Chapter 49 - Imperial Summons

Early the next morning, I’m ready for departure, having spoken at length with Master Fa and all but ordered Ling to remain with him. She was rather alarmed when I told her about the developments in the Yan province, but there is little she can do, and I’ll travel faster if I’m alone, therefore she will go to the Capital with Fa Min when he visits on the new year’s eve.

Master Fa has provided me with a horse and enough rations for a couple of weeks on the road, even if I doubt it’ll take me that long. Despite there being people looking to end my life, I will ride back to the Ji river and rent a boat that will take me to Yan. If worse comes to worst, I’ll simply abuse my elemental control to surf the river downstream.

I doubt anyone could catch me like that, and time is of the essence this time.

Also, it sounded fun.

I finished tying up a parcel and said goodbye to everyone in the Fa family before mounting the horse they gave me and riding all the way to the Bai Estate. I had bittersweet emotions tied to Bai Fan, but it would be a social faux pas if I’m not going to say goodbye to her and her father.

The soldiers at the gate let me in and announced me to the household.

Not a minute later, I’m led to the General’s study, where I announced the reasons for my prompt departure, and that it is my wish to see his daughter.

Instead of Lady Bai, however, her maid kneels before me.

“Forgive this servant, General. Lady Bai Fan is indisposed.”

I scoffed and shook my head.

“Very well, give her this.” I handed the parcel to the maid, who bowed even deeper. As soon as she left, I turned to the General. “General Bai, I will come back as soon as my business is complete to offer your daughter the Jade of my family. If she does not see me by then, I will not ask again.” I am a Prince goddammit! I will not be disrespected like this by anybody.

The general nods, his look stern. “I will speak to her.”

Sighing, I offered him a slight bow “This Prince thanks you. Goodbye.” I turned, got on my horse, and took the road without even looking back.

Whatever happened between Bai Fan and I will have to wait. My family is more important than a girl who will not even look me in the eye.

It feels strangely good to be leaving the Yiang province behind. When I arrived, I had friends and family to visit, and even a love interest. Now, I leave tentative friendships and a deep sense of foreboding that I can’t shake off, but that grows as I cross to the Yu province.

The horse senses my distress and speeds up as much as it can, but it is only a beast.

When we finally stop to rest, we’ve reached a small town at the shores of the Yangtze River. The inn is poor, but nobody recognized me, which is a good thing.

I’m sitting in the middle of my room meditating when I heard a curious sound from the other side of the door.

‘Seriously?’ I shook my head at the resources the people after me have. If whoever is trying to open my door in the employ of the people after my life, then it would seem that I must have been under surveillance even in the Yiang province.

Silently, I stood up and moved to the door, pulling it open in one solid movement to find two people at the door. A kid of no more than ten years old with his tongue poking out of his mouth as he was trying to pick the lock, and another around my age who I caught looking at the hallway.

They both stared at me dumbfounded as I glared at them.

“H-hi!” says the older one “The- the innkeeper sent us to-” that is as far as I let him go, sending him flying over the railing and down on the floor below with a punch as I grab the kid by his clothes and lift him up. The door slams closed behind me as I walk back to the first floor where some people are cursing and others are trying to help up the boy that fell on top of their tables.

“Innkeeper!” I shouted and the whole room turned to me. Some stared at me, others at the boy that I’m dragging kicking and screaming, and some others looked toward the innkeeper’s wife, who is pale as a ghost. The older of the thieves, finally on his feet again, tries to run only for my wind to trap his feet and drag him to me, while everybody stares with bulging eyes.

To these poor people, that must have been like seeing a god.

The overweight man to whom I paid for my food and room comes in and colors rise to his face as he witnesses me manhandling a boy. However, instead of saying anything to me, he glared at his wife. “YOU SAID THEY WERE TAKEN CARE OF!”

If possible, the woman pales further, before looking down apologetically.

“I found these two trying to sneak into my room,” I say to the man, and he balks “It seems you know them.”

“Aye,” the man grumbles “They’re my sons. The imbeciles.”

“Well then,” I throw the boy at his father and the kid crashes against the man’s torso, glaring apoplectically at me “Deal with them or I will.” I glared at the portly man who grabbed the boy by his clothes and pulled him back.

“As for you” I turned and glared at the older boy who looked at me as if I’m the bad guy. My magic is keeping him from moving, so I kneeled down and slapped his face so hard that a tooth came out and he whimpered “how dare you to drag your brother into such a sport! You are the older brother, you’re supposed to protect him, not corrupt him!” I glared at him some more before I dismissed my magic and he slumped to the floor, touching his reddening cheek.

I surveyed the rest of the room, but nobody would look me in the eye. I grunted and as I’m about to leave...

“YOU ASSHOLE!” a small weight impacts against my torso and I turned to see the small boy trying to harm me with his fists. “DON’T HIT MY BROTHER!”

He keeps hitting me, but I barely feel it, instead, I looked up at his father who was too shocked to do anything.

“I’ll give you a lesson you won’t soon forget” I hissed and that woke up the older man.

