Tyrant of the Ruined Sun-Chapter 176: Eastern Intrigue 3

A stunned silence descended upon us then, one none of us momentarily knew how to navigate, as we all, including Tianlan's own children, stared at him in blatant disbelief, wondering if some being had possessed the eastern emperor last night, and was now wearing him as some kind of macabre skinsuit.

"You agree?" I asked in overt incredulity, having expected a gruelling war of words, but now stumped by his seemingly premature surrender.

"Indeed, I do." He repeated, his tone tranquil, and his smile relaxed.

"Just like that?" I asked again, wondering how could the great Golden Glutton, the most greed ridden monarch of all, the man so infamous for his love of wealth that many describe it as a virulent sickness, so readily let go of an opportunity to extract millions of Darr from me so easily in dowry and favours.

Yet he still remained adamant in his apparent madness, as he nodded yet again, his eyes serene, yet I now caught the fleeting light of ulterior motives in his eyes; they were sincere yes but not wholly pure, and that revelation eased my mind a bit, relieving me of much of my worry, knowing that I was not stranded in unknown terrain, as I then calmly looked at my stunned brother, his mind probably still imprisoned by the effortless expediency of his expectedly fickle betrothal offer, and said to him warmly "Seems congratulations are in order brother."

"Congratulations!" Cyrus was the first to echo my sentiments, his mind unburdened by the oddity of the situation, as he carefreely embraced our brother, before he then directed his attention to our newly anointed, but equally puzzled family, as they too glanced at their father in apparent worry, as if the man had suddenly grown a second head, or unexpectedly developed an incurable disease that has struck his brain, warping his personality beyond recognition.

Yet the eastern emperor seemed to have completely overlooked our gazes, or had simply ignored them, as he smiled slightly at Cyrus' antics, before he then called out, his lips a gentle picture of paternal love "Ziyi."

"Yes, father?" She quickly replied with a slight jump in her voice, not expecting her father to suddenly address her.

"I trust you have no objection?" He asked, his tone playful, with some subtle undertones of humour outlining his words.

The girl seemed slightly ashamed to be asked such a question so openly and before so many of us, but she was a princess at the end of the day, one who was raised rightly to maintain composure before entire halls of nefarious opportunists, so this apparent teasing from her father required little effort to dispel, as her composure returned to her low and gentle voice, confidently answering her father's query "Of course I hold no argument against your judgement father."

"Excellent! Excellent!" Tianlan then exclaimed, but it was all clearly performative, an exaggeration born to mask a truth he seemed unwilling to share, yet to what end I did not know yet; and it was a riddle I was determined to wrench out of him before he left this day.

Nonetheless, the man seemed genuinely joyous, as he again looked to his daughter and knowingly asked "You've often spoken to me about your fondness for the Strom King's gardens ever since we arrived here, correct?"

"Yes, I did." She calmly replied, as she like the rest of us, waited for him to reveal the aim of his words.

"Well, wouldn't this prove to be the most opportune chance to invite the young prince Nizam to accompany you through those same gardens? To better build a foundation for your future selves?" Tianlan spoke like an old, wise man, who wished for nothing more than to enlighten the young with his gleamed knowledge of the world, yet the subtle glance he threw my way a moment later, told me the true purpose of his actions.

A purpose I found myself sharing at this moment too, as I decided to fully cooperate with him by turning to my own brothers, exclaiming "What a wonderful idea. And may I suggest that Cyrus invite his highness Weixiao to the training hall as well? After all, as a future family, a functioning relationship is necessary as well, and both have a common interest in the pursuit of martial prowess."

"A marvellous suggestion!" Tianlan instantly agreed, and turned to his son and heir, his eyes applying a silent pressure on him to agree, and though Weixiao was still a breathing heap of muddled confusion at all that was occurring, his fealty to his beloved father was not up for question, so he readily agreed, followed shortly by Cyrus, who also accepted, as he never missed the chance to make more friends.

So the four quietly departed under the eyes of the hundreds of Tianlan's attendants who were still waiting beyond the door, but once they did, all pretence melted into the tense air around us, as I asked "What do you want?"

