Branch 7: Huangdi

---D-Day+198, Siesic 9th, Monday Evening---

---Beiguang, Qinglong Palace---

Thunderclouds hang heavy in the heavens above. Light drizzle scatters raindrops across my capital. Within the imperial palace at its center. Behind a maze of mansions and courtyards. Halls and chambers. Is a garden. Walkways, bridges, colonnades, ponds, trees and pavilions decorate this enclosed park.

Sigh.

This is my private area. My place of zen and peace.1Shut up grandma! Where I can relax, away from the bureaucrats and diplomats. The scheming women, competing children and plotting relatives. Very rarely is anyone but the most loyal guardsmen and servants allowed here.

Glance at the repaired portion of the pavilion’s roof and part of the table. One of the four chairs is new too. The craftsmen did a laudable job of matching the materials and even weathering as exactly as possible. So that no one could see the evidence of my brother’s tantrum after another one of his perverted fantasies was ruined2Volume 3: Chapter 37.

But I can tell. Clear as Mount Tai. Can feel the disharmony they bring.

Yet the friction added is far less than what would be created by replacing or relocating. This exact spot has been my piece of serenity for centuries. And it will remain so. Despite the twinge of discord now present in the earth and wood qi.

Zither and flute play in the background. Birds chirp. Bugs buzz.

*krakow* *rumble* *boom*

Several li3around a third of a mile to the west, lightning plunges down from the clouds. Most of it striking the same place. Lanyungong4Blue Cloud Palace. I comment to the kowtowing girl in between my table and the gazebo’s entrance.

"Congratulations, Li'er. Your junfei is receiving a tribulation." Take another sip of qi rich green spirit tea.

Tiang Li Zexi, one of my daughters, grovels appropriately. The teal silk robes she’s wearing look quite nice. Though there are only three four-toed silver dragons sewn in. Is her rank in the royal family really that low? Naturally my deep blue silk robes with nine five-toed gold dragons are superior. I am the emperor after all.

The princess answers humbly. "Thank you, royal father."

Xiao5Little Li’s hair is enviously black and long. Far better than the bald head my second tribulation left me with. At least no one can claim to be first compared to my lengthy braided black goatee and fu manchu. Nor can her brown eyes rival my glowing jade pair. Another gift from that tribulation.

My voice, filled with authority and power6think Max Von Sydow, continues.

"A commoner reaching the first heavenly trial before their twentieth birthday? Would be proclaimed a thousand year genius." Glances to the west. "But a foreign dual-cultivator doing so within months?" Sad sigh. "Will be branded a monster instead."

Such a waste.

My daughter wisely keeps her forehead touching the floor but worriedly replies. "Father I-"

A raised finger stops her. One she cannot see with her eyes staying down. But the shift in the energy heavy atmosphere warns the girl. Shutting that cute mouth tight as if another word might draw a looming beast's merciless attention.

Sigh… she really does look like: "You remind me of your mother." Another sip. "Before I crushed her dreams." Li trembles a little but remains silent. "When I selected someone else to be third empress? And she became only a concubine?" Another sigh. "Her heart was shattered."

Distant rumbles begin to calm, momentarily distracting me.

Ha. So the otherworlder boy survived.

"Good, your lover has succeeded." Shake my head. "A sixteen year old core former. The wonders of heaven are truly infinite." Focus back on Li Zexi. "Your dearest mother became obsessed. If she could not sit behind me? Then she would sit behind one of her sons, in this chair, instead."

Jade pins are doing an acceptable job of keeping daughter's dark hair bobbed. Yet I can sense the cold sweat running down Li's back. This young royal is mustering her courage. And for what, I suspect, she is about to ask. The isolation arrays carved across this garden. And only my personal staff being present. Makes here the best place to voice it.

"Esteemed imperial father.” She's nervous. “I beg… request to… to marry Badun Yuehan7Yanese pronunciation of John Barton!" Hehe. Can feel the relief flooding her. Took a lot of courage to even hint at disagreeing with me. Wasn't this one promised to an heir of Tiede8Yangxu’s militaristic western neighbor? Well, let's see how determined Little Li is.

