Present

In his private bathhouse, a young man was taking a bath in a round wooden tub, his bath water was covered with the soft petals of tuberose and jasmine. The man's eyes were closed, his long black hair tied up in a bun on top of his head. He leaned his back on one side of the wooden tub, the bathwater covering just under his shoulders. His exposed skin was like porcelain, fair and without any blemish, with a slight rosy tinge on his cheeks from the heat of the warm bath. His body looked slighter than other men his age, which gave him an air of fragility. However, as his lush eyelashes fluttered and his eyes snapped open, the sharpness and determination in his eyes came into focus.

The man stepped out of his bath gracefully, water droplets running down his slim waist. Immediately, two servants came forward to attend to him, bringing his bathrobe to cover his body. He then walked towards the connecting dressing room and stopped as he took in the emperor's ceremonial robe in front of him. The robe was elegantly made with a black top and crimson bottom. Golden dragons were embroidered on each dark sleeve, while other embroidery patterns were scattered across the fabric which included various mythical animals, the sun, the moon, and different star constellations. There were a total of twelve motifs that were embroidered all over the robe with patches of fine embroidery delicately sewn at each hem of the clothing.

The young man's face showed no signs of the hailstorm of emotions that he was experiencing on the inside. He took his bathrobe off and walked towards the full-length mirror situated at one corner of the room. Another set of servants came up and started dressing him in his ceremonial robe. The robe was fastened by a belt with a red decorative fabric attached to it that fell over the bottom half of the robe. Once the ceremonial robe was fastened and secured, another servant brought out a beaded coronation crown that was laid on a silk cushion.

The beaded crown was custom-made for him as per tradition. No two crowns were the same. The base of the crown was a black velvet cylinder dressed with golden threads and topped with a black rectangular board that was slightly tilted to the front. Twelve strings of colored beads dangled off the front and back edges of the board with each string carrying exactly twelve beads, while black silk ropes held a piece of yellow jade on each side of the board. 

The crown was carefully placed on his head and fastened with the attached red silk rope. His hair was then pinned in place within the crown with a golden hairpin that went through the base of the crown. While looking at the beads in front of him, the young man remembered hearing that the imperial crown maker took to himself to make sure that his father's coronation crown only had red beads on it because of how strong of an emperor he would become. His own crown, on the other hand, had beads of navy blue, green, yellow, and white, but there were no red beads in sight. He let out an inaudible sigh and looked at himself through the mirror one last time before heading out.

Outside, an open palanquin was ready for him. The palanquin had a roof that was supported by wooden beams on all four corners that were adorned with intricately designed carvings. On each side of the palanquin, sheets of white organza were draped over its frames. A servant lifted up the white organza on one side of the palanquin for the young man to enter. Once he was seated, the palanquin bearers lifted him up before they were on their way to the coronation ceremony.

*******

"I can't believe that it's finally the coronation of Crown Prince Ye An (夜安太子). With the rate that the Empress Mother was going, I thought that she would never in a million years let her grandson claim his rightful place." The young and bashful Sze Chang (施昌) quipped, watching the Empress Mother seated on top of the stairs of the enormous plaza in her ceremonial dress.

To be perfectly honest, the only place Sze Chang wanted to be at right now was under the shaded willow tree by the lily pond at his residence while sipping tea in his breezy summer hanfu and fanning himself with one of those delicate hand fans that he had collected from his travels. Instead, he was here, under the scorchingly hot summer sun, in his equally stifling court official uniform. He sometimes wondered who thought that it was a good idea to have court officials wear the same stuffy uniform all year round no matter rain or shine. Especially when they had to stand outdoors under the blazing sun that happened to be at its highest point at the moment.

"Mind your mouth, Minister Sze." The stern-looking Minister Tang who was standing beside him said. He was a thin man well over his fifties who had a perpetual frown on his face. His grey mustache was groomed to sharp points with a well-kept beard that reached a tidy point well over his chest.

Sze Chang turned to the front and grimaced before facing Minister Tang again. "Well, I'm ready for this ceremony to begin. What time was it supposed to start? Probably not long now?"

"Yes, Crown Prince Ye An should be arriving any time soon." Minister Tang replied without turning to the man beside him.

As he finished his sentence, Crown Prince Ye An's palanquin came into view. Various Chinese drums and gongs started beating to signify the crown prince's arrival. The melodic tunes of trumpets were also played alongside the beats.

The white organza over the palanquin swayed in the summer breeze, its material sheer enough to see the outline of the person seated in the palanquin but obscuring any of his fine features. Publicly, no one has ever seen Crown Prince Ye An. He was said to be sickly as a child. And since the night of the treason years ago, the Empress Mother had given explicit orders for him to be hidden from public view to prevent anyone from recognizing him. It was her way of preventing Crown Prince Ye An from facing a similar fate as his father twenty-two years ago.

