If you want to read 20 Chapters ahead and more, be sure to check out my P-Tang12!!!
____________________________
(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
...
Ying Yue smiled brightly, nodding her head. "We did. We have been in the imperial kitchens since dawn. Sister Diao Chan prepared the smoked duck, Sister Wenji made the lotus root soup, Sister Lingqi spiced the roasted lamb, Sister Zhen Ji baked the sweet pastries, and I prepared your favorite braised pork belly."
Lie Fan let out a triumphant cheer that made the younger children jump. "Then I shall bathe with the speed of a striking viper! I have been dreaming of your cooking since we crossed Hangu Pass!"
With the promise of a magnificent, home cooked feast urging them on, Lie Fan and Muchen practically sprinted out of the main hall, flanked by their chuckling guards, heading toward their respective bathing chambers.
An hour later, the Emperor and the Crown Prince emerged, utterly transformed. The grime of the campaign was gone, their hair washed and bound in neat topknots, Lie Fan's heavy armor replaced by comfortable, luxurious silk robes of deep indigo and gold. They looked less like conquerors of the realm and more like the patriarchs of a prosperous, loving family.
They made their way to the grand private dining hall of the Harem Palace. The room was bathed in warm, natural light streaming through large, open lattice windows that overlooked a serene rock garden.
When Lie Fan and Muchen entered, Ying Yue and the others were already waiting. The massive, circular rosewood table in the center of the room was a breathtaking sight. It was absolutely laden with an incredible array of dishes.
There were platters of crispy fried fish, bowls of steaming, fragrant soups, plates of thinly sliced, perfectly smoked meats, vibrant, fresh vegetable stir fries, and towering stacks of delicate, sweet pastries. The aroma was intoxicating, a physical manifestation of love and welcome.
Lie Fan paused at the doorway, taking in the sight of the feast and the smiling faces of his family gathered around it. He felt a profound surge of gratitude.
He walked to the head of the table, placing his hands flat on the polished wood. He looked at Ying Yue, Diao Chan, Cai Wenji, Lu Lingqi, and Zhen Ji.
"My beloved wives," Lie Fan said, his voice thick with genuine emotion. "You rule this palace with grace, and you anchor my heart with love. To have the greatest beauties and minds in the empire spend their morning over hot stoves just to welcome me home... I am the wealthiest man under the heavens, and it has nothing to do with the gold in my treasury. Thank you."
He then turned a stern but loving eye toward the chaotic jumble of his children, who were practically vibrating with hunger and excitement in their seats.
"All of you," Lie Fan commanded playfully. "Look at this feast! Your mothers have labored out of love. I expect each and every one of you to properly thank them before a single grain of rice is touched."
"Thank you, Imperial Mother! Thank you, Mothers!" the children chorused enthusiastically, offering seated bows to the Empress and the concubines.
Satisfied, Lie Fan took his seat at the absolute head of the table. Ying Yue sat immediately to his right, with Diao Chan, Cai Wenji, Lu Lingqi, and Zhen Ji taking their respective seats of honor.
Muchen sat to his father's left, with the elder Yaoyao beside him, followed by the younger Yaoyao, Nuonuo, Xuanxuan, and the toddlers, who were seated in specially elevated chairs with their nurses standing discreetly nearby.
As the patriarch, Lie Fan picked up his jade chopsticks. He reached out and selected a perfectly glazed piece of Ying Yue's braised pork belly, placing it deliberately in his bowl. He took the first bite, savoring the incredible, rich flavor. He closed his eyes, letting out a long, satisfied sigh.
"Perfection," Lie Fan declared, opening his eyes and smiling broadly at the table. "Let the feast begin!"
The dining hall immediately erupted into a symphony of clinking porcelain, joyous chatter, and the happy sounds of a family sharing a meal. Maids moved silently around the perimeter, pouring warm, sweet rice wine for the adults and fresh fruit juices for the children.
As they enjoyed the magnificent dishes, the conversation naturally gravitated toward the monumental events that had kept Lie Fan away for so long.
Lie Fan regaled his wives and children with tales of the campaign, carefully curating the stories for his audience. He spoke of the towering, majestic peaks of the western mountains, the sheer scale of the massive siege engines Sima Yi had designed, and the incredible, unbreakable loyalty of their vanguard generals.
He painted a picture of grand strategy and sweeping landscapes, deliberately omitting the brutal, visceral horrors of the hand to hand slaughter in the inner fortress.
But the true focus of Lie Fan's storytelling was not his own martial prowess, it was the extraordinary growth of his heir.
Lie Fan set his chopsticks down, looking proudly at Muchen, who was currently trying to sneak a piece of roasted lamb onto Xuanxuan's plate.
"I must tell you all," Lie Fan announced, his voice carrying a deep, resonant pride that silenced the chatter at the table. "The true victory of this campaign was not just the fall of Chang'An. It was watching the Muchen step into the realities of his destiny."
Ying Yue's eyes immediately locked onto her son, her heart swelling.
"Muchen did not sit idly in a silken tent," Lie Fan continued, gesturing toward the young prince. "He rode with the vanguard. He stood on the command platforms. He witnessed the complexities of moving a hundred thousand men and feeding them in hostile territory. His conduct was exemplary. He showed no fear when the cannons fired, and he showed profound mercy when dealing with the displaced civilians of the outer city."
Lie Fan looked at Zhuge Jin and Lu Zhi, who were dining in a separate, adjoining room reserved for the most honored retainers, ensuring his voice carried to them.
"Master Zhuge Jin and the venerable State Teacher Lu Zhi have sung absolute praises of the Crown Prince. They spoke to me of his sharp insight during tactical meetings, his deep, practical knowledge of logistics, and the incredible initiative he showed in managing the grain distribution in the conquered districts to prevent civilian riots. This field experience has tempered him. He went west as a boy learning from scrolls, he has returned as a young sovereign ready to lead."
