"Wooo-"
A low military horn resounded across Liaoyuan. Great Wei's soldiers, their ranks stretching beyond sight in either direction, made camp on the uninhabited plain. All wore identical Darkglow Armor, and from the sky, they looked like a black cloud massed upon the earth, refusing to disperse.
Bright yellow firelight shone at the center of that black cloud. Countless black-and-red Dragon Banners surrounded a Golden Tent, with officers hurrying about on every side.
The Empress of Great Wei stood on the Command Platform in her black-and-red Dragon Robe, gazing at the campfires that stretched beyond sight. Her eyes were as languid as ever, yet anticipation lay hidden within them, like a wife waiting outside the door for her man to come home.
Behind the Empress stood the civil and military officials accompanying her. Besides her older cousin Wang Chihu, there were others such as Chen Hezhi, the Minister of Rites who had once received Northern Liang's envoys alongside Ye Jingtang. All gazed northwest, waiting for their supreme Tianlang King to arrive in his loyal Great Wei.
Had any other vassal prince returned from abroad and required the emperor to lead the court officials outside to await him in person, that prince probably would not have been far from death.
But Ye Jingtang was plainly different from ordinary vassal princes. Although he possessed every foundation and personal ability needed to replace a dynasty, and even enjoyed considerable popular support, he was not a member of the Dongfang imperial family-and Great Wei's emperor was a woman.
With a female emperor, the empress naturally had to be a man.
In all the world, only Liang's Crown Prince and Ye Jingtang could claim the qualifications to occupy that position without causing controversy over the heir selection later. Only those two could bring an entire