Li Zhu's Audience Hall - Zhaoge

[Charlemagne]

"Well...as soon as my turtle of a driv-"

The carriage rumbled to a halt.

"That'd be right now, ma'am. We're at the palace."

Liangyu's nose flared, and her eyes glared at the smirking carriage driver, and she noted,

"As I was saying, as soon as our gentleman of a driver opens the carriage door for this fine young lady, I would be glad to take you inside to meet him..."

At this, the driver stopped grinning and jumped off, abashed, and opened the door for them, bowing as he did. Giggling, she headed off and waited for the poet to come as well. Then, she led him off to the guards.

(OOC: Please post the next reply to this in Xia Xi's AH. Replies to other people, upcoming..=3)

The old man nodded and waited by the guards. Smiling at them, he casually made conversation. "It would appear the young mistress would like to see her father. I am glad to wait until he is available. Tell me, as I was not expecting to be meeting the lord of the city, do you have someplace I might freshen up?"

[Jin Shi]

Jin Shi

"Don't worry about this, my Gongzhu," he said to his daughter, looking a bit nervous. "It'll all be handled in time." Turning to Huixi Zhe, he added, "And you don't need to worry about my daughter. Such matters are best discussed with the least amount of people present as possible, anyway. I am thankful for... making your acquaintance, but at the moment, there is no work I have for you. Perhaps I could call upon you at another time? I am certain that someone of your abilities would eventually be very useful to me."

Huixi Zhe smiled and nodded.

"Perhaps. I am pleased to hear you are open to my services. Once you have something for me to do, don't hesitate to write."

He bowed, and turned back to the Princess.

"Shall we then?"

[Xiang Zhuang]

Liangyu was a storm of emotion as offended anger stormed inside her. And yet she realized the lady spoke the truth. She did need advise... But she didn't remember sending letters seeking those.

Letters to intellectuals? What did she write, exactly? Oh, yes!

She had been encountering lots of brainy people lately and it had finally opened her up to what she was missing. though, she had dropped it through no fault of her own. Liangyu was still a bit miffed about the book burnings of four years ago, for her favourite stories had gone up in ash...

She had stopped having scholarly tutors then, and turned fully to the ways of a warrior. Lately, it had occurred to her that with the book bans easing along with Qin control, she could have...

"A tutor! That's what I was writing to people to! I was going to hire you as a tutor! Ah...Sorry about that. Must have been a mistake with the scribes..."

Flushing, she bowed to her father, and noted,

"With the book bans of the Qin seeming to ease, scholarship seems to matter again... I think having an adviser would be a good idea. What do you think, Father?"

Xi started to chuckle a bit. He never really thought his daughter was cut out for studying, although she seemed to understand what was taught to her. Just that... well, any time he tried to put a book in front of her, she always wound up finding some way to quit and start fighting with one of her maidens. He smiled to his daughter and said, "Well, when you put it that way, it seems acceptable to me. I don't know that my daughter is going to be inheriting things here, although if matters don't change that is the likely course. It is a long ways away, but you are right; it doesn't hurt to think about the future. Perhaps you can assist her, then."


((I think Charlemagne is waiting on Ruff. If not, she can let me know.))

[Shadow]

....

Shang nodded again. "My thoughts exactly, Lord Xia," he said. A normal man would have complimented another in this instance, but Shang wasn't there to suck up to Xia Xi and it was almost an obvious thing as well to Shang. Shang's arrogance didn't let him really compliment others either. He had done so to only two people. Yet, he acknowledged the man because he was able to come into power over a city.

"I also had another thought, Lord Xia." Shang let out almost spontaneously. "Certainly there is a probability Chu and the Qin might find us in cahoots. It will be annoying to get them on us while we're still growing." He cleared his throat. "We have moved on from seedlings to little trees that are connected to 'these much bigger trees', while we are connected by the roots. I propose we make these bigger trees think we are using each others water supply to drain the others strength while showing our fealty to the other if the time arises." He wasn't sure if his analogy would get through, but he could always explain it so it wasn't much of a big deal. Ren raised a brow it wasn't known whether if he did because he didn't understand or he was tired of the talk about trees from his odd cousin.

[Ranger Ryu]

Ranger Ryu

The attendant nodded to the man, and proceeded to lead him into the hall. They traveled a short ways pass a few offices and hallways, seeing various attendants and guards littered throughout, until they reached a large central room. There, Xia Xi and his daughter sat behind a large desk in the middle, where they seemed to be discussing something uninteresting. Guards stood on either side of the entrance, and another stood off to the side of the room near a second door.

The attendant led the man into the room, then stopped and said, "District Manager, announcing Zhao Puyang!" The attendant then nodded to the visitor and took a few steps off to the side.

Xia Xi gave the visitor a nod from his seat and said, "Welcome to Zhaoge, visitor. Hmmm, you share a name with my town!" He started to chuckle a bit. "Well well! So, what has brought you here today?"

