"Where am I?" an aging man called out in the emptiness, devoid of any color contrasting the red toga covering an orange tunic with 20 different tears on it.
"To think I was killed by a man whom I trusted enough to have my back in battle along with one who I named as heir in my will" he muttered sadly while staring off into space while remembering how he died not minutes ago
After a few minutes of nothing but walking on nothing but the air beneath him, he still saw nothing but darkness, it was only after this that he thought "What is the point of walking with no destination, but I see no reason to stay here"
So he walked and walked to no end. Sometimes he muttered different questions like "What went wrong?", "Why would they kill me?", or "Will my last will be followed, no will the senate even read it?". After what seemed like hours, No maybe days he saw something different than darkness, it was bright, beautiful, it was anything but darkness, to The man this was something greater than even the gods descending in front of him.
Even though his mind was slightly addled by the darkness he was not yet crazy enough to run to the light, yet no matter the fortitude the man had after walking towards the blinding light and making no progress at all even he began to jog a little almost undoing his toga, yet even this did nothing the light stayed tantalisingly close but out of reach.
The man had jogged for minutes, despite this he didn't even break a sweat and the look in his eyes had changed as well unlike when he first awoke in this endless pit of blackness now he had a goal, Get to that light.
"Is this just a hallucination, I have been running for over 5 minutes yet no progress has been made" after the man spoke the light seemed to wiggle a little bit, becoming bigger, then it wiggled some more before engulfing the entirety of the void.
In response to the blinding light becoming even more blinding He Covered his face with his toga and his hands, yet that did little so he was forced to close his eyes, and mere seconds later he heard a man violently yelling
"You useless" The man was so mad that his face was turning red "Aahh, You⊠I Cant even come up with something to insult you with, how does one lose against 1500 rebels that are barely armed with over 4000 Imperial Guards''
"What a Disgrace to the Wang Family name" Another man walked out of the left group of people and bowed to the man in the front of the hall with his left palm over his right fist "Your Imperial Majesty" The man politely said
"Speak" The Emperor snapped still full of rage
"I suggest that Shang Wang goes to the south along with the other generals this campaigning season to learn more strategy, and military tactics as it would be horrible if the heir to the throne of heaven is so inadequate"
"Hmm, Yes although he is horrendously inadequate to sit in my position I still don't see why you could call my son inadequate" Emperor Wang spat redirecting his rage from his son who is reletivedly safe from his rage unless he did something truely stupid, the only reason The emperor was so mad was the lose of that many Imperial troops against the rebels inceted another city to rebel as well, therefore he directed his rage to the idiot who opened his mouth "Therefore, You will be spending a week in the dungeons as punishment"
"Of Course your majesty" The Man seemed completely unfazed as the punishment for disrespecting the Imperial family is death, no questions about it, so him only getting a week in the hole is a mere slap on the wrist so once he turned to leave with the guards he fiercely smiled in the face of the know standing, tanned, golden haired, blue eyed man; Who looked different than everyone else in the room.
"Now Shang Wang get ready fo" The Emperor once again spoke to Shang Wang before getting interrupted
"My Name is Gaius Julius Caesar and I shall be named as such" Caesar interrupted the man.
"You..." The Emperor Instantly became purple in anger not at his 'Son' interrupting him which normally would be a death sentence but at the fact that he had enough gall to rename himself which only the emperor could do.
Everyone else in the room seemed to become pale and began to sweat while looking at Caesar with their eyes and mouths Gasping open in pure shock.
"You⊠Bastard, You dare" The emperor got up in a fit of fright and grabbed the sword on the soldier who was standing in complete shock with his mouth open, only a couple of feet away waist.
After the emperor started to walk down the stairs with the sword most of the ministers backed up pushing everyone behind them to the wall, while the soldiers wearing a distinct black closed in as close as they possibly could without being executed for getting too close.
Once The Emperor got down the stairs he pointed the sword in his hand on the chest of Caesar who didn't even flinch at the sword, barely piercing his chest releasing a drop of blood.
"Do you have any idea what I have done for you, I took you in from a mere slave from the distant Daqin, me the son of heaven took in a slaves son. Yet you would have such gall as to renounce your name in front of me" The Emperor was now yelling so loud that his voice was now that even the people in the far back could hear him as if he was only a few feet away from them, Caesar once again didn't even flinch, how could he conquered all of Gaul; Which had some of the most unyielding fighters in the whole world so how could a fat man possibly intimidate him.
"Do you have nothing to say?" The Emperor got even more furious at the now Caesar's reaction, although he may have treated him harshly if he made more than a simple mistake, renouncing one's bloodline is too much of a temper tantrum.
"Enough, sense you renounce your bloodline then you will no longer be the heir of the Han dynasty, you will for now on be known as minister of the Liang and Bing provinces, you will no longer have any stake in anything outside of those provinces" he spat before adding "Now begon"
Although Caesar really didn't like how this person who was a full head shorter than him, looked like a slave that would arrive from the Seres, and he was saying that he was renouncing his own bloodline when he wasn't even from this place, on top of calling him a military failure, was speaking to him.
Caesar still walked out of the hall without a care in the world.
"Jiang Zuaji" The emperor called out with narrowed eyes like a hawk
"Yes your majesty" a middle aged man with armor on and a empty sheath on his waist walked out and kneeled in front of the emperor while holding out his fists cupped together just below the emperor
"Was he this calm when he was coming back"
"No, Your Majesty, he was only a little nervous at the punishment he would receive at most stating that "any punishment Father would dull out upon myself is a mere slap on the wrist compared to fighting those Barbaric rebels who would use their own fellow soldiers as shields" ''.