Li Zhu's Audience Hall - Zhaoge

[osiris]

A man wearing shining what armor with blue trim approached the audience hall. He was average in height, dressed in fancy war regalia. He Approached a guard then said, in a neutral tone, "Greeting. My name is Baixa Zhen. I come from Yan, and wish to speak with your lord. I have only this sword," He handed in a scimitar, "But you may search me if you wish."

[Xiang Zhuang]

A man wearing shining what armor with blue trim approached the audience hall. He was average in height, dressed in fancy war regalia. He Approached a guard then said, in a neutral tone, "Greeting. My name is Baixa Zhen. I come from Yan, and wish to speak with your lord. I have only this sword," He handed in a scimitar, "But you may search me if you wish."

The attendant of the gates gave the man a small bow. He said, "Welcome, Baixa Zhen." He nodded to the guards, who took the weapon from him. "No search necessary," he replied, although the guards looked for any evidence of visible weaponry on him. "Follow me."

Assuming he did, he was led into the audience hall. There, he passed by a few officers, with guards and aides loitering about, until he reached the central room in the complex. There, Xia Xi and his daughter Xia Liangyu sat behind a large desk on an elevated dais at the rear. A few attendants were nearby, and a guard was stationed on either side of the main entrance. A guard stood by each side entrance as well. The attendant led him in a short ways, then, after a couple of bows to the Prefect and his daughter, he moved to the side. After a short bow to the visitor, he said, "Prefect Xia, announcing Baixa Zhen from Yan."

Xia Xi seemed to be doing nothing in particular when the visitor entered. He smiled warmly to him and said, "Welcome to Zhaoge, Baixa Zhen. It must have been a long trip here from Yan, although I suppose Yin isn't too bad. Then again, Yin tends to be halfway of a long trip for anybody traveling this land." He started to giggle a bit, seemingly in a good mood. "Now tell me, how may I help you?"

[osiris]

Jing followed the guards and observed ceremony. He bowed fairly low to each of the Xia's before speaking up, speaking in his standard neutral tone, his voice only tinted with a spot of grandeur at the end, "I am field marshal for lord Fei Lak, the prefect of all Yan." He paused, "I have come to gain information on where your force stands, so that we may know how best to speak with each other in the future." He cleared his throat, "Is this alright?"

[Jin Shi]

Huixi Zhe grinned, obviously amused.

"Huixi Zhe is the name, sorry boss."

He smiled and bowed ever so slightly.

"I offered last time to kill your enemies, but you seemed uneasy about the idea. I offer that service again, and just regular... grunt work I guess. I spared with your daughter last time I was here?"

He said, trying to refresh the old man's memory.

[Brother Dun]

Brother Dun

"That is interesting, although not exactly different than from what I've already heard," he replied. "I imagine, though, as they start to interact with the larger warlords around them, they are going to have to start to view the world in a more realistic manner. If these other locations are truly as loyal and strong as the forces in the West, then they won't be able to stay low-key for much longer. Not that they are very low key already if they are sending out letters to people in Yue." He started to chuckle a bit.

"Anyway, Huo Xing, I am a bit curious about you in particular. I know some things, but you have said you planned on keeping a low profile in Yue. It would seem, now, that you have changed your mind somewhat? Certainly you have garnered a lot of attention in this journey of yours, and probably can't go back to whatever quiet life you've had previous. What are you hoping to get out of all of this, then? I mean, what sort of goals do you have now that things are changing for you? I imagine that some of these people you have talked to would probably treat you well if you are indeed as capable as my own scouts have said.

"Anyway, you are free to ask me what you will."

Huo Xing returned his gaze to the Prefect once Xia Xi began speaking again. "My own goals now...? It is true, I have certainly changed my plans, as you said, I cannot return to a quiet life. I suppose one can only try to hide for so long... I will now have to do what it is that my teacher said I was destined to do," the scholar said, giving a pause.

