Volume 2 Chapter 31

  After the children at the palace of the Blue Dragon Emperor were bathed, clothed, and fed, the emperor of the night sat at the table and ate his breakfast. The children who had traded to him their milk names sat at the table with him, nervously waiting to see what he would say.

  Finally, Tan finished eating. He was a little uncomfortable, because every time he went to pick up a fork, it was handed to him. Every time he went to grab a piece of food, it was plucked from his reach and put into his mouth. He was fed by three servants, who did sat in front of him, to the left, and to the right.

  They were following the instructions of his uncle, and they continued to do so until finally Tan shouted “I can feed myself, leave me alone!”

  When he said that, the servants departed, but they continued to stand nearby while he ate.

  Once he too had finished eating, the children at the table waited for one of the two emperors to speak.

  Finally, Tan said “Uncle Renton, I’m really not sure what I’m supposed to be learning from all of this.”

  “You’re learning how to be emperor, Tan,” His uncle said. “Today you learned how to eat like an emperor. I’m proud of you.”

  “Table manners? That’s what I’m supposed to get out of it?” Tan asked.

  “If that’s the lesson you learned today, then go proclaim it from the heavens,” Renton challenged.

  “So, what? So that everyone can know that I was fed like a baby today?” Tan asked.

  “Let me ask you this. How many mouths have I fed today, Tan?” Renton asked.

  “One,” Tan said.

  “Wrong. I fed you, didn’t I?”

  “No you didn’t. You’re way across the table.”

  “My reach is very long. Who saw me feed my nephew this morning?” Renton asked.

  The nameless children sat nervously.

  “When I call out your name, I ask you to answer honestly. Have I fed you?” Renton then began to call out the milk names that he had traded for the night before. One by one, the orphans at the table nervously sat up, and they kowtowed before him.

  “Tan, why did they do that?” Renton asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Because they’re clever little children, that’s why,” Renton asked. “Why don’t you spend the day getting to know them. But let’s settle the matter of who will be proclaimed emperor today first.”

  “I don’t care,” Tan said.

  “Neither do I,” Renton said. “But someone has to be.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the people outside will not stop shouting the name Tanshen Shenlong until someone appears. I ask again, who will be proclaimed emperor of the day? Tan, if you don’t name someone emperor of the day, then I will. How does that sound? Is that a fair deal?”

  “Fine, whatever,” Tan said.

  “Okay. Let’s see. I name … I’m sorry you on the end of the table, what was your milk name again? I know I just said it but I’d like for you to say it for me.”

  “My name is Petyr,” the nervous boy said.

  “See? That isn’t so hard. Petyr, I give you back your milk name, you no longer need to kowtow before me when I say it. I name you emperor of the day. I task you with the following tasks. Go to the throne, kowtow before it, sit upon it, and state the name of the empire that you rule.”

  “I don’t rule an empire,” the boy said. “I’m just an orphan.”

  “Then I name you the emperor of orphans. Today, an orphan rules the empire of the day. I am the emperor of the night, and give you the mandate of heaven to obey me during the day. Will you challenge me, while I am eating breakfast?” Renton asked.

  “No, your majesty,” the boy said.

  “Then go bid as I told you. Sit upon the throne and proclaim your name. If you do well, perhaps tomorrow you can be emperor of the day as well.”

  At that moment, lightning did strike the guardhouse.

  “Also, Kora, have you decided what you want your imperial name to be?”

  “Must I decide now?”

  “No. You can decide anytime before it’s proclaimed from the throne,” Renton said, eating an egg which Tan had picked himself on the Shen farm. “I’m just asking, since you’re the empress of the day today.”

  “Can’t I be like Tan and just proclaim my milk name?”

  “Sure, why not,” Renton said with a shrug. “You are Kora, and today you rule the children’s court. Take the orphans of the empire into the throne room and teach them in my name. Will you do this task for me, Kora?”

