Address

Xiao Fan didn't argue back at her, there was no reason to, and so Zhuan An got to go over his robes one more time before it was too late.

Zhuan An had been checking his robes the whole day already, but still insisted on another check.

"Are you afraid that someone will find a wrinkle in my clothing?" Xiao Fan humoured, to him, this was beginning to be too much.

"The Court isn't a place that tolerates a small wrinkle," Zhuan An didn't joke. Her tone was dead serious, and her check of the clothes he wore didn't leave anything unchecked.

"Whatever, nothing big isn't going to happen. We already know everything thanks to Yi Lin," he spoke while turning around in the carriage.

Zhuan An patted the back of his robe. "Not a big thing? This is your first time inside the Royal Court. Fan'er, you are summoned to a hearing held by the Emperor for god's sake."

"An Emperor to who I haven't sold by fielty to. An Emperor who spends his time"—he shrugged his shoulders and sighed—"What Am I complaining of? You are right. I should take this more seriously." Xiao Fan realised that maybe after meeting Cao Cao, he was too high in the clouds.

By the time he ended his sentence, Zhuan An was done with the final check. "Good, now take my hand and smile." She handed her hand.

Xiao Fan put his hand around hers and stepped outside the carriage.

'Wow...' The feeling of Xiao Fan got was comparable to him when he had gone over to the Lei Family residence in Hefei or when arriving at Ulaanbaatar. Seeing the Royal Palace was another one of those moments of awe for the young kid who had spent his life behind bars.

"Hmph." An almost silent hmph came from Zhuan An.

Immediately Xiao Fan put a leg in front of the other, his eyes searching for Wang Geming somewhere close by. They were, well, he was invited here by Wang Geming.

The point where they had been dropped by was filled with all kinds of people. Yet even in this chaos, he found Wang Geming since guards and guests surrounded the Prince a few carriages to the side.

Having found him, Xiao Fan did as told. So instead of walking straight next to him like he could, he kept his distance, not wanting to gain attention by being unreasonably close to him with the status he held.

Currently, he was a nobody, a hidden card, so he silently walked into the palace, holding the hand of Zhuan An until they came to the point in which they had to separate.

Xiao Fan and Zhuan An had two separate places from which they would be following the address of the Emperor of the Bald Eagle Dynasty. He had the lower stage while she wasn't given any.

'Wang Geming didn't need to do this. I could have been in the back with Zhuan An.' Now walking alone Xiao Fan thought of how the Second Prince had insisted on him coming with him to the lower stage. 'I can't have you with the commoners,' he thought of the explanation given to him.

Nevertheless, per orders, he walked over to the Yi Family people, yet didn't strike a conversation with them. The rules of the Royal Palace where such that it would be the Emperor who had the last and first word.

Before and after it, no one could talk.

As things were so, the Yi Family personnel just made a small nod when Xiao Fan came up to them. Unlike Ulaanbaatar, in here everything that was considered a rule break would be dealt with.

Coming to the hall, he noted that even the Royal Family members were following those rules. No one of them was opening his or her mouth, nor did they send any other messages with their hands or such, they all simply waited like the thousands of others did.

'Creepy.' Of this sight, Xiao Fan thought so. The colossal hall filled with people being quieter than a forest after a fire was eerie to him. 'Everyone is just standing here, doing nothing, waiting for a single man to enter and speak his few important words before leaving.' He kept those disapproving words to himself as he came to the lower floor wherein they were organised by who they followed.

Thankfully looking around was still allowed, though with strict rules to it; nevertheless, Xiao Fan looked around him. First, he found Zhuan An way in the back. Then he studied the long line of Royal Family members which was filled with women and almost no men.

Whispers concerning the life of the Emperor were numerous and all around the Empire. Rumours told that the Emperor was lost in lust and how the Empire had long since been left to the care of his advisors while he enjoyed a life of abundance in the harem.

A harem vast beyond belief. The line of women literally continued until the very end of the long hall, and it was stacked with all kinds of beauties.

This line made Xiao Fan wonder about how many times had this Emperor visited the Rising Fox Sect to take the disciples as his concubines? The answer he had gotten was numerous, and that the embassy in the sect mostly scouted for beauties that would be sent to his Majesty.

'It is a shame since if the Emperor was the one controlling the Empire, the take over of it would be much easier,' he lamented while his eyes went over to the throne itself.

It was a large golden throne that was obviously made by order of the current Emperor for no sane ruler would imprint pictures of naked women into his throne. Bit by bit, Xiao Fan was assured that the words spoken by Wang Geming were true. 'the Emperor of the Bald Eagle Dynasty is weak!' he thought and wanted to smile, yet controlled himself from showing it.

Time went by.

More time went by.

