81 APPOINTMENTS

Zetsu, Shisui, Itachi and Kin all reached Ichika's office room. Ichika was already waiting for them, while they took their sweet time coming here.

Today she is dressed in Snow white hanfu with long and loose sleeves, red sash is tied at her waist, while a circular yin yang jade symbol is hanging loose from the waist on her left side. The materials used to make her clothing are all grade 9 fabrics. Without even adding any ornaments or jewellery she is still exuding the bearing of the Empress.

She gave all 3 of them a look and nodded her head in appreciation as the new robes fitted them all well. With a gesture from her, all 4 of them started to follow her towards the throne room.

Give the size of the royal palace, they took more time than expected to reach throne room, which is situated at the outer parts of the palace. Ichika also introduced various establishments they came across on their way.

Palace of Heavenly Purity : This is the palace where Ichika holds audience with all the 12 clan leaders and various ministers of the Empire.

Palace of Ministers : This is the place where Zetsu receives and passes various reports to all the ministers of the Empire. Every important document related to the Empire information is placed here in chronological order.

Temple of Ancestors : As it is a custom for royal family members to pray for their ancestor souls, Ichika built this temple. With the help of information from the Library floor, Ichika created life like sculptures of all the ancestors of Uchiha main line family and placed them here. She carved all of their names on jade tablets and placed them at the praying platform.

Military Hall : This is the office of all the military officials and generals.It also contains all the military information related to the Empire.

Literary Hall : This is the office of ministers and High level officials.

All of these establishments occupy large space and can house thousands of people at the same time without causing any inconvenience. They are all placed in the outer parts of the palace.

These are just the establishments they came across on their way to Hall of Supreme Harmony, where Ichika's holds her court. But there are still numerous palaces and halls spread across the whole royal palace.

Itachi, Shisui and Kin were more interested in Temple of Ancestors than any other place. Even though they are members of the main line family, they don't have complete records of their ancestors. Ichika also didn't give them an answer on how she obtained them. But they were eager to know more about their complete family line than anything. But Ichika only permitted them to visit the temple tomorrow as it a very good day to offer prayers.

Hall of Supreme Harmony is built above 3 levels of marble stone base and is surrounded by bronze incense burners. It is the also the largest wooden structures in the royal palace. The wood used in the construction is obtained from ancient Dyson trees.

It is the ceremonial center of entire Empire's power. There are 6 pillars made of gold and carved with a dragons near the imperial throne. The imperial throne was also made of gold, in particular has five dragon coiled around the back and handrests. The screen behind it features warfan symbol of the Uchiha clan.

Set into the ceiling directly above the throne is an intricate caisson decorated with a coiled dragon,from the mouth of which issues a chandelier like set of metal balls, called as Xuanyuan mirror. The mirror will strike dead any usurper to the throne.

Today there were 3 more chairs placed just a level below the imperial throne. With Ichika in the lead, Zetsu, Itachi, Shisui and Kin started to move towards the direction of Imperial throne, while rows of officials, ministers and clan heads stood on both sides according to their ranking with their heads bowed.

While Ichika seated on the throne, Zetsu and Kin were seated on her left side, while Itachi and Shisui were seated on the right side. This seating is also a representation of their seniority in the family.

With just a nod from Ichika all of them took their respective seating the court.

"As you all know, there were many rumours and assumptions about the identity and arrival of the royal family members for the last 3 months. Today I officially will officially confirm the news."- Ichika

It is already a proven fact that these 3 new members were related to Empress and the royal family. But it is a custom to officially declare their identity, as every word and sentence in the court will be documented as proof and records for future generations.

"Cousin Shisui"- Ichika

Zetsu already informed them on their way, as to what will happen in the court today. So Shisui was already mentally prepared, even then he felt nervous inside, when all the eyes of officials were focused on him.

"This is my cousin Shisui Uchiha. He is the only son of my uncle Haru Uchiha, who is the elder brother of my mother Mikoto Uchiha. From now on his status is of Prince and his rank is Duke of the Empire.

From now on he will start assisting Lord Jiang Yan, Minister of Intelligence. Depending on his accomplishments, his future ranks will be decided. Lord Jiang Yan, do you have anything to say regarding his appointment?"- Ichika

Today all of the officials learned 2 more names. Empress Uncle Haru Uchiha and her mother Mikoto Uchiha. They will surely etch these 2 names into their memory.

They were not surprised at Shisui given status of a Prince, but he was only appointed as a Duke. Ichika also clearly mentioned that he will be promoted in the future. All these officials worked very hard to reach their position today, So the officials were also happy with Ichika decision, as they don't want to work with a novice with no knowledge. If Shisui wants better rank, he must also work hard like them.

