Political Power

Strange.

Perhaps he usually wore loose-fitting clothes. Or perhaps he didn't enjoy hunting and was on edge once a month.

Most of the information about the Heavenly Emperor himself consisted almost entirely of ambiguous details.

[In the middle of the night, a loud noise came from the Heavenly Emperor's bedchamber. When the Imperial Guard rushed in, eight assassins lay dead, their hands and feet turned black.]

[Grand Academician Myeonghae of the Inner Cabinet collected their bodies and tightly sealed the lips of everyone who had been there.]

Of course, as befitted a court rife with schemes and stratagems, the records did include minor events such as assassination attempts, but they revealed almost nothing.

'Should I have looked instead for something like the court's response to the foreign powers currently holding sway, or the general direction of its policies?'

No, more important than anything was the Heavenly Emperor's reaction to my having met the barbarians.

If I reported that there were more barbarians beyond the realm than expected, it would be a serious problem if the Heavenly Emperor impulsively ordered me to subjugate them.

Especially since I had even fought the Wokou I encountered during this investigation directly, I needed to convey my position with particular care...