Chapter 13: Dinner with Royalty

"Congratulations. I heard about your survival during the Space Gate trial," Han Xin grinned as Wei appeared in the palace's guest wing.

"Uncle, I heard we're having dinner with the emperor and his family. I'm afraid we can no longer avoid the dangers of royal politics," Wei frowned.

"Don't worry about them. We own the most powerful dukedom in the southern dukedoms as well as two of the empire's largest trading cities. The late duke, your own father, founded the new Silk Road while he was still a general. Many traders and merchants from other nations pass through our dukedom to go to the capital. They won't dare threaten us," Xin dismissed.

"Our clan and army is not as powerful," Wei frowned.

"But we have many friends and they have to come to our turf. Furthermore, other dukes would feel that they might be next if they refuse to take a side. That could lead to a revolt. Only an idiot cannot foresee that," Xin said. "The Crown Prince is said idiot, but the empress is one dangerous snake. The first born child was from a concubine, but her schemes allowed the Second Prince to become the Crown Prince. Her and Concubine Yu are the ones we must fear. Their factions destroyed all others on the surface, and even still those other concubines dare not enact their schemes."

"If Concubine Yu is a threat, does that mean she is the current favorite of the emperor?" Wei asked.

"Precisely. The empress is very upset and many maids and eunuchs have mysteriously passed the past few months. You are not one of the Four Great Dukes, so their main interest in you is control of the trade route in your dukedom. There are many talented youths, so your cultivation does not stand out much," Xin explained.

Cong Wei wore a simple black hakama and white silk trousers with the bright, two-headed green dragon family insignia on his back and a smaller version above his heart. Members of the imperial family stared at him in shock as he wore the ancestral formal wear of the Japanese.

"Why did you wear that?" Qing whispered as he passed by her.

Wei didn't know what to say as he sat behind the closest personal table along the aisle of the emperor's throne room. His uncles sat on a personal table behind his nephew before everyone stood up as Head Eunuch Gao arrived.

"Now presenting His Imperial Majesty Shen Tian, third emperor of the Southern Flame Dynasty. Accompanying His Imperial Majesty is Prime Minister Cao Feng," Eunuch Gao announced in a loud clear voice.

"First bow!" the eunuch cried.

"Long live His Imperial Majesty," everyone cried as they bowed on both knees and placed their palms on the ground, their heads touching the back of their hands. The minsters, generals, and other important guests inside the throne room and outside it did the same.

"Second bow!" the eunuch cried.

"Long live His Imperial Majesty!"

"Final bow!"

"All hail the Southern Flame Dynasty!"

"You may be seated," Eunuch Gao smiled and everyone finally sat down after the emperor. After an hour of singing and dancing, the emperor, dressed in his golden and red robe, turned towards Wei.

"Duke Han Cong Wei, its has been too long. When was the last I've seen you?" the emperor asked.

"When I was....ten. Nearly seven years ago, Esteemed Emperor," Wei answered, flashbacks of meeting the emperor running through his mind.

"Hmmm. I see. How did you recover your...condition?" the emperor asked.

"Your Majesty, I do not know. It just....happened," Wei lied, sighing helplessly. "All those resources my grandfather utilized had no effect. My soul wasn't just injured, I was born with my soul missing some pieces. Perhaps an expert felt pity for my based on the mockery of me. Duke Nevermore, the people once called me."

"I heard you had them all expelled from you dukedom, taking possession of their money and property while you were at it," the prime minister noted.

"A small revenge on my part. I no longer had to hold back my rage. My hate," Wei said, slightly disturbed by the dark thoughts and memories of his body's past owner.

"You have done your duty as duke well. You maintained the borders, assisted the empire's army with legions from your own, and maintained good relations for the trading cities and Silk Road. It is a name from Earth put to good use by your late father. Tell me, honestly, what do you know of the factions in the palace?" the emperor asked, all eight children of the emperor pausing as they turned their attention to Cong Wei. Even Concubine Yu and the empress looked at him. Xin's back started to sweat as the important ministers and generals in the throne room also turned to Wei.

"I know that the Second Prince became crown prince because of your favor to.... Consort Yu. I know that the empress, the mother of the First Prince, is not happy and is the one in control of the royal harem. Your Majesty's court is divided between the two factions, other concubines with their own agendas and schemes hidden in the shadows," Wei began. "I believe you allow the two factions to have equal power in order to control them. Neither prince has the advantage over the other."

