"Sir, I can't help it either. His Majesty has been inside and hasn't responded even though I've announced!" the announcer said in a fluster.
"What is he doing? Open the door quickly, I want to go in and see!" the person said, thinking that the servant in front of him didn't dare to open the door.
"Sir, you don't know, once this door is closed, it can only be opened from the inside. His Majesty doesn't want to open it now, and we can't do anything!"
In fact, the urgency of the announcer was that the king had been unwilling to open this door all along, even refusing to respond altogether.
"King Gaofei, what on earth are you doing? We have urgent matters to attend to, and everyone is waiting outside!" If it couldn't be opened, he had no choice but to shout loudly.
"It's useless, sir. Shouting won't help, this room is soundproof. If there's something, we can only use the bell to let the people inside know, but His Majesty has cut off the contact and doesn't want to talk to us!" the servant explained.
"..." The man furrowed his brow, "At this point, what is he hiding inside for? Do you know?"
"This...” The servant hesitated, it seemed difficult to say.
"What's the matter, speak up, there's no time to dawdle with you here!" the man said sternly, reprimanding the servant with authority.
I can't handle the madam's son, and I can't handle a servant like you?
"This...” The servant still hesitated, it seemed hard to spit it out.
"Speak up!" the man shouted.
"I really don't know how to say this, but it's like this. His Majesty brought a person two days ago and they have been inside, with orders that not even major events should disturb them. They haven't come out, and haven't even come out to eat!" the servant began to explain.
"They've been inside all this time? Don't you fear something's happened, or that person has escaped?" the man asked.
"No, there's only one exit here, and His Majesty also has protective measures inside, so there's no chance for anyone to succeed.” the servant explained, “This isn't the first time His Majesty has done this, he even had seven days and nights without coming out before."
Oh, it's not the first time, no wonder they're so at ease. If it wasn't urgent, they probably wouldn't have cared about what the king was doing.
However, what on earth is the king doing inside?
"What is your king doing inside? It's not the first time, so you must know what they're up to!" the man furrowed his brow.
Before this, the servant still didn't reveal the key detail, which was what the king and that person were doing inside, to neglect state affairs at such a critical moment, and neglect the country's future!
"This...” The servant hesitated, "The king... they are gambling!"
"Oh, gambling... what? He's gambling? He's neglecting state affairs for gambling?" the man exclaimed in surprise, but soon calmed down.
Only because, among the Thirteen Allied Nations, everyone seemed to have heard that King Gaofei of Fangguo was a gambler, and a very reckless one at that, but he was skilled at it, so not many dared to gamble with him.
However, even though they knew he was a gambler, it had not occurred to them that he would neglect the state's fate and gamble behind closed doors at such a critical time.
"Yes! So, we have no way now, just guessing that His Majesty has a gambling addiction. Once he gets addicted, we don't know when he will come out, maybe soon, maybe in a few days!" The servant said somewhat helplessly.
The nobleman remained silent for a while, then asked, "Is there any other way to open this door, even if it means destroying it?"
"It's possible, but it will take a few days. This room is specially reinforced, and there's alchemy defense formation. It will take a few days to find a way to break it by finding an alchemist," the servant said.
"In a few days, we can't wait even an hour now!" The nobleman furrowed his brow. "Do you know who the person gambling with your king is?"
"We don't know. We only know it's a young man, a very strange one. His Majesty met him on the street, and later, he was invited by His Majesty to gamble here. We don't know the specific details," the servant shook his head, and when he said "invited", his tone was particularly heavy.
Obviously, this strange young man was not very willing to come!
"Now, what should we do..." The nobleman exclaimed in distress, then, after a while, he gritted his teeth and left!
He had decided to blame the failure of this matter entirely on King Gaofei, at least this would absolve them of the responsibility for the unsuccessful task.
At present, they sought not to excel, but to avoid fault!
"General Ye, my apologies, King Gaofei can't come out for the time being. Sorry about that!" The nobleman said apologetically.
"It's okay, then we'll take our leave!" Ye Chengtian bowed and took his leave. At this point, there was no reason to stay. They all had their reputations and they weren't here to ask for anything.
"Farewell!" General Qi and the others also said, preparing to leave.
And just at that moment, something happened that made them stop in their tracks...
"Release the person, or I will make you understand the taste of freezing!" Ye Lanyu's voice entered everyone's ears, making everyone nervously look in the direction of Ye Lanyu's voice and start to form a defensive formation.
Because, since Ye Lanyu was demanding the release of a person, it was possible that someone among them was being held captive, and they might have walked into a trap.
People from the Thirteen Union States might be audacious and pose a threat to them!
However, soon Ye Chengtian and the others discovered that the representatives of the Thirteen Union States who were with them were also surprised at this event, completely unaware of what was happening.
Was the other side hiding even their own people, or was this a matter that didn't concern them?
The answer to this question was soon revealed...
Everyone saw a woman in leather armor, holding Zhen Xiaoyan captive and retreating towards them, with Ye Lanyu and Seventh Princess closely following, and Ye Yi and others trailing behind.
"A warrior?" Looking at the woman's leather armor, it was the kind often worn by warriors, providing a certain level of protection without impeding movement.
This type of leather armor was commonly worn by mercenaries and ordinary household guards, because, apart from the aforementioned features, it was also crucially inexpensive, high in cost-effectiveness!
The look of this female warrior seemed to resemble a mercenary more.
Nearly all the experts present had worked as mercenaries which was the most common way of experiencing the continent, so most warriors and mages had worked as mercenaries.
