Akechi helped him remove the small gold crown and hair sticks from his hair. When he was finished they stepped out fo the carriage. Kazim and Toshi stood outside waiting for him. The air here was sultry and clung to the skin. Shaugn forced down the urge to vomit and fanned the air in front of his face. His stomach roiled at the smell of burned wood, manure, urine, barbecue, and hay. He let out a small curse.
Pregnancy-super-smelling ability was no joke!
The guards formed two neat lines. Though they only carried their swords, they looked formidable with their dark clothing and indifferent gazes. The originally noisy street quieted down and pedestrians paused to see who was coming off the carriage.
Shaugn felt the weight of those gazes and acknowledged the people with a small nod. There were a few whispers back and forth discussing which of the nobility the carriage belonged. A sudden exclamation rang out and the streets became noisy again.
"It's the empress! The empress is here!"
"Beloved empress!"
"Empress, we love you!"
"Long live the empress!"
A wave of embarrassment washed over him as the people on the street professed their love and bowed down, touching their foreheads on the dirty ground – some of them barely missing puddles. Conducting his observations in secret was no longer an option.
He held his hand up and gave them a wave. "Thank you for your love. Please rise. I'm here to visit my people; to see how I may improve your lives."
A tall, robust man stood out from the crowd. His face was dark and he was covered in black soot from head to toe. His eyes were bright as he clasped his hands in front of himself. "Your majesty doesn't need to worry about us lowly dregs. We are content just seeing you with our own eyes."
The people around him nodded their heads and clamored in agreement.
"That's right, that's right."
"Just knowing we are in your majesty's heart is enough for us lowly folk."
"We are content knowing we are thought of."
Making note of their humble words, Shaugn turned to Kazim. Even though the people said so, he still needed to complete his mission. "Is there a place to speak publicly in this place?"
A thin older man dressed in bright robes pushed his way to the front. "We have a small square in the middle of the market with a raised platform we use for auctions. I don't know if this is good enough for his majesty?"
Kazim got Shaugn's approval before answering. "That's good enough. Please show me the way."
Word spread like fire that the empress was in the poor area. The people ignored their own business and lined up on both sides of the streets as Shaugn made his way to the auction place with his guards. They shouted their love and held their children up so they could see the beloved empress. Despite their excitement, the people were respectful and didn't squeeze the guard along the way. Flowers and handkerchiefs were thrown in their path from time to time along with coins or small buns wrapped in paper. Shaugn didn't take offense and instructed Kazim to pick up the people's tributes. He would donate them to the beggars around the city.
After a five-minute walk, they arrived at the center of the poor area. Shaugn climbed the wooden platform and looked out at the three hundred plus person crowd that had formed in front of the platform. There were men, women, children, old and young. Some were clean and some were dirty. Their clothes were faded, patched, or tattered. They were thinner than the people of other areas of the capital, but they were smiling and their eyes were shining bright.
Shaugn raised his hands to quiet the crowd. "Thank you all for your warm welcome. I feel your love. I'm here today because I want to make sure all our citizens have enough to eat, proper clothes to wear, and a warm place to sleep. Today I'm here to find out how we can make your lives better. I know some of you are refugees from other places due to flood or famine. How can we help you?"
The crowd was silent. Everyone looked from one person to the next in confusion. They had always been simple people, living simply by their own means. They never looked to the nobility or the government for help.
Shaugn didn't rush or show impatience but observed the expressions on their faces. It seemed no one seemed to think they needed help. Because they didn't think they needed help, they didn't ask. They just accepted life as it was. After several moments, a hand raised.
Kazim pointed to the person. "Yes, you with your hand up."
A young man with a shaved head scratched his head before speaking. "Doesn't the empress have more important things to deal with than us poor, lowly dregs?"
Many heads nodded in agreement.
"Yes, yes."
"That's right."
"What the young man said is true."
"The ministers should be doing this work."
Shaugn sighed helplessly. "The empress is the highest...minister of the court. Our job is to serve the people – rich and poor. I am here on behalf of the court to serve you."
The people began to murmur and argue with themselves as if they hadn't heard the empress claim to be a member of the court.
"What is going on with these ministers that the empress has to do their work?"
"That's right. What good are they!"
"Useless."
"Bunch of wastes."
Shaugn chuckled to himself and tried to quiet the crowd. "Alright, settle down. The ministers have their duties. I have chosen this myself."
"The empress is kind."
"The empress is benevolent."
