"Welcome emperor, to the town of Tongquetai." I announced. The emperor looked at me as if I was growing a second head. We had just pass the large broken stone walls that were surrounding the town.
Appraising the weathered buildings, almost everything seems to be falling apart besides the stone wall, however said wall had a large gap in the east from when came out of the forest. It was as if something had rammed the wall down or explode it to bits.
"You mean this ragged town is where I'll be staying? For a warrior of your calibre, I thought you had a castle or a lavish house?" Han Jin questioned with a disbelieving expression as his gaze turned to the warrior.
"What do you mean? I never said anything about owning a mansion and regardless of your preference your majesty, this should be fine anyways seeing as you don't have a place to call home now." I retorted.
I regretted a bit seeing as how the emperor flinched at my words, I hated having to treat him like this, but Han Jin must understand his situation and must make use of it. It didn't matter what his preference are so long as he is no longer a tool for others to use. Nothing was said for the seconds passed and the emperor had his head down as if he was being lectured. I sighed in annoyance at myself.
"Come, we need to talk the town lord and clean ourselves before sleeping." I spoke. The sun was setting, and Han Jin and I had been going for days with little rest, and even my feet was beginning to hurt from the continual walking. The same cannot be said for the emperor, who was not used to walking vast distances on foot. Han Jin just nodded at me, his head bowed, and his gaze fixed on the ground, ashamed to look at me.
Emperor Han Jin and I made our way into town, where only a few individuals could be seen. most of the people outside were beggars in alleyways or youngsters playing together in the dirt, while me and the emperor had been the focus of the town due to our attire. Two strangers wearing silk clothing and embroidery would draw attention in this dismal and gloomy village. The emperor, unfamiliar with this type of situation, clutched to my sleeves tightly in fear of being attacked by the people.
"Its fine, they will not do anything to you and besides even if they did, I doubt they have the courage to face against me either." I assured him in a whisper that only he can hear.
Han Jin nodded no longer holding onto my sleeve but still walking close next to me. After a few minutes of turning and stopping to get my bearings, we arrived at the town lord's home. It was a two-story house that seemed to be maintained better than the rundown buildings from earlier however it wasn't a far cry in comparison.
"Do you know the town lord Hayden?" Han Jin asked.
"A little bit, I was born here in Tongquetai, and the community back then was very close. Usually the town lord, who's name I forgot, always remembered all our names and was always helpful. I'm sure that if I ask a favour he'll provide." I answered succinctly, but honestly, I wasn't sure that he'll be willing to help me or the emperor.
Seeing the state of this town now, it was drastically different from how I remembered it as a child before leaving but I'm hoping that the old man is kind enough to provide us my old house. I knocked on the door and waited with Han Jin.
"Wait you were born here? Why did you leave then?" Han Jin looked up to me and asked but before I could reply the door creaked open slowly.
We both were sighted to an old, frail looking man with a smile on his face. His face was wrinkled, and he had short grey hair, his back was hunched over, and he used a cane to support himself.
"Yes, may I help you?" He softly asked. Han Jin was waiting for me to talk but when I didn't respond he turned his head and looked at me. I had a blank face, but Han Jin nudged my sides, causing me to recover myself.
"Right. sorry for disturbing you, town lord but we were hoping that you have spare accommodations for me and my lord next to me. We have been travelling for quite some time now and hoping that we could rest here." I explained. The old man didn't say anything but turned his head to the direction to me and opened his eyes. Han Jin raised his eyebrows in shock, the old man eyes before us were milky white.
"You sound familiar sir, have we met before?" he inquired again in that sweet tone filled with warmth and compassion.
Han Jin turned to face Hayden, who had returned to his blank expression, but smiled at the elderly man. Han Jin had no idea what was going on between the two but knew that this was a moment for Hayden.
"Yes, we have, but I was only a little boy before I left Tongquetai, town lord and I doubt you would remember me." Hayden replied softly. The old man continued to investigate the direction of where Hayden was and smiled at him.
"It has been a while my boy, but I would not ever forget you, Hayden." The old man stated sincerely. Hayden continued smiling but this time it seemed as if radiate relief and joy.
"Come inside with your lord Hayden." The Town lord invited.
Hayden looked at Han Jin and nodded at him. Despite appearing run down and tattered on the exterior, the house was kept completely tidy. When glancing at the decorations and paintings adorning the walls, it was also a dramatic contrast to the other houses. Both Hayden and Han Jin removed their worn and ragged shoes and entered the house's hallway. The layout of the house was such that the end of the hallway led to a staircase leading to the second level. In addition to the front door, there are two doors in this corridor; the door on the left was open and appeared to be a ceremony room. Candles were lit in there and an incense was burning and flourishing this entire house with a smell of Chenxiang (Agarwood). The door on the right was close and where the town lord was leading us to.
