Something occurred to Tang Ze during the dinner - the Imperial Family had been the ones behind the plot to steal the Grimoire of Heaven. Was that why the third prince was so interested in him, the one who had unraveled said plot? News of it shouldn't have gotten out of the sect's walls, but he was sure that the Imperial Family had eyes and ears everywhere and would've easily been able to find it out.
Tang Ze did not know this, but while the Imperial Family had been behind the plot to steal the Grimoire of Heaven, the third prince had not been involved in that scheme, as such, his interest did not originate from that - but rather, from other things related to Tang Ze.
That was why he had wanted to probe about which village he came from - thinking that there might be some secret like a rare inheritance there which was the underlying driving force behind Tang Ze's abnormal strength. Giving a large donation to that village was just an excuse for him to send someone to scout out that area - though, if his original village was truly destroyed, then this plot had failed. But that in itself did tell the third prince something about Tang Ze.
While Tang Ze nervously stewed in his seat, he was not really called upon again, and just as he was about to relax and the dinner was about to be over, the third prince dropped a final bombshell on him.
"Ah, a small thing I wanted to let you know," he said, as a messenger handed him a letter. "It seems your talents have attracted the gaze of the Emperor himself. He wishes to invite you to meet with him in person in two month's time."
Just as Tang Ze felt like he could relax, it was as if someone had sucker-punched him.
Meet with the Emperor?
He didn't know much about the Imperial Family aside from what Chen Yu had told him - but he did understand some things. The Emperor himself was a Nascent Soul cultivator, but the Imperial Family had an old ancestor who was at the Eternal Soul realm who was not directly involved in ruling.
As for what the Emperor was like as a person, there was so little information on that it was practically non-existent.
"You seem slightly frightened my friend," the third prince said, laughing. "Are you of a mind to decline the invitation?"
"Wh -no, I am greatly honored to accept this invitation," Tang Ze said.
The reason that Tang Ze was so frightened was because as a newcomer to this world, he was still not fully familiar with all the etiquette and social mores that were expected of people.
He was sure that he had made several social blunders during this dinner itself, even if he wasn't sure what they were. Thankfully, it seemed the third prince didn't seem to mind either being nice enough to disregard such things, or having an ulterior motive for which he could overlook such offense. But the Emperor, now that was a completely different issue.
'If I say the wrong thing to the Emperor, am I going to lose my head?' - Tang Ze wondered. Superimposing his knowledge of how the Emperors from back on Earth were like, it was highly likely that he would be severely punished if he did something that offended the Emperor.
The third prince was slightly disappointed by Tang Ze's answer - he had wanted to see what would happen if this man said 'no' to the invitation as it would have been quite amusing to watch, but it looked like Tang Ze wasn't that dumb.
The Emperor's 'request' may have been framed as such, but it was an order.
It was here that the gears in Tang Ze's head started to turn, and he began contemplating something for the first time.
Had he drawn too much attention to himself through his actions?
While of course, as cultivators, one would strive to be seen as strong and not as weak, but there was also danger in showing too much of your strength.
There was a person who had been born blessed with three of the Five Attributes - and had been summarily executed by the Imperial Family as a potential threat.
There was a reason that Xian Yue did not want her existence mentioned to anyone else - even when it came to taking credit for solving the case of the Grimoire of Heaven. She even hid herself from her former sect. The reason was that if word got out that she was somehow close to getting to the Hinayana realm, so many forces would gather around her to obstruct her ascension that they would without a doubt succeed in doing so. The Imperial Family would be among those.
So where did that leave someone like Tang Ze?
He thought of his actions - attracting the attention of Ling Kuang had been entirely unintentional and without the benefit of hindsight, not something he could've avoided, and so was defeating him in a fight (he had done his best to try to resolve that issue peacefully but it hadn't worked).
That alone put him under a magnifying glass - and perhaps that had been unavoidable. But did he really have to win all three of those events in the Novice Tournament? What if he lost one of them on purpose instead?
He would've gotten enough honor for his sect by winning only two events, and he might've been able to avoid being put under such scrutiny.
