"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - From the Works of Confucius and His Sons
The Forbidden Palace, the magnificence knows no bounds. The Forbidden Palace, huge and regal, was the pride of every true Han, centered in the heart of Shengjing, the Holy City; it was a monumental structure of gargantuan proportion that was unimaginable to the barbarians who smugly resided within their castles or mansions. The residencies of barbarian chieftains paled in comparison to the Forbidden Palace of the Middle Kingdom- dwarfing them all in majesty, in luxury, in history, as well as in size. It was said that if one looked upwards, where the Jade Emperor had built his palace in the ages before time, it was so lovely that light radiated from it, and thus you could know it as the brightest star in the nighttime sky. The Palace of the Jade Emperor was said to have thirty thousand rooms, and so the earthly Forbidden Palace humbly limited itself to a mere twenty-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine. It had been a massive undertaking, being built over the course of five decades- enslaving almost two million for the physical labor and employing another nearly half a million craftsmen to see to the finer details of the Palace. The result was tremendous, with over three thousand buildings, covering a grounds three kilometers wide, and four kilometers deep, fenced in by walls fifteen meters high, and protected by a massive moat separating it from the rest of Shengjing- it was massively huge, it was asininely splendid, it was the Forbidden Palace- and it had to be of such scale.
For unlike the government houses, the presidential palaces, or the executive mansions where barbarians ruled their nations from, the Forbidden Palace was more than a mere seat of government, it was the home to a god. The Most Divine Emperor, the Son of Heaven, the Lord of Ten Thousand Years, He resided here- the Emperor, his family, and thirty thousand servants populated this place from which the Middle Kingdom would be guided into the future, based on the wisdom of the past. Within the walls of the Forbidden Palace there were tree covered courtyards, there were gardens boasting beauty beyond imagination, there were countless temples, and as many residency buildings, all of the structures featuring reds prominently with sweeping black roofs. When people first came here, they often found themselves lost, but enjoying themselves nevertheless. It would take centuries to know every nook and hiding place within the Palace, and with as many rooms as he could want, some whispered that the Son of Heaven had never even bothered to go beyond the center most section of the Palace, though there with ten thousand rooms within that center, there was little reason to.
And yet, with all this space and all these places, there was a single yacht out in the transparently crystalline moat which was used firstly for aesthetic value and only secondly as a means of defense. It was itself a fine little yacht and though it could not compare to the majesty of the structure behind it, it’s marble dragons and great red flags, fluttering patriotically in the early morning winds, proved it to be the property of someone mightily important. And if one had a fair eye, perhaps they could spot the great black character inked onto the grand red banner which formed the seal and title of the office Viceroy of the Empire. It was not an unusual sight, despite the fact that Tu Bei spent much of his day within the Forbidden Palace for this was the Seat of Government and the site of his work, he did not reside there. To do so would be illegal lest he made a sacrifice he was not yet prepared to make, and so he had purchased for himself a misleadingly small home facing the Palace within Shengjing. The home featured fewer than ten rooms and only a single courtyard, but it was sufficient for a man such as himself, and it was near enough the moat harbor that it was a very short ride every day to the yacht he now found himself on, which at sunrise and sunset ferried him to and from the Palace. Joining him this morning was none other than the wise old Scholar Dong Sung and the powerful young General Bao Song. Curiously, the yacht had anchored itself in the center of the beautiful moat, much to the Imperial Guards displeasure, waiting in the morning chill, eyes fixed upon their now stationary target.
“That snake,” the Viceroy made no effort to be polite or even indirect, taking another drink from his tea, his skin was draining in color and it seemed he became paler by the day, prone to more coughing fits than he had once been, and often debilitated by stubborn headaches. “He forces me to hide upon this insufferable boat, for fear to speak even in my own office? Is there nothing that reptiles prying ears do not hear?” He was seated on a plush red pillow in a room at the heart of the yacht; for fear of being overheard they had neglected to sit at the open-air pavilion above, they were speaking by the illumination of candles which were scattered around and the walls were covered in fine red curtains which were mostly transparent but did lend themselves to some degree of privacy. He had dismissed the servants who insisted it could be a fire hazard.
“He is the commander of all the eunuchs, it is impossible to speak or stay within the Forbidden Palace without your conversations falling prey quickly to himself or one of his nefarious spies. Rejoice that he hears only half of the words spoken in Shengjing, which is why I make my home at the foot of the mountain, outside of his immediate influence.” Bao responded calmly, it was unlike the Viceroy to be moved to such open anger, another sign that he was not feeling well- it seemed today was one of his harder days. “If we relocated to my palace at Shanzou we could speak freely, as you know, I permit only servants of my House to reside there, no worry of information leaking back to him.”
“And if we do?” The plump Scholar added, “then what? It will appear as though the Viceroy has been chased from his own city. And we cannot move against Lim, it would be too dangerous- earning us not only the hatred of the eunuchs, of which we have enough currently, but also the ire of many Scholars, and the First Prince. No, these are things which must, for now, be endured.” Dongs was no more a fan of the sneaky eunuch than either of his comrades here, but as it stood there was nothing that could both be done about him and truly benefit the Viceroy. “Perhaps if we had some evidence of him having something other than noble intentions we could act decisively but until then we must stomach his games.”
“I’m finished stomaching Teacher, especially now that we are facing a visit by the Nalayans. We must make a good impression, we need friends abroad gentlemen. How does the saying go? A man may call himself Emperor, but if he has only an outhouse for a throne, he is not my Emperor. Well, a man cannot by himself build a palace. This League nonsense has gone far enough, and those women who call themselves enlightened,” he sighed at took another drink, allowing the hot tea to restore his chi, “well they are hardly our defenders- rapped too tightly around Zhen’s finger. I urge you; do not disregard her too lightly.” There was a mumbling of agreement from the other two men, but neither put their thoughts into words, Dong busying himself with his dumplings while turning his eyes downwards to the compilation of essays he’d received from Scholars commenting on his recent work. “He thinks himself cleverer than I because of his traditional schooling? Well, this will be my advantage. While the cat chases a mouse, a rat will enter the house.”