"Forgive my tardiness, I was not expecting visitors." He apologised as he walked to the door.
the cane supporting him and tapping on the floor while he walked, creating this rhythmic sound. Hayden nudged Han Jin again, and this time he recognised the town ruler was referring to him. He stammered slightly.
"Ah-I mean, do not apologise town lord we came here without notice after all, in fact your generosity towards us is something to praised about." Han Jin commeded, and he held by it, he couldn't expect the town lord to prepare for another lord without warning, let alone the emperor of China. Hayden nodded at Han Jin for being respectful and grateful to the Town lord.
"Thank you, young lord for your kind words." He replied thankful.
All three of them managed to go into the room which was the living room. There Hayden and Han Jin sat down on wooden chairs by a rectangular table, big enough to support six people in total. The town lord sat down opposite of Han Jin while Hayden decided to brew the tea in the kitchen which both lords were thankful for. The town lord then introduced himself properly.
"Now, to properly introduce myself before the tea is ready. my name is Tong Li. I am the town lord of Tongquetai and have been in this position for fifty years now. I have heard that you are looking for a place to stay young lord?" Tong Li stated softly but there was tone of authority.
This was only natural; another lord would not want to stay at another lord's home unless they were planning to conquer and take the town for themselves. The only reason Tong Li even allowed them in was because Hayden was there. Han Jin was taken aback from the tone that the town lord spoke in, but he wasn't deterred. Hayden meanwhile was pondering what the emperor would say to old man Li, and looking at them, he could see Han Jin making his decision.
"Town lord Tong Li of Tongquetai, forgive my intrusion into your town. It is true what Hayden said about me having to stay at your town, but it is because of my situation. I am currently being chased by different lords from different Provinces such as Cao Cao and Guo Si." Han Jin answered truthfully, there was no point staying here if he couldn't win the trust of the town lord.
If Han Jin was in Tong Li's shoes, he would not doubt just send a messenger to Cao Cao in exchange for the reformation of his home town or for fame and honour, so to counteract that outcome he must gain the town lord's trust by any means necessary.
"So why are they pursuing you, young lord? Are you a wanted fugitive, and has Hayden been engaged in your troubles?" Tong Li inquired sternly. He was still facing Han Jin, and despite being blind, Han Jin felt pressed by his enquiries and turned his head downwards to gaze at the table. In the kitchen, Hayden was going to intervene, but Han Jin beat him to it.
"I-Its because I am the emperor of China." He stated clearly, raising his head and meeting Tong Li's gaze.
Tong Li and Hayden were both perplexed by this confession, but for different reasons. Tong Li was startled that the Emperor of China was so young and was currently under his roof. Ever since this town has fallen to disrepair, their information of the current state of affairs has been slow and non-existent. Meanwhile, Hayden was taken aback by the fact that the emperor himself revealed his true status rather than trying to deceive the elderly man. But that doesn't mean he wasn't happy about this outcome; in fact, he was approving that Han Jin told the truth instead of taking advantage of the situation. A long and deafening silence permeated into the room with the only sounds being heard was the kettle whistling.
"I see. I understand why Hayden brought you here now. Very well then, forgive me emperor but my home is not the most accommodating for a person of your stature but please make use of it for as long as you need." Tong Li after rearranging his thoughts accepted Han Jin. This threw Han Jin into a loop.
"Wait a minute, what? You're just taking my word for it?" Han Jin inquired.
He hadn't expected this from Tong Li; he had assumed that he would have to bargain with him or be skeptical that someone like him would claim the mandate of emperor. Tong Li and Hayden were both amused by his reaction trying to suppress their laughing in front of the emperor, 'Trying' being the keyword.
"Forgive me emperor, but the reason I trust you is because of who you are with." Tong Li said. Han Jin was confused now and looked at Hayden.
'What does Hayden have to do with anything?' he thought to himself.
As Han Jin wondered about what the town lord meant, Hayden came and brought the tea and cups and poured It for them. Nothing was said after that, and Han Jin was curious to know what Tong Li meant and just assumed he trusted Hayden's judgement. Both Tong Li and Hayden didn't answer which slightly frustrated the emperor, but he would let it go for the massive amount of generosity given to him.
"Are you really willing to let me stay here Lord Tong Li?" Han Jin asked sceptical. Tong Li chuckles in response.
"Of course, your Imperial Highness. You are free to stay here as long as you like. Although the accommodation may not be up to standards for an emperor."
"Don't worry your highness. Now that I'm here things will change for Tongquetai for the better now." Hayden Injected, assuring Han Jin and Tong Li that things will be better for the town and its people.
"What do you mean Hayden?" Han Jin asked quizzically.
Hayden smiled at the young emperor.
"I'll tell you both at a later date, but I think it's time to rest now your highness."