"Well, I guess the rumor of him being frail and sickly is true after all. Look at how small he is! I don't want to know what the future holds for our country with a monarch who looks as weak as he does. What we need is a strong ruler! Maybe the Empress Mother should have just continued ruling in his stead." The pot-bellied Minister Qiu whispered from the other side of Sze Chang.

As the palanquin reached the base of the stairs of the plaza, servants carried a tall parasol towards the palanquin. This parasol was different than the ones used by the Empress Mother and the rest of the imperial family. Again, it was covered with white organza so that the person underneath it would be obscured. Crown Prince Ye An stepped out of the palanquin right into the shade of the parasol.

The officials of the Imperial Court were instructed to be at least ten meters away. However, the sharp-eyed Minister Qiu somehow spotted that there wasn't a tinge of red on Crown Prince Ye An's beaded crown during the brief moment when the prince stepped between the palanquin and the parasol.

"Well, look at that. Even the imperial crown maker thinks that he's not valiant enough." Mused Minister Qiu. "Oh, what will become of our country!" He continued.

"Surely, it's not that bad?" Sze Chang turned to Minister Qiu.

"Hmph! You just wait and see. You young ministers these days don't know anything. I've been a minister since before you were born. I've seen everything that was needed to be seen. Just trust my judgment when I say that Crown Prince Ye An will be the downfall of our country." Minister Qiu remarked condescendingly.

The stoic Minister Tang cleared his throat. "It is unwise to talk bad about others, especially your sovereign. Besides, I've also heard that Crown Prince Ye An has been excelling in everything from swordsmanship to poetry to music."

Minister Qiu rolled his eyes at Minister Tang and whispered, "Goody two shoes."

Minister Tang's ears pricked and his eyes narrowed.

Sze Chang who was sandwiched between the two middle-aged men eyed both of them nervously and decided to intervene before things escalated. "Well! So who's that person standing next to the Empress Mother? I thought all court officials were to be ten meters away?"

Minister Tang turned his attention to Sze Chang and sighed. "Minister Sze, how long has it been since you became a minister? One year? Two? Shouldn't you know who that man is by now?"

Sze Chang lifted an eyebrow questioningly. "Um.. No?"

"That's General Shao. The Empress Mother's most trusted subordinate and advisor." Minister Tang answered in his usual stoic expression, with a glint of admiration that was barely visible.

"Yes. And no wonder he's the most trusted person. He's probably the reason why none of the Northerners have invaded our country for the past twenty-two years." Minister Qiu added, his eyes practically shining.

"Yes, he's the person we should all be grateful for the peace in our country." Minister Tang nodded in agreement while caressing his beard thoughtfully.

"Have you heard how his mere presence scared a wild bear off during the Annual Hunt?" Minister Qiu turned to Minister Tang.

"Ah, yes. Legendary. Do you remember that incident.." Minister Tang nodded again while turning towards Minister Qiu. Both men reveled in their shared admiration for the man standing by the Empress Mother, forgetting about Sze Chang who was still sandwiched between them.

Sze Chang shook his head slightly and smiled at how these two stubborn men made up over their shared admiration for General Shao.

He looked towards the top of the stairs at General Shao. The man looked like he was well over his sixties. However, he was built like a fortress, large and intimidating. Even his facial features evoke a certain degree of fear. No wonder that bear was scared. Poor bear.

Sze Chang turned his attention back to Crown Prince Ye An. He was now almost at the top of the staircase, his back towards the court officials. Once he was at the top, the doors to the Throne Hall opened and the prince entered the room followed by the Empress Mother and General Shao.

The servants were still holding the tall parasol over Crown Prince Ye An even when they were indoors until they reached the Dragon Throne which was obscured by a bamboo screen. Crown Prince Ye An took a seat on the Dragon Throne for the first time in his life. The throne was uncomfortable and cold, like a foreshadowing of the path that his life was heading towards. The Empress Mother took a seat on his right with General Shao standing by her side.

Once Crown Prince Ye An was settled in his throne, the fanfare stopped and the court officials took turns to enter the hall according to seniority to offer their congratulations to the newly-crowned emperor.

"Your Imperial Majesty, I, Minister Wang of the Chang'an region, offer my sincerest congratulations on your throne ascension."

"Your Imperial Majesty, I am Minister Wu from the Heilong region. I offer you my heartfelt congratulations on your coronation."

The well-wishes from the court officials were pouring in until the sun was setting at the edge of the auburn sky.

When all of the court officials finally shuffled back to their respective places in the Throne Hall, the grand eunuch stepped in and kneeled in front of the man on the Dragon Throne, which prompted the rest of the court officials to kneel as well.

"Long live the emperor!" He bellowed and bowed.

"Long live the emperor!" Echoed the officials who were present, bowing as well.

About five kilometers south of the hall, at the Heavenly Gates, one of the royal guards stationed there sounded the large gong over the gates and announced the ascension of the new emperor to the crowd gathered outside the Imperial Palace as they cheered and celebrated.

"Long live the emperor! Long live the Son of Heaven!"

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