The guests were slowly starting to get restless.

The guards were eyeing at each other, yet none of them seemed to have an answer.

Xiao Fan himself was falling into a deep ponder.

The Emperor... was late... from an assembly, he had ordered to be held...

'He's surely taking care of the Empire.' Yi Lin amongst the long line of women joked to herself. She and everyone else with a decent brain knew why the Emperor was late, and the reason wasn't something to be told to the public, not speaking of the Nobles who were forced to wai like this.

Not taking this for too long, Yi Lin looked to her right, where there was only one person. The Empress.

The Empress felt the small tingle on her side and turned her head.

Yi Lin spoke with her face and eyes, "He's late."

The Empress did the same. "Again!" She too used her face to speak.

"What do we do?" Yi Lin's shoulder rose just enough that there was a difference between breathing and her motion.

"Nothing." The Empress ever so slightly shook her head in a downwards tilt.

"They will not take this." Yi Lin's eyes looked to the side, at the guests.

"I know."

Every movement they made was so faint that Xiao Fan couldn't detect them even if he was looking at the two.

This wasn't the first time the two most powerful women in the Empire had done this. During the years they had come proficient in their small language of talking when in a situation like this.

Still, no matter how proficient they were in it, that didn't change the fact of the Emperor missing from the hall.

Yi Lin even looked at the other side where a few other Queens were standing, and though they weren't as skilled, they could voice their opinions.

During all this, Xiao Fan was pondering about the personality change happening in Wang Geming and what future troubles or opportunities would that change provide.

The wait for the Emperor was long, long enough that he got a few plans ready before a bang of doors could be heard coming from behind the throne.

Xiao Fan like everyone else jolted a bit. Then in unison, all eyes went to look at the direction from which the Emperor was finally appearing in front of his vassals and servants.

Having seen him once already, Xiao Fan wasn't too interested in tracking his facial features and such; moreover, there was something much more noteful in this person. The person appeared as if he had been through a life and death battle. From how the clothes were worn to the red face with a bright-red nose, not many needed to think what had passed.

The Emperor stumbled over to his throne where he then took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down. "Welcome!" he greeted his subjects, yet his tone was still hoarse.

"Greet the Emperor!" Replying to him was the hole hall, Xiao Fan included.

To them greeting the Emperor, there was no reply. The Emperor didn't start his address; instead of that, he lounged on his throne for a moment more, breathing loudly enough for everyone to hear.

'Really? How did he become an Emperor?' Xiao Fan was, of course, taking notes of his every move, and right now, he couldn't but wonder about how did someone think that he would be a good ruler and bestowed him the title of Heir.

Only after a full minute had passed did the Emperor begun his address, though it sounded like he was making it on the fly, using some bullet points to get the message out.

"The Tomb of the Four Ancient Ones is a big thing..."

"The travel between the two worlds is at its beginning..."

Yes, by now, most of the Princes and Princesses had found a way out of the place. Why else would everyone have gathered here today? Today was all about the plan of Yi Lin.

Yi Lin had done well, very well from what Xiao Fan had heard from Wang Geming, who had spoken with her mother earlier today. The Queen had prepared everything to be ready and convinced everyone in the Royal Family that this was the way to go.

"Now to the point why I have called everyone here." The Emperor was slowly getting to the part that was all thanks to Yi Lin.

"The question of who will eventually become the next Emperor of the Blad Eagle Dynasty. The question of who will be the Heir to my Empire." He sure was making this all about himself.

The Emperor started walking around the throne, his hands trying not to touch the sculptures of naked women too much. "That question has gone unanswered for too long, but now, thanks to this opportunity given to us in the form of the Tomb of the Four Ancient Ones... I have come up with an answer."

He stopped. "The answer is a fight for the right!" For the first time during the address, the Emperor raised his volume. "I have decided that the Heir to my Dynasty! To my Empire! will be the one who gains the lordship of the Tomb of the Four Ancient Ones."

The hall they were in applauded.

The Emperor smiled until the applauds were over.

When they ended, he got back into his chair while a scholarly man came over from the left, from the side of the Nobles.

"Tell them of the rules," the Emperor spoke to the scholarly man when he was close enough.

"Shall be done, your Majesty." The Scholarly man made a small bow after which a small paper roll dropped into his hands from the roof.

The Scholarly man might have looked rather weak to the outside, he was old and all, yet there was no problem in catching the paper roll dropping from the sky.

The Scholarly man opened the roll he had gotten, looked it over once.

"The Emperor has stated the rules to be as followed. First, no killing of a member from the Royal Family, unless the other side refuses to surrender."

"The second rule, concerning the native tribes... You shall work as one front against them..." There was a long list of information concerning the way the natives would be treated.