"My actions, whether direct or indirect, will bring about the deaths of a lot of people, Prefect. I intend to use what it is that I have learned, seen, and experienced to help some lord build a powerful Kingdom, to finish what the Qin started. The Qin showed that the land can be united, Qin Shihuangdi simply allowed his own paranoia to control him and essentially destroyed that which he created even before he died. If a lord is willing, and once I find one who is fitting, I will work to bring about their success, and as such bring about my own. I will build up a powerful lord, regardless of whatever title it is that he decides to grant himself. Meanwhile, I will destroy his enemies, not through military command, nor physical prowess, but from the shadows..." Huo Xing's voice had changed from being pleasant, almost soothing, to something different, something darker, while he spoke.

"Now then," he said, his voice back to its original pleasant, soothing tone, "My first question to you, Prefect Xia... What do you intend to do with your current situation? As you said, you are a man stuck between two Kings and an Emperor. Do you intend to bow down before one of them, hoping to use them as your shield, or will you perhaps boldly stand outside of their influence and put a target on your back?"

[Xiang Zhuang]

osiris

"Hmmm, Prefect Fei of Yan?" Zhenfeng didn't seem to know who he was talking about. "I had heard there was some warring up on the border. I suppose this means that your master has won, then. Well, I am up for some discussion."

<hr>
Jin Shi

"Ah, ok, you," he said, his attitude not really changing much. "Yes, I recall all of this now. What has caused this change of heart, then, that you want to go from a solo worker to somebody joining part of a legitimate administration?"

<hr>
Brother Dun

"The current situation is fairly interesting," he replied. "I stand as an official of Qin, but they might choose to turn on me if I do not bow the appropriate distance. I think the real question to ask would be which of these regal fellows is worthy to serve. I wouldn't claim that I could topple any of them, although a lesser man might think that they could use one to defeat the other. Then what? What good is it to become the next ruler of Chu if I am a subject of Zhao? I'm not sure if I have progressed much.

"It's a curious thing, you know. A truly lesser man might declare himself King of Yin and expect one of the three to acknowledge him out of fear of his allegiance or his territory going to the other. But it isn't the path that is going to lead to any long-term success."

He shuffled a bit. "Likely, I will be bound to the first option, which is not the worst one, but not the best, either. My greatest desire is to protect Yin, but to do it I cannot stay in Yin. At minimum, I will have to pick correctly the nearby lord that may emerge from the group. I will also likely have to use my forces to wage war elsewhere in their name. This is not ideal, but within the circumstance, might be what has to happen.

"The best route, then, would be for me to take on one of these people myself and win in a battle, one-on-one. This would show the other words of my true worth and install a sense of pride and strength within my forces. In doing this, I would be able to truly protect my lands, because the might that I can wield will be evident. That's the greatest weakness that I have in Yin with these other lords; that I have only defeated city garrison leaders and other nobodies in my rise here. I mean, I think they are quite worthy victories, but this isn't going to mean a ton later on."

He shrugged. "What I do now is essentially delaying the decision. The longer I have before the decision is cast, the better the chance I have to take the stronger route. I don't want to appear indecisive, but there is not yet a need to make this final decision. Regardless, I want the decision to be mine. I suppose part of the problem is that none of these three have truly shown the sort of thing you'd see in somebody who is going to unite the land. I think that all I can do is to continue to move forward in the manner that I think is best for the land until I find this person. Of course, I'm not so egotistical to think that I might be that person." He let out a small laugh. "The sort of person who will unite the land isn't the type of person who originally set out to do it."

[Charlemagne]

Xia Xi did as requested, and got an aide to fetch them both chairs. After he had sat, Zhenfeng gave the Prime Minister a soft nod. "It is only right that your needs be addressed first," he said. "I do not wish to waste any of the Prime Minister's time."