"We're not worthy."
"Long live the empress." The crowd knelt on the ground. Shaugn sighed hand rubbed his forehead. Kazim leaned down and whispered to him.
"May I try, your majesty?"
"Please."
Kazim stepped towards the edge of the platform and cleared his throat. The crowd quieted down and looked at the older man with curious gazes. Kazim put his hands behind his back looking like a proud nobleman. He walked from one end of the platform to the other before he spoke.
"The empress has plans to overhaul several areas of the capital to improve the lives of the citizens. We could go to the ministers, but the empress wants to hear from the people so that we can ensure your voices are heard. The empress considers this their duty and they take it seriously. Today you may live in the poor area but who is to say there isn't a physician, minister, merchant, soldier, or palace staff among you."
The poor people had never been solicited for their opinions. No one had ever treated them as ifi they could be anything other than a lowly citizen cursed to suffer and hard labor all their days. That they could be something else was a pipe dream.
"Is this true?"
"It is." Kazim's eyes swept the crowd. "So please, tell us what we can do to improve your lives here."
Someone brought a chair and table over. Shaugn pulled out a few sheets of paper he kept in his inner pocket and a pencil to write. He looked over at the crowd and gave a slight smile.
Toshi pulled away from Akechi and approached Shaugn. "Empress?"
"Yes, Toshi?"
He noticed the gazes of the crowd and felt his little bit of courage disappear. He was just a dirty orphan. Who was he to speak to the empress in front of all these people.
Shaugn smiled. "Speak your mind. You won't be punished."
Toshi rubbed his eye with one hand while his other hand was clenched into a fist at his side. "Um...can...can you make it so the kids don't have to sleep on the streets?"
Shaugn felt his chest tighten. Where he lived homeless children weren't a thing. To see someone as young as Toshi homeless and begging hurt his heart. He smiled and nodded. "We'll make sure the children have a warm place to sleep."
A child with matted blonde hair in front of the crowd blurted out. "And – and food!"
"And clothes."
An adult spoke up. "You little urchins have a lot of nerve beggin' the empress for things."
"Little cretins."
A teenager stood up to the adults. "Hey. It's not their fault their parents died or abandoned them. How much power did you have when you were their age? What could you do? That they even survived until now is a miracle. Leave them be."
"Yeah."
"Better than you drinking all day."
"Or causing trouble."
Shaugn rubbed his forehead and shook his head as the crowd began to bicker with each other.
Kazim's voice boomed over the crowd. "Come to order. The empress doesn't have all day."
The crowd knelt down again. "Sorry, your majesty."
"Forgiveness."
He had to do something about all this kneeling nonsense. Shaugn waved his hand and urged them to stand. A woman with an infant in her arms stood out from the crowd.
"I'm not sure if the empress is able, but we often don't have clean water to drink."
Shaugn nodded and wrote it down. "Where do you get your water?"
"There are several merchants we have to purchase it from. Sometimes they haven't enough."
He frowned. "You're being charged for water?"
"Yes."
There was a creaking sound as Shaugn balled his hand into a tight fist. What kind of cold-hearted, sinister human charged for water?
"What else?"
Seeing that he wasn't angry and seemed to take them seriously, one by one the three hundred residents listed their grievances. Many had the same complaints; lack of light, limited clean water, lack of food, presence of rats and mice, crime, and lack of housing. Shaugn also noted the condition of the crowded houses, the pitted narrow roads, and foul smell in the air.
From mid-morning to late afternoon, he listened to the people and wrote their grievances and suggestions. In the end, Shaugn had several sheets of paper filled with dense writing. The residents offered him and his group food and drink as thanks for listening to them and spending time with them. Elated but exhausted, Shaugn took a short nap in the carriage on the way back to the palace. Akechi ordered the servants to prepare a light meal and hot bath. Shaugn slipped out his clothing that was soaked with the smell of the slums, and scrubbed his body from head to toe before submerging in the mint scented water.
His original plan was merely to go to the court and get the ministers to provide him with a list of the most pressing issues in the empire. He was still feeling restless about Xoan and he thought it would help him keep his mind busy working on problems here and there. He didn't expect that not only did it not quell his restlessness but seeing Toshi made him feel the capital was poorly run. He'd seen the financial records and knew how much was in the treasury. With or without the ministers, he was going to tackle many of the capital's issues on his own.
Dragging himself out of the bath, he dried off and redressed himself. Then he crawled into bed and fell into a deep sleep.