Volume 2 Chapter 23

  On the twenty-ninth day of the ninth month, Tan was exhausted, but he watched as the last field had been harvested. Its crop was sucked into his father’s storage ring, and everyone who had been working together throughout the last few weeks felt as happy to be done with the work as he was.

  Especially Safron, who had participated in every aspect of this harvest rather than simply running around with a water bucket and occasionally being asked to bring someone a drink.

  Tremble especially felt satisfied, as the harvest aligned him that much closer with his dao and he felt his cultivation reaching new levels. He politely bowed to the Shen family.

  “Thank you for your guidance over these last few years,” Tremble said. “I believe I need time to think on what I have learned. I request that I be allowed to return to my old home for a while to meditate. I promise that I will return before spring planting.”

  Tren had thrown his hoe over his shoulder and shrugged. “You’re not a slave, Tremble. You can come and go as you please. Do you want any sort of payment for your labors?”

  “The insight I have gained is payment enough,” Tremble declared. “Thank you, Master Tren.”

  “Have a pleasant winter, Tremble,” Tan said. “If you change your mind, you’re welcome to come back and sleep in the old house with the rest of the spirit animals anytime.”

  “Yes, Tan’s right,” Wensho agreed.

  “I’ll miss you mister pig,” Safron declared.

  The spirit boar returned to the house to remove his clothes before turning back into his natural form, and everyone watched him running away from the farm, headed north to his old den.

  “Think he’ll be back?” Lady Wensho asked.

  “Hard to say for certain,” Tren admitted. “He’s a spirit animal, after all. He may act like it, but they don’t really think like humans do.”

  “I hope mister pig comes home,” Safron said.

  “We’ll see, sweetie,” Wensho said. “Now then, it’s time for Tan and his friends to leave as well.”

  She pulled from her ring several figurines of horses and handed them to the children. They knew what to do, having held these objects before. They began feeding the objects their Qi, and before very long they were ready to travel again.

  Tren performed the ritual which transformed the figurines into Qi constructs, and the children said their farewells to the farm. It did not take them long to prepare for travel, and soon they were on their way.

  It took them a day to reach the imperial capital, and their passage gained a significant amount of attention by certain parties, but as with the previous time that they passed overland in this manner, nobody could catch them and ask them what their purpose was. The ears of the emperor, however, reported to the emperor once more that the hidden mountain had moved.

  On the thirtieth day of the ninth month, the Shen children arrived at the capital city. Tren Shen found them an inn and paid for their lodging, then instructed them to bathe while he went out to send a message to his brother.

  The emperor received a message shortly after. He put on a mask, and left the palace in the dead of night.

  While he was asleep in the inn his father had paid for, Tan Shen was suddenly pulled out of bed. He jerked awake, confused and in his undergarments, as his father and his uncle looked down at him.

  He relaxed.

  “You guys scared me.”

  “Tan. My son,” Tren said. “I’ve been speaking with your uncle. We’ve discussed a few things, and while we are in agreement on most of these matters, it’s time to get your opinion on a few of them.”

  “Do you understand the distinction between a servant of the emperor and a servant of the empire?” Renton asked Tan.

  “I believe so,” Tan said.

  “Would you be willing to be formally recognized as a servant of the empire?” Renton asked.

  “I guess. I mean, wasn’t I already? I have the badge from when Won killed the bandit leader,” Tan said.

  “Yes, that’s right. Did you remember to bring it?” Tren said.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “No, I didn’t. I don’t like carrying it around because it reminds me of that. I think the others feel the same way.” Tan answered.

  “That’s okay. I actually brought them with me,” Tren said, pulling the four badges that the children had been given two years ago after killing the bandit leader Ten-wo.

  “Will you wear this tomorrow when you go to palace?” Renton asked him.

  “If you want me to,” Tan answered.

  “I refrain from asking you to do that, Tan. If you are seen wearing this in public tomorrow, people will ask where you got it, and what service you provided the empire to earn it. If it is determined by the imperial court that you lied, then you might be punished by the imperial court,” Renton said. “So you must decide before you arrive at the gate tomorrow what you will say when questioned about where you got it.”

  “Okay,” Tan said. “I’ll think about it.”

  “There is another matter we must discuss,” Tren said. “When you are presented to the court, you will be given an imperial name. It’s how you will be identified on all imperial documents.”

  Tan frowned. “Can’t I just be Tan?”

  “No,” Renton said. “By tradition, you must select a new name for your imperial name. And you must decide soon. The fewer people outside the palace who know the milk name of the next emperor, the better.”

  ?

  “I don’t want to change my name. Why can’t I just be Tan Shen.”

  Renton blinked. “Tanshen Shenlong? Would that work?”

  “Why not?” Tren asked.

  Renton frowned. “Do you think they’d figure it out?”

  “Who cares? We can always change it later by decree,” Tren argued.

  “Yeah, true,” Renton said, frowning. “It would be a lot of paperwork though.”

  “Not our problem,” Tren said. “That’s the nice thing about being emperor.”

  Tan frowned, not really understanding what’s being said.

  “Okay, Tan. If it’s okay with you, then your imperial name will be Tanshen Shenlong. Tomorrow, when you present yourself to the gate, identify yourself as Tanshen. Don’t add the surname.”

  “Right,” Tan agreed.

  “How would you feel about sparring with me in public, Tan?” Renton asked.

  “Okay, I guess,” Tan answered.

  “Afterward we’ll heal any burns you get in the imperial hot springs, so go full out and give everyone a show. The spiritual water of the hot springs is better for wounds than even what your mother can provide, and if you get any serious burns we’ll have the physicians look at them as well.”

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “Will you follow every tradition that I explain to you, as long as it makes sense once I’m done explaining it?” Renton asked

  “Yeah, sure,” Tan agreed.

  “How far are you planning on taking this, Renton?” Tren asked.

  “As far as I can push it,” Renton answered. “I’m going to do to him everything that you and father did to me to prepare me for what it actually means to sit on that throne. Do you think he’s ready for it?”

  “Better now than it’s important,” Tren admitted. He sighed, and leaned against the wall. The room was dark, but his eyes were full of the moonlight as he reflected on the past. “Well, he didn’t ask for it like you did. But it is a family tradition, I suppose.”

  “What are you talking about?” Tan asked.

  “Tan, I’m not going to tell you what to do tomorrow,” Renton said. “Half the point of being emperor is that nobody is allowed to tell you what to do. But I will say that you can ask for advice from me, or from any of my servants.”

  “Okay,” Tan said. “Sure, if I’m not sure what to do I’ll ask. No problem.”

  “Good,” Renton said. “Now then, go back to sleep.”

  After Tan went to sleep, Pao was pulled from his bed by the former and current emperor. Renton put on a mask, and began to interrogate him with a blade to his throat.

  Pao was startled at first, but once Tren explained that this was a tradition and that he was in no real danger, he calmed down and answered the questions honestly. Afterward, by imperial decree, he was granted certain privileges and honors.

  Once Pao’s interrogation ended, he was bid be silent as the Won was woken. Ko woke at the same time, for as brother and sister they still often slept in the same bed. However, they too were interrogated with a blade to their throat and answered to the best of their abilities.

  When all was said and done, the farce that was planned for the morning was set to begin.

  Renton returned to the palace, via the back gate, and the rolls of the palace showed that the emperor was absent from his palace for a total of four hours. The emperor’s business in leaving the palace was not declared.

  ?