"Commander," Wei Jing bows to greet. "Just call me father behind closed doors," Commander Wei suggested. Lan looks back to see her first uncle, "Uncle? Why are you here?" Her grandfather answers instead, "I called him before you were here. Now, Jing'er, is it him?"
Lan picked up on who's the 'him' fast--Emperor Yuan. It could only be him. There had been more and more assassin attempts on her grandfather the past year. Wei Jing responds, "Yes, before his dying breath, the man confessed to the Emperor's eunuch ordering the job, which only leads to His Majesty himself." "Hm", Commander Wei sits back to think.
The past five years have caught up to him fast causing many white hairs to grow. Despite that, Lan still sees a powerful aura emitting from his presence. When he's not in his golden tiger armor, he's in his casual dark robes; Even then, he's as majestic as an emperor can be. His fighting skills and mind has yet to deteriorate with his youth.
Enough power to ignite the emperor's discretion, he tries to rid Commander Wei. And there's no saying the family would not be afflicted. "It the sixth one this year...seems like he wants to get rid of us...Send him the man. Leave a note saying we will go on vacation to the south. That way, we are not in his radar nor should he be alerted."
"Why can't we go to our borders or training camp?" Lan asks. Her uncle comes up to flick her head. "Silly girl, doing that would only worsen His Majesty's suspicions. Saying we're going on vacation, especially with you and your second uncle's family would lessen the chances of us plotting against him."
Lan hits herself in the head too. She suddenly felt stupid for asking an obvious question. Her uncle smirks. Her grandfather laughs and pats her head, "You're only twelve, don't be too tough on yourself. But..hm..however, even though you're a child, you're still a girl. Don't ever mention having a man in your room."
Lan widens her eyes and pouts, "Ah? You heard me earlier?" Wei Jing comes and flicks her head again. "Brat, should we go over common etiquettes again?" Lan recalls the burns during that 'training'. She violently shakes her head. Her uncle pats her head and smirks while her grandfather laughs at their interaction.
The next morning, sitting on the jade dragon throne as Emperor Yuan. A dead man's body with evidence of torture is displayed in front of him. He slams his grand table, "That Guang He is audacious! Is he trying to warn a rebellion?!" In his late forties, he looks sixty. Emperor Yuan is insecure for his mighty power may be threatened. Face red of rage and veins popping out.
Immediately, his eunuch, Chao, bows, "Your majesty, this man's body was delivered with a note saying the Wei's are going on vacation to the south. May your majesty allow this servant to overstep my line and let you know this servant's opinion: I think Commander Wei is trying to let you know he does not wish for the throne, hence may Your Majesty think for the bigger picture. Commander and General Wei have no plans to rebel, yet so powerful. You can use him to make Xia continue to grow to be the most powerful."
The emperor slams his table again, "You dare?!" Chao kneels and bangs his head to the floor, "This servant deserves to die!" The emperor grunts. The eunuch makes a point. But his ego was continuously attacked, is that even after the sixth attempt, that Guang He has yet to be defeated! "Fine. Don't kill him. But send him a warning..say..that son of his?"
Chao understands and got up to bow, "This servant will oblige," and left.
Now alone in his throne room, Emperor Yuan let out a malicious laugh. "Let's see what you'd next Guang He!"