Li Zhu's Audience Hall - Zhaoge

[Xiang Zhuang]

Pan Dao followed the guards quite willingly. His escort followed at a distance but remained behind outside the building. The two attendants with the chest continued lugging it between them, shuffling along with heads down behind Pan Dao.

When they entered the Prefect's Audience Hall, Pan Dao bowed low and said, "Prefect Xia, I am Pan Dao an Envoy from the King of Chu. I do not need any refreshment, but I thank you heartily for the offer. My escort and I camped not far from your gates and made an early start after breaking our fast."

He glanced at the attendants and then went on, "Prefect, I am to deliver to you the contents of this chest." He motioned for the attendants to lower the chest and said, "If you will permit me to make the presentation?"

"Yes, of course," he said, his face looking eager. "Please, go ahead."

[ann]

Pan Dao motioned to the attendants who, though they didn't raise their heads, somehow seemed releived to be nearly shed of their burden. The chest was placed on the floor and opened. Pan Dao bent and collected a wrapped bundle from the chest.

He turned to Xia Xi and said, "Prefect Xia, The King of Chu, Chen She, has sent me to deliver these tokens to you of a new office to which he would appoint you. In the chest you will find 300 taels to help with the associated costs of this elevation."

He unwrapped a the package and revealed a scroll in an ornate case. Inside was also a silken banner of the colors frequently associated with Zhao.

"My lord," Pan Dao bowed low, "The King of Chu wishes to name you King of Zhao."

[Xiang Zhuang]

Pan Dao motioned to the attendants who, though they didn't raise their heads, somehow seemed releived to be nearly shed of their burden. The chest was placed on the floor and opened. Pan Dao bent and collected a wrapped bundle from the chest.

He turned to Xia Xi and said, "Prefect Xia, The King of Chu, Chen She, has sent me to deliver these tokens to you of a new office to which he would appoint you. In the chest you will find 300 taels to help with the associated costs of this elevation."

He unwrapped a the package and revealed a scroll in an ornate case. Inside was also a silken banner of the colors frequently associated with Zhao.

"My lord," Pan Dao bowed low, "The King of Chu wishes to name you King of Zhao."

Xia Xi looked on fondly at the gold, thinking that this might all be too good to be true. But then, to hear himself named as a king, he nearly fell backwards in shock. What is going on? Himself, a king? It didn't make sense. Everything seemed to spin for a moment, until finally he shook his head. "Pan Dao, what is going on? This makes no sense to me at all. I am no equal to the King of Chu, and I do not control territory in Zhao. Did the King send further explanation?"

[Zeren]

Huangfu Chu had been travelling for many days as he entered the Yin province. His pace was slow, however, and he had been well fed and rested before he arrived before the audience halls of Xia Xi. He wasn’t here to seek employment, but instead to answer a letter from the daughter of Xia Xi, the one who called herself princess. He had been for a while considering responding to her, but half of him scoffed at the prospect of fighting a mere girl. His boredom outweighed any sense of chauvinism, though, and he decided in his mind that he would grant his request.

“Excuse me”, he said, approaching the guards outside the halls, reining his horse in. “I have come to meet with Princess Xia, who has sent me a letter. I have it here, if you would like to see.” And from his armour he produced a letter that had been written by Xia Liangyu.

[bain_nick]

Xiao-Niao Min would consider Xia Xi's question.

"Well to be truthful master Xia, All of the Lord's i have seen thus far, yourself included have seemed very nice, and have appeared to symphasise with my beliefs." Min spoe, remembering the other leaders she had met.
"On other sights that I have seen across the land, I have seen the most beautifullest scenery, waterfalls at their peak, untouched forrests, oceans in a storm, and as many times that I saw a village affected by the chaos of the land, I would also see a village that has escaped the chaos, who;s entire people seemed to be thriving. It was strange in a way, where to villages within a days walk of each other, could show completey different aspects ."

[osiris]

osiris

"Well, not really," he replied. "Politics are difficult when you possess the territory in-between an Emperor and two Kings, but aside from that, things are fairly good." He gave a bit of a goofy smile, as he had managed to condense an incredibly-complicated situation down to a few words. "At least, at this point, none of them want to attack me. That might change."

