A/N: Happy Chinese New Year folks…assuming I finish this by Chinese New Year…but it lasts 15 days so…yeah!!! I speak Cantonese so all Chinese words will be written in Cantonese pronunciation…or to the best of my ability…I'm bad at pinyin…
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass
Lai Cee
A black Mercedes baring the Japanese rising sun on its hood, made its way leisurely through the festive streets of the Chinese capital, with two police motorcycles in front and two in back. The tinted windows opened to reveal a young Japanese teen with long black hair; she stared in amazement at the activity around her. The various shops around the shopping district were filled with customers, clambering to buy large vases of flowers, red and gold decorations, assorted types of snacks, and even small potted tangerine trees with tangerines still growing amongst the branches.
The busy shoppers turned their attention to the procession driving through their streets as they passed, but would quickly return to their business after.
"Kaguya-sama, it would be wise to close the windows." The driver said from the front.
Kaguya obliged, but with a pout. Despite the fact that she's the chairwoman of the U.F.N. and representative of the United States of Japan, everyone around her still insisted on treating her like a child.
Gradually, the mass of people decreased as the car headed for its destination, the Forbidden City. Despite turning into a democratic union, the United States of China kept the monarchy and Forbidden City as a symbol of its culture and history, like Japan before Britannia colonization. Even though it's called a city, it is merely the Imperial Palace surrounded by a large estate now considered a historical landmark.
The luxurious sedan approached the large gates of the Forbidden City and stopped as two armed guards walked up to the car. They knew who it was and knew this was completely unnecessary but there was still protocol to follow. They held their QBZ-95 in front of them, though loosely, as one of them conversed with the motorcycled police and the other approached the driver's side of the black car.
The driver rolled down the window and said to the guard in slightly accented Chinese, "we are an ambassadorial convoy from Japan with a personal invitation from Empress Tianzi."
The guard, who can't be older than eighteen looked inside and Kaguya winked at him. He looked away flustered and straightened back up and said something to a radio on his shoulder. The large wooden red gate, opened with a bang and the young guard waved the car inside. The motorcycled police did not go in with the Mercedes but turned and left.
Kaguya has visited the Forbidden City on many occasions before but it never ceases to amaze her in terms of its sheer size, Pendragon had nothing on this. Although this time, it was even more amazing. The entire courtyard – which was probably the size of a football field – was laid out in red and gold potted flowers. The pathway leading from the gates to the many stairs ahead was a gauntlet of great tiger statues, each about ten feet apart. The stairs itself remained untouched but the white stone banisters were festooned with various decorations and the small tangerine trees Kaguya saw people buy outside lined each tier of stairs. Servants bustled around the various pots of flowers around the courtyard, all dressed in red for the occasion.
As the car approached the end of the oversized courtyard, after crossing the Golden Water River and another gate, Kaguya could see a procession heading down the tall flight of stairs lead by a white haired girl slightly younger than her. Kaguya stood up as much as the low roof of the sedan allowed eagerly and exited the vehicle as soon as it stopped, before the driver could exit himself and open the door for her.
Kaguya started running up the white stairs and the white haired girl ran down and they met in the middle with a hug, forgetting all mannerism and rules when meeting the empress.
"It's nice to see you in person again!" Tianzi said excitedly, letting go of her best friend but still holding her shoulders.
"I know!" Kaguya said happily.
"Happy Chinese New Year!" Tianzi said, spreading her arms out to gesture to everything around her…"And Valentine's Day too apparently."
"Thanks for the invitation," Kaguya said holding the young girl's hand.
"You can stay for the whole two weeks right?" Tianzi asked excitedly.
"Yup, I've made sure to clear my schedule." Kaguya said, "But you understand that if there's an emergency, I'd have to go."
"Of course! But it's Chinese New Year, a time of fortune and luck so let's not talk about things like that." Tianzi said and started pulling Kaguya up the stairs. "I'll show you around the palace and what we did."
The palace inside was even grander than outside. Symbols of the Chinese New Year hung everywhere around the palace. There were various New Year's greetings written in black calligraphy on long rectangular red paper, plastered on various doors or walls. Gilded cutouts of characters like "luck" or "fortune" also plastered the walls and doors. Vases of peony, water lilies, azalea, and various other red and gold or yellow flowers decorated the halls and rooms.
