The very same night, The Head Commander of The Shadow Guards called all of his subordinates in his office and swore them to a secrecy oath.
When the other Shadow Guards heard that they had to renew their secrecy oath of office, they went into high alert immediately. Each and every one of them knew that the only time their secrecy oath was revived was when The Son of Heavens was under imminent threat to his person.
They solemnly renewed their oaths and stood at attention to carefully listen, follow and execute The Head Commander's orders.
With furrowed brows and a fierce gaze, The Head Commander disclosed the bitter truth to his comrades.
"His Majesty is under grave threat. Some malevolent people have treacherous thoughts and are aiming to harm the head of the dragon. We must protect and shield the monarch with our very lives and bring the preparators to justice."
The subordinates heard their commander's words with heavy hearts.
His Majesty was so benevolent and magnanimous.
His Majesty took care of national affairs all day long and deep into the night without taking care of his own health. He didn't even let anybody take care of his physical needs.
His Majesty even abolished slavery and gave everyone new dreams and hope for their future generations.
Where would they ever find another ruler like him?
It was their accumulated luck from the last nine lives to get a monarch who was so concerned about nobles and commoners alike.
Therefore, they wouldn't let His Majesty come to any kind of harm.
Thinking about all of that, the shadow guards beat their chests, clicked their feet and solemnly vowed that they'll step over coals and walk through hell itself to cut a retreat route for His Majesty if everything else fails and there came a time to run away.
Peh! Peh!
What runs away?
It ought to be that His Majesty will strategically withdraw, to plan another course of action.
Yes, that's right.
That is how it should be.
As long as the monarch was alive, he would regain his kingdom. Yes.
A person could question:
Why are all of you thinking that your liege would turn tail if everything else failed? Wouldn't the winner make sure to kill him? Also, he wouldn't be 'His Majesty' by that point of time because the other person will be addressed as such by all under heavens.
That person will only receive one answer from all the shadow guards:
Heavy fists to his face. Why are you asking so many questions? Are you the one who'll put your life on the line, if not, then shut your trap.
Anyway, one of the newer shadow guards had some doubts in his heart.
No, he didn't doubt his Head Commander's words.
No, he didn't doubt his loyalty to the monarch.
Don't anyhow make your assumptions.
What he had doubts about was that who had eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall to threaten the monarch?
Generally, any such fights didn't involve the shadow guards being on high alert since most of the infighting for supreme power was done by strategists and implemented by death soldiers.
Was it one of the Imperial Clan members?
Was it the right prime minister or the left one?
Unable to curb his curiosity, he questioned The Head Commander and everyone turned towards their leader to hear his answer.
The Head Commander mused that although their lives weren't worth much, he should still try to protect his subordinates for as long as he can and to the best of his ability.
If he informed them that it was the much vaunted God Of War - Ning Fu, who coveted and sought after supreme power and somehow this information leaked and reached the said person, wouldn't that thankless bastard come to finish them off even before the real war began?
Moreover, if he succeeded in somehow rendering them helpless, who would shield and defend His Majesty?
Wouldn't their liege be left defenceless in that precarious situation?
Giving it further consideration, Head Commander also realized that the fight for the throne was still being fought covertly.
If he disclosed the truth and something unexpected happened, wouldn't all masks be taken off and the fight will come to light for everyone to watch and speculate about.
In that case, wouldn't His Majesty have to look out for covert as well as public attacks?
Moreover, cliques would form within the court and it might destabilise the emperor's position. The commoners who didn't comprehend the allure of power would also start whispering that the monarch couldn't even keep one of his military officers in check and question his right to rule.
His Majesty will be besieged on all sides.
Therefore, The Head Commander decided to hide the truth from his comrades for everyone's well being.
This secret couldn't be disclosed at such an inopportune time.
It was too dangerous for their leige as of now.
With a firm nod of his head, The Head Commander came to such a decision but he still had to give a convincing reply to the rest of the shadow guards.
He quickly thought of an excuse and an explanation to satisfy their curiosity and not divulge any crucial information.
A person might question, what excuse did The Head Commander offer his subordinates?
The answer is that The Head Commander kicked the young one with his leg and replied in anger, "How much face do you have? Ha? You want to know about Imperial Secrets? What? You no longer want your head attached to your neck, is that it?"
With a severe scolding to all the shadow guards present, The Head Commander left his office with hurried footsteps before anyone posed him any more questions.
What about the rest of the shadow guards?
They thought that their leader was obviously and absolutely right. How could they dare to ask about Imperial secrets?
They had definitely been in the wrong and had been rightly scolded by him.
Moreover, their leader must be under immense pressure due to the perilous situation His Majesty found himself in.