<hr>

(er whoops sorry forgot about this )

*Zhao Puyang bowed* "Um Lord Xia,I live not far from Puyang itself which may be why my parents called me that,anyway I have heard much about you,and therefore would like to join you.....if it's not much of a problem.............." *he stood there in silence,all the while still nervous,he never meant a person of such high sature before today*

[Xiang Zhuang]

Shadow

Zhenfeng silently considered what the emissary had to offer. "I suppose that what you say has some merit," he said, although his tone sounded uncertain. "We may be ordered to strike at one another, as you say. It would be fruitless on either of our accounts to pursue such a path. Our relationship should be kept quiet for now. While it might be reassuring to both of us to make some sort of grand declaration of it, the risks are too great. If this is what you suggested, then it is amiable to me."

<hr>
Ranger Ryu

"Well, that is interesting," Xi replied. "What sort of service would you be able to perform for my administration? We do not hire just anyone, and anyway, I would need to know where it is I could station you. You seem like a decent enough chap, anyway."

[Cloud Strife]

As the Noble wandered the streets of Zhaoge he was reminded of its past. Here lay the capitol of the mighty Kingdom of Shang. Long before the advent of the Zhou, the Shang ruled all the land from the sea to the mountains. But the Shang grew corrupt and were overthrown at Heaven's instigation by the Ji Clan. Now the Zhou was overthrown and the Qin seemed to be posed to share that same fate.

After figuring out where this Xia Xi held Court, the Noble withdrew the letter which had been sent to him from his coat and presented it to the guards. "I am Ji Dan the Scholar, by request of your Lord I have arrived in this place to meet with him. I am meagerly armed with this token of a blade which you may take into your temporary possession."

[Xiang Zhuang]

As the Noble wandered the streets of Zhaoge he was reminded of its past. Here lay the capitol of the mighty Kingdom of Shang. Long before the advent of the Zhou, the Shang ruled all the land from the sea to the mountains. But the Shang grew corrupt and were overthrown at Heaven's instigation by the Ji Clan. Now the Zhou was overthrown and the Qin seemed to be posed to share that same fate.

After figuring out where this Xia Xi held Court, the Noble withdrew the letter which had been sent to him from his coat and presented it to the guards. "I am Ji Dan the Scholar, by request of your Lord I have arrived in this place to meet with him. I am meagerly armed with this token of a blade which you may take into your temporary possession."

An attendant at the gate emerged from behind the guards and surveyed the letter. He said, "Yes, this looks correct. I believe that the Prefect is available for meetings at this moment." He motioned for the guards to take the blade. "If you will, please."

The attendant then proceeded to enter the administration building with Ji Dan in tow (hopefully!). As they went down the hall, various offices lined the sides, along with guards and aids scattered throughout; some working, some loafing, some interested in the visitor. The hall culminated in a large room, which seemed to be at the center of the complex. There, Xia Xi sat behind a desk, reviewing some paperwork. His daughter, Xia Liangyu, sat off to his side. Besides the aforementioned, a guard was stationed at either side of the entrance, and one stood at both side entrances to this room. An aide was near Xia Xi, perhaps waiting for an order, and one of the Xia Princess's maidens was also near.

As they entered, the attendant stopped a short ways in and moved off to the side. Here, he cleared his throat and said, "Prefect Xia, announcing Ji Dan, a guest that you have invited." At this, he bowed to the Prefect, his daughter, and the guest, and drifted off to the side.

Xia Xi stopped his paperwork as the guest entered. He said, "Welcome to Zhaoge, Ji Dan. I am glad you were able to come so quickly. I seem to think I only wrote that letter a few days ago. Tell me, how was your trip?"

[Cloud Strife]

Xiang Zhuang

"Ah, yes, admittedly your Excellency I had little else to do at the time. I had not... expected the roads to be so cluttered with refuges and others fleeing the chaos that consumes this land. I had never imagined Bactriana to more peaceful than China."

"So, in your letter, you speak of using my talents for war? When there are many other equally talented and qualified souls to be found, souls whose loyalties can be bought more easily with gold, why should a meager scholar such as myself bother to involve himself conflict?"

[RuffRydeR]

The old man nodded and waited by the guards. Smiling at them, he casually made conversation. "It would appear the young mistress would like to see her father. I am glad to wait until he is available. Tell me, as I was not expecting to be meeting the lord of the city, do you have someplace I might freshen up?"

"Yeah, there's a room just right there." said the stonefaced soldier.

Liangyu nodded happily, and pointed it out, just as the guard did too. She giggled and walked over to it, then said,

"I'll wait outside until you're ready. I'll take you to my Father once you're ready."

She couldn't wait to introduce the scribe to her father. He was a good person. For an old guy.

"Shall we then?"

She stands up and nods curtly.

"Alright then."

She waves a farewell to her father and they head back out to the duel fields...

(OOC: More replies soon...)