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(A/N: Don’t forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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"But look upon the world now," Lie Fan’s voice rose, filling with a bright, unconquerable optimism. "The wars have ended. The smoke has cleared. Because of the unified strength of the Hengyuan banner, the people of the central plains, the southern rivers, and the western mountains are finally allowed to live long and prosper in peace. The children of our empire can play happily once again in the streets, without looking up in terror at the sound of approaching cavalry."
Lie Fan gestured broadly with his hand. "Cris have entered an all ti low in the recorded history of our civilization. The bandits that plagued our trade routes, the criminal syndicates that operated in the shadows, the remnants of the Black Mountain, they have all been systematically ripped out by the roots. The roads are safe. The seas are calm. The law is absolute."
He stepped slightly closer to the edge of the dais, looking down at the n who had bled for this reality.
"I have invited all of you here tonight to celebrate your efforts," Lie Fan declared fiercely. "This throne was not built by my hands alone. I look out and I see those of you who supported from the very start, when I was nothing but a young man with a dangerous dream in Xu Province. You bled for before the world knew my na. And I also look out and I see those of you who have joined in along the way, n of brilliance and martial virtue who recognized the mandate of heaven and laid down your old banners to build a new world with ."
Lie Fan smiled, a look of profound, overarching gratitude illuminating his features. "It is because of all of your tireless work, your brilliant strategies, and your unyielding swords that I have managed to reach this high position. It is because of you that the Hengyuan Dynasty could be founded to stop the chaos, permanently. The peace of the world belongs to you."
The mont the Emperor concluded his majestic, deeply moving speech, the entire court, the hardened generals, the cynical strategists, the foreign emissaries, and the forr warlords, was entirely overco with profound emotion.
Without a single mont of hesitation, they pressed their foreheads back against the cold stone floor, refusing to accept the praise he had so generously offered.
"Your Imperial Majesty is too gracious! We are absolutely unworthy of Your Majesty’s praise!" the crowd shouted in desperate, unified humility. "Our minor efforts are nothing but dust in the wind! All of this, the peace, the prosperity, the unification of the earth, can only be achieved due to Your Majesty’s unparalleled talent, your divine vision, and your supre, peerless leadership! You are the true savior of the world!"
Hearing the sheer, unadulterated devotion and the frantic humility of the most powerful n on earth, Lie Fan threw his head back and let out a rich, booming laugh. The sound was incredibly infectious, breaking the heavy, solemn formality of the imperial rites and infusing the grand hall with a brilliant, celebratory warmth.
"Enough, enough of your humility!" Lie Fan laughed, waving his hands in a sweeping, dismissive gesture. "If you refuse my praise, then I order you to accept my hospitality! Stand up! All of you, stand up!"
The thousands of guests slowly rose to their feet, their faces flushed with joy and profound relief.
"Take your designated seats," Lie Fan commanded smoothly, turning slightly to offer his hand to Ying Yue. "Tonight, there are no ledgers to balance, no maps to draw, and no enemies to fight. Tonight, we enjoy the fruits of our labor."
Lie Fan led Ying Yue to the center of the dais. With perfectly synchronized, majestic grace, the Emperor and the Empress slowly took their seats upon the intricately carved golden Dragon and Phoenix thrones.
The mont their royal personages were seated, the entire assembly of thousands of guests bowed one final ti before taking their own seats at the countless, exquisitely decorated banquet tables arrayed throughout the cavernous hall.
As the rustling of silk settled and the guests looked eagerly toward the dais, Lie Fan raised his right hand, snapping his fingers with a sharp, echoing crack.
"Let the banquet comnce!" Lie Fan announced loudly. "Serve the food and pour the wine! Let the celebration of the Hengyuan Dynasty begin!"
Instantly, the heavy side doors of the grand hall were thrown open. Hundreds of immaculately dressed palace servants and eunuchs flooded into the room, moving with the terrifying, flawless choreography of a highly trained army.