  “Yes,” Kora said.

  “Then I give you the name Kora Zang, and I bid you wear it proudly,” Renton said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go to sleep.”

  He stood, and he went into his bedroom, where he was watched over by seven guardians, each of which carefully stood at his side, guarding his rest.

  Outside, the crowds cheered the name “Tanshen Shenlong” to the heavens.

  Kora took the children of the children’s court into the throne room of the palace of the Blue Dragon Empire and tried to figure out what it was that she was supposed to be teaching them. Tan wandered the palace aimlessly.

  Outside, two men in a mask were seen escorting a boy into the men’s bath. He emerged in different clothes, clean and wearing fine silks and a ring on each finger. The men escorted him to the front gate, and he was released.

  The gathered crowd watched in silence as the finely dressed boy kowtowed before the throne which had been carried outside the day before, then assumed his seat on the throne.

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  He was promptly pulled off his throne by an angry audience. The men in the mask watched as he was stripped down. The child cried as he was left only in a modesty garment. He ran off into the streets.

  The men in the mask followed him, but they quickly lost sight of him.

  And thus ended the rule of orphans. It lasted for three minutes during the second day of the year of the dragon. The emperor’s name was Petyr. He was removed from the throne by an angry mob who wished to name a different emperor. They continued to show the name “Tanshen Shenlong” for the rest of the day.

  And that’s the day that the dragon emperor did fail to protect an orphan. Whether it was because he was asleep, or because he was lost, or because he got pulled from his throne is a matter for others to decide.

  Night fell on the second day of the year of the dragon, and lightning struck outside the front gate. Renton Shen stood there, dressed in black, and he called out a name

  “Petyr!” he shouted. “Petyr, I bid ye return to the palace! If you can hear my voice I bid ye return home!”

  Nobody answered.

  For the rest of the night, he stood vigil over the child of heaven, who slept safely in the imperial bed.

  On the third day, the children of the palace gathered for breakfast. They sat on a long table, with a chair for each of them. Each of them was served a platter of eggs, with bread and butter and milk and cheese. They ate ravenously, except for Tan, who was not served.

  “Where’s my food?” Tan asked.

  Renton sat at the table, eating with impeccable table manners. “Yesterday you declared that you could feed yourself. You were seen eating in the orchard, and so your servants took you at your word on the matter. If you want food, go get it. Nobody is going to tell you what to do when you live under my roof, Tan. Nobody except for maybe me, and even then only if I deem it necessary.”

  Tan frowned at his uncle. “So, what, I’m supposed to cook for myself too? Fine, I can do that.”

  “Good. Before you go off to the kitchen, let’s discuss the emperor of orphans. What was his name again? I know I said it but I seem to have forgotten.”

  “His name was Petyr.”

  “Right. Whatever happened to him?” Renton asked.

  “How should I know?”

  “Exactly. Let me tell you what my eyes saw happen to the emperor of orphans, Tan,” Renton said. “Here is what my right eye saw happen.”

  A man stepped forward and gave an account of how Petyr the emperor of orphans was ripped from his throne, stripped almost down to his skin, and sent off into the streets of the imperial city.

  “What did my left eye see happen?” Renton asked rhetorically.

  “The same thing,” the servant reported.

  “I thought as much. It’s a shame that my eyes were closed when that happened, was it not?” Renton asked.

  Tan was outraged. He sat at the table, seething, as he processed what had happened to the boy he’d eaten breakfast with the day before.

  “Do you want to do something about it, Tan?” Renton asked after a moment.

  “Yes,” Tan said.

  “Then I bid you go do something about the treatment of orphans in the empire of the day. Meanwhile, I’m going to go to sleep, if that’s alright with you.”

  Renton stood from the table, went to the imperial bed, and closed his eyes.

  Outside, a furious Tanshen Shenlong was seen flying out the front gate of the palace. He was met with cheering cries and happy faces, as everyone expected to see another show.