Li Si nodded, and he flipped the pages of the ledger. "Just a few simple questions, Magistrate. Firstly, how long exactly have you been administering Zhaoge? According to testimony by the former magistrate, Gen Qin, you led rebels in a coup, and forced him from office. Is that correct? And lastly, Xiuwu was invaded by your forces, and the governor there was ousted. Can you explain these actions?"

[Jin Shi]

Huixi Zhe shrugged.

"Work has been hard to come by, disagreements all over the place."

He said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"It's all too messy for me. Just settling down in a city and working as your standard grunt seems more appealing to me at the moment. Maybe I can be a plus instead of a minus on your social hierarchy chart."

He said with a sad expression.

[Brother Dun]

Brother Dun

"The current situation is fairly interesting," he replied. "I stand as an official of Qin, but they might choose to turn on me if I do not bow the appropriate distance. I think the real question to ask would be which of these regal fellows is worthy to serve. I wouldn't claim that I could topple any of them, although a lesser man might think that they could use one to defeat the other. Then what? What good is it to become the next ruler of Chu if I am a subject of Zhao? I'm not sure if I have progressed much.

"It's a curious thing, you know. A truly lesser man might declare himself King of Yin and expect one of the three to acknowledge him out of fear of his allegiance or his territory going to the other. But it isn't the path that is going to lead to any long-term success."

He shuffled a bit. "Likely, I will be bound to the first option, which is not the worst one, but not the best, either. My greatest desire is to protect Yin, but to do it I cannot stay in Yin. At minimum, I will have to pick correctly the nearby lord that may emerge from the group. I will also likely have to use my forces to wage war elsewhere in their name. This is not ideal, but within the circumstance, might be what has to happen.

"The best route, then, would be for me to take on one of these people myself and win in a battle, one-on-one. This would show the other words of my true worth and install a sense of pride and strength within my forces. In doing this, I would be able to truly protect my lands, because the might that I can wield will be evident. That's the greatest weakness that I have in Yin with these other lords; that I have only defeated city garrison leaders and other nobodies in my rise here. I mean, I think they are quite worthy victories, but this isn't going to mean a ton later on."

He shrugged. "What I do now is essentially delaying the decision. The longer I have before the decision is cast, the better the chance I have to take the stronger route. I don't want to appear indecisive, but there is not yet a need to make this final decision. Regardless, I want the decision to be mine. I suppose part of the problem is that none of these three have truly shown the sort of thing you'd see in somebody who is going to unite the land. I think that all I can do is to continue to move forward in the manner that I think is best for the land until I find this person. Of course, I'm not so egotistical to think that I might be that person." He let out a small laugh. "The sort of person who will unite the land isn't the type of person who originally set out to do it."

Huo Xing frowned momentarily at the Prefect, he was disappointed in the ambitions of the Prefect, he had hoped this man would share the same ideals as he did. However, his face quickly returned to the pleasant smile it had been before, "Ah... The former Emperor of Qin would disagree with you Prefect. He was a paranoid, power hungry bastard when he set out to conquer Zhongguo, and he was a paranoid, power hungry bastard when he did unite the land."

"Regardless," he said, giving a dismissing wave of his hand, "One reason you have not found anyone who can unite the land, is because you are looking in the wrong places. The 'Emperor,' Ying Huhai, and the Kings of Chu and Zhao are not the men who eventually will... Although the King of Zhao does show some promise, perhaps with the proper molding he could be able to do it... However, talk of uniting the land can wait I suppose, let us steer the discussion back towards you... Prefect, for my next question, I wish to test your character... What would you do if..." he said, his voice trailing as his slowly flicked his gaze towards the Prefect's daughter and back, "Your enemies take that which is most dear to you?"

[nstroud]

Huang Fu touched his head to the ground and said softly " Thank you Prefect Xia, I am sure that the men will be more than happy to join ranks under your banner. As far as the village, I hope that you will take them under your protection." With that Huang made ready to leave.

OOC: Assuming you have nothing left to say I'll leave you to your own devices.