Chapter 1125 - 1069. The Harem Worry
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(A/N: Don’t forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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He looked back at the towering stacks of administrative scrolls on his desk, the mundane realities of governance waiting for his seal. But his mind was no longer on grain taxes or wagonways. His mind was descending into the cold, damp stone of the military prisons, preparing for the final, bloody clash of wills against the ghosts of Wei.
The flickering flame of the oil lamp finally began to sputter, casting long, wavering shadows across the mountainous stacks of bamboo slips that still covered the massive mahogany desk. Emperor Lie Fan set his jade handled brush down with a soft, definitive click against the inkstone.
He had spent hours navigating the endless, grinding machinery of imperial bureaucracy, resolving agrarian disputes, approving grain stipends, and reviewing intelligence reports until the characters began to blur before his exhausted eyes. The empire was vast, and its daily demands were a relentless tide.
But for tonight, the tide would have to recede. The supreme commander, the grand architect of laws, and the ruthless conqueror had finished his work. It was time for the man to rest.
Lie Fan pushed himself up from the high backed wooden chair, his joints popping in a weary chorus. He stretched his broad shoulders, leaving the quiet, suffocating sanctuary of his administrative office behind.
As he stepped out into the cool, crisp night air of the palace courtyards, accompanied only by a discreet, silent detachment of his personal guards, he felt the heavy, iron mantle of the throne begin to slip from his shoulders.
He walked through the intricately carved moon gates and over the arched stone bridges that connected the political epicenter of the capital to the serene, fragrant embrace of the Harem Palace. Tonight, the rotation of his affections and the quiet yearning in his own chest guided his steps toward the quarters of Diao Chan.
When the heavy, gilded doors of her private pavilion opened, Lie Fan was immediately enveloped in an atmosphere of profound, ethereal tranquility. The room was bathed in the soft, warm glow of dozens of meticulously placed lotus shaped lanterns.