As for Jiang Yan, he was more than happy to train Shisui, as he was impressed by Shisui's abilities to control enemies like puppets and manipulate the information. He will be the perfect addition for their intelligence division.

"Your majesty, including me, all the other clan heads and generals were clearly impressed by Prince Shisui's abilities. He played an important part in Greenwood city defence. I am more than happy to welcome him to intelligence division"- Jiang Yan

"Good. Elder Brother Itachi"- Ichika

Similar to Shisui, he was also a bit tensed, but stood up when his name was called.

"This is Itachi Uchiha. He is my twin elder brother by 4 minutes. His status is also that of Prince and his rank is Duke.

From now on he will be assisting Lord Ouyang Shuo in the Empire's Military Strategy Department. Lord Ouyang Shuo, do have anything to say regarding his appointment?"- Ichika

This time the officials were really surprised. It is ok if Shisui is appointed as Duke, because he is only a cousin. But she even appointed her own blood brother as Duke. All of them at least expected him to be appointed as Grand Duke or King. Just like Shisui, he should also work up in ranks. They were also impressed by Ichika, as she didn't show any partiality.

Ouyang Shuo was also happy to be working with Itachi as he has the calmness and skill to come up with solutions to find the weakness in the enemy defences.

"Your majesty, I am also happy to welcome Prince Itachi into the Empire's Military Strategy Department."- Ouyang Shuo

"Good. Kin"- Ichika

Compared to Itachi and Shisui, Kin was only tensed up a bit, as he already worked and was familiar with all the clan heads in Greenwood city as their general.

"This is my son Kin Uchiha. He will be the Crown Prince of this Empire, but his rank is still limited to Duke for now. As the future successor to the throne, I expect all the officials to support him well with his work. He will be assisting Prince Zetsu to learn about the political affairs of the Empire, while Lord Wu Yi and Lord Wang Jian will be teaching about military affairs.

As for his initial appointment, he will be the Chief Incharge of the Event organisation in our capital.

Does anyone have objections regarding his appointment?"- Ichika

Because of Lord Kuro, most of them know that Zetsu is not interested in competing for the throne and they all expected Kin to be the prime candidate for the throne. But what shocked them is Ichika's decision about Kin's appointment.

He was not appointed to any specific ministry, but instead he will be working and learning under 3 of the powerful figures of the Empire.

Prince Zetsu is the prime minister of this Empire and is only answerable to Empress Ichika. With Kin working under Zetsu, he became the bridge between Zetsu and the various ministers, there by completely stabilizing the entire Political power of the Empire with the royal family.

Similarly Wu Yi and Wang Jian are the top 2 military generals of the Empire. Working and learning under them will give Kin more opportunities to stamp his authority on the military power. On the surface he is just a assistant, but in the future he will have complete control over both Military and political power of the Empire.

When the official news will pass to the citizens as his appointment of Crown Prince and also incharge of the Event, he will have more than enough opportunities to forge good relations with various representatives, dignitaries and Emperor from other Empire.

But it is also a double edged sword, because he has to work more harder than anyone to gain recognition from all the officials.

Wu Yi was happy working with Kin, as he is already familiar with him. Just like Kin, he is also a spear user. They can now officially exchange moves, whenever they can.

As for Wang Jian, he was happy and sad at the same time. Happy because, Kin has the same mentality as him. Just like him, he is also a ruthless tactician.

Sad because, he was already infamous as Bloody General. But only those who participated in the Greenwood city war meetings will clearly know that, Wang jian is a saint compared to Kin. From now on everytime Kin massacres his enemies, it will be added to Wang Jian's teaching, increasing his infamy.

"Your Majesty, I am happy to train Crown Prince Kin"- Wu Yi

"Your Majesty, I am also happy to train Crown Prince Kin"- Wang Jian

At Wang Jian's statement, all of the clan leaders turned towards him, with pity reflecting in their eyes. They can clearly see, wang Jian infamy reaching unprecedented heights in the history of the Empire.

Just as Ichika was about to continue her regular meetings with the officials, an imperial soldier immediately rushed into the court.

"Your majesty, Crown Prince Zor from Dragon race is here, seeking your audience"- Imperial soldier.

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Author's Note: I took the concept and names of Hall of Supreme harmony etc from the Forbidden city, china. Till today I assumed most of the readers on this site are familiar with Xianxia stories. But I was proven wrong. So I am planning on doing Question and answer segment for them. They can ask me any questions related to this story or the terms used in this story. I will try to answer them to the best of my knowledge.