If she were a mercenary, then there was a problem. In theory, these matters shouldn't involve a mercenary. Did they want to cover things up? Even if that was the case, they should have hired a top-tier mercenary. How could a mercenary like this deal with them?
As for how Zhen Xiaoyan was captured, that was understandable for everyone as well. Since Zhen Xiaoyan did not possess fighting Qi or magic and, despite her knowledge of alchemy, she was not agile and hence could easily be taken advantage of.
As for this "royal palace", despite its name, it was just a regular lord's residence with many defense vulnerabilities!
In any case, everyone wanted to know what this female warrior was up to and why she had captured Zhen Xiaoyan!
"You get away, all of you get away! Otherwise, I can't guarantee she will come out unharmed!" The female warrior snapped at Ye Lanyu and the others, tightening the sword against Zhen Xiaoyan's neck, causing a trace of blood to even show.
"Madam, please calm down. Whatever you want, just say it. I, Ye Chengtian, can assure you that as long as it is within my power, I will help you. Just release the girl in your hands!" Ye Chengtian looked at the female warrior and spoke in a deep voice.
Who was Zhen Xiaoyan? She was a girl who had stood alongside Ye Lang in life and death situations. Even when faced with the threat of becoming a wanted criminal of the empire, and even knowing that she would be hunted by the empire, she still stood by Ye Lang. As the father of Ye Lang, how could Ye Chengtian not protect her? He and Long Anqi had almost considered her a daughter-in-law and treated her extremely well!
"General Ye, I believe you can assure, but I still want to see the person before I release her!" The female warrior said calmly, seeming not surprised by the presence of Ye Chengtian and the others, and also knowing the identities of Ye Chengtian and the others.
If that was the case, it indicated that the female warrior was likely not wrong in capturing Zhen Xiaoyan, but had done so intentionally, having obtained information about them and knowing that Zhen Xiaoyan was an important but unarmed person.
"Speak, what are your intentions." Ye Chengtian furrowed his brow, feeling that there was a problem here, understanding that the female warrior was probably targeting them.
"My intentions are simple, I want them to release the young master they've taken away!" The female warrior pointed towards the group from the 'royal palace'.
"Young master?"
At this moment, everyone was stunned, and neither side understood what the female warrior was talking about, at least at this moment, no one could understand.
Could it be that this female warrior had come for her young master, and her young master had been taken away by the people here?
This explanation also made sense. As long as she could goad Ye Chengtian and the others into action, she would achieve her goal, which might be more effective. That was why she had kidnapped Zhen Xiaoyan.
The current issue was, who was her young master, and why did the kingdom take away her young master?
Ye Chengtian and the others looked at the people from the Thirteen Union States and understood from their confused expressions that they also didn't quite know what was going on.
"Young master? Could it be the peculiar young man who was gambling with King Gaofei inside?" At this point, the nobleman who had entered earlier suddenly remembered this and connected the two incidents.
"Gambling? Can our young master gamble?" the female warrior was puzzled, making people feel that she was unsure about the young man inside, or rather, she did not understand her young master.
The two words "gambling" provided Ye Chengtian and the others with information: the reason the king did not see them was because he was gambling with someone else!!
They didn't feel angry about this, it was more about the kingdom's sorrow, to have a king who put the kingdom's future aside to gamble with others!!
They only felt sorrow for this kingdom, having such a king who neglected the kingdom's future to indulge in gambling!
Just thinking, small kingdoms like this, may not have much of a future...
"Doesn't your young master gamble? If not, then it might not be him. If he could spend two days and nights with His Majesty in there, he must be very skilled at gambling!" The speaker was a subordinate who understood King Gaofei very well. They were very certain that the young man in there was definitely a gambling expert.
There aren't many people on this continent who can gamble with King Gaofei for two days and nights, perhaps not even ten.
"I don't know if he does or not, I've never seen him gamble. But then again, a spendthrift should understand gambling, and someone as thorough in their spendthrift ways as he is should be even more skilled." The female warrior said with some emotion.
"Spendthrift..."
These three words stirred the memories of Ye Lanyu and the others, reminding them of Ye Lang, who was the most outstanding spendthrift among them, to the point of making people forget the original meaning of the term "spendthrift."
"Can you be sure that your young master is the one inside? Actually, even if he is, there should be no problem, because when His Majesty gambles with people, he never makes things difficult for them, if he does, it is only with gambling skills!" The subordinate continued, "So, you don't need to worry about his safety, you can let this young lady go."
"Let her go? Don't even think about it! I don't know if you are trying to deceive me or not. I won't release Miss Zhen Xiaoyan until I see him!" The female warrior didn't loosen her grip, continuing to hold Zhen Xiaoyan hostage.
"Since you already know her name, it means my guess is correct. From the beginning, you already targeted her, wanting to use us to put pressure on them. And you know so much about us, it seems you are not a simple character!" Princess Qi stared coldly at the female warrior.
"I..." The female warrior hesitated.
"I don't care who you are, it's none of my business! Tell them first, what kind of person your young master is, what are his characteristics!" Princess Qi just wanted to confirm if the person inside was indeed that young master, she just wanted to ensure Zhen Xiaoyan's safety.
"What kind of person is he? He is a noble young master, or rather, a spendthrift, who likes to waste money on trivial matters. The more he spends, the happier he becomes, and he will definitely not feel any heartache from spending too much on himself." The female warrior explained.
This person, the more it sounds like someone?