The furniture and everything in general was usually kept clean and spotless but it seems everything looked a lot cleaner or just plain nicer. Maybe it's the atmosphere? The servants that passed them added phrases like, "Gon Hay Fat Choi" or "Sun Lin Fai Lok" after their usual greetings when seeing the empress.
"What did they say?" Kaguya asked.
"They're just wishing us a good year." Tianzi explained. "Sun Lin Fai Lok means 'May you have a fortuitous year' and Gon Hay Fat Choi pretty much just means 'Happy New Year'."
Touring the entire palace would actually be near impossible because of its sheer size so Tianzi only showed Kaguya the Hall of Supreme Harmony and the banquet room they were to have their New Year's feast later. A large round table – probably twenty feet in diameter – was placed at the opposite end of the large room from the door, and small tables – around seven to ten feet in diameter – were arrayed around the room. Red silk table cloths covered each table, patterned with various symbols of good luck and the year of the tiger. At the head of the twenty feet round table, directly facing the door was a grand golden chair carved with dragons and phoenixes; an obvious cue if you did not understand from the size of the table, that the empress and special guests are supposed to sit at the behemoth of a table. Skillfully decorated porcelain plates and bowls and teacups were placed with perfection around the tables, along with beautiful wooden chopstick resting on porcelain chopstick rests. At the center of each table was a raised round section that spun; this was where the dishes for the banquet will be placed. Pink cloth folded into the shape of a swan was placed on each plate as decoration until the guests arrived. Apparently, they had a feast the day before as well to celebrate the end of the previous year.
"All this seems a bit grand isn't it?" Kaguya asked, concerned.
"It was well within the budget," Tianzi said, "the minister of finance approved it as well."
"Isn't China still dealing with large amounts of poverty stricken citizens?" Kaguya asked.
Tianzi turned to look at her best friend, "This is actually a step down from the celebrations held when the Eunuchs were in power. Besides, welfare reform doesn't happen overnight just because you cancel a yearly celebration to save money."
"I guess…" Kaguya said, placing her index finger on her cheek. "When did you become so wise?"
"I learned it all from you," Tianzi replied and grabbed hold of her friend's arms her to lead to the Imperial Garden.
The two young leaders walked around the garden, taking in the sight. Kaguya noticed two little girls – probably not even ten years old – walking hand in hand in the garden. The Japanese ambassador knew that these were maids-in-training, palace maids were trained from a young age. She watched as the two girls went up to one of the older male servant and said something to him. The male servant smiled and took out two red small red envelopes from the inside of his robes and gave one to each girl. The girls bowed and walked away smiling and laughing.
"What did that servant give to the girls?" Kaguya asked. Tianzi was watching as well.
"That would be 'Lai Cee' or 'red envelopes'. The Japanese equivalent of this for Japanese New Year is 'Otoshidama'." The Chinese Empress explained.
"So Shogatsu is from Chinese New Year then…"
"Chinese New Year…Japanese New Year…Vietnamese New year….they're all just the lunar new year. The traditions are very similar right?"
"I guess, but our envelopes are white and we write the names of the receiver on it."
"Red is a lucky color for the Chinese and we don't write the names to keep our identities hidden since the receiver might be dissatisfied with the amount received."
"But wouldn't they know when they open it?" Kaguya asked, slightly confused as to how that worked.
"You can't open them on the spot because it's considered rude, although some kids still do it." Tianzi explained as-matter-of-factly. "And it's supposed to be bad luck to open your lai cee before the end of the fifteen day celebrations."
"So did you receive any lai cee yet?" Kaguya asked, using the Chinese word for red envelopes.
"Nope," Tianzi said in a disappointed tone of voice. "As the empress, even though I'm still fourteen, I am expected to GIVE lai cee, not receive them. I used to get them when my parents were still around but ever since becoming empress, I've been obliged to give them out. Did you know married couples are the ones supposed to give while children and young single men and women receive them? So it's like saying I'm old!" The young white haired girl practically screamed the last part out.
Kaguya didn't know exactly what to say so she remained silent until an idea struck her. "Why don't you pretend to be a servant girl?"
"Thought about it, but if I'm found out then it won't be good for my reputation." Tianzi said wearily.
