Chapter 340: The context for an elopement
‘Okay, I’m going to need a run down on exactly how fucked we are if we decide to go back to Roaring Tide/the Pearl Scale Empire. How quickly can you two get me information on the guy who runs the place and his children?’
=Right now. Pathos?=
‘Wait, what I am not mentally pre-bah!’
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The Pearl Scale Empire is old.
Really, really fucking old.
Most dynastic empires only last about two hundred years give or take a couple decades, maybe a century if lucky. However, the Pearl Scale Empire has managed to last five hundred years and is still going, thanks to the leadership of the Pearl Dragon Emperor aka their first Emperor.
That title by the way is not hyperbole, he is actually a dragon, an Iridescent Pearl Ocean Dragon to be more specific.
During his time as ruler, the Pearl Dragon Emperor had managed to cement the empire as a near-permanent fixture in Roaring Tide, despite the borders of the place receding and expanding like the tide over his many centuries due to the occasional rebellion or suing for independence.
What was the secret to this longevity, many had asked.
Was it the robust legal code that the Emperor established in his first ten years?
Perhaps.
The meritocracy systems that made it possible for even the lowliest of peasants to rise to power?
Maybe.
The efficient anti-corruption task force that made sure the local lords didn’t do shit on the down-low?
Probably.
But the most likely answer, at least to outsiders, was the fact that most of the kingdoms that composed the Empire was connected to it’s emperor via the bonds of matrimony with one of the emperor’s many, many children.
One of the perks of power and dragon vitality is that many, many women and some men are very much into the idea of siring dragon-blooded descendants.
As such, the Pearl Dragon Emperor had a little over a hundred or so legitimate children that had all become kings, queens, princes, princesses, administrators and generals of some renown, with many others simply leaving to go and find their own destiny outside of the empire.
That being said, we are unsure on the amount of illegitimate children out there in the wider world…
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Zhen Liu was silent as he digested all of the information being shared with him in regards to the Pearl Scale Empire and it’s weird ass family tree. Thankfully this was an appropriate reaction due to Zhen Yue and Zhen Hai also looking stunned silent with their grandfather, Zhen Shi, still regaling the three of them as to why they were mildly screwed…maybe.
“Do…you guys want me to explain the whole story from the beginning or-”
“Probably the parts related to our grandmother and her snubbed fiancée.”
“We’re aware of the part about you and grandmother eloping, we just don’t know who was pissed off in the process of this elopement.”
“Fair enough.”
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While the Zhen Clan could say they were from the Pearl Scale Empire, it would be more accurate to say they came from a kingdom that was a part of the Pearl Scale Empire.
The Zhen Clan, at least the main branch, was one of the noble clans that answered to the Blossoming Scales Kingdom and it’s king, Bai Long.
The Blossoming Scales Kingdom was one of the wealthier regions in the Empire thanks in part to the conditions being just right to grow Golden Dragon Cherry Blossoms, a ninth tier aether herb known for it’s curative properties, sweet taste and a potent tonic for those with dragon blood flowing in their veins.
The leaders of this kingdom was known as the Bai Family, who had been given the region by the Pearl Dragon Emperor centuries ago due to a favor the first patriarch of the family had done in service of the emperor, who in turn became the first king of the Blossoming Scale Kingdom.
The Bai Family ruled the Blossoming Scale Kingdoms for years, maintaining it’s prosperity, making friends with the up and coming nobility that called the kingdom home and maintaining good relations with the imperial royal family, with descendants of both families marrying into each other to maintain these strong ties.
However, that pattern broke with Bai Hua, the second princess of the current king.
Due to being the second daughter of the king, Bai Hua was ineligible to be the heir to the throne and thus was relegated to a lesser role in the kingdom, becoming the kingdom’s champion of arms (,as well as one of the political bargaining tools that can be used to marry into alliances).
As part of the deal for becoming the kingdom’s champion, Bai Hua was sent to train with all of the notable clans and warriors across the kingdom as a means to hone her skills and become fierce warrior ready to defend her heir apparent sibling and the kingdom at large.
However, two unexpected developments occur during this time.
First, she ended up falling in love with some no-name disciple of the Zhen Clan.
Second, she ended up catching the eye of a prince who was a direct descendant of the Pearl Dragon Emperor.