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"Your intuition is startling," the emperor mused. "No one has understood my actions, but this duke who has only been in my palace once did so. Do you have experience leading an army?"

Memories of the beheaded flashed through his mind. Wei's eyes closed as these memories became more vivid and he slowly opened his eyes, saying, "No, Your Majesty. I only have some knowledge."

"I see. Pity. Still, you have saved my dearest daughter. One of my only two daughters in fact. A little cold, but her talent is exceptional. You are a duke and a minister of the third class. I promote you to a minister of the second class with exemption of tax for five years. You will be given an estate in the capital and control of one of the market streets. It is currently under siege by minor gangs and small time criminals. I trust you do not need assistance killing such rabble. I do not need such trash in my prisons. They would just be beheaded after a few days," the emperor said, motioning to Head Eunuch Gao.

After receiving a written decree by the emperor, Eunuch Gao retrieved the black dragon decorated scroll and said to Wei, "Duke Han Cong Wei. Receive the emperor's decree."

"Long live the emperor!" Cong Wei said, bowing on both knees as he accepted the scroll with two open palms with his head facing the ground. Wei's eyes read the decree and his mind numbed as he read some sentences not publicly announced.

"Good. Very good. I have other business with my Great Generals, Great Dukes, and my cabinet of ministers. I will leave you all now," the emperor said, everyone standing with a bow to their waist until the emperor left with the head eunuch walking behind him at a constant five feet distance.

"A brat like you should not be here," a minister said, the silence continuing as one of the ministers stood up. "You are not the emperor. You had no right to seize the money and property of others."

"Oh. You must be one of the ass-kissers in court. You say what the powerful what you to say, hoping that you kissing boot and ass would get you money and their political backing," Wei said coldly. "Could it be that you were one of those wishing to possess the estate and street? That your merits were higher than mine?"

"What give you the right to say that? Shut your tongue!" one of the minister's friends roared.

"I am not a minister of the court. However, I am a duke. I do not have to heed your words or your commands. Only to the Esteemed Emperor, do I willingly bend the knee. Are you claiming that His Majesty's intent in giving me the reward is a mistake?" Cong Wei smiled.

The two ministers paled and immediately denied before sitting down with their faces extremely focused on their meals. Wei looked around and saw other like-minded individuals suddenly feel some enlightenment toward their meal.

"You have a talent for the court. Some of these vipers have already been bested by you," Qing said, her voice loud in the quiet throne room. "So you only bend the knee to the emperor. Is that right?"

"And his decree," Wei shrugged. "It represents the emperor's words. Most of the other dukes think like me. We'd rather avoid the nest of vipers than succumb to poison and borrowed daggers waiting in the shadows of the night. At least in our dukedoms, we can learn who our enemy is and silence him with little consequence."

"And if I were to become emperor, you would bend the knee for me?" the crown prince asked.

"It is imperial law," Wei inclined his head. "Some dukes obey the commands of those below the emperor, but imperial law states that the emperor is the law of the land."

"Indeed," Han Xin agreed, sweating a little as he unintentionally drew attention to himself. "Ahem....the Han Clan is deeply loyal to the emperor as well as the one who would succeed His Majesty."

"Crap," Wei muttered under his breath as the crown prince frowned.

"You think there is a possibility that I will not? Is that the view of the Han Clan?" the Crown Prince Shen Xun frowned.

"Brother, you know the duke's uncle doesn't mean that?" a man in his mid-twenties smiled, a noble aura radiating around him. Upon comparing the fatter and arrogant crown prince to the First Prince was the same as comparing a raisin to a bottle of a hundred year old wine.

"Elder Brother Tusu, you surely jest. I was just making fun," Xun smiled and turned to Cong Wei. "What are your thoughts?"

"I follow what the emperor decrees. If His Majesty wishes me to support someone from the shadows, I dare not reveal who it is," Wei said, his mind still numbed by the scroll.

"The decree," many of the more experienced ministers and the children of the emperor realized as they saw Xin unable to contain a look of surprise and scrutiny towards the black dragon scroll Wei just received.

"I heard you have much experience in holding executions based on the sheer power of your baleful killing aura," Concubine Yu interrupted. "Perhaps you may enjoy the sword dance of this troupe from the eastern dukedoms."

"What is she planning?" Wei thought as men and women walked inside the throne room and bowed to the guests as they stood in the aisle before bowing to the empty throne.