He shifted himself on his seat, then tilted his head slightly to the side, as if he were evaluating the visitor. "With your visit and your line of questioning, it really begs an answer to really why you are here. There's very little that the provinces of Yan and Yin have in common, and very little we could do with one another, unless your master desires to expand outside of his province, or unless you think I might expand northward. Or, perhaps, the King of Zhao is what you are really concerned about, since with his expansion into Changshan he now borders you like he borders me. The King of Zhao hasn't made any secret of his desire to expand, either, so I imagine this might be seen as a threat to you."

Jing smiled and laughed a bit, "In Yan, we prefer to be a bit more frank, and in my opinion, words should not conceal their own meanings. I came here to get your views on the land." He cleared his throat, "As for why I come here to do that, well, you are a prominent force not to far from us. Plus, should we wind up fighting with this king, we might wish you to aid us." He paused, "Now, I do not mean to say that we will rope you into a war that is hardly any of your business, I am just telling you one way in which your force can be seen as important to ours."

[RuffRydeR]

“Excuse me”, he said, approaching the guards outside the halls, reining his horse in. “I have come to meet with Princess Xia, who has sent me a letter. I have it here, if you would like to see.” And from his armour he produced a letter that had been written by Xia Liangyu.

"Oh? Another one of those...Well, I guess you can go on inside and try your luck. I'll take you to her..."

After a bit of a search, the Princess was found in her usual training field, accoutered in armour and with a bow at her hip. But she wasn't training, like she usually was. Instead, the little maiden sat with legs crossed, cuddling a tiger cub, sanding its claws down, while a second such creature was trying to climb up her slippery armoured back and slap her lengthening auburn ponytail around.

Liangyu gently continued to manicure the beast's paws. Giggling, she looked up as a maid coughed something about a guest. She asked,

"Who's here?"

"Princess, a man has come to face you...again."

Liangyu looked uncertainly at the cubs, and sighed,

"Now? Oh, alright, let him come over here so I can beat him up quick and get back to Spark..."

[Li Dao Wen]

Li Dao Wen

((Apologies if this is long for an AH introduction; I got an idea in my head and went with it.))

Xian Long Rui is met at the gates by the attendant, who bowed to him after he announced himself. "Ah, I believe I recall your name," he said as he took the scrolls. He looked over one briefly, and said, "Yes, yes, you are the man the Prefect informed me of. Well, it seems you understand our guard protocol well without even being told! I believe the Prefect and his daughter are currently taking petitions from some of the peasantry and merchants at the moment. He's told me to interrupt him if anybody of merit were to arrive, though, and you fit that bill. Please, follow me."

Assuming the guards found no other weapon on Xian Long Rui other than the one they had received, and assuming he follows, Xian Long Rui was lead into the hallway of the audience hall. There, they passed by a few aides and guards, and then a short line of people who seemed as if they were waiting for the Prefect. The attendant bypassed all of them, waving Xian Long Rui along, until they were at the gate of the main audience chambers in the center.

As they arrived, Xia Xi was sitting behind a large desk at the rear of the room, up on a dais, with his daughter. A few random guards were around, and a couple of aides. In the center of the room was an old merchant who was bowing. "If you think that this will benefit the city," said Zhenfeng, who was in the middle of speaking to the peasant when they arrived, "then I think we should go ahead with it. I'll have District Manager Diao see to the removal and relocation of the stables near your business as to create another road from the northern sector of the city to the center. I think that will remove the congestion problems you mentioned, as well as, uh, keeping the livestock there from ruining the scents of your perfumes."

