Secret of the Two Kings (89 CHAPTERS - ON HOLD)

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The doors skidded open, revealing the layers of a stale black forest cake made up of Tang people. The toppings: female servants, wearing their uniform red body-fit hanfus stormed inside and scampered down the marble floor, finding their organized spots at the sides of the court. A platoon of big and robust Tang guard paraded, iron rings from their armors and boots clanking in a loud cacophony. They stood beside each hwarangs, but the kingdom military did not even move a single muscle, ignoring their presences. No shoulders shuddered, no bodies quivered in intimidation despite their enormous builds.

The main attraction of the entourage finally appeared from a small one-man, fancy palanquin—Tang's Minister of Foreign Affairs. Everyone sucked their tongues in and shifted their feet in dignified stances. He was a man with a slender body and gray highlights unequally spread on his black hair. His face had a few wrinkles, painting his fifty-five years of existence. His gray beard was as silky as his hair. His luscious green hanfu whispered down the carpet as he approached near the King's throne.

"My greetings, King Jae Joong of Silla," bowed the Tang Minister.

Jae Joong acknowledged the respectful gesture and dipped his head low. "Greetings, Minister Lei Ming. The long distance of your travel did not even falter your bright clear skin." the King smiled.

"You expect the best features from the best nation," laughed Lei Ming.

An awkward atmosphere cloaked the court as Jae Joong's brow jerked skywards, "You seem to have traveled alone. I thought you were with Prince Xiao Ji."

"Prince Xiao Ji is indeed with me," Lei Ming gushed with a zany smile.

All Silla citizens craned their heads by the door but there was a dull silence. Jae Joong waited for anything that could surprise him but there was nothing. "Where is he, then?"

Lei Ming cackled and landed an abhorrent gaze to the King, impervious of any sprinkles of light. "Perhaps you are forgetting something?" Perplexed with the Tang diplomat's brisk change of attitude, Jae Joong clarified, "I am afraid that I have no idea what you are pertaining to. Forget something?"

The green hanfu rustled in a turn and faced the crowd. With his strong aura, people were magnetized by his presence, all ready to lend their ears to the elderly man. "Is this how you welcome a Prince? Is this how people of Silla are?" he turned back to Jae Joong and demanded, "Crown Prince Xiao Ji would only come inside if all people here, including you, King Jae Joong has genuflected and bowed before him."

Words of taunt and insult did not waver Jae Joong's regal stance. His eyebrow just arched in response, leaving the Tang diplomat hanging awkwardly, waiting for a bleak answer. "Well, if that is the case, I regret to tell you that Prince Xiao Ji will remain outside then." A smirk after a jibe. People were shocked by the King's conclusion.

"In case you have forgotten, you are now in the kingdom of Silla. You should act according to our customs, and people here do not just fall into their knees unless it is for the King or for the Crown Prince—Silla's Crown Prince, which is Prince Sae Joo."

Lei Ming shifted his sight to Sae Joo, observing the emotionless countenance of the young royal. He cleared his throat and rebutted, trying to save himself from graver humiliation. "You have the nerve to disrespect the heir of Tang Dynasty which has lived for centuries. The almighty kingdom! Greatest all over the world! Rest assured that this will be known by our Heavenly Emperor."

"Go ahead. Your groundless threats do not scare me at all. Our nation, our rules."

The old minister's decency started to unhinge from reality. His knuckles turned white, digging his nail at his prune-like palms. He underestimated that a King with soft features would remain unruffled, despite words of fulminations. Hearing the Emperor's heavenly name had not made the Silla King succumb in terror. Bold, new, hasty. Lei Ming decked out another card, trying his luck to overpower the strong-willed ruler. "This might spark a war between Tang and Silla. The unification of the Three Kingdom had been made to action majorly because..." before he could even utter another word, Jae Joong cut him already, leaving his tongue hanging in dead air, "Yes, I know that. Silla will always be forever grateful to Tang in that matter. However, you must have forgotten that your current emperor has nothing to do with that. I, as well, have nothing to do with that because it happened years ago. History is always right to be remembered and honored, but yesterday's favor has been paid years ago. So you do not use that reason to adjust our customs just for you."