Sanda Khan had never slept so well outside before.
Refreshed and invigorated - that was his current state.
"Sanda Khan, please follow me," said Wei Zheng, personally coming to welcome Sanda at the Zhengyang Gate of the imperial palace.
Sanda didn't know who Wei Zheng was, but after three consecutive days of satisfying sleep in a foreign land, everyone looked agreeable to him at the moment.
Even the imperial palace of Jing Country felt welcoming.
"Did you sleep well, little brother Sanda?" Xiao Yunzhou quickly emerged from the imperial study.
Today, he wasn't even wearing his formal dragon robe but a plain brown home robe.
It was as if he wasn't receiving the ruler of a neighboring country during the morning court session, but rather chatting with a neighbor after just returning from planting melons in the fields!
Not only was Wu Yun Country's Khan Sanda stunned, but the two ministers who accompanied him were also dumbfounded.
"?"
The official from the Ministry of Rites who accompanied the Wu Yun people all the way was equally bewildered.
Fucha Prime Minister and Shen Mian, The Vice Minister, both had twitching mouths.
They desperately wanted to stuff Emperor Xiao Yunzhou back into the imperial study and make him come out again!
What was this?
What was he wearing to meet the neighboring country's Khan?
Was this still an emperor? If you took him to the street and said he was a peddler, people would believe it!
But while Fucha Prime Minister and Shen Mian, The Vice Minister were in despair, Xiao Yunzhou, in his plain clothes, felt no shame but rather pride. He walked affectionately towards Sanda.
He even tried to put his arm around Sanda's shoulder, but his eyebrow twitched, and his hand didn't make it.
【Wow, Sanda often takes off his Khan's robe in his royal tent and calls princes and even officials 'brother'!】
Xiao Chuchu's thoughts came from behind the screen next to the imperial study.
【Father Emperor's plain clothes today suit this Khan's taste perfectly.】
【Sanda dislikes complexity and finds rituals bothersome.】
【In his youth, Sanda even fell asleep during morning court sessions, even less reliable than Father Emperor.】
"..."
Xiao Yunzhou's mouth twitched, and he gritted his teeth to awkwardly place his hand on Sanda's shoulder, meeting him for the first time.
Sure enough, Xiao Chuchu's thoughts came through again.
【This Khan Sanda's brothers couldn't survive, dying from smallpox and wars, so every time Sanda gets drunk, he loves it when people call him 'little brother'!】
【Sanda's unknown secret, besides difficulty falling asleep, is that in the still of the night, he misses his brothers and wishes to return to the days when they looked after him!】
【In fact, if it weren't for his bloodline and protecting his wife and children, he wouldn't want to be a Khan at all! He just wants to be an ordinary person, lying down and enjoying life!】
"!"
Xiao Yunzhou was greatly surprised.
【Oh my, Father Emperor calling him 'little brother', haha, Sanda must be so happy inside.】
Xiao Chuchu muttered behind the screen in the imperial study, 【After all, usually in Wu Yun Country, although he forces those princes and ministers to call him 'brother' when drunk, they still fear him and don't dare to, they're not sincere.】
"...!"
Xiao Yunzhou gritted his teeth.
Everything could go wrong, but the reincarnated fairy, the little princess, couldn't be wrong.
He placed his left hand stiffly on the shoulder of the grassland king with formidable fighting strength, feeling the rock-hard muscles that could probably snap his arm in half.
Goodness gracious.
This Sanda was half a head taller than him, the Jing Country Emperor, and his shoulders were even broader.
He looked older than him, yet he dreamed of being a little brother!
Xiao Yunzhou gritted his teeth, not daring to look at the expression of Sanda, the grassland king. He coughed and reached out to Wei Zheng, "Bring the strongest wine to treat our best brother of Jing Country!"
"Little brother Sanda, I hear you're three years younger. You don't mind me calling you 'little brother Sanda', do you?" Xiao Yunzhou smiled stiffly.
"To be honest, I had an imperial brother, also three years younger than me, but he fell ill and died young. I can only see him in my dreams, alas."
Xiao Yunzhou's expression turned bitter when he mentioned his deceased brother.
In earlier years, during the previous emperor's time, several princes didn't make it to adulthood.
"Today, seeing you, I don't know why, but I thought of my younger brother from childhood. I couldn't help but call you 'little brother' in the moment."
"!"
The Minister of Rites swayed upon hearing this.
Chancellor Fu Cha and Shen Mian, The Vice Minister both turned pale.
The emperor was really bringing honor to Jing Country, calling the Khan 'little brother' at first meeting!
And saying Sanda was like his early-deceased imperial brother!
Unbelievable. If the emperor couldn't speak properly, he shouldn't speak at all.
Was he cursing the Khan to die early, or what?
Chancellor Fu Cha, being older, felt he could barely stand!
What joke was this? Did the emperor think no one had seen his real brother?