They carried massive silver platters laden with the most exquisite culinary masterpieces the continent had to offer, whole roasted boars glazed in southern honey, delicate stead fish from the eastern seas, mountains of rare, exotic fruits from the deep jungles, and fragrant, spiced stews from the western plains.
Other servants hurried behind them, carrying heavy jade jugs of the finest, most potent aged plum wines and clear rice liquors, imdiately filling the golden cups of the guests to the brim.
The serene, calming music of the guzheng and pipa resud from behind the silk screens, playing a slightly faster, much more joyous and celebratory lody.
The low murmurs of the crowd quickly swelled into loud, boisterous laughter and animated conversation as the wine began to flow and the heavy burden of decades of war finally, completely evaporated into the warm, fragrant air of the grand banquet hall.
The world was finally at peace, and as the foreign dignitaries and wealthy nobles prepared to retire to their quarters later that night, they remained entirely blissfully unaware of the incredibly luxurious, perfectly scented cedar boxes waiting for them in their washrooms, the final, brilliant economic trap laid by the smiling Emperor who watched them feast from his golden throne.
He leaned back slightly against the golden dragons carved into his throne, watching the empire he had built finally allow itself to breathe.
But an Emperor, even in tis of celebration, is never truly allowed to rest. The unification of the earth ant that the line of n wishing to pay their direct, personal respects stretched virtually out the heavy wooden doors.
The ceremonial toasts began, orchestrated with the flawless, rigid hierarchy of the imperial court.
First to approach the dais was the inner circle of advisors, the brilliant, ruthless minds that had ford the very foundation of the Hengyuan Dynasty. Chancellor Jia Xu, stepping forward with his dark robes whispering against the floor, raised his jade cup. His eyes, usually pools of impenetrable calculation, shone with a rare, genuine warmth.
"To the Black Dragon, who saw through the chaos when the world was blind," Jia Xu rasped, lifting his cup high. "May your wisdom continue to cast shadows over our enemies and light upon your people."
Lie Fan smiled, raising his own golden goblet. He did not rely take a polite sip; he tilted his head back and drained the potent rice liquor in a single, fluid motion.
Following Jia Xu ca Zhuge Liang, gently waving his feather fan before bringing his hands together around his cup, then Xun You, Lu Su, and the rest of the supre administrative architects. Each offered words of profound devotion, and for each, Lie Fan poured a fresh cup and drank it dry.
Next ca the supre military commanders. Marshal Huang Zhong, his face flushed with the heat of the hall and the wine he had already consud, marched up to the base of the dais.
"Your Imperial Majesty!" Huang Zhong bood, his voice carrying over the music. "I said it those years ago, and I will say it again! You are the only man fit to hold the heavens! To the greatest Emperor this continent has ever seen!"
Beside him, the stoic Marshal Zhang Ren offered a much more disciplined, quiet toast, bowing his head in absolute reverence, followed by Zhang Liao and Taishi Ci. Lie Fan laughed heartily at the old tiger’s boisterous energy, raising his cup and draining it twice, once for each Marshal.
The line flowed continuously. The Army Strategists, Fa Zheng, Chen Deng, Zang Hong, and ng Da,nstepped forward to honor the flawless execution of the western campaigns. Then ca the legendary generals. Guan Yu, his magnificent beard gleaming, offered a toast to martial virtue and brotherhood.
Zhang Fei practically roared his congratulations, nearly spilling his own wine in his enthusiasm. Zhao Yun, Dian Wei, Guan Yu, , and the newly assimilated, fiercely loyal forr Wei generals, Yue Jin, Pang De, Zhang He, and the rest, all took their turns kneeling before the dais and raising their cups to the man who had united the world.
For every single general, Lie Fan smiled, spoke a word of personal gratitude, and emptied his golden goblet.
As the military brass retreated to their tables, the highest ranking nobles of the realm began their approach. It was a procession of the oldest, wealthiest, and most influential bloodlines on the continent.
