Part 4, Chapter 3

Meeting with the Dowager Empress

Ch 3

The court of the Dowager Empress was golden. Xun actually had to squint her eyes a bit in the morning sunlight to look around. Cloth of gold, golden statues and decorations, even the marble of the floor and walls was veined thickly with gold. Xun thought longingly of the simple rooms she and the Emperor shared. If he had been raised in opulence like this then his taste in plain decoration was almost an act of rebellion.

The Dowager Empress herself sat on a large cushion, gold, which had been place in the exact center of a large throne, carved in gold. Her cream and gold robes draped elegantly over her erect form, highlighting her slender, regal bearing. As a display of power it wasn’t exactly subtle.  

Now that some of her lifetime fear of the High Gods had dissipated she could admit to herself that this level of pomposity was not only unsubtle, it was a little silly. After all this was the Dowager Empress, if she decided to act it wouldn’t matter if she wore cloth of gold or peasant hemp Xun would be just as dead. That thought sobered her and her expression was somber as she knelt at the Dowager Empress’s feet. 

“Rise,” the Dowager Empress said coldly. 

Xun rose, keeping her eyes down and her hands still with great difficulty.

“We need to talk about my son,” the Dowager Empress said, a little more gently. “The rest of you may leave us.”

Xun barely heard the maids, their footsteps almost silent as they escaped. Xun waited a few moments more before lifting her head to meet her mother-in-law’s gaze. “I don’t want to be the Empress,” she said bluntly. “I don’t have the connections or the training for a position with that much responsibility. I didn’t marry the Emperor, I married Leng Zai.”

The older woman smiled, a very slight tipping at the corners of her lips the only outward sign. “Leng Zai?” She asked.

Xun nodded, “The kitchen boy. Well, the kitchen boy Jianyu was before he became Jianyu again.”

“At least you know your place,” the Dowager Empress said with only the slightest hint of mockery in her voice. “There are no benefits from my son marrying you.”

Xun thought of Jianyu’s easy laughter and happiness during the time they had been at the God of War’s manor. He had never been that free and easy during his time in the Palace. She may not bring the political connections or the power that another wife could bring him, but she knew she gave him more than nothing. 

The Dowager Empress continued before Xun could defend herself. “The reason this rebellion was even possible is because the Lord of Storms has connected himself to powerful allies through blood and marriage. My son needs to surpass his brother’s influence if he is to remain safe on the throne. He needs a wife and a child of his own, or else he will remain vulnerable. In order to achieve that he needs to be rid of you.”

The words felt like weights falling on Xun, crushing her until her insides ached. The Dowager Empress wasn’t wrong. Jiangou was weak, it wasn’t impossible that someone would strike at the Emperor through him again, and Jianyu didn’t have the heart to kill his brother. Building his own power base was the best solution. 

It was more than that though. The Empress needed her own power and her own cunning to keep the Heavenly Realm under control. The High Gods rarely ever worked together, except at the direction of the Emperor himself and even then the alliances were rife with power struggles and secret plots. The battle with the King of the Merfolk had only been possible because the King had attacked and imprisoned all of them, giving them a common enemy. The Empress needed the knowledge and the skills to keep aware and in control of the ever changing relationships. Xun knew that much and understood the basic theory, but she had no idea how to apply the theory to her own life. 

Xun wasn’t ready to take on that responsibility. She was too young. Too inexperienced. Too distanced from that world to be ready to become a part of it. Watching it unfolded from the position of a servant was different than trying to enter the dance itself. 

Xun didn’t want to try to explain all of that to the Dowager Empress, who would never believe in her ability. She didn’t want to explain it to Jianyu, who just kept telling her that she would learn the skills she needed. So instead she just bowed her head again. “You’re correct,” she said, her voice almost inaudible. “I’ll go tomorrow.”