Gift of the Fox

Chapter 34: The Bloody Throne of Beilangshen

"The rice-wine that my late father Dragon Emperor Wang Ru drank was given by Lady Yin Yue. The eyewitnesses attest to this statement. Thus, I deem Lady Yin Yue guilty of the emperor's murder and sentence her to deathly punishment." Emperor Wang Di sealed his written order and gave the scroll to one of his viziers.

Before people even realised what had happened, the guards rushed into the Yin Clan household, apprehended Lady Yue, and took her to the square for execution. All three princes - Wu, Hu, and Jong - were shocked and terrified. They ran after the guards who had taken their mother and yelled and begged for the audience with the emperor.

"Please, take us to the emperor! This should be a misunderstanding! His Majesty will listen to us!" Jong sobbed in agony.

"Do not kill her! She is innocent! She would never do such a thing to our father! Please!" Hu was running after the guards, with tears in his eyes. His white tiger Xuebai ran after them and growled with sorrow, able to sense his master's anguish.

"Stop this! Stop!" Wu begged.

No one listened to them. The executioner's sword wheezed in the air, and Lady Yue's bloodied head fell to the ground. The three princes gasped in shock. Jong burst into heavy sobs and hiccups, while Wu and Hu fell to their knees and roared in agony. Lady Mu and her children Emperor Wang Di and his brother Wang San contemplated the show from the tower with content smiles, finally able to take care of the Yin Clan's late queen they despised so much.

"I always knew you were special, Di!" Mu stroked her son's cheek with affection.

"This is not all I have planned, mother," Di replied with a hideous smirk, "There is more to come."

Three days after, came the time for the second part of Di's plan, as he had mentioned - sitting on the throne in the hall of the palace like the noble Phoenix Emperor he claimed to be, he issued another order:

"I demand Wang Shao be brought to me!"

Lady Mu, Wang San, and the other Guan Clan representatives, all of whom were promoted to vizier positions, smiled with satisfaction. All of them agreed it was best to get rid of that damn brat for good. 

The doors opened and Wang Shao and Xin Tao, accompanied by the guards of the emperor, entered. They bowed to Wang Di sitting on the throne.

"I am here as you've ordered, Your Majesty," Shao uttered with a grim tone, with his heart still bearing the pain for the death of his dearest mother.

"Nice. Well then, hear my order:  you, as Lady Yin Yue's bastard son with no blood ties to the Wang Clan, are to be banished from our palace, for you hold no rights in here any longer... Or, not to be banished, actually. Xin Tao, as the servant in this palace, I order you: execute Wang Shao right here, right now!"

Tao gasped in shock - do what?! Lady Mu and Wang San could barely hold themselves from bursting into laughter - Wang Di was such a genius, to kill this bastard at the hands of his beloved servant! Wang Shao straightened up and looked into the eyes of the emperor:

"So, this is how it's going to end?"

"Precisely!" Di grinned with triumph. "Xin Tao, execute Wang Shao or you'll die!"

"Tao, let's do this," Shao said.

Tao brightened up:

This is the signal! We should start now.

He whistled. Black-clothed ninjas jumped down the ceiling, seized all of the guards, and cut their throats in a blink. Two of the ninjas opened the gates and an entire army rushed in. They seized all of the viziers, Queen Mu, and Wang San. While these latter ones screamed, the emperor went pale.

"Guards!" he yelled, "Guards!"

"There are no guards here anymore, 'Your Majesty'," Shao's grim voice sounded. 

The thuds of his black furry boots resonated throughout the chamber as he advanced towards the trembling emperor. The black-handled sword glistened out of his black scabbard.

"What are you doing, you one-eyed beast?! Leave my son alone!" Queen Mu struggled to get free from the army warriors' clutches but to no avail. She snarled at them: "What's it with you?! Wang Di is your emperor! Protect him!"

The army warriors didn't answer but only clutched her more tightly so as not to let her escape. The desperate shrills of the queen only caused Shao to chuckle, which gave shudders to everyone present, even Tao, who happened to be on his side.

"The emperor... The emperor is the ruler of the heavens, eh?" Shao put the tip of his sword to the terrified Di's neck. "This country is not 'heavens'. It is land. The land consists of people. People build armies. So, the one who controls those armies controls the land. You think you control the armies, Emperor Wang Di, when you have never, even once, led them into battles." A demonic smirk appeared on his face as he eyed the emperor's pale countenance. "Your father had led the armies into many battles, so, they did listen to him, but you? Who the heck are you to them? After your father, the army leadership came down to me, who always led them into wars and was beside them when they needed it the most. The people of Wanglong accept me as their leader, not you - a peacock who only shows off his colourful feathers. Phoenix Emperor, you call yourself, but you have those burning feathers just for beauty. I am a wolf, and I shall devour you. Compared to me, you aren't but a useless bird."

He swung his sword and the emperor's head rolled down the golden floor, sprinkling it with red drops of fresh blood. Mu screamed in horror, while San shuddered in dread. Wang Shao kicked the lifeless body off his feet, walked up to the throne and took a seat on it. He glanced at the seized viziers and the no-less-terrified Xin Tao, and asked with a smirk:

"Well, now?"

Tao, upon realising what just happened, fell to his knees and cried:

"Long live, long live, long live the new emperor Wang Shao!"

All of the ninjas dropped to their knees and yelled:

"Long live, long live, long live the emperor Wang Shao!"

Shao smiled with satisfaction and now glanced at the shuddering supporters of Wang Di:

"Well?"

Some of the viziers dropped to their knees and yelled:

"Long live, long live, long live the emperor Wang Shao!"

One of the viziers, the leader of the Guan Clan, shouted:

"You shall never be our emperor!"

Shao rolled his eye with annoyance and swung his hand. In an instant, the army warrior who held that very vizier slit his throat. Lady Mu, Wang San, and all of the remaining viziers gasped in horror. They immediately dropped to their knees and shouted:

"Long live, long live, long live the emperor Wang Shao!"

An infernal grin formed on Shao's face. He thundered:

"From now on, everyone is to call me Emperor Beilangshen!"

(NOTE: 'Beilangshen' means 'Northern Wolf God' in Wanglongian (adopted from Chinese words 'Bei' - 'North'; 'Lang' - 'Wolf'; 'Shen' - 'Spirit')).