His Favored Empress

A Wager

Shaugn sucked his teeth and cut them off. "Stop. Get up."

The ministers looked at each other puzzled.

Radagar walked through the room to a low table that was elevated enough to be looking down on the room. Shaugn sat down and pulled out paper and a quill pen to write with. He made a gesture for the others to sit at the other low tables around the room. "We have a lot of work to do and we're short on time."

The ministers not already seated scrambled into seats and looked on attentively.

Shaugn looked out among the eight ministers of various departments. Some were young and a few were older. They'd all been suppressed over the years by Minister Lore and his cronies in their respective departments. Of all the memorials received from the ten departments and over 200 ministers overall, only these people submitted memorials that weren't full of shit and had actual solutions to problems.

Seeing a few ministers squirm under his gaze, he finally spoke. "I've called all of you here for one reason; you're ministers who have the people of our empire at heart. You're diligent in your work and have unconventional thinking. You work hard and you've all been suppressed by the other ministers."

Shock and excitement filled many of their faces.

Shaugn continued. "You don't need me to tell you there is a lot of corruption in the court."

The older ministers nodded with solemn faces.

"My end goal is to weed out those that are corrupt, derelict in their duties, and incompetent. However, now is not the time."

The Minister of the Interior, Guo, stood and gave a standing salute. "So what does the empress want to do?"

Looking down at the sheet of paper in front of him, Shaugn drew three lines on it before answering. "There are a lot of things I want to do. Many have already been started." He looked around the room. "I need ministers that I can rely on to carry out my orders and get stuff done in your respective departments."

Minister Midas turned his scrutinizing almond eyes on the empress. He didn't stand and salute but spoke directly, a slight to the empress. "What does the emperor say about all this?"

Aware of the blatant disrespect, Shaugn flapped his fan open and leaned back. "The emperor has allowed this."

Midas scoffed and took a sip of his tea. "No offense, empress, but you're just a- how to say it delicately?"

"Mind your manners, Minister Midas," Shifob warned.

"What?" Midas looked around the room before giving Shaugn a provocative look. "Is it some secret? Who doesn't know the empress is a low born duju."

Several swords were unsheathed as some of the ministers stood on their feet.

"Midas!"

"Minister!"

Midas was not to be silenced. He got to his feet and his voice rose in a frenzied speech. "Why would the emperor let a duju run the court? How do we know the empress isn't trying to overthrow the emperor starting with the ministers?" He gasped a sword pointed at his throat.

"Speak against the empress again and I'll cut out your tongue before hitting you with a hundred whips," Radagar seethed through clenched teeth.

"How dare you threaten a minister of the court!"

Shaugn stood and snapped his fan shut. Their reactions were not unexpected. "Radagar."

A creaking sound came from his hand as Radagar gripped the hilt of his sword before sheathing it. Midas gulped and took a shaky step back. The rest of the guards sheathed their swords and returned to their positions. The ministers were silent. Shaugn took a deep breath and exhaled. These damned sexist ancients.

His eyes roamed the room looking them each in the eyes. "The only difference between me and you is that I can give birth. It doesn't make me weaker or less intelligent than any of you. In fact," he pointed his closed fan at them. "I think I'm smarter and stronger than all of you in this room - short of the guards."

The ministers gaped at him. How strong could a bunch of scholars who only knew classics, poetry, and debate be? Conversely, how could a sheltered, pampered empress be smarter than a bunch of scholars who ate, slept, and breathed classics, poetry, and debate?

Shaugn chuckled at their stupefied expressions. "Unconvinced? Radagar, a sword." He pointed to a guard. "You, 10 moves."

The ministers saw the guard he'd pointed out and protested. "Empress!"

The startled guard looked to Radagar for help.

Radagar mumbled loud enough for Shaugn to hear. "Your majesty, this is not allowed."

The guard and a few ministers covered their pounding hearts and sighed with relief. Shaugn covered his smile with his fan.

"How about this?" Shaugn twirled his fan playfully. "We'll hold one round of debate on the topic of your choice, if I win –"

The ministers leaned forward with interest.

"-If I win, you will give me your unflinching loyalty and assist me in rectifying the court."

Midas snickered. "And if you lose?" 

Shaugn gave a wicked smile. "Then you return to your pathetic positions and I'll wait for the emperor to return to carry out these tasks himself if he deems them worthy."

The ministers whispered amongst themselves. A debate with the empress? Such a thing had never been done. Whether to serve the empress personally or the debate itself, both were quite attractive. A cup slammed on the table startling everyone.

Midas stood and gave a standing salute, his eyes determined. "Remember your words, empress."