The Central Palace is the renad Pope's Palace, as from now on, it will be the location of the Thousand River Valley's central administrative institution.
It is located on the banks of a tributary of the Nao'an River, a long north-south facing palace, with a private city garden of the Pope facing its west side.
The east side is the entrance to the palace. Standing on the platform of the Central Palace, one can see the sky-colored river water beyond the elms and the leaping gray-green perch in the river.
On the street between the elms and the Central Palace, a few vendors push carts, smiles squeezed onto their faces, handing out wine made from rice fruit and dry bread to these civic representatives.
The Advisory Council representatives, wearing gray-yellow linen shirts and silk tunics, enter leisurely from both sides of the archway, with so standing by the door chatting.
Dozens or even hundreds of idlers stand nearby, occasionally inquiring for news from a few civic representatives.
Sitting under the shade of trees, Lupher ate sugar-frosted cookies out of sheer boredom: "Cousin Catherine has been inside for so long, why is there still no news?"
The honest and dull Abazi did not respond to her words, instead blankly staring at the sugar-frosted cookie in his hand.
Lupher patted his shoulder: "Hey, I'm talking to you. Is there sothing wrong with this sugar-frosted cookie?"
"No, it's just that the price is much cheaper than back ho, why is that?" Abazi took a bite and chewed, "And it's also sweeter than ours."
"To the south is Black Snake Bay. Which Demon Pope doesn't get along well with Black Snake Bay? They probably got it from them," Venice replied casually while chewing a cookie.
Upon hearing the term "Demon Pope," Lupher frowned slightly: "What are you talking about, Venice? Where did the basic respect in your etiquette go?"
Venice's face stiffened, clearly not expecting Lupher's reaction to be so severe, but the pride of youth kept him from conceding: "That farr Horn, wearing the Pope's hat, yet always mingling with wizards and the Secret Faction, not to ntion his alchemical weapons, how is he not a demon?"
"Yet he was able to co up with the 'Thousand River Valley Declaration of Freedom' and the 'Holy Charter', and beca a tribune by the age of twenty, what about you?"
"Give the sa luck he has," Venice retorted stubbornly, "I could do it too."
Lupher rolled her eyes: "If it were you, you would've been beheaded in Gulag, we're here to learn, show so humility."
"Learning, learning my foot." Seeing everyone's gaze turn towards them, Venice beca even more embarrassed. His angry eyes even carried a hint of pleading, "What is there to learn from them? Just watch, today's constitutional eting will probably have nothing worth seeing, it's likely to be filled with crude language, lacking in rhetorical logic."
"Hey, what do you an?" A passing representative, already on the verge of being late, was rushing towards the Central Palace but imdiately turned around upon hearing this.
"Our Advisory Council is a noble and sacred elegant hall serving the two supre tribunes, who said anything about crude language? I'll curse your whole family, you damn piglet."
"Am I wrong? A parliant from a remote area, what need is there for research?" Venice, seemingly relieved, shifted the argunt from between himself and Lupher to the passerby, "Besides, aren't you using crude language?"
"I'm not in the Advisory Council!"
While the three continued their argunt on one side, Abazi was still engrossed in examining the sugar-frosted cookie.
Abazi cos from the Clove Corridor, where his family prospered from the sugar trade and belongs to a nouveau riche background. He is much more sensitive to sugar than the other two.
In his view, given the quality of this sugar frosting, selling at this price already implies very low profit, if not malicious competition.
But the issue is, there's hardly any sugar rchants in the Thousand River Valley, clearly a seller's market, who could they be competing against?
He silently committed the na "Saint Machinery Court Madeleine Bakery" to mory, deciding to thoroughly investigate in the next few days.
Yet before he could think it through, a warm little hand grabbed his, and the blushing Lupher pulled him along: "Co on, let's go listen in, ignore Venice, he's just a fool."
Abazi instantly threw any thoughts of sugar frosting aside, following Lupher into the Central Palace with a silly grin.
Seeing this, Venice's face, which was initially flushed red, turned pale instantly. He no longer cared about the remaining argunt, quickly catching up beside Lupher to explain and plead.
Yet the more he pleaded, the more Lupher ignored him, striding ahead with determination.
Fortunately, Catherine arrived just in ti, leading them into the venue as the bell announcing the start of the eting rang.
Noticing the three sulking, Catherine couldn't bother with much else: "You sit in this audience seating, and don't make a fuss."
"Sorry to have embarrassed you, Sister Catherine."
Catherine patted her hair and turned back to the representative seating area.
"Enough, Venice, if you keep on, I really won't pay attention to you anymore," Lupher scolded him in a low voice, hearing him still explaining in a mosquito-like fashion.
Venice hastily shut his mouth, and after a mont, he suddenly muttered: "It must surely be crude."
"Tch!"
Under the looming eruption in Lupher's eyes, Venice hastily lowered his head.
"Homage to His Highness the Despot!"
"Homage to the Great Shepherd!"
With two loud shouts from the ceremonial officer, the three Ael youths sitting in the corner lifted their heads, only to see a man and a woman walking in from the left and right doors of the lecture hall.
Behind each of them were two guards holding ax guns, and the nurous representatives all stood up, watching attentively as the tallest and the shortest rulers of the Thousand River Valley slowly walked in.
Lupher couldn't help but widen her eyes, these two were dressed identically to the tribunes of history.
Though the Divine Ael Empire now flies the banner of "Ael", their Emperor and King always wore flamboyant short robes with torn seams and extra lace on the sleeves.
Not to ntion the multitudinous red, green, erald, gold, and silver ornants on their hands and necks, pink diamonds on their crowns, amber brooches on their chests, and the thick white or even orange makeup on their faces.
The two tribunes before them wore no makeup, wearing plain red and white toga gowns, Ael sandals on their feet, olive branch crowns on their heads, gold-corded sashes at their waists, without a single ornant.
Even the other two Ael youths were taken aback, as if witnessing characters from the Classical Era co to life.
And they were even in pairs, consistent with the Ancient Aier's dual-tribune system.
Walking to the adjacent thrones, the two almost sat down simultaneously.
After they sat down, the remaining representatives in the venue also sat back down amid the sounds of footsteps and the friction of clothes.
After glancing around the hall, Moliat's emotionless, magnetic voice called out: "Is everyone present?"
"180 representatives, one late, two absent due to illness, three expelled for brawling in front of the hall, the rest are all present, Your Highness the Despot," responded Catherine, seated opposite the two.
Horn nodded slightly, pulling out a small wooden hamr: "Since everyone is present, then the 'Holy Charter' Article IV, 'Definition, Duties, and Rights of the Thousand River Valley Citizens' and the bundled bill 'Granting Public Register Farrs Perpetual Lease Rights Act'..."
"Ding—"
Knocking the small wooden hamr on the copper bell beside him, Horn announced in a clear voice:
"The discussion is officially open."
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