But among them, a specific group separated themselves, projecting an aura that transcended re political submission.
Sun Jian, the legendary Tiger of Jiangdong, now bearing the exalted title of Duke, stepped forward. Beside him was his eldest son, Sun Ce, the Little Conqueror, holding the rank of Marquis. They did not approach with the rigid, terrified formality of subjugated lords.
They walked with the confident, familiar swagger of n who shared a profound, incredibly long history with the man on the throne.
Lie Fan’s eyes lit up with genuine affection as the Sun clan approached. Their friendship extended back to the darkest days of the Han Dynasty’s collapse, back to the dusty, chaotic camps of the anti Dong Zhuo coalition. They had been fierce rivals, yes, but their rivalry had been built on a bedrock of absolute, unyielding mutual respect.
The Sun clan had fought like demons, and when the tides of history turned, they had possessed the wisdom to join their strength with Hengyuan rather than burn their legacy to ash.
Sun Jian looked up at the Emperor, a wide, nostalgic grin splitting his scarred face. He raised a massive, jewel encrusted goblet.
"Brother Lie Fan," Sun Jian spoke, deliberately bypassing the stiff imperial titles for a mont, addressing him as a brother in arms. The guards bristled, but Lie Fan imdiately waved them down. "We have bled on the sa dirt, we have crossed swords, and we have shared campfires when the world was burning. I look at you sitting on that golden chair, and I can honestly say... there is no other man I would rather see wearing that crown. You have brought peace to my family, and to the south. To the Emperor! May the heavens bless your house!"
Sun Ce stepped forward, his fiery, ambitious eyes tad by a profound, brotherly respect. "To Your Majesty! The rivers of Jiangdong flow peacefully because of your mandate. Our spears are forever yours."
Lie Fan stood up from his throne, a rare gesture of extre honor, and walked to the very edge of the dais.
"Brother Wentai. Bofu," Lie Fan addressed them warmly, pouring a massive cup of the most potent, aged plum wine. "Your presence here tonight is a testant to the enduring bonds of our shared history. The south is a jewel of this empire because of the Sun clan’s stewardship. We are not just sovereign and vassal, we are family."
Lie Fan raised his cup and drank it down in one massive gulp, slamming the empty goblet onto the tray held by a nearby eunuch. Sun Jian and Sun Ce laughed heartily, downing their own wine before bowing deeply and returning to their lavishly appointed tables, their status and their pride entirely secured.
The endless river of toasts continued. The fabulously wealthy rchants and the great landlords of the central plains stepped forward, n whose ledgers rivaled the treasuries of small nations.
They praised the safety of the trade routes and the unprecedented economic boom, offering their absolute financial devotion to the throne.
Finally, the grand diplomatic procession of the Vassal and Tributary Kings began.
These were the foreign monarchs who had bent the knee to the Black Dragon, traveling thousands of miles to pay homage. Leading this exotic, vibrant contingent was the delegation from the far eastern reaches of the Korean peninsula.
The King of Goguryeo approached the dais. He wore the traditional, elaborate silks of his holand, but his posture was unnervingly stiff, his eyes darting nervously. He was a king in na only, a puppet seated on a hollow throne.
Walking just a half step behind him, his face a mask of perfectly constructed, serene loyalty, was Li Wei.
Li Wei now have already been elevated into a position of high ranking Hengyuan official, and everyone in the court finally see for the first ti the man who was known as a terrifying and quiet brilliance, who had been explicitly planted by Lie Fan and Chancellor Jia Xu to systematically dismantle Goguryeo from the inside out.
Through the efforts of ruthless political maneuvering, bribery, and shadow assassinations, Li Wei had gained total, absolute control over the Goguryeo court. The King breathed only because Li Wei allowed it, the nation answered to Xiapi, not to its own monarch. The Puppet King raised his cup, his hands trembling slightly as he looked up at the terrifying, god like figure of Emperor Lie Fan.
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Na: 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
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