"Being direct. I like that, saves time." Tianlan nonchalantly replied, his lips twisting from it's previous joviality and warmth, to a cold, ruthless smirk.

"Yes it does, so enough with your tedious theatrics and answer my queries. What do you want, and why are you exerting such effort into your little play?" I repeated, my tone without patience and my voice without warmth and threatening to the ear.

He laughed shortly in reply, before coldly saying "It seems tales of your tyranny and ruthlessness are not without merit if you so comfortably command others with such forceful bravado; but I suggest you do not adopt such a tone with me O' great and powerful Ruinous Dragon."

He finished as silver markings of captured moonlight etched themselves upon his now glistening skin, while his long and pristine hair rose from behind him, as though defying gravity with the soothing silver light of the celestial giant that hovered our globe and haunted our nights in illuminating splendour, framing his form in enchanting moonlight and his eyes in heart pounding dread, as you felt the moon itself were plucked from the heavens and inserted into his pupils, proudly glaring at you in pale light.

"Your aura is indeed heavy... but it lacks edge lord Tianlan." I said through gritted teeth and furrowed brows, as I raised my hand in a stopping gesture to my rattled guards and loyal men, before my own power then surged forth to wrestle his own, but unlike his elegant might and it's pure moonlight, mine was dark, brutal and wholly savage; like a rioting ocean thrashing titanic waves upon the shoreline humiliatingly holding it prisoner.

But much like that unconquerable coast, his power was unyielding beyond a certain point, containing my third gated strength in a shell of his fourth gated might, leaving me with a mere fourth of the room while he dominated the rest with an eased expression, as though he was barely expending any effort in doing so; which was undoubtedly true; proving both an insult and a show of face from his part, as I estimated he could've easily pushed my sphere of influence another few paces back, yet he purposefully chose not to, only wanting to clearly showcase the difference in our power without overly debasing me.

For whatever reason, again I did not know, but either way I was determined not to be wholly outmatched by him, as I then displayed the meaning behind my earlier words, by injecting a hefty amount of my colossal bloodlust into our competing wills, inviting a plethora of mortifyingly mangled mirages interlaced with sickeningly sadistic visions of an infernal beast, with claws of hooks, teeth of swords, scales of obsidian shields and wings of stygian fire, flapping through crimson winds that were so saturated with spilled blood, that merely brushing past a breeze of it left you drenched in a crimson coat of gore; all the while unspeakably sanguinary stenches that left his nose reeling in revulsion and his eyes burning as though a fire had been lit under his eyelids continued assaulting his other senses.

Though bloodlust was not a tangible form of power like the ferocious aura of martial artists, the wonderous magic arts of mages, the miraculous healing arts of priests and the awe inducing capabilities of divine power, it was still a force to be reckoned with, as it delivered a harrowing psychic punch to any opposing challenger, who's soul proved less tainted by the blood and lives of felled foes.

And there were very few alive in this world who possessed an equally befouled soul as mine; a fact the eastern emperor faced first hand, as he said a few seconds later with grave eyes, a strained voice, and a single sweat drop trickling down his cheek "How does a boy an eighth my age possess such sullied hands?"

I did not answer, but merely kept staring at him with my hauntingly slitted pupils, waiting for him to explain his odd behaviour.

Seeing me so adamant, he sighed as his divine power receded, before saying "First of all, I want to thank you for aiding me in ushering my children away. I would've rather they not have heard what I had to say this day."

"Then why did you bring them here in the first place?" It was Darius who spoke then, his eyes narrowed sceptically and his tone guarded; it was clear that my venerable Grand Vizier was even more distrustful of the man than anyone else present.

Chuckling in an almost self deprecating manner, he replied "It was to confuse the dissentious ears and eyes of those most hateful members of my court, who pray every night for the downfall of the empire my ancestors have entrusted to me."

We all grew shocked by this, our hair almost standing on end from just the sound of it, as the implications of these words were not so simple, for they could only mean one thing, the eastern emperor, like all of us cardinal monarchs have internal enemies that wish to destroy or replace us, but contrary to the rest of us, he is losing.