiang Chen Qing faced had darkened immediately.
If Bai Yun Xian had not sent such a preposterous message, they would not have mobilised such heavy resources for this.
As a respected and revered Elder in Qing Yun Clan, the tiny Kingdom of Qi was beneath his notice. Having been made to come here, he just wanted to leave as soon as he could.
“The Soul Jade is indeed in the kingdom, and as you must have known, our founding forefathers broke it in two and bestowed one half to the Lin Palace’s Jun Qing and kept the other half in the Imperial Palace. Ten years ago, Jun Xian’s eldest, was killed in battle and the grieving Jun Xian buried his half of the Soul Jade with his son, Jun Gu. And as for the other half, it had been sealed together with the former Emperor in the Royal Tomb after he succumbed to his illness…..” Mo Qian Yuan narrated unhurriedly. The former Emperor was still locked up in the dungeon but his death had been announced to the people. The former Emperor’s tomb was just a facade and the one that was buried in there was the body of a death convict.
This fact was known only to two people. Mo Qian Yuan and Jun Wu Xie alone.
While Mo Qian Yuan had related his prepared speech, his eyes had swung towards Qin Yu Yan. He did not expect anything to change from the arrogant Jiang Chen Qing, but he had harboured a little hope for the learned and cultured Eldest Miss, to respect the sanctity of the dead’s eternal rest, and give up on their quest.
However, when Mo Qian Yuan finished, Jiang Chen Qing face had grown thunderously dark. He stood up staring at Mo Qian Yuan and exclaimed: “What nonsense! How can you bury the Soul Jade!? Such ignorance! Retrieve the two halves of the Soul Jade right now! I don’t care if you dig up the graves or unseal the tombs, this time, I want the Soul Jade in my hand!”
There was no room for negotiation, Jiang Chen Qing’s first demand was to have Mo Qian Yuan and the Jun Family to desecrate the graves!