  “What have you idiots done to my friend!” he shouted. “Where is Petyr! Petyr! Petyr, where are you!”

  He flew off into the city, and was not seen again that day.

  The people in front of the palace were confused.

  Day ended, and the emperor of night appeared in the usual fashion. The crowd was somber, but nobody dared approach him, for they knew him to be a powerful cultivator who could strike them dead with lightning if he was offended, or set them aflame. Finally, a child approached.

  “Where is Tanshen Shenlong?” the girl asked.

  “Sleeping, the last I heard,” The emperor of the night said. “He returned to the palace over the wall of the west. He was exhausted from his search for the orphan who sat on his throne yesterday. He searched and searched but could not find the boy, unfortunately. If anyone sees Petyr today, tell them that Tanshen Shenlong is looking for him, and that he is to return to the palace by any gate he wishes. He is given leave to return to the children’s court.”

  “Did he say that?” the child asked again.

  “No. These are my words as the emperor of night. I speak for the child of heaven while he is asleep. If anyone doubts my words, they may dispute them by finding the child of heaven and calling my acts into question. If he finds my words objectionable, then I will allow myself to be called to account. I swear this by the mandate of heaven.”

  The emperor of night continued to stand vigil and answer questions as one by one, the children of the empire began to approach him, some of them bid to do so by their parents.

  The next morning, Petyr was back at the table for breakfast.

  Tan, who was startled by the revelation that the boy he had spent all night searching for, asked him to explain what had happened.

  “I ran through the streets crying for most of the day,” Petyr admitted. “Then I heard you were looking for me, and that I could come back to the palace. I went to the west gate and said my name to the guard and he opened the gate and let me in.”

  Tan stared blankly at the boy for a moment. Then he looked at his uncle. “What did you do last night?”

  “Me? I stood at the front gate and waited for an orphan to appear,” Renton said, shoveling a mouthful of eggs into his mouth. “And then dawn came, and poof, there he was. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go to sleep. But before that, we should settle the matter of the emperor of the day. What shall we proclaim his name to be?”

  Tan stared at Renton, and he finally said “You want me to do it? Fine, I’ll sit on the stupid throne.”

  “Under what name shall you sit on the throne, Tan?”

  “My name,” Tan said.

  “Very well. I shall order that your court be prepared to hear testimony as my last act before going to sleep,” Renton said. And then lighting began striking the guard tower at the front gate repeatedly.

  Slowly, a crowd began to appear. They did not speak, for they were confused and moderately afraid. When the lightning stopped striking, a man in a mask appeared.

  “The Emperor of the Day has named himself. He shall appear and hold court. Present yourself to the court of the day, and he shall preside over the proceedings,” the man said. Then he left.

  After he was gone, thirty more masked individuals did appear and chased away everyone from the throne. They did this shouting Tanshen Shenlong will hold court today!

  When Tan finally assumed his throne, nobody could reach him, because he was guarded on all sides by cultivators who were just as strong as he was. He sat on his throne for two hours, arguing with the masked people to allow the crowd to return.

  Then, frustrated, he returned to the palace. The masked people returned to the palace as well. Tan went to find his uncle, but he couldn’t find him. Pao returned to explain to the confused individuals what was happening inside the palace.

  “The emperor of the night is looking for the emperor of the day to find out how the imperial orphan was discovered,” Pao said, reading a proclamation. “I give testimony that this is an honest accounting of the events of the third day of the year of the dragon. My milk name is Pao. The emperor of tomorrow shall assume his throne. His name shall be Tanshen Shenlong. So says the emperor of the night.”

  Confused, the children of the empire who had gathered at the sound of lightning striking the tower, departed and prepared to see Tanshen Shenlong the next day.

  They were hoping for another show like the one they had seen on the day the child of heaven had come to court. They got something else entirely.

  The nobles of the capital city plotted, and they seethed, and they planned.

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