Behind the long desk, the Emperor set down his vermilion brush.
For many years now, he had understood that the man kneeling before the desk had long since stepped beyond the fate written by that brush.
The authority of sovereign and father could not shake his heart!
His gaze lingered over those memorials for a moment before, like a lonely traveler who had braved stars and moon, crossed mountains and ridges, it slowly settled upon the figure prostrate before the desk.
"Can you speak of My hardships?"
The Emperor raised his chin slightly, revealing an ancient chilliness. "In what capacity? What is your status?"
Jiang Wuliang remained prostrate. "Before tonight, Your Majesty's son. After tonight, the Emperor of Qi State."
The vexing evening wind shoved at the violet curtains. The Emperor lowered his eyes in solitude, looking at the man lying before his desk.
This was his eldest son.
The flesh and blood borne to him by the late former Empress Yin Tiao.
Back then, he had already been the Crown Prince, yet he had spent all year campaigning abroad, expanding the realm for the state. The court officials had remonstrated: "The Heir Apparent must not be without an heir; the sacred line must have a successor." Thus Jiang Wuliang was born.
He had long held the reins of military and government; he had no need for a child to aid his ascent into the dragon robe.
But he needed court and realm alike to know that everything he had promised would have someone to carry it on.
Later, after he had firmly taken the Dragon Court, he still marched south and battled north. The young Crown Prince supervised the state, governing the realm through civil administration and putting every matter at court in perfect order.
Qi State's rise had