Volume 2 Chapter 33

  That next morning, after the emperor of the night was seen departing from the front gate of the palace, the crowd finally worked up the courage to charge the open gate. They ransacked the imperial palace, looking for the imperial treasures.

  They found many wonderful, beautiful things. And they looked around for hours, exploring the halls, the paintings, the books, and the food.

  Tan was asleep as this happened. When he awoke, he was surrounded by sixteen cultivators with far more power than he himself possessed. He blinked in surprise.

  “Who rules the imperial palace, Tanshen Shenlong?” One of the men said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Who rules the imperial palace, Tanshen Shenlong?” another voice asked.

  “The emperor?” Tan said.

  “How many emperors are in the imperial palace, Tanshen Shenlong?” another voice asked.

  Tan thought for a moment. “Two. My uncle and me.”

  “Have you any guests in the imperial palace?” the cultivators asked.

  “A few.”

  “Name them.”

  “Won, Ko, Pao, Kora,” Tan said.

  “How shall emperor Tanshen Shenlong treat his guests?” the cultivators asked.

  “I don’t know. Like my uncle treats them, I suppose?” Tan said.

  “How shall emperor Tanshen Shenlong treat his intruders?” they asked.

  “What is this about?” Tan asked.

  “Please answer the question. If you do not, then we shall deal with intruders in the manner of the emperor of the night,” the voices asked.

  “Fine, whatever. Do that then,” Tan said. “But first, where’s the chamberpot?”

  A chamberpot was fetched for Tan, and the imperial cultivators went to clear the palace of intruders.

  Tan didn’t hear the screams at first, but when he did he finally left the room he’d been shown when he’d asked for somewhere to sleep the day before. He began running towards the screams, trying to figure out what was going on, but he never saw a soul.

  Eventually the screams ended, and the cultivators appeared before him. “We have dealt with the intruders of the palace in the manner of the emperor of the night. What shall we do about the orphans?”

  Tan blinked in surprise. “What orphans?”

  “The orphans in the palace. Shall we turn them out of the palace?” the cultivators asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re asking of me. Ask my uncle instead.”

  “The emperor of the night has decreed that he shall not rule except by the mandate of heaven. He has been given last night, and tomorrow night. Will you give him today?” the cultivators asked.

  “What is this about? What were those screams?” Tan asked.

  “Intruders to the imperial palace did breach the gate that was burned down by the hand of the child of heaven,” the cultivator answered. “It has been dealt with.”

  “Take me to my uncle,” Tan ordered.

  “Name your uncle.”

  “His name is Renton Shen,” Tan said.

  “We do not know this name.”

  “Take me before the emperor of the night,” Tan said, trying again.

  The cultivators were silent a moment, then they nodded. “Follow us, child of heaven.”

  Tan followed the cultivators through the palace. As with many things in the imperial palace, it was twisting and turning. Finally he arrived before a room, and he was shown inside. His uncle was there, silent.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “So, you’ve made some orphans, have you?” his uncle said.

  “What are you talking about?” Tan asked.

  “Let’s take a walk. I need to sit upon the throne for a while,” Renton said.

  “Why?”

  “To take responsibility for the actions that were performed in my name,” Renton answered. “You’ll understand when we get there, or you won’t. Either way, there are more orphans in the world than there were yesterday.”

  As they walked, the servants of the imperial palace began to appear, dressed modestly in silken cloth, and they began putting to rights what had been put wrong by the intruders. It wasn’t exactly the way that things had been before, since there was no turning back time even by decree of the emperor. But efforts were made to restore the sanctity of the palace.

  “Tan, I’m calling you here as a witness. You aren’t here to take responsibility, you understand, only to watch. I accept full responsibility for what happened today,” Renton explained.

  “What am I supposed to be witnessing?” Tan asked.

  “How an emperor accepts responsibility for the actions committed in their name,” Renton explained.

