I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 433 Do you not know where my position is? (Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets)

"Your Majesty, should I reveal your identity directly?"

One of King Baifan's henchmen whispered, "He is the captain of King Baifan's royal guards."

He could tell that the king was very fond of this Tian Ce merchant and wanted to take him on as his subordinate.

However, when this merchant arrived at this place, he did not realize the identity of the King of Baifan, nor did he pay his respects.

The captain of the Imperial Guard felt that perhaps he should be honest about it.

"No need. The best way to win people's hearts and minds is to win them over with virtue. That's what my teacher taught me."

King Baifan was very confident that he had expanded the territory of his small kingdom, Baifan, by dozens of times, and had a huge influence among the southern kingdoms.

He wanted to convince this Tian Ce merchant of his abilities, not to submit to his position.

This was something the old emperor had taught him when he was a prince studying at the Tian Ce Dynasty's Fire of Combat Academy.

If someone follows you only because they know you have a very high status, it means they are following your status, not you as a person.

In other words, if someone else were to reach your position, they could also follow suit.

But if he admires your other abilities, and you consistently maintain those abilities, then he will be your loyal follower.

The old emperor often traveled incognito, without revealing his identity, and thus acquired some talented individuals, all of whom were extremely loyal.

The reason why King Baifan achieved so much was largely due to the teachings of the old emperor.

His ability to acquire so much military equipment was also related to the old emperor, since he was the old emperor's 'student'.

In order to win over this outstanding merchant in every way, King Baifan began his performance.

While showing Li Chen around, King Baifan pretended to be modest and said, "To be honest, my family business used to be very small, but after years of management, it has expanded many times over."

After saying that, he glanced at Li Chen out of the corner of his eye, hoping to see the other's surprised expression.

However, Li Chen simply said, "Okay."

King Baifan coughed lightly, thinking to himself: It seems that merchants are knowledgeable and accustomed to expanding their businesses.

Then he changed the subject: "Actually, what I'm most proud of is not my business, but my network. I used to have only a few loyal subordinates, but now my people are all over the country."

After saying that, he secretly felt smug: That's impressive enough, isn't it?

Li Chen nodded: "Not bad."

King Baifan grew impatient with the lukewarm praise and decided to unleash his trump card.

He straightened his back and said proudly, "To be honest, my cultivation has reached the Heavenly Abyss Realm, making me the strongest in our family's history."

As he spoke, he deliberately activated his arterial technique, causing a terrifying surge of energy to erupt from his body.

He thought to himself: Surely they'll be stunned now? Even in the Tian Ce Dynasty, experts at the Heavenly Abyss Realm are extremely rare!

However, Li Chen remained unfazed: "It's alright."

King Baifan could no longer hold back, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He had never encountered such a difficult "businessman".

Wealth, connections, and strength—none of these could sway the other party?
The Imperial Guard captain, disguised as a servant, looked speechless. "I told you to negotiate directly, but you insisted on showing off. Now you've failed to impress me."

King Baifan's tried-and-true tactics failed to sway this Tian Ce merchant.

This further convinced King Baifan that he was determined to bring him under his command.

With that, King Baifan said he would go change his clothes and then prepare a welcoming banquet for Li Chen and Zhu Zhuying. He then instructed his servants to show Li Chen and Zhu Zhuying around the area for the time being.

King Baifan planned to put on his dragon robe and summon all the civil and military officials of Baifan Kingdom to give Li Chen a "surprise".

Since hints aren't working, I'll just reveal my identity directly and see how you react.

"Then you can go ahead and get busy," Li Chen said calmly.

In any case, his visits to the southern countries were mainly for sightseeing and inspection.

The captain of the Imperial Guard respectfully led the two on a tour of the temporary palace.

In order not to reveal his identity, he simply said it was just a courtyard of his master, trying to elevate the prestige of the King of Baifan, but Li Chen remained expressionless.

Inside the hall, carved railings and jade steps, golden and resplendent, all exuded exotic charm.

Li Chen examined the murals and sculptures on the wall with great interest, while Zhu Zhuying explained softly beside him: "This statue looks very old, but its placement is very new, so it must have just been moved here. As far as I know, this is the guardian statue of the Hundred Brahma Kingdom, according to legend."

As a person from the southern kingdoms, Zhu Zhuying had some understanding of these things.

The guardian statues have all been moved here, and there are also many Tian Ce construction merchants. It seems that Bai Fan Kingdom is really preparing to turn this place into its own territory.

About half an hour later, the captain of the Imperial Guard respectfully invited, "Distinguished guests, dinner is ready."

When Li Chen entered the banquet hall, all the civil and military officials of the Hundred Brahma Kingdom had already gathered together.

King Baifan, dressed in a magnificent dragon robe, sat high in the main seat, with an empty seat deliberately left beside him.

He thought to himself: When this merchant learns my identity and sees the court officials, and is then invited to sit next to me, he will surely be moved to tears.

This is the art of managing people that King Baifan learned from the old Emperor Tiance.

As soon as Li Chen entered, he became the focus of everyone's attention at the banquet.

The courtiers were all very curious as to which Tian Ce merchant had won His Majesty's favor so much that they could not sit in the seat next to him.

But upon seeing this, one of the courtiers was immediately terrified.

Isn't this Emperor Tian Ce? Those who recognize Li Chen are naturally envoys from small countries!

The moment Li Chen stepped into the main hall, the envoy abruptly stood up from his seat and knelt down with a thud: "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty!"

The entire hall fell silent. The ministers of Baifan looked at each other in bewilderment: What's wrong with this envoy? Whose country are you from, and why are you kneeling like this?

They didn't understand why the envoys knelt, and the envoys didn't understand why they dared to sit.

Seeing that everyone was still standing there in a daze, the envoy shouted anxiously, "What are you all still sitting there for? This is Emperor Tian Ce!"

"Clang!" The sound of wine glasses falling echoed one after another.

One minister tumbled off his chair and crawled to his knees on the ground.

Some people panicked and knelt directly on the stool, then realized something was wrong and rolled to the ground to kneel again.

The oppressive atmosphere that had just been there among the courtiers has now vanished completely thanks to Li Chen alone.

King Baifan's face turned deathly pale. He hurriedly rose from his throne and knelt at the foot of the steps, saying, "Your humble servant pays respects to Your Majesty! I was unaware of Your Majesty's arrival and deserve to die!"

Only then did he realize: no wonder this "merchant" had no reaction to the dragon robe; it turned out that the man's status was far above his own!
I was just thinking of taking this guy on as a subordinate. Luckily I didn't say it out loud, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Li Chen walked slowly to the vicinity of the main seat, looked at the kneeling officials of the Bai Fan Kingdom, and chuckled, "The Bai Fan Kingdom's banquet is very well prepared. May I ask where my seat is?"

(End of this chapter)