If knowledge began to spread about how powerful he was - it could end very badly for him. People might want to eliminate him simply to kill the dragon while it was but a hatchling, and others might even want to experiment on him to see if they could somehow gain his power.
That was why he had kept his cosplaying talent a secret from all but the people in the sect whom he really trusted, and Xian Yue who already knew about it.
But, people within the Rising Phoenix sect had seen him wandering around in strange costumes. They likely just thought that he was weird and enjoyed dressing up like that for fun. But, it would not be so far-fetched for them to be able to put two and two together eventually.
"Well then, I wish you luck," the third prince said, interrupting his train of thought.
Tang Ze had no idea what he meant by that, but did know that he was going to greatly dread having to meet the Emperor.
Well, at least there were two months for him to prepare for it.
With that, the dinner finally ended and Tang Ze got to go back to his tent.
The next day, he was riding back to the sect along with the two prefects who had come with him. Both of them seemed to be slightly hungover as they slept for the entire morning on the first day of their return trip.
The journey back was a lot more tolerable as Tang Ze knew that he was going back home, and the stress of having to participate in the tournament was gone now. He might've wanted to see the city a bit more, but they left immediately again, meaning he would have to seek some other time to visit there.
When they got back, Tang Ze was relieved to finally go back to his old friends, who welcomed him with excitement. He handed the snow leopard pelt to Zhang Long, who looked at it ecstatically as Tang Ze began recounting what had happened.
"Oh, and we don't have to do sect duties for the next month either, the prefects told me," Tang Ze said, remembering that as being one of the rewards for what he had accomplished. This was met with several cheers from the group.
Meanwhile, the two prefects in question were reporting to Elder He Xuan.
"And that is what happened," one of them said. Neither of them had a very high opinion of Tang Ze before the event, but they both had to acknowledge that his performance had been beyond impressive.
They still tried to nitpick small things about Tang Ze's behavior which they wouldn't have chastised someone else for, though it was clear that Elder He Xuan did not care whatsoever for these things. When they realized this, they decided to complain about something else.
"While Junior Tang Ze is no doubt talented," the other one said. "He has a very poor understanding of social etiquette. He behaved like a common country bumpkin in front of the third prince and nearly made a laughingstock of the sect during that time."
"Indeed, and he will soon be meeting with the Emperor. It is fine when it is only a matter of the third prince, but it would be extremely bad if he were to say something unfitting before the Emperor."
Elder He Xuan nodded, noting it as something the sect would need to teach Tang Ze about, and then dismissed the two prefects.
He began to contemplate what had gone on after the two left.
Tang Ze's performance was amazing, but still within expectations.
However, he had not expected that the Emperor himself would extend Tang Ze an invitation to meet with him.
Was Tang Ze in danger? The Imperial Family would not attack him when he went to visit them - their reputation would not survive striking down a guest.
And being a member of the Rising Phoenix sect also gave Tang Ze a layer of protection - but to what extent could that protect him?
The much more likely probability was that the Imperial Family, if they thought that Tang Ze was too much of a threat, they might act against him indirectly. They were the most likely culprits behind the attempt at stealing the Grimoire of Heaven, after all. Elder He Xuan had reached that conclusion much like Xian Yue had.
Would the Imperial Family send assassins after Tang Ze? Once again, unlikely, given how hard it would be to strike at him within the sect. Not to mention they must be somewhat wary of Tang Ze's abilities as well after he had beaten a Nascent Soul cultivator.
For now though, Tang Ze was safe - but he would need to be more careful from now on. It would be for his benefit, Elder He Xuan felt, if he leaked a few weaknesses of his out to the public even if he had to make them up, making him appear less invincible, so that the Imperial Family could be at ease.
However, these worries quickly sublimated as he turned his thoughts to the fact that it looked like indeed, Tang Ze was ready for the task Elder He Xuan had recruited him for.
Very few things could move Elder He Xuan, but even he felt his heart begin to race as he envisioned his lifelong ambition coming closer to fruition!
'Just a bit longer,' - Elder He Xuan told himself. Even though Tang Ze was ready right now, Elder He Xuan still had to wait a few months for the opportunity to present itself.