Tong Li nods and guides both upstairs and opens a guest room.
"This is the spare room on second floor, unfortunately I do not have any other rooms available for you Hayden." Tong Li explains.
Hayden just shrugs. "I don't mind Li. I'll be sleeping with the young emperor here." Han Jin whipped his head at me with raised eyebrows.
"What?! Why?"
"I told you. I'm your bodyguard and personal retainer now. So, I got to make sure you have a good night sleep." He smiles at him.
"Hmm…" Han Jin was unsure of this.
"Look later down the line, you'll have more guards who'll be watching over you so you might as well start getting used to it now, your highness." Hayden explained. Han Jin sighs and reluctantly nods his head.
"Very well. Good night, Lord Tong Li." Han Jin bows his head towards the blind old man and Hayden does so as well.
"May the heavens bless you in your dreams, emperor." Tong Li bowed backed and returned to his room to rest but not before looking in our direction as me and Han Jin entered our room together.
A few minutes later, Tong Li returned to our room to provide more casual and cleaner clothes for us to wear, carrying our dirty clothes due to our travel.
"I will clean this for you tomorrow and hang it up. Hopefully it will remain sunny for your clothes to dry." Tong Li exited our room after we settled in and put on our clothes. Han Jin was wearing a red tunic along with black long pants meanwhile, I wore a black shirt with brown pants.
The full moon emanates its light into the singular opened window, illuminating the room. I sat down on the darker side of the room with my back against the wall, one knee up and arm over it, looking down at the floor with my sheathed nodachi lying against my body. Han Jin slept on the mattress that was already in the room, however as Han Jin tried to sleep he couldn't get use to this new environment yet. He turned over with his eyes close to try to get comfortable. After a few minutes, he opens his eyes to see Hayden just sitting down against the wall on the opposite side of the room. his entire frame darken except his legs that was encased in moonlight.
'Huh wonder what's going through his mind.' In this moment of peace and relaxation, Han Jin started to ask questions to himself about Hayden such as who was he? Where did he go at a young age and why? Why did he return to this town? These thoughts were interrupted when Hayden spoke.
"You still up your Highness?" Hayden said with a smile, lifting his head up in the darkness and looking at his emperor.
Han Jin a bit surprise that Hayden knew that he was awake still, but he sat up cross legged and faced towards Hayden. Properly taking on Hayden's appearance and body language.
"So, what's on your mind?" Hayden asked.
This was a simple question yet with many interpretations for the emperor. Seconds went by with neither speaking, only facing each other, with Hayden waiting for an answer.
"I don't know what to do." Han Jin said so quietly that it was a whisper in the wind, however in this closed space at night Hayden heard it loud and clear.
"Don't know what to do?" Hayden questioned.
"Yeah, I'm not sure what to do." Han Jin reaffirmed. Hayden just shook his head.
"…Then what do you want to do now?" Hayden asked in a soft and calming tone.
Han Jin just sat there looking at Hayden, raising his hand through his hair thinking and contemplating on how to answer.
"I'm just want to live a peaceful life away from the politics and power thirsty warlords." Han Jin confessed, now looking away from Hayden. A few seconds later of silence permeated over the room.
"Then why don't you surrender to the dominant warlords then?"
This confused Han Jin as he wasn't sure what Hayden was saying.
"If you wanted to live a peaceful life away from the politics and warlords then the simple answer would be to choose a warlord with a trustworthy credit to achieve your desire." Han Jin now understood Hayden's question and went eerily silent. Hayden saw this change within the emperor and continued.
"Why do you not want to submit to other warlords if they can give you an easy life that you want?" Han Jin looked down to the wooden floor. His body sullen.
"Like you said, you don't know what to do so let others do it for you." Hayden looks at Han Jin's shrunken form and watches as he starts to slightly tremble.
"To me, it sounds like you're a cow-"
"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO BE A TOOL FOR OTHERS!" Han Jin angrily shouted, interrupting Hayden who just calmly looked at the emperor without surprise.
"I don't want to be used as a pawn for the benefit of others; I never desired this kind of life. All I wanted was to live a peaceful and quiet life." Han Jin continued to express his frustrations and fears to Hayden.
"What's funny is that I never wanted to be Emperor in the first place. I watched as how my mother and the Eunuchs fought over control for the Han court therefore causing a massacre in Luoyang. I saw as Dong Zhuo murdered my brother in cold blood, forcing me to wear this forsaken crown just to be his puppet. And after he died, I believed I'd finally be able to live the free life that Guo Si and Li Jue had promised me, but they lied as well, instead using me again like Dong Zhuo, and they were just as horrible as him. " Han Jin vented out, his voice becoming louder.
