"I vow to be loyal and sacrifice my life to my country." This was the oath he made when he first joined the army. Now here he was surrounded by hateful gazes of his own people for murdering their country's Mother Empress.
He was once a mighty genera...
"Announcing the arrival of His Majesty, the Emperor and His Highness, the First Imperial Prince." The Chief Eunuch voice echoed through the hall.
I raised my left hand to the level of my waist, my palm facing the marble floor allowing His Majesty to rest his right hand on top of mine. His cold palm connecting into the back of my warm hand. The iron doors pushed open as the Emperor and I walked side by side on the red carpet that had golden dragons embroidered into them.
The court officials had arrayed themselves into two neat rows at either side of the hall according to their rank. The two rows were facing one another as they knelt down and bowed showing their respect to His Majesty and I,
"Long live the Emperor and the First Imperial Prince! May His Majesty and His Highness live ten thousand years accompanying each other!"
How eerily funny that sounded... I really wondered, did Imperial Father by any chance have a black heart against his own son? I could only sigh internally thinking about this matter since his death.
I escorted the Emperor to the Dragon Throne, both gracefully taking each step forward.
Even though the Imperial palace had many Dragon Thrones, the one in the Hall of Peace held the royal power of the Xu Lin rulers. The gold-lacquered throne stands on an eight-stepped platform, had three red gold-plated columns on each side, made of Nanmu (a type of a superior durable softwood), one of the most valuable and slow-growing trees in China. It was done with extraordinary craftsmanship and features ten gold dragons, all looking in different directions, while twelve gold dragons on the back look directly at the throne. The body of the throne was adorned with dragons and lotus petal patterns.
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(Even though the structure is the same, this isn't really the one I imagined. It looks plain here but it's supposed to be a lot extravagant)
The throne was surrounded by animals and mythological creatures including elephants representing the stability of the Imperial Court and a Luduan (Luduan is a legendary Chinese auspicious creature. It looks like a deer with a green coat, the tail of a horse and a single horn on its head), symbolizing the Emperor's wisdom. It had a large Sumeru (most stable foundation used for pagodas) base and was difficult to lift or move due to its great weight. Right at the bottom of the dais were four bronze Imperial Guardian Lions that represented protection.
The throne was not particularly comfortable to sit on, but the Emperor had to use it since he was sitting symbolically at the center of his empire. One of the first divine rulers in Xu Lin demanded that all those who passed it should bow and show their respect to the throne as if it was part of the Emperor himself.
Reaching the top of the Dragon Throne, the Emperor gently removed his hand off mine as he sat down. The beads of his crown made an audible sound in the quiet hall when he moved. Taking two steps back I bowed to him and walked to the side where my seat was located four feet away. As soon as I took my seat, the Emperor's deep voice resounded in the hall,
