"Peace?"

As these realizations slowly started to settle in, a wave of anxiety seemed to wash over me. Even though I had studied Chinese history and culture, I knew nothing about the intricacies of life at the Jin court. History books could only tell so much. They spoke of battles and alliances but offered little insight into the lives of the people who lived through them. My knowledge of the events surrounding the Jin Dynasty and its downfall was surface-level at best. How was I supposed to navigate a world so foreign and complex, with relations and enmities I didn't fully understand?

"So, You think the crown prince is behind Lady Zhao?" I questioned Daifu with some daring curiosity, trying to learn more about Lady Zhao and the Crown Prince.

"Your Excellency, it's understandable that you're unaware of the situation, given you have been in the North all this while..." Daifu replied. "...Lady Zhao holds considerable power in Caizhou, and she is indeed an ally of the Crown Prince. It was through their alliance that the Crown Prince managed to seize your military seal while you were recovering from your injuries last week. They conspired to undermine your authority, using your condition as a pretext to question your capability."

The revelation hit me like a thunderclap. Both the Crown Prince and this Lady seemed deviously cunning in the way they were described to me. Fear gripped me as I realized the depth of their influence and the precariousness of my position.

"Sounds like this lady is really powerful," I muttered in wonder, trying to grasp the full extent of her influence.

"She is the wife of Prime Minister Liu Zhao," -Daifu continued, "...He is the one who sent Your Highness to the north, all those years ago."

'So, I was sent to the north... No, It sounded like I was forced by this Prime Minister to go north.' With this new addition of information, I could tell that Lady Zhao's position as the Prime Minister's wife placed her at the heart of Caizhou's political arena. Her influence on the things around me was not just a matter of personal power. It was a reflection of the many repercussions that all the intricate and dangerous dynamics of politics had woven around me, And this was something that I was only beginning to understand.

I decided that I would have to uncover more about the situation, so I pressed Daifu for additional insights. "What else you can tell about Lady Zhao?"

"Well... ", Daifu paused, seemingly taking his time to think about what to tell me, and what to not. "... She is a strange person, indeed. There may be no woman at all in the whole empire, who is like her. Her martial skills are as good as a General, and so is her beauty, renowned in the whole south. She has saved the Emperor from many assassinations, because of which she has been bestowed the military rank of a Captain, by the Emperor himself. "

'Oh my, She does seem to be someone rare in this world of men.'

Daifu continued, "She was married to the Prime Minister as his concubine four years ago, But only few know that she only married him in name to save her father from being prosecuted. Unlike you, as she was raised in the Imperial Palace, So she is thought to be close to the Crown Prince Jin Wulong."

"... And I guess my brother is trying to make things hard for me here now?", I muttered, but Daifu must have heard it as he replied, choosing his words carefully-

"Your brother is an anxious man, Young Master.", He continued- "He is scared to death thinking that now when you are here in the South after all those years fighting battles and living a harsh life in the North as a General, You are going to take his place. After He has done everything to establish himself as the crown prince, he just doesn't want anyone to stand in between him and the throne."

"That would be nonsense," I said, faking my response with a bluff, pretending that I too know the situation well- "I have no such intention ...I mean why would I want the throne when I know it never ends well for the person who sits on the throne. All I want is to live peacefully,"

"Peacefully?" Daifu paused, taking a moment to phrase his words-"... A Peaceful life is a delusion, Young Master. Life means chaos."

Hearing his words, I thought that I would ask him what he meant by these words. But the silence that followed Daifu's words was enough to make me understand the hypocrisy of true peace. While we live, we are fundamentally surrounded by chaos. That is why We all want a peaceful life, But we ignore the fact that true peace is only achieved in Death. I think, in Death, everything becomes peaceful. Chaos fades and peace blooms upon it, like the Lotus flowers growing in mudwater. 

"Young Master...", Daifu interrupted, taking me out of my roaring rain of silent thoughts. "... Young Master, I heard nowadays the Imperial court has gone corrupt. Everyone is easily swayed by bribes and favours. Even Last year's flood relief money was taken by the ministers and Eunuchs, and a large part of it has even gone missing. The Old Emperor is sick, so everything that happens in the court is now directed by the Crown Prince, And since He too, is busy fulfilling his interests, corruption has gone wild and wide, and no one is thinking about the realm."

"I think that is why the Khan finds it easy to attack us. We lack integrity. The Khan knows it well, ...That is why he has been helping the Tribes on our western borders to strike on us." I replied, trying to test my knowledge of the history against the reality around me.

"Those tribes have defended the Empire for over a century now. But as the Imperial court has ignored their plea to take back the additional taxation imposed on them, their allegiance has now become a question." Daifu continued- "You once fought with Chief Chagan against these Mongols. You two were even sworn brothers. But he rebelled, and you had to fight him.", Daifu paused to take his breath and continued, "My point is, As long as the Empire is not united, Death would be the only way someone would get peace. The Khan is uniting all the Liao tribes in the west against us, and look what we are doing, scattered around in a whirlpool of rivalries."

Hearing Daifu's long dialogue, I could infer a few things straight from it. The Khan was already making moves, and the Jins were not at all united as an Empire. No matter how I wanted to phrase it, I would have to say that almost everyone sounded to be acting upon their interests. On one hand, for securing his authority, The Prime Minister seemed to be curbing my military authority, And on the other hand, The Crown prince was rounding up support for his position by seriously corrupting the Imperial court. 

I looked out of the windows. The beautiful and calm forest had long abandoned the landscape, and all I could see was a grim wasteland. A wasteland of abandoned villages, A wasteland of fallen trees that sang of a gloominess I was far familiar with. A gloominess that matched the wasteland of a falling Empire.