The Heavenly Emperor Fuzangloong walked to his Mother's office at the Empyrean Cloud Palace in a good mood. They would be discussing Kun Ji's coronation today. He had always wanted her to be his Empress.
He knocked lightly on the door, and entered, surprised to see Grandmother Zhou there, sitting next to his Mother.
"Come in, Fuzangloong" Mother said warmly.
He nodded his greetings to the Matchmaker awkwardly, and gave his Mother a brief hug, before sitting down in the chair that she indicated.
"Fuzang, take a look at these for me" Mother requested.
She handed him a collection of small portraits.
"Okay... why am I looking at these girls" Fuzang asked.
"Do you find any of them... pretty?" Mother asked.
"I'm a married man" he replied, a bit pompously.
"You only have one wife. You're the Emperor, you are expected to have more" Mother informed him.
"Mother, I thought we were meeting today to discuss Kun Ji's coronation! Instead you are trying to replace her?" He asked in exasperation.
Mother sighed. "It's a bit early to be deciding who your Empress will be" she countered. "You have marriage requests from all of these powerful families, any one of these girls would be a fitting Empress!"
"I only want Kun Ji" Fuzang replied stubbornly.
Mother narrowed her eyes. "The Heavenly Realm is not stable" she explained in a serious tone of voice. "All of these girls' parents were friends with the Fox Spirit, and were duped by him. They fear you, after your show of strength during the rebellion. None of them want to go against the Dragon who took out an entire army single-handedly. BUT, if you make them scared, they WILL band together to remove you. They are powerful enough, that if they ally, they might be able to do it. The peaceful and diplomatic solution is to form solid ties with their families. The most solid tie is one of Marriage. Even if you only marry half of these girls, it will be enough to ensure that they won't rebel" Mother assured him.
Fuzang scoffed. "Mother, I don't want to do this to Kun Ji. I love her! This will embarrass her! It will embarrass me!" he complained.
Mother shook her head. "Kun Ji only has the support of the Bird Tribe, and they are not as strong as they used to be. It's not enough to maintain stability in the Realm. Your Father agreed to the marriage because he was overly fond of Yanyou, and he didn't foresee his own death occurring anytime soon. If you want PEACE, then this is the answer!" Mother argued vehemently.
He stared at his Mother, dumbfounded. He looked through the pictures again. Some of them were kind of pretty, but he really only wanted Kun Ji.
"This one has a face like a turtle!" he exclaimed, tossing the portrait onto the desk.
"Her Father is so powerful, though" Mother cajoled.
Fuzang stood up, tossing the rest of the portraits onto the desk. "YOU CAN'T MAKE ME DO THIS!" he exploded.
The air reverberated with his shout, causing the furniture in the room to shake. Grandmother Zhou ducked, Mother looked up at him in alarm. Then she stood up as well, facing off against him.
"Do you want Kun Ji as Empress?" she asked.
She then pointed to the portraits determinedly. Fuzang grimaced.
"If you take these girls as concubines, then I can allow you to make Kun Ji the Empress in good conscience" she bargained.
"What, ALL of them?" Fuzang asked, shocked.
YOU ARE READING
Fresh Embers of Love
FanficThis story is a sequel to "From the Ashes of Love", which was a FanFiction written for "Ashes of Love" (香蜜沉沉烬如霜), the television drama from Mainland China which was based on the novel "Heavy Sweetness, Ash-like Frost" by Dian Xian. It begins at the...
