"Your Imperial Majesty!"

Just as Ye An and Xi Chen stepped into the East Palace, the grand eunuch came running towards both of them and gave them a deep bow. 

As was instructed by the Empress Mother all those years ago, all of the servants attending to Ye An directly had always been mute and illiterate, except for the elderly grand eunuch. He had served Ye An's father and his father before that. 

"The Northern border has been attacked!" The grand eunuch reported breathlessly.

"Yes, I've heard. Send word to the court officials that the court meeting has been pushed forward. I want them at the Throne Hall in an hour." Ye An instructed the grand eunuch.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. I understand." With that, the grand eunuch gave Ye An yet another bow and retreated to complete his task.

Ye An then entered her residence to change while Xi Chen stood guard outside. While standing guard outside, Xi Chen mulled over the memory that had resurfaced after all these years. He looked up into the clear sky and sighed, his heart heavy.

*******

When Ye An finally came out in her formal attire and beaded crown, she caught a glimpse of Xi Chen looking pensively at the sky and instantly felt like she had accidentally interrupted a private moment. She cleared her throat, preparing to speak. Xi Chen turned to the young emperor immediately and bowed, "Your Imperial Majesty."

"The first task that I am officially giving you is to accompany me to the court meeting. And be my messenger." Ye An hated the fact that she had to lift her head up to look at him.

Xi Chen was befuddled by the emperor's request. The part where the emperor wanted his company at the court meeting was understandable. The emperor was still young and new to his role, he might have just wanted a military insight from him. However, Xi Chen had never heard of any emperor in history who spoke through a messenger, especially in a court meeting.

"Forgive me, Your Imperial Majesty. But won't you be present at the meeting as well?" Xi Chen voiced his confusion.

"Of course I will be at the meeting, Lieutenant Yun." Ye An replied stiffly.

"Then.. May I know why am I needed as a messenger?" Xi Chen asked gently.

Good lord. This man had a lot of questions. Ye An knew that the lieutenant had lived all his life in the northern region and she had heard of how people from there were generally next to clueless about protocols and formalities. But she had never expected someone of his ranking to act similarly.

"It's so that no one recognizes my voice. It's a safety protocol to prevent the same thing that happened twenty-two years ago from happening again." Ye An shifted uncomfortably in her feet at that half-truth.

Xi Chen, being the military man that he was, noticed the slight change in the emperor's disposition but decided not to push further into the matter. He heard rumors of what had happened twenty-two years ago at the Imperial Palace but since he was too young when it happened and everyone else seemed to want to put that incident in the past, he didn't know much about the details and wasn't about to probe into it now. "Shall we go then, Your Imperial Majesty?"

"Let's go, Lieutenant Yun." Ye An nodded in relief.

At Ye An's command, servants lined up behind her. On her right, the grand eunuch held the tall parasol with sheer organza over Ye An and Xi Chen walked a couple of steps behind her on her left. Then, the procession started heading towards the Throne Hall. 

*******

Once they reached the entrance, there were murmurs coming out from the hall. As the grand eunuch announced the arrival of the emperor, those murmurs were hushed and Ye An stepped into the Throne Hall for her first-ever court meeting. 

Except for Lieutenant Yun and the grand eunuch, the rest of the servants were left outside of the throne room. To Ye An's surprise, the Empress Mother decided to attend the court meeting as well, already seated to the side of the Dragon Throne with General Shao by her side. Ye An's brows furrowed behind the organza cascadingdown the parasol that was still over her which swayed with every step that shetook.

Similar to Ye An's coronation day, the Dragon Throne was obscured behind a bamboo screen. As Ye An walked towards the platform, she noticed that the court officials on her right were shuffling in their positions.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry." Sze Chang apologized in a hushed voice as he smiled sheepishly at the other court officials until he finally found his place.

"Minister Sze! How could you be late to a court meeting?" Minister Tang scolded Sze Chang quietly.

"Well, to be honest, it's not my fault. The sudden change in the meeting time is well.. Too sudden." Sze Chang shrugged.

"Are you implying that it's His Imperial Majesty's fault? How dare you!" Minister Tang whispered in a shocked tone.

"You said it. I didn't say it." Sze Chang stuck his tongue out.

"You-" Minister Tang was visibly vibrating disapprovingly as he couldn't believe the audacity of this young man in front of him. What has become of this world?

Sze Chang smoothed his wrinkled court official attire down as he settled in his assigned place. He was leisurely sniffing the flowers at his residence courtyard when he received the imperial command announcing that the court meeting was brought forward which caused him to haphazardly throw on his attire. 

When he patted his bottoms, he realized that he had them on the wrong side. A tiny laugh escaped and the court officials around him turned to frown disapprovingly. He apologized to them again.

On the platform, Ye An settled behind the bamboo screen while Xi Chen stood by her side just out of the bamboo screen's coverage.

"Your Majesty, I wasn't aware that you will be attending this meeting as well." Ye An spoke in a low voice.

"Of course I'll be here. I wouldn't just place all of the burden on you so soon after your ascension. General Shao and I are here to help you, Your Imperial Majesty." The Empress Mother replied generously.

Ye An couldn't believe it. The Empress Mother even brought General Shao along for the court meeting. Her jaw twitched as she stared at the Empress Mother and General Shao while the grand eunuch announced the commencement of the court meeting. 

