The Emperor's General (ON HIATUS)

Chapter 11

I guess it was my fault for refusing to open my eyes while everything had already laid right before me. If I had acted on my instincts that time, this wouldn't have happened today. I didn't even know if I was trusting and protecting the right people anymore, when from the start they had all been nothing but fake.

Now that I look back and consider, some of the people who I had grown up together with but who were also very dear to me, had turned their backs on me. This was why I truly admired the Emperor's character, who looked completely unaffected when learning about his mother's death who was burnt beyond recognition. But within he must have been hurting, because I saw the anger that flared across his eyes, though it was vague.

What if... What if he too was involved in this? The thought was like a bucket of cold water thrown at my face. I started to feel insecure. And I hated it. Just imagining that he was scheming on getting rid of me made my heart bleed and scream in agony. Even so, shouldn't I already be expecting it?

I didn't want to come to a point where we would have to swing our swords at each other. I may love him with every fiber of my being but that didn't mean I would choose to fall along with his schemes. Instead I'd want to fight him and prove him my loyalty to the Empire.

No matter what the truth was, it would still hurt, because everyone was an important part of my life. The fact that I'd have to punish them or worse kill them was truly saddening. I may be seen as heartless in the battlefield but even as humans we were prone to have at least one weakness. Feeling pity and eventually forgiving them was one of those weaknesses I possessed. But as a commander I have been told to be the opposite towards my enemy. I wasn't complaining but I wish I had a choice. People should be given a chance to correct themselves.

We were after all imperfect, wearing a mask to hide our true self just so those who believe and have faith upon us wouldn't lose hope, and continue to trust us wholeheartedly. If a leader were to be projected as "weak", then his people would lose confidence in him and treat him as a joke. They wouldn't be willing to follow in his footsteps because he couldn't give them the assurance. Being a decisive, strong, capable and hardworking leader sets a great example to the fellow soldiers. I was confident enough to say that I had taken good care of my people. The mask I wear wasn't as thick as those schemers loitering around the palace. It was a mask I wore to reassure my people.

I approached the plate of mooncakes and grabbed one, taking a small bit out of the corner. Munching softly, appreciating its taste, I strolled around the study room trying to figure out a loophole in the events that had occurred during my last birth.

Everything had started with an assassination attempt of the Emperor... Then two months later Mother Empress was killed on His Majesty's birthday. It's the perfect gift an enemy can give to him. However, if they had planted spies in the palace they would know the strained relationship of His Majesty and the Empress Dowager which meant they couldn't give him a heavy blow with this attack. So there must have been other reasons for this assassination...

Another fact was the absence of Mother Empress on His Majesty's birthday celebration. This was rare. She did inform that she felt too tired and would like to take a rest. But Mother Empress would never miss her son's birthday unless it was quite a severe case. The Imperial Physician had stated it was just fatigue but Mother Empress had always been healthy. Even if she had to get sick why on that particular day? Isn't that too much of a coincidence? Was there something she had hid from us? She had informed of her absense from the grand event at the last minute too. The assassins wouldn't have been able to kill her if she had attended the event.

During the night the security was way tighter in the Forbidden lands where the Emperor's harem and the Mother Empress resided. It was surrounded by all sorts of high tech traps for those who trespassed, because the guards weren't allowed to enter the premises. During midnight, the gates are tightly closed, no one was allowed to leave or come in through the gates. Only the Emperor can enter the premises.