He immediately ran to us, grabbed the boy by his midriff, and made him bow to me as he did.

“Forgive them Lord, they’re just children!”

“Children who attempted to steal from a traveler. Do you know the Empire’s penalty to stealing, even for young, stupid boys?”

“No! Please don’t tattoo him! He’ll be marked for life!”

“How else will he learn his place? If not a tattoo, then perhaps we should just cut their noses.”

“NO!” Now even the mother is bowing before me, pleading instead of her children, who are now bowing too.

“WHAT IS ALL THIS RUCKUS!?” A new voice bellowed and a man entered the establishment wearing the uniform of the prefecture. He took one look at the scene and shook his head mumbling “Those kids will never learn.” He then looked at me for a moment, squinting before his eyes popped open like plates “YOUR MAJESTY!?”

With his shout as a detonator, the room turned to me in slow motion, and they all kowtowed while I shook my head. So much for keeping a low profile.

Up until then, the kid had been struggling to get up to assault me again. Now he’s trembling like a leaf in the wind.

I had wanted to scare him before, but now, it seems the police have done my work for me. I put a hand on his shoulder and the trembling intensified.

“You have a good family” I pointed out, pulling his face up so that we would see eye to eye. In them, I see great fear “Do not squander them away. What will you ever do if you lose them? Right your ways young man, before you can no longer count on them for help.” Then I turned to the parents and placed my hands over their shoulders “raise your boys right. They deserve the chance to become good men who will bring honor to your name.”

Their heads fall back to the earth, and I sigh, looking at all the people prostrated before me.

“Not again” I mumbled and walked back to my room. I will not let another guard betray me and put innocent people’s life at risk. I slammed shut the door and packed my things, counting the seconds on my head.

Before I reach thirty, there comes a knock on my door.

“Yes?” I asked, wary.

“May I come in, your highness?” The voice is that of the police that recognized me downstairs.

I pondered the possibilities as I sat on the bed. After reaching a consensus, I said, “Come in.”

The guard came in and prostrated before me again. “Your majesty!”

“What is it?” I asked in a bored tone, eyeing him warily.

“To answer his majesty, we were informed by the prefects that if we were to encounter your Majesty, we should inform him that his presence is requested at the palace.” He said all this without raising his head from the ground.

“Why, and more importantly, how did you recognize me? I’m not wearing my golden pin.”

“To answer his majesty’s first question, I do not know. I was told to lead you to the prefect, should I come in contact with your majesty. As for his majesty’s second question: Every prefecture received a portrait with his majesty’s face on it, it came with the orders to aid you in any way possible. The orders came directly from the palace!”

If my enemies were from the palace, someone had done them a great service. Now every single official and police officer knew my face... which meant that my enemies did too.

However, it also tied my hands. I was no longer a free agent. I had to answer the summons... I only hoped that it hadn’t been his enemies who requested me there.

“Lead the way then,” I said standing up, bag in hand.

The man rose quickly and walked out of the building with me closing the march. As I exited, I found that the room was now empty save for the family of the innkeeper, who fell to their knees as soon as they laid eyes on me.

“Your majesty!” The innkeeper saluted kowtowing with the rest of his family. “This servant thanks his majesty for his words and for forgiving our boys for their foolishness-”

“I did not forgive them” I spoke quietly, and silence reigned for a moment. The guard looked torn between acting against the family and not. “Your children were intent on committing a crime. Forgiving them without punishment would mean they will not learn from this experience.” I glared at the boy who wouldn’t stop trembling. “When I come back to this place, I want to see both of them turned into honorable men, otherwise I will be sure to tell the authorities that your boys have broken the taboo by touching this Imperial Prince.”

I think they’re sufficiently cowed for them to right their ways.

I walk past them, motioning the guard to keep moving.

Once outside, the policeman looks over his shoulder at me, in his eyes I see him itching to ask a question. Instead of letting him speak, I gave my answer.

“Yes, I did that on purpose. Children should be corrected and I doubt the current punishments will truly deter crime. I will remind myself to come in a couple of years to learn of their fate... but I might also forget... they will have to live their whole lives with that threat hanging over their heads.”

The man chuckled and nodded, saying nothing else until we dismounted at the guards’ station. I stayed beside my horse, preparing myself mentally to be ambushed by the guards like I was at Ji port.

An elder officer marched out of the building and fell to one knee before me “Your Majesty, this prefect is honored to make your acquaintance”.

I grunted “Your guard mentioned that I was summoned to the palace, can you tell me more?”

“Yes! To answer his highness, I was told that all prefectures of Yu received a missive just as mine” he answered and showed me two letters, one addressed to the prefect and another to me.

The missive to the prefect was very straightforward and plain: if they were to encounter the man in the portrait, they would have to aid him in reaching the palace as soon as possible.

The one addressed to me began with a little poem in the same code my sister and I invented. The two lines put my mind at ease, apparently, the ones responsible for the current orders of the police were no other than my sister and my sworn-brother Heng Li. However, as I read the following lines, my next breath got stuck on my throat:

The Empire was under attack.