"Then there's Cao Cao, the person who I thought I could trust when he helped me escaped Chang 'an but no, I overheard him talking with one of his advisors about what he was planning to do with me, and it came down to me being his puppet instead. He wasn't saving me because he was a good person but because I was a tool needed to fulfill his OWN DAMN AMBITION!" He yelled in frustration and anger.
Tears begin to pour into the floor, and Han Jin's yelling may have awakened up Tong Li, but Hayden continued sitting and looking at the emperor with a blank face, displaying no sympathy or pity for the emperor. Han Jin was still staring at Hayden's blank face, irritated at him not finding his plight as pathetic or to be mocked.
"Why -hic- aren't you belittling me? the emperor of china for how much I failed. Shouldn't you -hic- be calling me pathetic and weak for not having power and strength to fight my own -hic- battles when I instead ran away like a coward!" Han Jin cried.
His tears started to fall like rain and wouldn't stop anytime soon and yet he still faces towards Hayden and looked him in the eyes. Hayden meanwhile smiled at him after his declaration and spoke.
"Han Jin, you were thrust into the emperor's seat and given the mandate of Heaven, and as a result, people began using you for their own personal ambitions and ideals at a young age, while you had to suffer at their expense. You began to lose your sibling, mother, father, and relatives until only you remained." Hayden stated quietly, his words were like swords stabbing into Han Jin's heart, forcing him to quiver in pain.
"You believe you are unfit to be Emperor because you are too weak to fight against Cao Cao and Guo you were used as a puppet by such a people because you lacked strength and hence had no choice except to flee from both warlords but more importantly your responsibility." Han Jin nodded, wiping his eyes in futility, and gazing down at the ground rather than at him.
"In other words, you despise yourself because of your weakness against Cao Cao, Dong Zhuo, and Guo Si, so you decided that the only way to fight them was to flee. You fled your troubles because you couldn't bear the responsibility of being Emperor and what you'd done to the land." Hayden's explanation of Han Jin shattered him.
He doubled over in front of Hayden, humiliated of what he was saying about him. Han Jin had to bear the burden of a failing generation and their problems all this time. He never had anyone he could trust and was never offered solutions; thus, the situation was a living hell. He had no solutions, no allies, and all he could do was follow orders from the world's villains.
"And yet…" Through Han Jin's tears and sobbing, the young emperor lifted his head in his hand.
Hayden had made his way to the opposite side of the room where Han Jin was resting.
"And yet here you still stand." Hayden stated unequivocally. Both were now looking at one other, and Hayden removed his hand from his head and sat in front of Han Jin, causing all of his frame and importantly his smile to be illuminated by the moonlight.
"Han Jin, after hearing your story, I've come to understand your predicament and your challenges. As such, you are one of the most powerful people in this land of chaos. That is something I believe in." Hayden spoke about Han Jin with reverence and honesty.
Han Jin, on the other hand, couldn't see why.
"What do you mean I'm the strongest person in the land!?"
"Didn't you hear about my story? I'm a failure, and I never intended to be Emperor. I don't have the power that other warlords do; I'm only a tool for managing the land!" Through his tears, he shouted violently.
"Then why do you keep on fighting against the warlords?"
"!" Han Jin said nothing following that questioning, or rather, he had no answer. His thoughts were racing tonight as he processed and released the grief and frustrations, he had carried for much of his life. But Hayden's question was valid.
"And I don't mean competing for control and defeating the warlords in battle. Why don't you submit to fate if you believe the emperor is nothing more than a tool to be used to conquer the land? Why do you continue to reject that notion when you are the emperor?" Hayden explained further.
'He's right, why do I keep fighting if I'm nothing but a tool for the warlords and that my capture was inevitable. Why do I not accept my situation and return to them?' Han Jin continued questioning himself.
Hayden could see in those red eyes of his that Han Jin was trying to rationalize his actions when it contradicted his belief.
"I know why. It's because you have a reason to fight back, a reason to defy fate and keep going even if it's futile. A goal that you are passionate about and are determined to achieve no matter what. In other words, you, like the rest of China's fighting warlords, have an objective that you want to see realised, but you don't know what it is. That is why you kept escaping and fighting for your freedom. It's because you were always intended to achieve something no matter what." Hayden spoke clearly and firmly. This epiphany that Hayden gave to Han Jin was staggering to him that it left him speechless.
'Do I have a goal that I wish to achieve?' Han Jin's mind was racing again, recalling, and repeating what Hayden had said about him. Hayden continued to keep an eye on the young emperor.
"Think on that Han Jin. But for now rest and sleep." Hayden ushered the emperor to rest after his outburst
Han Jin nodded almost groggily and returned to under his blanket and closed his wet eyes. Falling asleep instantly and leaving Hayden to watch over him in his time of vulnerability. Hayden sighs and looks at the emperor's sleeping form before resting his back against the wall next to Han Jin. The moon illuminating them both, enveloping them in its calm light as they sleep.