More specifically, the Imperial 24th prince, Jinju Yang.
That former infatuation was of no importance to the Bai Family, but that second one was significantly more so.
What followed after this initial encounter was the usual song and dance that occurs when nobility want to marry their children off together: engagement gifts, wedding details and compatability checks (read: they paid off matchmakers to say the match was good…it wasn’t).
While the prince in question was handsome, charming and had a background that could make even the most devout nuns suddenly question their vow with the heavens, Bai Hua knew from their initial and subsequent meetings that they were a terrible match for one another.
It also probably didn’t help that she one time found him being rather intimate with his bodyguard, maid and butler all at the same time.
Like father, like sons as it were.
And so, for the sake of her happiness and probably his, Bai Hua decided to elope with the boy she fell in love with back in the Zhen Clan.
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=Jinju, Jinju… why does that sound so familiar… I’ll be right back.=
=I just remembered something I forgot and it involves the consequences of one-night stands.=
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“And that…is everything,” Zhen Shi said as to cap off his best attempt at retelling Bai Hua’s circumstances, “any questions?’
Zhen Yue and Zhen Hai looked at each other, confirming their questions with one another, before looking over at Zhen Liu who was still deep in thought.
|Granted, if they could read his thoughts, they’d know he was actually digesting information about the Pearl Dragon Emperor’s escapades, but that wasn’t important for the moment.|
Zhen Hai was the first to ask questions.
“So…we are technically descendants of royalty?”
“On your grandmother’s side yes, but I’m pretty sure you’d considered disavowed or a bastard in their eyes.”
“Figured.”
“Grandfather,” Zhen Yue followed up, “from what you told us…this prince Jinju Yang…are you sure he’d still have a grudge after all these years? Because it sounded as if grandmother thought of him as a playboy flirt than someone willing to murder someone over a stolen fiancee, especially one that’s been decades since.”
“That is absolutely correct,” Zhen Shi nodded at the assessment his granddaughter had provided, “Prince Jinju will probably not be the one to come and take revenge on me, however, I cannot make this same guarantee about his entourage or family members…or even the main branch Zhen Clan…or possibly the Bai Family themselves.
“Ah, that makes sense…”
Reputation mattered in these elite circles, which is why that even if Bai Hua and Jinju Yang would probably be happier in the long run separate rather then together, their respective families would still need to perform some form of visual and physical retaliation in order to save face.
Jinju Yang may have been a double digit prince to the dragon emperor, but he was still a prince of a dragon emperor.
Bai Hua may have been the second princess and not the heir-apparent, but she was a still a princess.
Zhen Shi may have been a nobody, but he was still a member of the Zhen Clan.
As such, all three of the these groups would have a vested interest in “correcting the mistakes of the past” with blood if necessary, with Zhen Shi’s blood more specifically.
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[Yeesh! Why is court politics always so messy, especially when it comes to relationship stuff? Whatever happened to marrying for love’s sake?,] Hurricroak noted.
[Easy for you to say, Miss Hurricroak, but in the world of monarchs and nobles, marriage is just another political bargaining chip. Only the common folk have the freedom to love as they please,] Archanidame pointed out.
[Family…means…alliances…]
[Exactly, Sir Frosttusk.]
[Pfft! I’m with the frog girl on this, marriage should be determined by love and passion and if anyone has any complaints, punch them in the face!,] Lacerage retorted.
Archanidame was about to chide her counterpart for her violent rhetoric, but was stopped when Nepherage interrupted all of them.
[Hold up everyone, our lord is about to speak again.]
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The conversation felt to be coming at an end at this point, so Zhen Shi dismissed the three scions do that they may go and do whatever they needed before their big trip to Roaring Tide.
However, just after Zhen Yue and Zhen Hai left the room, Zhen Liu stopped and turned to his grandfather to ask one last question.
“Grandfather…do you think that any of these families might know that we’re heading back and will probably try something with the family members here while we’re gone?”
“In the same manner as the Wolfes you mean? Not as high, but I have thought of it…what brought this in?”
“…nothing, just…paranoia.”
Zhen Liu left the office shortly after getting this answer. As he walked he thought about the bag of marbles in his side.
‘A kaijin is too flashy to hide in plain sight…but what about a zako?’
