Complications of Being Invaded by an Alien Race You Never Knew Existed

Chapter 2.7

The horizon shone with beams of light, but the glowing yellow ball had yet to rise. With the bleak rays lighting their way, nobles and wives from all walks of life gathered before the emperor.

He dressed in hunting clothes this day, his bow held by his most trusted servant. His trusty steed stood next to him, ready to take his master anywhere in the world.

Everybody's hair was pulled up with jade headpieces, so it did not hinder their arrows from hitting true. They stared at their emperor, rapt.

He in turn surveyed the crowd. After a moment, he began to speak, his voice rising above the raging winds. "The fall hunt has always been a tradition. It is a source of honor for all who participate and a means to prove your worth to Us(1)." A strong wind blew past, stinging everybody's exposed ears.

"In past years, We have always held a small archery and sword fighting competition to begin the fall hunt, but We fear the winds are too fierce today, and We do not want Our humble subjects to fall ill so unfortunately. Therefore, We decree that the fall hunt shall begin with no further delay. When night falls, everybody shall gather here once more to count prey. Disperse."

Although the emperor's words were law, everybody did not indeed leave at once. First, they unanimously bowed, cupping one hand with another in front of them. "Long live the emperor!" they yelled, mimicking a scene Ling Xia had often seen before the soldiers of the galactic empire would leave for battle.

The men began to brave the forest, some riding their horses, some on foot. Their wives stayed back, waiting worriedly, or in some cases, anticipating their husband's deaths gleefully.

Ling Xia glanced back before the forest completely engulfed him. His eye caught two people. One was incredibly conspicuous, the emperor himself. The other was Feng Lian.

A slight scowl appeared on Ling Xia's lips. It seemed Feng Lian had a lot of practice with being a spy. The way he and the emperor interacted with each other implied this was not new. Although, it was probably Feng Lian's first time getting married, and to a man at that.

A loud call drew his attention away from the scene. He peered over his shoulder, finding Liu Zhaofa beckoning him over. He was standing next to Liu Zhaoren. The older brother's actions were clearly to the younger's great ire.

While Ling Xia jogged over, Liu Zhaoren snarkily commented on his presence. "Finally grown the balls to attend?" Liu Zhaofa shot him a scolding glare, but Liu Zhaoren crossed his arms, unbothered. "Why are you even here anyways? You're only going to slow us down."

Ling Xia did not answer this clearly malevolent question. He was trying to elude all of these pitfalls today. He had a hefty task ahead of him: slaying a lion.

The reason he wanted to prevent the massacre that occurred in the original timeline lay somewhere between power and glory. Glory because his plans included letting the lion kill a few before killing it himself; Power because there was a conflict brewing in the north, the opposing force one to be reckoned with.

The loss of so many nobles that day led to disarray in the government and the line of authority. The normally wise emperor's hands were full with bringing order to chaos, and he turned a blind eye to the suffering of the villages in the north, the invading force exploiting this fact to its maximum potential.

It was the beginning of the end, but it didn't last very long. In a flash, the villages had gone up in flames, the invaders pushing their way to the capital with a speed to be feared. They conquered it quickly, and then the end had ended.

The Song dynasty was effectively stripped of its power, hence why Ling Xia wanted to prevent that from happening.

Speaking of which, the fate of this world merely watched her country crumble in the real timeline. Earlier, Ling Xia had assumed she had transmigrated like Mu Ninghua, which would most probably give her information on the impending doom of the dynasty, but her inaction hinted at another possibility.