"Being public figures at such a young age is hard isn't it?" Kaguya responded.
"Did you get any?" Tianzi asked, "During Shogatsu?"
"Yes, from Toudoh-san and the others," Kaguya said, than noticing the young empress's face…"did you invite the black knights as well?"
"Yeah, I was wondering why they didn't come with you."
"Guess they'll be here later." Kaguya replied. "Where's Xingke anyways? Resting?"
"Yeah, he'll be there for the banquet though so he's resting until then," Tianzi said as she thought about the former commander in chief of the Black Knights and her savior.
"You know, I've been to the Forbidden City many times but I've yet to explore the entire palace city." Kaguya said cheerfully. "Let's try to add more to my map of knowledge of the Forbidden City."
The two young teens walked off laughing down the stoned garden path as they set out to explore as much of the palace city as possible. They didn't notice a figure standing behind boulder they were having their conversation by. The figure crushed the rest of the dried bread and threw the mass of crumbs into the pond of ducks and koi fish, he grabbed the decorative wooden cane propped against the boulder, stood up, and walked away.
Kaguya and Tianzi spent the day around the west side of the Imperial Garden behind the Palace of Heavenly Purity in the inner court area. When the monarchy was in power over the Chinese Federation, this would've been where most of the government officials would have worked. Some of the buildings were still in use, mostly by cultural officials, but most were abandoned as the government moved away from the monarchy, fearing influence, to establish offices elsewhere in the capital.
Tall bookshelves of lacquered redwood lined the buildings where various record books used to be held. Now they held mostly historical reference books, random scrolls here and there, and old records that would've wasted space in the new offices outside of the Forbidden City.
Apparently most of the important guests that would be attending the New Year banquet had already arrived; they were just meandering around the outer court of the palace city. They were mostly Chinese government officials but a number of ambassadors from the different member states of the U.F.N. were also there. Wanting to avoid them for now, the two young leaders stayed in the inner court. They spent the remaining time in the relatively small garden at the northwestern edge of the palace city.
A servant ran up to the girls, out of breath as he greeted the empress and Kaguya. He was sent to look for the empress as the banquet was about to begin and she was needed. Tianzi and Kaguya followed the servant back out toward the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but not before Tianzi stopped by her room in the Palace of Heavenly Purity to change into the dress for this occasion. A Red silk, gold lined dress patterned with tigers.
They entered the banquet room through the back as the guests were waiting out front and as soon as they sat down, the guests were allowed in. The core members of the Black Knights were amongst the guests coming in, along with Ohgi and Villetta. Kallen, Toudoh, Toudoh's wife Chiba, Ohgi and Villetta joined Kaguya at the giant table. The rest of the black knights like Tamaki sat in one of the smaller tables. It turned out that the large table was not meant to be completely filled, only half. The Chinese prime minister joined the empress at the table with a few other government officials. Empress Nunnally and Zero appeared after all the guests had taken their seats and joined the empress's table, though how Zero will eat was a mystery to those around him. Li Xingke came in followed by Hong Gu and Xianglin; Xingke took the other seat next to Tianzi – Kaguya occupying the other – with a glance from the prime minister.
The banquet began with a New Year's greeting from Tianzi to the attendees. The young empress wished everyone there a good year and that the year of the tiger will be a year to overcome great challenges. There was polite applause and Tianzi signaled the servants to bring in the food. Each table was brought a big bowl of shark fin soup, a roasted pig, roasted duck, white chicken, steamed fish, and assortments of vegetable and meat dishes. The servants scooped a bowl of soup for everyone and beautifully cooked rice as well.
Various drinks, including non-alcoholic beverages, for the younger attendees and maybe Tamaki were brought out. Servants stood quietly along the walls waiting to serve when the need arises. Laughter and conversations rang through the banquet room as the feast continued and Tamaki had managed to get his hands on a bottle of wine. Two servants dragged the screaming inebriated knight out to a rest area to sleep off the alcohol. Toudoh pinched the bridge of his nose and looked down in embarrassment but everyone just laughed it off, knowing that Tamaki was going to be in a lot of trouble when he wakes up.