  They walked out the south gate. Renton looked out at eyes of his subjects, many of whom were cut, bleeding, scraped, or even dying. Tan had no idea what had just happened, but it looked like a war had broken out outside the palace.

  Renton stepped up to the throne, abruptly kowtowed, then stood and sat upon it.

  “I say, in the name of the emperor of the night, that the child of heaven does not know the crimes that were committed in his name. I say the name of the man responsible for all crimes of the child of heaven. I am his right hand, his left, his shield, and his neck. I call now to the empire to prove that the child of heaven is a murderer. I shall sit upon the throne until the day becomes night, and in the morning, if I am still emperor, then I pronounce myself emperor for life.”

  Abruptly, six lightning bolts struck the guard gate. Six cultivators stood before the throne of the blue dragon emperor.

  “Will you claim responsibility for actions committed in the name of the child of heaven?” they asked in unison.

  “I do.” The man on the throne was heard to say, richly and clearly and in a distinct voice.

  “State your name.”

  “My milk name is Renton,” Renton said. “Will that suffice?”

  The council paused, then the imperial cultivators abruptly flashed and all six of them held swords at the neck of the emperor of the night.

  “Know ye that the left hand and the right hand of the child of heaven holds a blade to the emperor of the night,” the voices said in unison. “What say ye, shall blood fall upon the hand of the child of heaven?”

  “Only the blood of the guilty,” Renton answered. “Let the blood of the innocent never be spilled by the hand of the child of heaven. Let it not fall upon his right hand or his left, and let his right hand be strong enough to see justice done, and his left strong enough to stop his right hand from spilling the blood of the innocent.”

  “Your words are accepted. Child of heaven, you are called to account for the actions committed in your name. Name the child of heaven.”

  “Tanshen Shenlong,” Renton said.

  “For so long as the emperor of the night sits upon his throne, all crimes committed by the child of heaven shall be committed in the name of the emperor of the night. Tanshen Shenlong, I ask ye to account for your crimes. Name them.”

  Tan opened his mouth, but, suddenly, found that he could not speak. His mouth formed the words, but his voice did not answer.

  “You can run along and play now, Tanshen Shenlong,” his uncle said. “This is the business of empire, and you’re not emperor today. Today, the night rules the day. If I am wrong, then let the heavens themselves turn night into day and the sun not shine upon the throne of the child of heaven.”

  The hands gripping the blades at the throat of his uncle tightened, and Tan watched in silence as the emperor sat upon his throne and was called to account in the name of the child of heaven.

  Tan watched for hours as people formed a queue. Richly dressed men began to speak.

  He watched as they accused the man on the throne of terrible, terrible crimes. He watched as one by one, they were allowed to speak their peace. He watched as his uncle was accused of murder, rape, treason, larceny, and other crimes.

  One by one, the richly dressed men were allowed to speak until their voice was taken from them. Whether it was taken from them by time, by age, by magic, that did not matter. They were allowed to speak their peace, and then when they could speak no longer, the men who held the blade at the throat of the emperor of the night bid them depart the imperial presence, but to kowtow before the throne before they did depart.

  Some of them kowtowed, others did not. Some of them were later found dead that day. Some of them were not.

  Who does know the will of the heavens?

  Day turned into night, and night into day. Tan watched as, after sitting in judgment for a day and a night, the blades at his uncle’s throat were removed, and he stood, and he dusted off his robes.

  “Now that that is done,” Renton said, “I’m going to go take a bath. Tanshen Shenlong, would you attend me in the bath?”

  And the boy who still could not speak was seen entering the men’s bath with his uncle.

  Later that day, several nobles were found dead.

  Still later the next day, more nobles were found dead.

  Slowly, but surely, the emperor’s beard was trimmed.

  And never once was a blade put to the throat of the child of heaven, for he had no beard and required no trim.

  The next time he was seen, however, he had shaved his hair. Or perhaps his uncle had done that for him. Who could say?

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