SHI 26: Interlude: Soar or Burn |
Word spread throughout the capital city without cease. It rushed through the streets, carried by the excited shouts of spectators. Within an hour of the tournament letting out for the day, it was blazing from the foundries to the docks, from Victory Road to the Northwind Path.
Within the second hour the transmission stone signal stations were full, the news was rushing up and down the Phoenix Tears River, and everyone from the coast to the headlands was passing the message on.
By the third hour, the relay hit the main cities of the surrounding provinces: Raging Waterfall Gorge, Whistling Wind Plateau, Victory Flame Bay, the Jade Grass Fields, Thundering Storm Foothills and White Tiger Forest.
It was discussed in taverns and inns, it was whispered between scribes, it was shouted over the pounding forge hammers: the story of the Divine Falcon’s Son doing battle in a grand arena, making his debut in the heart of the Empire. Of him defeating his equal in cultivation with a single blow.
Tianzhe Minyan, the great hero of the Empire, the Divine Falcon of the East Wind, had a son.
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The news even made its way back to the Imperial Palace and resulted in Yunxi’s Lord Father summoning her to discuss this development.
Her father did not actually care about the young man, other than finding it of mild interest that Lady Tianzhe had a son. He was but one of many Young Masters of high pedigree, and it was his first tournament. He simply hadn’t done anything to earn her father’s attention.
In actuality, it was an excuse to invite Yunxi to talk.
Yunxi had always liked the stories of her ancestors, ever since her Lord Father had read her a story once, about Lady Chao and her Honoured Ancestor. It had been such a wonderful tale, and it had ignited in her a passion for the past that had sent her into the vast Imperial Libraries at a young age. Even now, reading about the progenitor of her line was one of her favourite pastimes.
It was awe-inspiring to read about a man who truly lived up to his legend. Even with access to the ancient journals, even with secret treatises commissioned by the First Emperor for his Scholar Generals to savagely critique him…Yunxi could find nothing that tarnished his legacy. He had been a ruler without equal, a true paragon of the Age of Heroes, and a man worthy to be called the Son of Heaven.
He ruled well, trained his successor to the highest standards, and then left, to ascend to the next realm, believing that he had crafted an era of peace unparalleled.
And he had. The enemies of the Phoenix waited three hundred years after his departure to dare stop cowering in the deepest, darkest holes they could find.
The proliferation of the Blood Arts, culminating in the Blood Arts Purge. The resurgence of demonic portals and demon armies. One portal, using subverted humans, even tried to rip itself into existence beneath the capital city, directly under the Imperial Palace. It was only held closed and sealed by the might of the Second Emperor, though it took nearly a century of Grandfather sitting still on his throne and closing it himself. None but the Imperial Family knew of the assault, so secret it was.
Her Honoured Grandfather’s war was just as brutal and unforgiving as the First Emperor’s. Only it was, for the most part, quieter. Ten thousand blades in the dark went for the throat of the Phoenix, and the Second Emperor cast aside every single one. Under his purview the Empire expanded to all corners of the continent, and three hundred million souls called him their liege—a figure dwarfed by the number of subjects her Father commanded today.
The Second Emperor was just as brilliant as his own father, just as much of a titan—even more so, in some cases, as his enemies had spent thousands of years learning subterfuge for the express purpose of slaying the Phoenix.
However, her Honoured Grandfather did have one weakness.
Women.
The Imperial Harem was an institution even before the First Emperor, who had five wives; each one legendary Imperial Realm women of unparalleled skill, who gave the First Emperor ten children in total.
Each and every one of those children had joined the great war against the Demons. Only three survived. Of them, only the Second Emperor had the merits to be Emperor.
The Imperial Family was tiny, which worried the courtiers, who ended up encouraging her Grandfather’s weakness.
A woman from every province, as was his right. The expansion of the Imperial Family… and the Imperial Harem.
Yunxi’s father once had over a thousand siblings. The courtiers stopped counting which prince was which, and simply assigned them a number to which wife was their mother—and so Father was the Forty-Eighth Prince, born of the Forty-Eighth consort.
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When the Blood Arts Purge finally finished, when the great rift beneath the capital was sealed—when the world was finally ready for the Second Emperor to continue to the heavens, he faced a conundrum.
Who would ascend to the throne?
What followed was so much intrigue and petty infighting that it nearly tore the Empire apart. The Second Emperor despaired, for he found no worthy children. Their cultivation potential was nothing. His lax hand had developed only disappointing heirs.
Until he found one. One gem, at the outskirts of his domain.
That child’s mother had been assassinated, and he had been spirited away from the place by a retainer. Only the jade token all heirs received told proof of his lineage.
The prince of his Forty-Eighth wife, who had once had trouble conceiving; a young boy found in the company of those who would later become the most talented of their generation. Who, like the Second Emperor, did battle with demons, put his life on the line, and was not found wanting.
And so the Second Emperor hardened his heart. All who would not bow their heads to the Emperor’s will and give up their right to the throne were purged.
The Forty-Eighth prince became the First Prince. The only prince.
And then, not long after, he became the Third Emperor.
The Harem was reduced… but not eliminated. There was still a worry about having a proper heir.
Yunxi had fifteen siblings and was tenth in line for the throne, by the laws of succession.
