Shi Lang and the team entered the banquet hall after their names were announced. The people inside the banquet hall immediately fell into a momentary silence and cast a gaze at the doorway. They all wanted to see the so-called guest of honor. In the past meetings, the intelligence department has told many times about the threat this civilization carried.
The Neomonian government would never accept it but some journalists and retired officers have always emphasized the threat factor of the abilities these Terrans have. Just because two civilizations have not openly communicated, it did not mean that they have never made covert discoveries.
However, they never completely trusted the intel, because the sources of their information were all people behind the enemy lines, and they could be manipulated. The queen has been managing things from the shadow and preparing the empire to deal with a potential war.
Jenkins was a handsome young man, he walked with his back straight and a faint smile on his lips. Holding Rosa’s palm, the boy attracted a lot of gazes filled with different emotions. Rosa Blues had a mature charm to herself and that was what attracted the nobles in the hall.
Followed by Darcx and Quinn. They also received a lot of scrutinizing gazes. The best was saved for the last, Amelia walked over with Shi Lang, their hooked hands attracted a lot of second looks. While the couple acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. A few nobles, who happened to cross gazes, raised the glasses in their hands, and the young Terran couple nodded to them in return.
They have just arrived and did not have any glasses served.
Behind the two of them, Ameris walked slowly. The nobles had yet to seize the chance and get into a conversation with the Terrans, they heard a loud voice, “Attention, Daughter Of The Moon, Dracken Slayer, Her Majesty The Queen has arrived.”
The people all stopped murmuring and stood up in attention. After a few seconds, they all could hear the sound of high heels treading on the outside. Shi Lang said, “If the other bow, we will boy as well, but only the head.”
His voice was low, and only Terrans could hear it. The team nodded and they all cast a gaze at the main entrance. Before long, Nexalia Neytiri walked in wearing a black gown. This dress leaned to the conservative side of a lady’s nature.
The gown was filled with floral patterns but the color of the patterns stayed black, only with a minor fluctuation in the shade. Her digital veil looked like a black satin cloth, the technology of this certain article was very sophisticated, the satin cloth seemed to be moving along with Nexalia’s movements.
The people all bowed and said, “Long Live The Queen.”
Shi Lang and the rest also bowed their heads and said, “Long Live the Queen.”
Nexalia stopped in the center of the hall and said, “Long Reign Neomon.”
This was her greeting to the masses. The people all raised their heads and focused their gazes on the queen, who said, “Ameris.”
Ameris came to stand by her side and said in a sonorous tone, “The banquet tonight is organized to welcome the guests from afar, the Terran delegation. Allow me to introduce you all to them. The team is led by Shosha Ace.” as she gestured at Shi Lang.
The boy bowed slightly to acknowledge. Followed him, everyone else was also introduced and the team acknowledged him. Nexalia waited for the introduction to finish and said, “Do you all need me to issue a royal decree before you all can spark up the night?”
The nobles chuckled and soon some people began to dance. Ameris stood beside the Terran team, while Nexalia headed to socialize with the nobles. Shi Lang said, “Not many men have the qualification to be a noble?”
Ameris shook her head and said, “The men here are all those who have been loyal to their women or have made contributions worth recognition. Neomon is a feminist empire. we follow matriarchy. The status of a king will also be lower than the queen. Do you have any objection?”
They were outsiders and their every movement was under scrutiny. Shi Lang could sense some gazes locked onto his back and shoulders when the young man shook his head and said, “You misunderstand. After nature, only women have the power to create a life. Only females can do that. I never said that the status of a queen is a problem, but undermining the title of the King is harmful.”
A noble lady with sharp features could not help but scorn and asked, “Forgive me for the intrusion, but what do you know about monarchy?”
Shi Lang turned his head to look at the lady and asked in a polite manner, “May I know how to address you, please?”
The lady raised her chin slightly and said, “I am the Viscountess of Xerisa, you may address me by Your Grace Viscountess.”
Shi Lang smiled and said, “Your grace, if I remove the men from this universe, how long will the females survive? Probably a few decades, they can increase this time by relying on technology, however, technology also comes at a cost, and it will not last forever.
I do not mean to offend what you or anyone else believes in. In my view, a male and a female are two elements, if they harmonize the world will be peaceful, if they do not, then the world will come to an end. The theatrics of this disharmony will be the bloodshed of not only people but also your belief.”
His answer shot down the Viscountess completely. The other nobles who heard this understood that this boy was anything but simple. Soon the banquet became livelier, as a few young scions stepped forward to mingle with the beauties of the Terran team.
Amelia refused to have a dance with any man who came to her, she directly raised her hand and told them about her status as someone else’s wife and will not be dancing with them. The scions were disappointed but they could only gulp it down. After all, they were men, and what a lady said, was placed above their desires.
Amelia sulked in silence, as Shi Lang exchanged greetings and views with some of the older noble ladies and men. After an hour when he was done, Nexalia happened to walk over and asked, “Did you enjoy the banquet.”
Shi Lang replied, “It was a good experience, Your Majesty.”
Amelia nodded but the sourness in her eyes could not escape Shi Lang. He said, “Amy, I will dance with you when we get back to our dwellings. I promise, we should not ask others to adjust according to us, you see.”
His voice was low, and he acted as if he was scared to offend the people. Nexalia heard this and asked, “What seems to be the matter?”
Amelia spoke up, “Your Majesty, would it be possible to have a musical piece from Terran culture be played here?” her tone was calm.
The queen raised her eyebrow and said, “I guess we all would like to see what the music in your culture sounds like.”
Amelia smiled and led Shi Lang to the center of the hall, while she asked Rosa Blues to handle the orchestra. The lady smiled and passed on a piece of music to the players and they all began to play it slowly. The skills of these musicians were commendable. They could adapt to any piece as long as they had read the notes once.
The surprising thing was that the musical principles were similar in this part of the universe as well. The music started at a slow pace, and gradually it picked up the tempo. The couple in the center of the hall seemed to have forgotten about the existence of the people around them. The two of them danced gracefully and with a smile on their faces.
Nexalia was entranced by the music and so were the others. Soon, the young scions also began to dance with their respective partners around Shi Lang and Amelia. They were copying the movements of the two people.
However, the two had no intention to pay them any mind and neither were they going to slow down to allow them to catch up. The Neomonians did not allow their youths to be sharing physical contact while dancing, however, Shi Lang and Amelia were not neomonians. They were dancing to express their happiness. To tell the world that they were in love.
After the piece was finished, Shi Lang and Amelia opened a gap between themselves and bowed to each other before they turned to face the orchestra and bowed to them as well. This was not expected by the people.
Ameris asked, “Shosha Ace, why did you and Shoshi Amelia bow to the musicians?”
Shi Lang smiled and said, “They were the ones who played the music for us to dance. Without music, dance is a body without a soul. Thus, we bow to them, to show our gratitude for instilling our performance with a life.”
This statement made the people surprised, they never thought of things like this. Or even if they did, they seemed to have forgotten the significance of courtesy. Here stood this youngster in front of them, telling them what courtesy meant.