How was Sanda like his imperial brother? Sanda was dark-skinned, tall and strong, his skin often tanned on the grasslands, with quite a few wrinkles. He looked more like Xiao Yunzhou's well-preserved father!
Chancellor Fu Cha felt that today, Xiao Yunzhou wasn't just crazy, but delirious!
But while Chancellor Fu Cha was cursing inwardly, thinking of how to drag the emperor away and advise him privately, he heard a hearty laugh erupting from Sanda's chest.
"Hahaha! I always thought Jing Country was bureaucratic with too many rules, but I didn't expect you, elder brother Xiao, to be so straightforward and direct! Very much like my grassland people's temperament!"
"To be honest with elder brother Xiao," Sanda laughed heartily, then a rare gloom passed over his face, "I too lost many imperial brothers in my early years."
"It's been a long time since anyone called me 'little brother'. Alas, I can only hear it in my dreams."
A hint of sorrow flashed across Sanda's aged, tall, and strong face.
"But today, I'm very happy. I heard it again."
"..."
"...!"
Chancellor Fu Cha, Shen Mian, The Vice Minister, and the official from the Ministry of Rites were all stunned.
They suspected that Sanda, the grassland king, was being sarcastic, mocking their emperor Xiao Yunzhou for his initial provocation.
You say I'm your early-deceased imperial brother.
Fine, then you're my early-deceased elder brother!
In terms of curses, who the hell would lose!
But just as they had these suspicions, they realized something was off.
Not only was there no anger on Sanda's face, but he was smiling and started to undo the complex and heavy gold ornaments of the Wu Yun Khan on his chest with his bare hands!
"Since elder brother Xiao, you meet me in plain clothes, so straightforward, it would seem pretentious if I remain formal."
"Before we walk out this door, let's go by age!"
Sanda's hearty laughter didn't stop even as he entered the imperial study.
"!"
Chancellor Fu Cha, Shen Mian, The Vice Minister, and the Minister of Rites stared wide-eyed.
They remained outside the imperial study for a long while, unable to follow.
Were all grassland people so... naive?
"Uh, your Jing Country Emperor also has this habit?" One of the accompanying ministers from Wu Yun Country couldn't help but ask Shen Mian, The Vice Minister in a low voice.
Shen Mian was momentarily taken aback. "Huh?"
The minister from Wu Yun Country looked at him with a sense of shared suffering. "Ah, it's this habit of calling everyone 'brother' that's the problem. Our Khan has gotten worse over the years, and I see your Emperor is the same."
"...!"
Shen Mian opened his mouth, but ultimately closed it.
Chancellor Fu Cha, who was eavesdropping, felt his old eyes quiver.
So, the Emperor wasn't going mad; he had known all along that the Sanda from the grasslands was like this?
【Hehe, not bad. Sanda's affection for his Emperor Dad has increased by 1.3%.】
Xiao Chuchu, hidden behind the screen in the imperial study, thought gleefully.
"??" Xiao Yunzhou was stunned, looking towards the beaming Sanda.
Affection increase by only one-hundredth?
"Brother Xiao, let me be frank." Sanda quickly took a seat in the grand chair of the imperial study.
There was a smile on his face, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Just because I call you 'elder brother' doesn't mean Wu Yun Country submits to Jing Country."
"However, this time, I've come to Jing Country with a sincere desire to discuss matters of smallpox and the bank."
Bank?
Xiao Yunzhou was somewhat surprised. The little princess hadn't mentioned anything about a bank.
But he nodded, looking at Sanda, the muscular King of the Grasslands, now dressed in a simple robe.
"I invited Brother Sanda here today precisely because I want you to personally witness my princes receiving the smallpox inoculation."
"That is, the preventive method for smallpox."
Sanda had already decided that even if he personally liked the Emperor of Jing Country for his generosity, if Jing Country looked down on Wu Yun Country and truly treated them as little brothers, he would turn and leave immediately.
But unexpectedly, Xiao Yunzhou's words left the King of the Grasslands, Sanda, stunned.
"What? You asked me to come today to watch your princes get inoculated, Brother Xiao?"
Before Xiao Yunzhou could speak, Wei Zheng beside him eagerly interjected with a smile, "Our Emperor sincerely wishes to befriend Wu Yun Country. The smallpox prevention method has only been tested for a short while. In case there are risks, we let our Jing Country princes try it first."
"Since I call myself your elder brother, naturally I can't let my younger brother bear the risk," Xiao Yunzhou smiled.
"!"
Sanda was struck speechless, unable to utter a sound for a long time.
How long had it been?
No one had shielded him from the wind and rain...
He had always been the one at the forefront of everything.
Sanda felt his eyes grow hot.
【Wow, Sanda Khan's affection for his Emperor Dad is skyrocketing...】
Xiao Chuchu exclaimed from behind the screen, her ears ringing from the system's announcement.
【Ah, the affection level won't stop rising!】
