"His Imperial Majesty would like to know how you manage to speak Northern." Xi Chen ignored those murmurs and continued to relay Ye An's messages.

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Imperial Majesty. But saying that I could speak Northern is a bit of a far stretch.  In fact, I'm not that great in Northern. I could only speak in basic sentences." Sze Chang replied humbly before continuing his explanation. "I spent my entire life up at the Temple of Ninety-Nine Blessings. One day, one of the temple monks brought an injured Northerner back to the temple. The man fell off a steep cliff while plucking herbs on the Northerners' side of the mountain and was badly hurt. He was the one who taught me some basic Northern while the monks nursed him to health. That is all."

The Temple of Ninety-Nine Blessings was located at the highest peak of the northernmost mountain in the country and sit right on the border between the two countries. It's shrouded by wisps of cloud and fog most of the year giving the temple an ethereal air that was far removed from everything else that was happening in the world.

The temple had always been an isolated Xanadu and did not fall under anyone's jurisdiction, not even the emperor's. It's public knowledge that those who reside in the temple distance themselves from both the material world and politics, and the temple monks never turn down anyone who needed help, regardless of who they were, where they're from, and what their political stance was. Their core philosophy was that every human being is equal and should be treated equally.

Behind the bamboo screen, Ye An raised an eyebrow. It was extremely rare to see someone from the temple becoming a minister and a part of the Imperial Court. Ye An was growing more intrigued by this young minister.

"Since he has had multiple interactions with Northerners, ask him if he has any suggestions on the terms of the agreement." Ye An instructed Xi Chen.

"His Imperial Majesty would like to know what you would suggest as agreement terms for the Northerners." Xi Chen continued.

"Knowledge." Sze Chang replied simply.

"Knowledge?" Xi Chen blurted. Like Ye An, he was intrigued. Fascinated, even. Sze Chang was probably one of the few people he knew of, other than him, who had encountered Northerners and lived to tell the tale. But unlike him, Sze Chang's encounters were neither deadly nor traumatizing.

"Yes, knowledge. Knowledge on architecture. Knowledge on astronomy. Knowledge on sword craftsmanship. Knowledge on ship-building. Knowledge on medicine. Stuff like that. The Northerners I've encountered had always expressed their awe in what they thought of as advanced technology. In whispers of course. They would be beheaded if any of their tribe leaders hear about it." Sze Chang added the last bit impishly.

Ye An nodded in acknowledgment behind the bamboo screen.

"Tell him that I would like him to draw up an agreement plan between us and the Northerners." Ye An prompted Xi Chen.

Xi Chen relayed Ye An's message to the floor.

"Your Imperial Majesty! Please think it through. I, your humble servant, do not think that it is wise to make an agreement with the Northerners. It would seem like we have given in to them! We would appear weak to all the other nations, near and far. What we need now is to restore the nation'sdignity!" A court official with silvery-white hair and a matching beard interjected.

Ye An heard his grating voice and recognized him to be Minister Hu. He was one of the court officials from the old noble families who had fought alongside the Great Emperor Lee Gang during the reformation of this nation.

"Yes, Your Imperial Majesty. Please think it through! Are we just giving our knowledge away? Won't we lose out too much with this agreement?" The court official beside him added.

Ye An could not recognize this new voice but since both voices came from the same direction, she assumed that this court official was also from one of the old noble families. Birds of a feather often flock together.

"Ask him if he thinks nothing of the lives of the countless soldiers at our nation's frontline?" Ye An couldn't believe how little thought these court officials have on the lives of others.

"His Imperial Majesty would like to point out to everyone on the floor on how this decision would affect the lives of our soldiers. Some knowledge in exchange of our soldiers' lives would probably be the best move." Xi Chen rearranged the message before relaying it to the rest of the court officials. He was impressed by the young emperor's stand on this matter. Instead of scrambling to "restore the nation's dignity", the young emperor was thinking of ways to minimize damage and to protect his people, including soldiers who were generally thought of as dispensable and disposable.

"Your Imperial Majesty, I think I would be speaking for the collective if I say that all of the court officials from the old noble families would like to see you putting your foot down as your first course of action as the emperor of this nation. And the only way to do that in light of this recent incident is to declare war." Minister Hu continued.

"Yes. Even Minister Sze mentioned how the Northerners are beguiled by the technology that we have. With that, we can rest assured that we would have the upper hand at war with the Northerners." This time it was General Shao who spoke while he turned towards Ye An from his position by the Empress Mother's side. Ye An looked sharply at him.

"I agree." The Empress Mother finally spoke again before declaring, " I still think we should go to war."

Minister Hu and the rest of the court officials who were from the old families smiled smugly. The Empress Mother had clearly declared her alignment with them and that was all they needed.

