The capital city of the Celestial Empire was stifled in fear.
Businesses, markets and shops had been shut down and closed shut tightly. And through the gaps of the wooden windows, the civilians would peek at the empty and eerily quiet streets.
Similarly, many of the clans too were shuffling about in their respective compounds, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Qilin city has fallen into a state of curfew!
"Your highness, we only have about two hundred thousand soldiers in the capital, majority of our forces have been sent to the borders..." The War minister Ye Zhong explained the situation at hand as Tang Fan frowned deeply.
"It will take the armies about four days to arrive at the Imperial city, anything we do is risky, your highness... by now all of our enemies outside of the nation must have heard of the inner turmoils of the empire! We need to keep the soldiers at the borders for possible invasions..." Ye Zhong said solemnly, hoping to get his point across to the Emperor.
'Don't do anything stupid!'
He prayed inside his head, knowing that Tang Fan was an impulsive idiot...
"Say Ye Zhong... what if I hire some mercenaries? Aren't they cheaper?" Tang Fan smiled as if he had solved the problem.
"Unacceptable Your highness! Those crooks, thieves and criminals will only smear your regalia with dirt, and the number of crimes will soar if they gather in one spot!" The War minister sighed tiredly.
"And how do we know if they won't turn against your highness and try to take over the empire?" That was the final nail as Tang Fan grumbled.
"True, all true Ye Zhong! Your perceptiveness is always on point! No wonder father was able to expand our territories so immensely!" Tang Fan nodded and laughed.
His face consisted of a red palm imprinted on his left cheek, and a black eye, an unbefitting appearance when being the Emperor of a nation...
Ye Zhong could only accept the man's compliments with a bitter smile on his face.
'I hate my job...' He cried inwardly and bowed at the emperor, leaving the man alone to his thoughts.
"Hmph! Now that the nuisance is gone, Four Heads!" Tang Fan cast a disdainful look at the door where Ye Zhong had just exited from.
"Your highness!" Four cultivators donned in black and green robes kneeled Infront of Tang Fan whose smile turned to a grin...
"Tell the soldiers that they get ready by sunset and hold formations Infront of the Qiu manor!" The emperor's Imperial decree shocked the four.
But they obeyed the emperor and only him, his orders were heavenly mandates to their ears, their sole purpose was to serve the Imperial family!
"At once!" They said in unison and disappeared.
Tang Fan let out a breath of air and leaned onto his throne, relaxing as if he had done something tiresome...
"Those foolish clans, thinking that cutting off the Qiu family would keep them safe! Once my authority is centralised, I can slowly implement military service and begin the unification process! And then I will show father that he was not mistaken in choosing me as the emperor!" Tang Fan's voice was gruff, his eyes glinted in the dimly lit room...
•••••
"The Imperial family has around two hundred thousand soldiers in the city, and even then, only a few will willingly attack us under the order of the Imperial family..."
"But we must consider the unknown variables at play, like the secret forces of the Tang Fan! Both of our clans are very ancient so they must have several secret weapons..." Duke Qiu summarised as follows.
"Leave it to brother Chen to figure things out!" Wu He laughed with Ikki nodding in the background.
Xieren was sitting on a chair, Akagi beside him taking quick glances at him and looking down when he turns to her.
"..." He was left speechless, Xiao Ling was one thing but Akagi being this cute made him feel like vomiting rainbows...
"Xieren, what do you think?"
"I think she's very cute!" He replied absentmindedly rendering the men and women in the hall unable to come up with a proper response and replay his words in their heads.
Xieren who came back to his senses coughed violently trying to distract the embarrassment he felt and acted as if he said nothing wrong.
"So... Ah yes! The Imperial family... why don't we just mobilise our troops for an attack? Ye Zhong might have spoken facts to that idiot, but I highly doubt he listened and did something stupid..." Xieren deduced.
"Ready the defensive talismans on the walls, use our stocks of Qi stones just in case"
"Increase the power of the soldiers in our clan with the necessary herbs, pills and whatever you can find in the treasury..."
"However, our main focus should be on the offensive talismans! Those will take out a big chunk of the enemy army..."
"They are too rare and valuable! And there is a possibility that we might not even need them!" Wu He and Duke Qiu were opposed to using such expensive items.
"Better to have and not need than to need and not have!" Xieren stated seriously, this shut them both up, leaving them reconsider their own decisions in silence.
"And what is more valuable to you, The clansmen or the talismans?" He asked them with a smile.
"The answer is obviously the clansmen..." Duke Qiu replied with a wry smile.
"Exactly, and having more clansmen alive means more workers, more investors and most importantly strong cultivators in the future. Our clansmen are a walking treasure trove that needs to be kept safe inorder to grow!" Xieren was enthusiastic when he spoke of the clan and opportunities.
The charisma was doing it's charm on letting his words sit in their minds.
"Young master Xieren is correct, we must prioritise our clansmen before anything else! the winner is decided by the one with the least casualties" Hōjo Ikki nodded in agreement.
"If you put it like that..." Wu He and Duke Qiu laughed.
"Alright lover boy, we will do as you say" Duke Qiu said and went out to relay his orders.
The audience snickered as veins popped from Xieren's forehead.
"M-Milord... let us return to the manor!" Akagi said shyly.
That did it, several people had smirks and most were barely holding their laughter, not letting it escape their lips.
"Might aswell just marry now!" Wu He commented.
Hōjo Ikki nodded with a smile.
"Tch! What are you guys talking about?" Xieren grumbled and immediately left with Akagi accompanying him silently...
On the way, several guards whistled at and teased Xieren whose face darkened.
"Lover boy!"
"Love is the air!"
"SHUT THE F*CK UP!!" He shouted and hurriedly entered his manor.