A servant walked behind the great golden chair that Tianzi sat and whispered something to her ear, handing her a basket as the banquet was nearing its end. Kaguya looked at the basket and saw that it was filled with red envelopes embossed with a gold image of a prowling tiger. Tianzi waved the servant off and stood up and everyone fell quiet, though it took a while as the young empress was not very tall and not everyone noticed her standing.
"I've already wished everyone a great year and now I present these lai cee in hopes that these will bring you luck and to thank everyone for your support, and to hope you will support me in the future." Tianzi said aloud to the room.
Applause rang through the room again as female servants carrying the baskets of the red envelopes around to the different tables, handing one to each guest. Tianzi personally gave one to those sitting with her at her table, though she was only able to personally hand one to those sitting to her immediate left and right.
Kaguya tucked her lai cee into the fold of her kimono and glanced at the young empress next to her. For the slightest of moments, Kaguya saw the flash of a frown on the young girl's face. As the main course was finished, desert was brought out – various fruits and Chinese sweets – the young Japanese girl tried to think of a way to cheer her friend up.
The banquet lasted late into the night, long after the food was downed, as conversations took place of eating. When it finally did end, Tianzi stood up again to thank everyone for attending. The attendees stood – the Chinese attendees anyways – thanked the honorable Empress in unison for her invitation. As the servants led the various guests out, Tianzi noticed Xingke standing off to the side next to a tapestry she knew covered a door. The empress walked up to the grown man and he led her inside. Kaguya noticed the young empress disappearing behind the tapestry and instantly called back all the black knights and close friends. She gathered them in a corner and began to explain something frantically to them.
The door hidden behind the tapestry led to a small resting room, beautifully crafted wooden furniture adorned the room, along with many paintings and wall scrolls.
"Happy New Year, Lihua." Xingke said with a smile when they were inside.
"Happy New Year, Xingke." Lihua smiled. It was nice to get away from the formalities for a while.
"Here," Xingke took a small red envelope and presented it to the young girl.
"What's this?" Lihua asked, confused.
"A lai cee of course," Xingke replied. "Every young girl should receive at least one during Chinese New Year, even if they are the empress of a country." Xingke patted the girl on the head and she threw herself at him, hugging the man tightly around the waist nearly knocking him over.
"Thank you Xingke!" the young empress cried, tears of joy rolling down her face.
Outside; the black knights, Zero, and Nunnally faced Kaguya as she finished explaining what she wanted to do.
"So everyone ready?" she asked the group sternly.
"This is very nice of you Kaguya-san." Nunnally commented. "I understand how Tianzi feels."
"I'm just doing what any friend would do," Kaguya said.
"Then can I talk to you when I'm feeling down too?" Nunnally giggled.
"Of course!" Kaguya said immediately. "Though you have Zero-sama too."
Zero coughed a little at that comment.
Once Tianzi wiped away her tears, Xingke led her back out as she clutched her lai cee to her chest. However, they came face to face with Kaguya and her group.
"Gon Hay Fat Choi!" the group said in unison and each held out a red envelope.
Tianzi was once again caught off guard and confusion graced her feature for a moment, and once again tears of happiness rolled from her eyes at Kaguya and her friends' generosity. Nunnally was the first to go up to her, rolling towards the young empress on her wheelchair. The Britannian empress pulled the Chinese empress down in a hug. "Just because we're empresses, doesn't mean we need to give up being children right?"
Tianzi nodded in agreement as she wiped her eyes and everyone gathered around her to cheer her up. The Chinese empress saw Kaguya standing off to the side and when she caught her eyes, Kaguya winked.
"Thank you everyone," Tianzi said happily as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. "Thank you…"
A/N: Go to my profile to see what's up with my main Code Geass fic if you were following that. The QBZ-95 is the standard infantry rifle of the Chinese army…in real life.
It seems a bit extravagant but Emperors/Empresses are not known for their modesty in celebrations. The decorations for the palace were inspired by the movie "Curse of the Golden Flower". The Forbidden City is just too big to describe properly. Lihua is apparently Tianzi's real name (Tianzi is a title).
I've always imagined that Xingke's disease have incapacitated him if not killed him at the end of the series.
I forgot to mention it and really couldn't find anywhere to insert it but Tianzi and Kaguya would've gone to the temple in the Forbidden to burn and incense and pray for a good year as well.