"Foolish Li'er. Why wed a man who does not love you?" Though it's not like the Teide boy will either.

The calm matter of fact way I reply drives a spike into her heart. See the frustration flair. But Xiao Li has come so far. She will not back down now.

"Better a one sided love than no love at all." Oh? Interesting. "And I will win Xingan’s love." Haha. These children. I do spoil them too much.

Release a flicker of annoyance in the aura heavy air.

“Love?” I snort. “One of the more troublesome of the seven emotions9happiness, anger, sorrow, joy, love, hate, and lust and six desires10see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think.” Notice a songbird on a tree branch. “Seeking the truth of her soul led to Ji’er’s downfall. A marriage to our dynastic neighbor will strengthen your position in the royal clan.”

Anger bubbles up but she does her best to push it back down. Li's still speaking with her forehead touching the marble floor.

"Royal father, how many siblings have I lost to knives in the night? Poison in the tea?" True. "How many aunts to strangely lethal sniffles? Or surprisingly strong bandits?" Is pursuing her own happiness, while she still can, really so wrong? "Royal mother11the empress is the third during your honored reign. Crown prince? The fifth." Of course it is. "The strength I seek…” She hesitates. “Cannot be found in the imperial clans."

Silence. The zither and flute stop playing. The buzz of bugs and chirp of birds anxiously cease. My heavy qi that blankets the garden hardens. Turns almost solid. Transformed from a quilt to a boulder. Xiao Li feels my glowing eyes focus on her.

Again I marvel over how much influence my consciousness has over the surroundings. Even unintentionally, nature responds to my whims. I am so close to completing the Dao. So close to immortality.

But these children… sigh. The ignorance. The arrogance. They know nothing of the truth of the world.

"Borrowed strength is only that, Li'er. Borrowed." A pregnant pause. "Then if you do not dream of dragons, daughter, what accompanies your sleep?" Like I really need to ask.

Tension leaves the princess’s body as the atmosphere suddenly lightens. Li smiles softly and gains a wistful expression.

"Father, I dream of a simple home in the country." And there it is. "Filled with honest quarreling sisters." Ha! "Happy spoiled children. And a man whose heart is big enough to hold it all."

Hmm… that boy must have quite the dick for daughter to become this delusional. Let's push a little more.

"And what of your vengeance against the young masters?" That should make her uncomfortable.

"I…" Yep.

"I was promised a healer of great power and you delivered." She did indeed. "Able to repair ruined dantians and meridians. Even cleanse a fox demon's spirit root." Shocked? Daughter, did you really think I wouldn't know? "Though a dual-cultivator? One so strong that he can fuck females into enlightenment?" Haha. “That was… unexpected.”

Though seeing some of the most arrogant women in Yangxu begging for my new court physician’s “treatment.” Has been very entertaining.

Li’er? You’re blushing? Embarrassed? Oh you naive child with a heart full of love and a womb full of seed.

"In return, I let loose your wrath upon them." And she’s back to angry. "But is this all? A handful of third-rate young masters and your fire is already quenched? Justice forgotten?" One more push. "Is that all Ji’er’s years of suffering meant to you?"

Now the kowtowing girl trembles in anger. But she's yelling into the floor. Still keeping her face down.

"I will never forgive them!"

Better.

“Little Li is far from reaching the first-rate shaoye truly responsible for your beloved older sister’s fall.” Twist the knife. “It will cost much more to purchase their fates, daughter.” More. “How far will you go? How far will he go for you?” Pause. “Are you resolved?”

“Royal father, I am resolved.”

Good, the Shaoyeshe12Young Master’s Club has been getting sloppy. They are overdue for a trimming. But I am not done yet. Time to wave a carrot in front of her.

"Tiang Li Zexi may not marry a foreign dual-cultivating boy." Don’t give her a chance to protest. "But I will allow that boy to marry my Little Li." Just how much are you willing to lose?

"Thank you, Huangdi."

“Leave.”

The daughter of the Lady of Bright Deportment13high ranking concubine stands and quickly retreats. Unable to hide the smile on her face. I have given her a path forward.

But how far she can travel on it will depend on her.