"The court meeting begins.. Now!" A Chinese gong was sounded at the far end of the room.

Ye An tore her eyes away from the Empress Mother and turned to look at Xi Chen, prompting him to lower his stance as he bent towards her. 

"You are to say whatever I tell you to. You understand?" Ye An reiterated her instructions again.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty." Xi Chen obliged once again.

*******

Below the platform, the court officials quietly murmur amongst themselves in hushed voices as Ye An and Xi Chen conversed behind the bamboo screen.

"Is that the legendary Lieutenant Yun?"

"What? The White Tiger?"

"No way. I heard no one was able to make him leave the Northern border. That's why General Shao was unable to leave his post here in the capital."

"I'm telling you. That's him. Do you not see the sword he's carrying?"

"Wait. Is that? My goodness, it is."

"Who is this White Tiger?" asked Sze Chang innocently.

Once again, Minister Tang sighed at Sze Chang's question. He knew Sze Chang lived his whole life in isolation at the Temple of Ninety-Nine Blessings, but shouldn't he at least know of all the important people in power now that he was part of the court? Besides that, the severe Minister Tang was still miffed at his earlier interaction with the young minister and had no intention of entertaining Sze Chang. 

However, the pot-bellied Minister Qiu on Sze Chang's other side had no such qualms. He butted in saying "He is but the youngest lieutenant general in history!" 

"Oh?" Sze Chang raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued. He was just about to ask Minister Qiu for more information when the lieutenant in question spoke in his deep clear voice from the front of the hall.

"Gentlemen, greetings. I would be the emperor's messenger for this court meeting. Whatever I speak of from now on would be directly from His Imperial Majesty unless stated otherwise."

At this, the volume of the murmurs increased.

"A messenger?"

"I heard that the servants at the emperor's residence are all mute. Is His Imperial Majesty mute as well?"

"Shush!"

"Gentlemen, His Imperial Majesty would like to inform all those who are present that we are here to discuss the invasion attempt at our Northern border. The immediate crisis had been evaded. However, we should still be vigilant and come out with new solutions to prevent future happenings of a similar event. His Imperial Majesty would like your cooperation to come up with a viable solution."

The humming in the hall visibly ramped up to another notch with this new update.

"What? An invasion?"

"Damn those barbarians! How dare they even dream of stepping foot in our nation?"

"I say we go to war!"

"Yes! Show them who's holding all the power."

"Our country is by far the largest on this side of the sea. We should show them who the ultimate conqueror is."

"We need to make a strong stand and statement about our power and authority!"

The Empress Mother and General Shao nodded at the few court officials who had voiced out their intentions for war.

"Yes. I agree" The Empress Mother expressed her agreement. "My husband, the late Great Emperor Lee Gang conquered these lands through war. With heaven's blessings, the same might happen again and we might even have the chance to extend our northern border further north through this war."

Ye An turned to look at the Empress Mother who looked back at her unabashedly. Without turning to look at Xi Chen, Ye An waved him over. Xi Chen once again bent his tall frame towards the emperor. 

"Tell them that I think it would do both sides no good to have our soldiers' blood poured unnecessarily. Why couldn't we make an agreement with the Northerners?"

"His Imperial Majesty expressed that it might be better for us to make an agreement with the Northerners instead. There is no need for an unnecessary bloodbath." Xi Chen relayed the message to the audience below the platform.

"What? An agreement?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, my apologies but these are Northerners. They're barbarians and I don't think they would be up for any agreement. And even if, and that's a big if, we propose an agreement to the Northerners, would they even understand our language?"

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. And might I add that if Your Imperial Majesty insists on an agreement with the Northerners, we would not only be the laughing stock of the region but those barbarians might even take advantage of us and end up obtaining our territory while we're busy taking the high road!"

Sze Chang raised his hand timidly as he spoke. "Um.. If I may? I do think His Imperial Majesty has a point. I have traveled beyond the Northern border and met those barbaric Northerners while I was there. They were cautious at first when they found out where I'm from but seemed like a rational lot once they warmed up to me. An agreement might not be a bad idea. As His Imperial Majesty said, there is no use to have unnecessary bloodshed."

Behind the bamboo screen, Ye An was intrigued by the person who voiced this last statement. Finally, someone with some sense. Admittedly, she was impressed that he had traveled over the Northern border and even met some Northerners. She beckoned Xi Chen over.

"Ask for his name and position."

Xi Chen straightened and said, "His Imperial Majesty would like you to state your identity."

"Your Imperial Majesty, my name is Sze Chang, Minister of Foreign Affairs. I just passed the entrance exam a couple of years ago." Even though Ye An was behind the bamboo screen and could not see him, Sze Chang bowed in the direction of the Dragon Throne while introducing himself.

"His Imperial Majesty would like you to elaborate on your interaction with the Northerners." Xi Chen continued.

"As I've mentioned earlier, they were cautious at first when they found out where I'm from. But once that's out of the way, they were friendly and polite. Especially when they found out that I could speak their language." At his statement, the murmurs returned.

"He could speak that barbaric language?"

"Is he a spy?"

"Is he a Northerner?"

"A Northerner amongst us? In the Imperial Court?! What blasphemy is this?!"

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