Hearing the magnificent praise delivered by the Emperor himself, Empress Ying Yue beamed with an overwhelming, radiant pride. She reached over, gently squeezing Muchen's hand. Diao Chan, Cai Wenji, Lu Lingqi, and Zhen Ji all offered warm, deeply respectful smiles to the young prince.
They understood the profound, foundational importance of Muchen's growth. He was the future. He was the one who would eventually inherit the massive, complex empire their husband had spent more than half his life building with blood and iron.
For the dynasty to survive the inevitable transition of power decades from now, the Crown Prince had to be flawless.
Muchen blushed deeply under the focused praise of his father and the adoring gazes of his mothers. He quickly took a sip of tea to hide his embarrassment.
But his siblings would not let him off the hook so easily.
"Did you really manage the grain carts, Brother?" the younger Yaoyao asked, her eyes wide with admiration.
"Did you get to hold Imperial Father's halberd?" Xuanxuan demanded, bouncing slightly in his chair.
"Did you see the Wei Emperor?" the elder Yaoyao inquired, her sharp intellect cutting straight to the political heart of the campaign.
Muchen found himself entirely clamored by his twin sister and his younger siblings, all firing questions at him simultaneously. He handled the interrogation with the grace and patience of an older brother who adored his family.
He leaned forward, launching into his own tales. He spoke of the massive, endless supply trains, the fascinating, complex engineering of the Climbing Tigers, and the sheer, awe inspiring volume of the Cannons firing in unison.
He described the vast, sprawling architecture of Chang'An and the strange, rugged clothing of the western mountain tribes.
Crucially, as Lie Fan listened with a satisfied smile, he noticed that Muchen perfectly filtered his stories. The young prince spoke of strategy, logistics, and the majesty of the army, but he completely, deliberately excluded the gruesome brutalities he had undoubtedly witnessed. He did not speak of the severed limbs, the burning men, or the terrifying, blood soaked executions in the Harem Palace courtyard.
Lie Fan's heart swelled with a different kind of pride. Muchen was not just learning to be a ruthless ruler, he was learning to be a protector. He possessed the profound emotional intelligence to shield his younger, innocent siblings from the dark, traumatic realities of the world they lived in. It was a rare, beautiful trait in a future Emperor.
Lunch concluded on an incredibly high, joyous note. The platters were picked clean, the sweet rice wine was finished, and the children were comfortably full and sleepy.
Leaving the maids to clear the massive table, the imperial family migrated to the grand, open air living room of the Harem Palace. The room was designed for absolute comfort, filled with plush silk cushions, low wooden tables, and soft, woven rugs, all overlooking a beautifully manicured courtyard bathed in the warm afternoon sun.
It was a time for pure, unstructured family bonding.
Lie Fan reclined comfortably on a large pile of cushions, a cup of fragrant green tea resting in his hand. He let out a long, contented breath, simply listening.
Around him, his wives had settled into a comfortable, familiar rhythm of conversation. The brutal politics of the unified empire were entirely absent here.
Instead, Lie Fan found himself highly amused as he listened to Ying Yue, Diao Chan, and Zhen Ji discussing the latest, most scandalous capital gossip they had acquired from the wives of the high ministers during their social teas.
"I heard that the youngest son of Minister Chen Qun has been sending extremely expensive silk fans to the daughter of a high ranking official in the court," Diao Chan whispered conspiratorially, her eyes dancing with amusement.
"Silk fans?" Zhen Ji giggled softly behind her hand. "That is so terribly old fashioned. He should be sending poetry."
"He tried poetry," Cai Wenji chimed in with a dry, knowing smile, adjusting her elegant robes. "I am told the meter was dreadful. The girl's mother intercepted it and sent it back with corrections."
Lie Fan chuckled into his teacup. It was so incredibly mundane. It was all just normal rumors of who liked who, which noble youth was clumsily chasing which high-born lady, and the petty, hilarious social enmities between rival aristocratic matriarchs.
There were no whispers of treason, no rumors of military coups, and absolutely zero talk of corruption. Lie Fan's internal security apparatus, managed by Jia Xu with the help of the Oriole Agents, was so flawlessly terrifying that genuine political corruption simply did not exist in Xiapi. The nobility had nothing left to do but gossip about marriages and fashion.
While the women talked, the children were happily occupied on the large, soft rugs in the center of the room.
Muchen, having shed the heavy mantle of the Crown Prince, was sitting cross-legged, gently holding his three-year-old brother, Liangliang, in his lap, patiently trying to teach the toddler how to stack small, carved wooden blocks without knocking them over immediately.
Beside him, the elder Yaoyao was cradling the youngest, the one year old baby Mumu, softly singing a traditional lullaby to coax the baby to sleep.
The younger girls, Yaoyao and Nuonuo, were attempting to teach the highly energetic five year old Xuanxuan the rules of a complex string game, resulting in a tangled mess of silk cord and entirely too much giggling.
Lie Fan watched them all. He watched the brilliant, powerful women who commanded the social hierarchy of the empire giggling over bad poetry. He watched the future Emperor of China sitting on the floor, getting his hair pulled by a toddler.
He leaned his head back against the silk cushions, closing his eyes as the warm afternoon sun washed over his face. The ghosts of Chang'An, the dying pleas of Cao Cao, and the looming threat of the western lords felt very, very far away.
______________________________
Name: Lie Fan
Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty
Age: 36 (203 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 2325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 11)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 1,010 (+20)
VIT: 659 (+20)
AGI: 653 (+10)
INT: 691
CHR: 98
WIS: 569
WILL: 436
ATR Points: 0