The merchant seemed overjoyed, and begin to thank the Prefect profusely, but Xia Xi would have none of it. "No, none of that," he said. "What I'm doing is best for the city. I'm not doing you a favor. Now go and return to your stand. I will have my aides issue the orders later in the day." The merchant seemed to want to try and thank him for his decision again, but instead, with one final mention of thanks for the meeting, he got up and left the building, passing by the attendant. Seeing this, the attendant moved forward, again hopefully being followed by Xian Long Rui, and stopped a short ways into the room. There, he motioned for the visitor to stay, and then he turned to the Prefect. After a bow to Xia Xi and Xia Liangyu, he said, "Prefect Xia, I bring to you now an invited guest, Xian Long Rui." He gave the visitor a small nod, and then moved off to the side slightly.

Zhenfeng seemed pleased at the visitor's arrival. "Welcome to Zhaoge, Xian Long Rui," he said, then he let out a yawn and stretched his arms up in the air. "I was getting a bit bored of these petitions, anyway, so your arrival is a pleasant diversion in more ways than one." He gave a goofy crooked smile. "But I am happy you have come. I hope your journey was a pleasant one."

Rui payed obeisance to the Lord of Yin and his daughter by bowing low and keeping his eyes down. He was not very accustomed to meeting such dignitaries, and had little idea how to act in front of them. Nonetheless he is a man with breeding, and employed his best for them.

"You honor me, Lord Xia. I thank you for your invitation, and your welcome." he replied, stil keeping his head bowed. Looking at the long line of the commonfolk in the audience hall, he became a little embarrassed at the slight disturbance he must've been making.

"If I may Lord Xia, it seems that the people are greatly in admiration of you.." he said humbly. "It pleases me that a noble such as yourself isn't too busy to heed the call of benevolence. Such is the way of this turbulent world now."

He smiled at Princess Xia, whom he actually hoped would say a few things to him.

[Charlemagne]

Zhenfeng looked at him, hoping to try to gain some sort of read on the minister, but wasn't able to get anything. He frowned briefly, but continued to answer. "I assumed Prefect Gen's rank temporarily after gaining control of Zhaoge. It would have been difficult to maintain control here without it, as the lieutenants who led this coup expected me to fill the shoes of their recently-ousted governor. I informed the Chief Minister immediately of this decision, and would have abided by any command to desist, but never received one. Instead, this is when I was asked by Chief Minister Zhao to pay a tribute of 1000 gold to the capital as a sort of compensation for this. And yes, this is the month when I attacked Prefect Kuan's forces in lieu of the tribute, because on the one hand I felt like the reoccupation of Yin by loyal forces was the first priority, and on the other hand I barely had the resources at the time to raise that amount anyway. And since then I have not had an opportunity to make amends for this slight, as it was after this that the Chief Minister demanded me to make war with these neighboring rebels who are much, much stronger than I am. If it is your desire for me to return this rank to you here today, I will do it, although I am unsure if the people of Zhaoge have been reassured enough of the magnanimity from the previous lieutenants that I might not suffer the same fate as Prefect Gen."

Li Si looked at Xia Xi for a moment, as the men continued scribbling. Saying nothing, he simply grunted as he went back to reading his ledger. His actions seemed deliberate, and his nature was calm and reassured. What he thought of Xia Xi's explanation was unclear.

Finally, he closed the ledger, and after placing it in his lap, he folded his hands on top of it. "Well, Prefect Xia, I have what information I need on the past. As for the future, when can his majesty be expecting his tribute, either in gold, troops, or heads of his enemies. You may have bought yourself some time in bringing me here, and you may have prevented Chief Minister Zhao's harsh punishments, but you are far from absolved of your obligations. Other prefects manage to raise armies while still paying their tributes, so I hope you do not intend to ride your current excuse for much longer."

[RuffRydeR]

"If I may Lord Xia, it seems that the people are greatly in admiration of you.." he said humbly. "It pleases me that a noble such as yourself isn't too busy to heed the call of benevolence. Such is the way of this turbulent world now."

He smiled at Princess Xia, whom he actually hoped would say a few things to him.[/i]

Liangyu smiled back, and she shrugged,

"Oh, good sir. Father is simply doing his job. That's what a Prefect has to do, right? take care of his people. But, we're talking with you now. I hope it wasn't too hard to get here, huh?"

The princess then studied the man, wondering what sort of person he was. She usually invited fairly good people, but some have been....fairly terrifying...