“Are you certain that this gamble is worth the risk? Bu has very few friends here, and this is for very fair reason.” Regardless of how Bao felt about the man, Tu’s plot was clever enough, making no effort to conceal the invitation to the watchful eunuchs had no doubt already put Lim’s day to day life into a frenzy, if Bu was in Shengjing, he’d need to figure out why, was the Viceroy finally plotting a coup? Was he looking into having the eunuchs murdered? He could already imagine it, the overly clever not-man brushing aside the foreigner, thinking her the bait rather than the prize. If Tu had believed that the post-war world would be any less a than the Warring States period, he had learned quickly how wrong he was. The Imperial Palace was a land of intrigues and betrayal, a war all to itself, in some cases more bloody, and in all cases less honorable, than traditional and overt warfare. It was a relief to not have to handle it anymore himself, but he understood very well his friend and mentor’s burden.
“If a gamble succeeds it was an innovative endeavor, but if it fails, it was a foolish decision.” The Scholar said, bringing his eyes up from his dumplings and rejoining the conversation, “at least it will keep Lim’s spies away from the Ambassador, hopefully for long enough. A clever move.”
“I don’t know that quote,” the Viceroy responded, smiling at the humor of it. He was not a well learned man and still struggled with many things that those around him did easily, quoting Confucius, dancing, speaking in parable, writing, calligraphy, reading- some things did not come easy to a village boy like himself. Of course, that was precisely why it was imperative that he have this position, because he was not truly, nor could he ever become, ‘one of them’ he was always an outsider, even if he had clawed his way to be the most powerful man in the country. And that gave him unique perspective, a more humble perspective. A better perspective. “Was it Confucius?”
“Dong Sung, actually.” The Scholar responded with a laugh. A servant entered into the small sitting room and informed the Viceroy that the Forbidden Palace was insisting they come into port, seems the serpent had grown impatient with their tactics. The Viceroy gave the order and permitted the yacht to set anchor, no doubt the eunuchs would be especially curious today, though he imagined it would only flame the fires of curiosity already surrounding the arrival of the Leopard General.
“Bao,” the Viceroy said as he watched the city-of-a-palace draw closer, “you’ll not be joining us just yet, the Ambassador is coming in shortly and I would like for you to personally greet them. The barbarians need to see someone other than my old, sick face if they are to trust us to be a viable and potentially long lasting friend… or enemy. I’m not sure mine is the face to do that, and if I can trust your Honor, I fear my health restricts my movements greatly. So go, meet them. You have the classical upbringing to be a diplomat.” He turned his attention to the Scholar, “I’ll need you to be meeting with Bu Tung, it will be an even greater cause for alarm.”
“One may think you a eunuch,” the Scholar said grimly, he was never a big supporter of plotting and deception, “you’ve a cunning mind.”
“I did not survive the battlefield to be struck down on the chess board.”
***
If the BSA had been good for anything, it had been for funds. No one in Shengjing had wanted to sign anything resembling friendship with those people, but Zhen had signed her signature on the dotted line when she had been expected to seat silently. A clever imp indeed, she had retreated to the matriarchy rather than return home to face the displeasure of the Viceroy- now she was beyond their grasp, now if they were to criticize her she would have at least the enlightened women to ride quickly to her defense, and if not them, she could presumably rely on the Ossorian, pillaging barbarians the lot of them. And so she had returned to the Forbidden Palace, yet another factor to contend with. So many complications.
Of course, the League had paid for this landing strip. It was not an airport, unable to compare even to the shabby accommodations of Wangmingle, simply a road in the countryside, not too far from the great lake that connected Tian Tang to Ma Guo, it was no great distance from the Holy City, but by placing it near the water it minimized the amount of peasants who would have to endure seeing some horrible iron bird soaring across the skies. The barbarians believed that this their long winded demands that they avoid the coastline as long as possible and so forth were merely to subject them and reinforce the Han concept of superiority- of course, perhaps they’d be a bit more willing to comply if they knew a few planes could very well push entire villages into rebellion. Ignorant and prideful of them.
They had also moved to scrap the Zeroes and get rid of anything else around the runway along with them, they had been polished and laid out for the purposes of intimidating the outsiders, but it seemed that the world had moved on beyond them and now even these were obsolete and their effort to display them anywhere short of a museum literally laughable. They had learned though. It would take time to recover their power, but these people from beyond the Middle Kingdom may never realize it, thinking them trapped forever in the past- it would be a rude awakening when the day of reckoning came. And it would come more quickly than they believed. Though it was not possible for a tiger to change his stripes, not all cats were tigers, and perhaps these particular outsiders would see the beautiful potential of healthy relations rather than toxic ones.
Bao Song waited patiently at the end of the landing strip, able to see the barbarian’s small plane approaching; he stood at the heat of eighty men dressed in impeccably white Mao-suits, impossibly polished black boots, topped with equally white field caps featuring the Hostillian Infinity, the same symbol found on the national flag, in the center in gold. The highest officers were identified based on the red sash they wore, and the fact that they lacked the G36 held by their subordinates. Not that they had abandoned their culture all together, for there was not a single one of them who did not also wear a traditional blade on their waist, which was not entirely for show. As the plane came to a slow halt and the door opened the lead officer gave out a shout of “shou-jiu” the eighty men brought black heels together and brought gloved fists to their temples in salute. Perhaps the outsiders would find more impressive this than the display they had offered at Wangmingle what seemed so recently.