They felt worried for The Head Commander but more than that, they felt concerned and distressed for the monarch.
Ah!
The monarch had just taken over the governance of the country and already those white-eyed wolves were circling around His Majesty.
Ah!
The monarch must have suffered untold humiliation and degradation during his stay with the northern barbarians and now his own subjects were plotting against him.
Ah!
The monarch hadn't even married as of yet and didn't even have any offsprings to continue the line.
Ah!
Their pitiful liege. Ah!
They must protect him and let him enjoy the sweetness after he had tasted bitterness for so long.
His Majesty ought to rule over earth and sky for many, many years to come and as such, the shadow guards went off to make their own preparations for the harrowing task ahead of them all.
How did they make their preparations?
The shadow guards increased their training. The noise of swords clinking and clanking could be heard throughout The Imperial Complex at all times of the day and night causing numerous eunuchs and maids unable to fall asleep at night.
What changes did the shadow guards implement to save the emperor from unsavoury elements?
The court officials and Imperial Clan members who attended the morning assembly or were called by the monarch to present their reports or cases in The Imperial Study were subjected to intense, suspicious stares from the shadow guards.
If they even spent a moment longer than necessary in The Imperial Palace, the shadow guards would watch them with unblinking eyes, ready to devour them at a moments notice.
The court officials and Imperial Clan members further misread the situation as His Majesty trying to show his imperial might to warn them off.
They thought it was a display by His Majesty to tell them not to step a toe out of line.
They inwardly lamented:
Your Majesty, we understand that you are trying to tell us to stay in our limits and not go overboard.
We also know that this display is a way to threaten all the eagles and vultures attempting to encircle you but Your Majesty, is it really necessary to put the rest of us through such as ordeal?
Tell us, Your Majesty, is it really required?
Do you know the feeling of being drowned in ice-cold water during winters?
That is what we feel whenever these watchdogs of your's look at us with their narrowed, resolute eyes?
Please, Your Majesty, we are spineless and cannot take this for long so please, spare us.
More importantly, they are called Shadow Guards
Shadow Guards, you know.
Which means that they are to protect you from the shadows as their name implies and not walk with you throughout the day and turn their hungry eyes on us every time we speak above a whisper.
Thinking up to here, the court officials and His Majesty's kin came to another horrible sinking realization.
If His Majesty was allowing these Shadow Guards to protect him in broad daylight, that meant the monarch had another large hidden force.
Otherwise, why was the monarch not concealing his closest shield and sword?
They pondered, how much military strength had His Majesty hidden behind his genial facade?
All His Majesty did during court hours was to smile and give ideas on how to improve the commoner's lives but at the back, he was raising his military strength and was on guard against them.
All of the court officials and imperial clan members shuddered at this thought and promptly decided to be more diligent in their work and try to stay far away from His Majesty's baleful eye.
If they displeased the monarch, wouldn't he simply dispatch his known, public and unknown, hidden guards, to dispatch them from the face of this earth?
At this thought, each and every one of them hastened their footsteps to go back home and have a glass of strong alcohol to warm their chilled hearts and think of ways to please the emperor.
As a result, in the subsequent days, Su Li noticed that there was an unprecedented improvement in the quality of reports submitted to her.
The memorandums were more detailed and were meticulously written. Even the relevant data was sent along with the reports.
The work she allocated was completed days before the deadline.
Additionally, the court officials and the imperial clan members were even more courteous and respectful towards her.
No one raised objections at every turn like before.
Su Li felt immensely pleased that everyone had recognised her efforts for the betterment of the dynasty at large and that all of them were working cohesively towards a common goal.
His Majesty was moved to tears by everyone's hard work and understanding on her behalf.
He gave generous rewards to all the court officials and at the same time decreased the allowance provided to the imperial clan members from the state treasury.
Nobody dared to question this decision of the emperor. However, the monarch was ever magnanimous and offered his reasoning in the morning assembly without any prompting.
His reasoning was as follows:
Nothing will happen to you freeloaders if you lower your extravagant spending. Be more frugal in your lifestyle and work for the people of the nation and I'll reward you well.
Obviously, those words weren't said verbatim.
What? Did you take His Majesty for a fool?
He wasn't anybody's fool.
He found a proper, rhetorical choice of words to convey his message to everyone but the gist of it still remained the same.
The court officials - civil as well as military, felt apprehensive.
The imperial clan members felt sullen.
The shadow guards were worried to high heavens.
His Majesty felt ecstatic and walked around with a smile on his face and a skip in his steps.
Anyways, as long as the dragon head was happy and satisfied, what else mattered?