Yunxi entered the Imperial Gardens—her father’s most sacred retreat. She loved the tingling feeling over her skin as she transitioned to the hidden realm, but more than that, she loved the smell. The fragrant flowers and lightly damp soil filled her nostrils. It felt like a weight disappeared from her shoulders, simply from being here.
And then, she beheld her father.
The Third Emperor, who held dominion over a population that was swelling like a river during the spring. Phoenix Rest Plains alone held twice as many people as the Second Emperor had presided over in totality. He had to keep track of dominions twenty thousand Li away. He had to check the sects, who continually tested what they could get away with, and keep firmly in hand his own administration, lest it slip from his grasp.
“Thank you for joining me, Yunxi,” Father said, a slight smile on his face. He was standing near a tea table, already prepared for two. Their game of go was exactly as how they had left it nine months ago, when he had to leave to take care of urgent business.
That was how it always was. his days were consumed with toil; Yunxi likened it to pushing a stone up a mountain that went on forever, or holding up the sky.
Her father’s eyes were the same colour as hers; gold around the pupil, turning to red at the edges. They were as tired as always, if one knew where to look. But there was affection in there. Affection for her.
“This humble slave Yunxi heeds the summons of the most esteemed and honoured Son of Heaven,” she replied with a cheeky grin, and her father let out a laugh at her exaggerated, almost mocking bow.
“It is good I have such a prompt and obedient servant,” he declared, his voice regal and pompous.
She rose without leave, naturally, and approached. Here, in private, she was allowed to embrace her father instead of kowtowing before the Phoenix Emperor.
It was brief. Too brief. But it was what it always was, and Father was warm… and reluctant to let go.
But their time together was always limited.
They seated themselves at the table. Her father’s eyes roved over her with paternal affection, looking for signs she was unwell, but she was very careful to ensure that he would find none.
“Now, I believe you have important information for your Emperor,” he said, resting his chin on one hand. It was what he always said. To all of her siblings.
And what the Emperor considered ‘important information’ would likely have his courtiers scratching their heads; for the Emperor, in the past, had considered her excitement at reading a new book, the state of her pet Lesser Vermillion Paradise Bird, Shiluo, and her annoyance at several courtiers 'important information’.
So she spoke. She spoke of the little things, while she challenged her wits against her father in a game; and her father listened, occasionally relating her words back to things she had told him before. She mentioned her training and her cultivation, while he gave her advice.
And only deep into the conversation, did she even mention Tianzhe Rou. “He's… interesting. I don't really have enough of a read on him to make any conclusions, but he seems to be benevolent and honourable, from everything I have seen from him. He strikes down those who offer insult, and is polite and respectful to those who do him no wrong.”
“So he answers every kindness and insult a hundredfold?” Father asked, sounding amused, and like he was quoting someone, before he shook his head. “And he doesn’t use a sword?”
“He used a style I was unfamiliar with. The hand movements looked a lot like orthodox tiger styles, but they seemed more like antlers than claws. Earth-based.”
Father hummed. “Hm. An interesting distraction, I suppose. I’m interested in who the father is, but if he’s not using a sword…” he trailed off and took a sip of his tea… before clearly discarding the line of thought. “Well, an interesting mystery, and one for someone else to find out. Poking at the Divine Falcon when she hasn't said anything is a foolish endeavor. Right now, he’s just another undistinguished member of the Younger Generation. Let us see if he rises. Now, how is Shiluo doing? You said you went hunting with him last time…”
Their conversation turned back to mild things, her father’s smile at the antics of her pet real and genuine.
It was so nice to see.
But the good times could not last forever. A chime sounded. Their go game was left unfinished… but would be preserved for next time.
And Father had to return to being the Emperor. It was going to be the last time she saw him for a while, again.
“Father…” As she stared at his back, her father leaving the hidden realm, she found herself speaking before she could stop herself.
‘If you tell him, he will help,’ a traitorous voice whispered in the back of her head.
And yet… she could not bear to tell him. She could not bear to involve him in her petty disputes. To add even one more thing to the mountain upon her father’s back invoked a soul-deep revulsion in her.
This was her tribulation.
“Have a good night, Father. I hope you rest well,” she said. Her father smiled at her words.
“Thank you, Yunxi,” he replied.
It was nothing that would harm the Empire. It was nothing her father had to concern himself with.
Her father would only hear of this when she was victorious; and victory washed away all sins.
Yunxi left the Imperial Palace. She re-entered the great city forged by her forebearer’s power. She entered the great mass of humanity, her hood up, travelling incognito back to her current residence, until something caught her eye.
The tournament organizers had been busy, she mused, as workers plastered up a poster on the walls.
An artist’s rendition of Tianzhe Rou looked back at her. He had a cocky grin on his face, pointing at the viewer as if in challenge.
The tournament grounds proclaimed that this would be the best tournament in a century, so all should hurry to witness the start of a new legend.
Or, as people whispered in the streets, witness it stop before it could start.
The eyes of the capital were upon him. The pressure of his birth was upon his shoulders. Half wanted him to succeed.
The other half wanted to see him crash and burn.
How familiar a feeling. Yunxi smiled up at the poster, an odd feeling of kinship forming in her breast. She knew exactly what that was like.
“Let's see how high you can fly, Tianzhe Rou.” She said, and turned away from the poster.
And then, if he soared, she would approach him. She would tell him exactly why she needed his help, leaving nothing out… and let him make his own choices.