Ye An could not believe it. Even Xi Chen was surprised at the immediate switch in direction. He thought that the court officials would at least consider and explore the alternative as they listened to another perspective. However, it was beginning to look as if they were just waiting for Ye An to finish so that they could continue doing what they initially had wanted to do anyway, which was insulting Ye An's authority with the Empress Mother backing them up.

"But.." The Empress Mother continued coyly while slowly turning to face Ye An. "The final verdict still lies with the emperor."

Ye An took this as a challenge. From the way the Empress Mother caught everyone's attention with her enunciation to the way she worded her statement and finally to the way that her mouth curved into a posed smile. It was clear as day that the Empress Mother had the wholehearted support of the old noble families. She had also announced her intention for war which was in line with what the court officials from the old noble families wanted. Even though there were court officials who were not from the old noble families, there was a substantial amount of them who were aligned with or indebted to at least one of the old noble families.

Ye An knew that she was cornered and she didn't like it one bit. She was aware that she desperately needed the support of the court as the emperor, but was she so desperate that she would gamble on the countless lives of her soldiers?

Ye An gritted her teeth and prompted Xi Chen to lower his stance. "Tell them that Minister Sze would write up the agreement within two days and we would have another meeting before coming to our final decision. Meeting adjourned."

"His Imperial Majesty remains firm on proceeding with the agreement. However, the final decision would be made in another court meeting after the agreement terms had been drawn up. Minister Sze, please have the agreement ready in two days." Xi Chen's deep voice was projected to the entire room.

"Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty. I would have the agreement ready by then." Sze Chang bowed while accepting the imperial assignment.

"And with that, this court meeting is adjourned." Xi Chen stated with finality.

Ye An stood up and the grand eunuch quickly opened the parasol to cover Ye An as she descended the platform. Xi Chen followed close behind. The court officials bowed to Ye An in formality. The only other person who was seated during the entire meeting was the Empress Mother and she stood up to bow at Ye An as well.

As Ye An walked down the hall and passed by the court officials, she heard whispers.

"Couldn't make up his mind, eh?"

"What kind of emperor needs two meetings to make a decision?"

"Huh! This nation would be ruined by his indecisiveness!"

She should just rip their tongues out. And since she was the emperor who technically had the most power out of anyone in the room, she could have done so in the blink of an eye. But she wasn't even sure if she had any authority over these men after the meeting. Even if she did, cruelty wasn't what she had envisioned herself succumbing to when she imagined herself as the emperor. Ye An could only lower her eyelashes and let out a tired sigh as she stepped out of the hall.

*******

In a musty underground room, an oil lamp cast a dim flickering light over a shadow of a man who was sitting behind a thin paper screen. On the other side of the screen, a burly man was on his knees.

"My apologies, my lord." The burly man muttered in his heavy accent, his voice quivering in fear.

The shadow scoffed and let out a sinister laugh.

"An apology? You do think highly of your apology, don't you? Tell me, do you actually think I would forgive you?"

"N-no, my lord." The burly man replied shakily while staring at the cracked floor in front of him.

"There, there. Your Majesty. There is no need to waste your energy being furious at someone who would be insignificant in the long run. There would be another chance." General Shao stepped into the light.

"You know how long I've waited for this?" The shadow seethed.

"Of course I know, Your Majesty. I've been there with you every step since the very beginning."

"Then you must know how much I've been anticipating this invasion."

"Your Majesty, good things take time. We must be patient." General Shao placated the shadow behind the screen in an overwhelmingly sweet voice.

"How much longer do I have to be patient?!" The shadow stood up suddenly in agitation. "General Shao. Now that they know that there was an attempt for invasion, Lee Ye An and the entire military would most probably tighten the national security. How would we even have the chance again??"

"Trust me, Your Majesty. There's always a way."

The shadow behind the screen roared in frustration. The burly man flinched.

"Should I just kill this Northerner then? I don't have any need for someone as useless as him." His voice iced with menace.

"Your Majesty, you and I both know that this man holds the key to all of the Northern tribes. As stupid and useless as he is, he would be more valuable alive. For now."

"Huh. You're actually right." The shadow behind the paper screen finally answered after mulling over the general's statement, seemingly to have calmed down before he spat at the Northerner, "Get lost! Don't you dare show your face to me for at least a week!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The burly man scurried out of the musty room hastily.

"You did well at the court meeting, General Shao." The shadow gave the general a rare compliment.

"Thank you. If I may say so myself, I have the Empress Mother wrapped around my finger." General Shao's mouth curved into a cunning smile.

"Even so. I couldn't believe how cold-hearted she was to Lee Ye An until I've seen it with my own eyes. Aligning with court officials instead of her own blood? But then again, it's not much of a surprise considering her history." The shadow gave out a dry laugh.

"Now on to more important matters. What time will the others be here? We need to come up with another plan urgently."

"They should be here any moment now.. Ah, here's Minister Hu." General Shao replied.

Minister Hu bowed as he stepped into the room. "Your Majesty. I, Hu Tsing Man, am here to be of service to you, our one true emperor." 

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