TIANSHI, THE WARRIOR EMPRESS

A TURNING POINT

Tianshi walked towards her father's study ,it had been three days after the funeral of her step brother and it had left most of the family in shock.

Tianshi bounced back quicker than any body else and her step mother on the other hand was still caught up in the trauma of losing her son.

Tianshi arrived into her father's study and sat down, she had not seen him after the funeral, he seemed to grow thinner every day.

He had bags under his eyes and they were no longer filled with the same life they had before the incident that happened to her brother.

He was a very lively figure and at that very moment,  Tianshi recalled the happy moments that she saw her father smile.

He looked worse and the doctor who stood beside him looked rather sad.

"How is it?" The Emperor asked in the presence of his daughter confidently.

The doctor just shook his head and it was enough for the Emperor to comprehend the message that he was passing on to him.

"Very fine then, you may now leave." The Emperor said dismissively and the doctor carried his belongings and walked out.

The Emperor faced his last living child, his one and only daughter who kowtowed immediately.

"I suppose that you know why I have summoned you." The Emperor said.

"No father." Tianshi replied as the Emperor somehow froze but then he resumed the conversation.

"You understand now that your brother is dead what happens next." The Emperor said.

"I get to succeed you as Empress when you die, supreme over Tian dynasty." Tianshi replied.

"No, no, you cannot be the Supreme." The Emperor and breaking it off to his daughter.

"And why is that father?" Tianshi asked.

"In all the past years and dynasties that have prevailed in our nation, never at any one point in time has a female empress ruled as Sovereign." The Emperor replied.

"They were all literally outnumbered as they had living brothers, I am your daughter, your own flesh and blood." Tianshi said.

"Being the Emperor requires more than your sexual qualifications, you must be a skilled warrior.

People need a warrior for a leader and I have fought and protected you all my life.

Never did I give you a sword or gift you with a spear, this politics is a game for men." The Emperor said.

"And I am not fit simply because I am a woman, and what is the purpose of it all if I cannot keep your name on the throne?"  Tianshi said.

"My dear, the battle field is no place for a woman, nor is the field, this is unacceptable and you cannot keep my name even if you wanted." The Emperor said.

"Father, I have obeyed your every word until now, what becomes of me then when you die, what shall I be left with in the world?" Tianshi asked.

"Which is why you must get married my dear." The Emperor replied.

"And I rule inferior to my husband because I was not born a boy, you are going to let a foreigner cease your kingdom." Tianshi said.

"I have no choice and it is tradition, tradition has its place and its own demands that must be fulfilled without negotiations." The Emperor said.

"Tradition also has it that the Emperor be succeeded by his legitimate children and it is only after the death of all that another close relative may step in.