THE ROYAL NEW YEAR HUNT II

POV: PRINCE LIU XIE: LORD OF THE CRANNIES

LOCATION: THE IMPERIAL PALACE TO THE ROYAL HUNTING GROUNDS

TIME: THE MORNING OF THE NEW YEAR

You finally get to the grand courtyard of the imperial palace and the dazzling display of wealth and affluence fills you with awe. Every single man in the courtyard is dressed in a prime and well maintained armor that you estimate to have cost thousands of golden tales and they were mounted on horses that cost even more. All this came together to make you who was dressed in simple armor and walking on foot feel a sort of shame that you really can not explain.

Your only relief is that your elder brother Liu Bian is also on foot but looking at his exquisite armor and imperial bow, it was clear he had known, or rather empress He had known about this hunt for some time and has taken great pains to get him ready.

Mainly out of boredom, you take the time you have to closely examine your brother looks. Much like you he has the thick black hair which is common to chinese men of this period but his was toped off with sharp green eyes which you believe he inherited from his mother. You pay a brief attention to his figure and you notice that he has the figure of proficient martial artist.

Was Liu bian supposed to be proficient martial artist in history or did your actions cause some sort of a butterfly effect?

You refuse to think about it.

Another thing you notice is that tall as he might be, he was only taller than you with mere inches. This either makes him short for his age or makes you tall as historically you know he is older than you with three years or more.

Eventually the emperor arrives from the stable on a brown mare and two servants followed him dragging two horses behind them. He steps down from his horse, approaches your brother first and then begins to examine his face in an intense yet bizarre kind of way.

From your research and in depth study of Chinese culture, you quickly recognize the process to be physiognomy, which was a method that was used in ancient Asia to read the future of a person from their face. As how effective it was, well let's just say you never cared enough to research that.

The emperor looks at your brother for some time, his brow furrowing in concentration and then declares.

"Strong, powerful and a true warrior. I see a tiger on a mountain who will protect his family and who will slay his enemies with out mercy or remorse. In a time of order you will be the pillar your family will hold on to. In a time of chaos you will be our hope." He then turns to one of the attendants and says

"Give him the white horse. It is a symbol of his fierce inner light."

Words can not describe the pride and joy that your brother has on his face as he expertly mounts his new horse. One look at the smile of general He Jin and the other generals and you could tell that they too were pleased with the high praise coming from the emperor. It seems the contest for crown prince began much earlier than is recorded in modern history.

The emperor then comes to you and begins to examine your face as intently as he examined your brother's. However, unlike your brother who was smiling while he was being face read, you can not help the cold business expression that came to your face as he held it in his hand.

Why should you? You ask yourself

Is this a person who you care about? Is this a person you even know?

You stop that train of thought.

He examines you for some time and declares.

"Cold hearted, ruthless and not afraid of the tough decisions. A true leader of men. I see a dragon beneath a red sky who will not hesitate to achieve victory through any means necessary. In a time of order you will be the most despicable villain but in a time of chaos your banner will be the hope to which all of china will turn." He then turns to the second attendant

"Give him the dark horse. It is a fitting symbol of a man of a man whose dark qualities will be his inner strength."

You can not help the bright smile that came to your face when you hear the emperor's predictions. It is not as if you believe him,(you find it hard to believe such things) but from what you know, the accompanying years are bound to be the most chaotic in Chinese history so if you can be a banner of hope for the common people then you have completed half of your assigned mission. Besides did he not just say that you would do anything to achieve victory? That is you over and over.

You walk towards the black horse but as soon as you try to mount it , the horse throws you off the saddle. Now while you were not a sports person, if there is one game you could play very well in your past life, it is polo. This is because it is the only game that allows you to fulfill the needed physical requirement for your job as a professor while also making sure that something else did did the bulk of the work.

So when the horse begins misbehaving and trying to break free, you simply widen your stance, grab the reins tightly and lean back your weight on your back leg. This made what ever effort the horse makes futile as even a rhino would have serious trouble getting out of that grip.

You expect the horse to tire quickly but the majestic stallion who refuses to calm down, keeps rearing his front hoofs up and straining your patience to the limit. Getting a bit frustrated you careful time the next time the horse raises his front hooves and take three steps forward. This disbalances his back hooves and sends the horse's huge body weight crashing on top his tail. Needless to say, that knocks the fight out of him and the next time you approach him, he is more docile.

"Did I hurt you?" You ask gently

The horse neighs in response.

"Well now you know your place and I know mine." You clarify

"Let us be friends from now on agreed?"

The horse brings his face for you to pet and you take that as an agreement. You pet it for a while and then reached up and mounts it (which was a bit harder due to the lack of stirrups) and the horse lets you ride without complaint. From on top the horse, you can see that the cold expression of He Jin and his generals were contrasted beautiful with the impressed smiles of the two eunuchs.

"Like I said." The emperor declares with an impressed smile

"In a time of chaos you will bring order."

You eventually got to royal hunting grounds after much drama and your party was able to spot a beautiful deer.

"Which one of you is bold enough to take it down?" The emperor asks you and your brother .

Your brother eagerly steps forward, knook an arrow to his bow and fires a shot. To your and everyone else's utmost surprise your brother's arrow misses by the narrowest of margins. The missed arrow alerts the deer and it tries to run but two swift arrow to its right hoof and its right knee cripples it's effort.

The party turns to look at you who had fired the shot and you give them a non challant look

"The deer is over there is it not?" You ask your brother non challantly

"Go kill it"

Liu Bian gives you a look of scorn before he rides forward and takes down the crippled deer in a single shot.

"With a skill like that you could have easily killed the deer." General Hanfu Song says

"Why didn't you?"

"I only kill predators general Song." You reply

"That is because they always try to fight first."