Money is Money

The sun ray hitting exactly on the handsome face of Emperor He Mo forced him to open his eyes. When the sunlight hits the dark orbs of his eyes, he squinted and tried to move his face away from the light. He suddenly felt a pain in such motion! Then an ugly line of frown appears in his forehead.

For the first time, he cannot move his face on the opposite side. His muscle is sore and his neck is numb! Sleeping in hammock should feel painful? He thought. He tried moving his neck again but it was numb.

"Arrhh... Arghhhh..." the emperor groaned in pain. When Ye Shin heard him mumbling above, the lady immediately stood up from the ground and look at him.

"What's the matter your majesty?" she calmly asked. The emperor pointed his neck.

"I can't feel my neck!" he glared on the sunlight.

The lady realized that this emperor had likely not changed his body position while sleeping. After all he might not used in this sleeping arrangement. No wonder he had a stiff neck! She gently placed her fingers unto the skin of his neck and inserted a very small amount of her inner force to relax his veins. He immediately recovered!

"The pain is gone!" the emperor said as he went out of his hammock. He turns his face left and right multiple times before he noticed the other people on the ground looking at him.

The six Sword Masters were awaken by the emperor's painful groaned earlier. They thought someone is in danger! Too their surprise a young appears in their vision. With the sunlight striking at his face, he looked like a god!

"Who are these people?" the emperor glanced at the lady as the sight of six other men baffled him. The lady calmly peered at the six men.

The men had heard the lady called this man as 'your majesty'. They were reluctant as to whether they needed to bow or what? Finally one of them bravely step forward and bows to the two figures.

"Friends, we came from a doctor's house to check our leader's condition. We are Sword Masters from Hong Empire and we happened to meet here on our way back to the kingdom. We are all nameless as we do not have masters but ourselves. We called each others as brothers." the tallest man in the group explained. The emperor nods at him.

"Forgive my boldness but since we have met, it must be fate. May I ask your identity friends?" the tallest man added when he realized that the two people are not going to introduce themselves! The young emperor looked at the man with his strong bearing.

"We are on our journey towards the Empire of Ru." the emperor heard Ye Shin responded to the man. It was not a direct answer to the question and it is obvious that the two of them does not want to disclose their identities. The Sword Master completely understands the secrecy of the two since they are completely strangers to them.

"In this case, you will pass by the Hong Empire! Why don't we go together?" another Sword Master suggested. This man is very eager to know the weapon of the lady and he planned to ask her about it during their journey.

"It's good to travel with groups just in case you encounter bad people. There are few bandits lurking near the border entrance of Hong Empire." the youngest member innocently stated. When the other fellow Sword Masters heard him their faces look awkward. Surely these two does not need any help from a mere bandit's threat!

"That's fine. You can join us." the emperor finally approved them tagging along.

"We only have two horses, how do you people travel?" the emperor suddenly asked them. He had pondered as to how would these six men be able to cope with their speed if they don't have horses?

"No worries friend, we can use our swords. We are Sword Masters. We are capable of riding on our weapon." one of the six men answered to the emperor.

"We noticed the lady uses sword...?" someone intentionally trailed as he glanced at the lady. He is hoping to get some idea of the two people.

"I am a member of Sword Cultivators Clan." the lady calmly said.

"So it's an inner force weapon! You're clan does live to its fame!" the man said in admiration.

"Friend, your sword is too awesome! The snake out there was killed by your sword." someone also said while pointing at the lifeless body of the shake.

"Yes, yes. It is very strong!" the youngest quickly agreed.

A series of compliments burst from the sword masters but the lady did not change her facial reaction. She just nods her head at them to acknowledge what they have said.

After those complimentary remarks, they finally embark to their trip. There are two figures on the road riding a horse while six figures floating above and riding their swords. They silently travel until they reached the exit of the Hu Empire. Soon after, they saw a long line of people going towards the entrance of Hong Empire.

The emperor did not need to fall in line as he is not an ordinary person. When the six Sword Masters saw that the two did not stop to fall in line they were surprised but also follow them.

A series of complaints immediately burst from the people who are still in line when they saw them going through the entrance without waiting for their turn. Some people are shouting at them with rude remarks. Every single person in the line has something to say against their behavior!

"Maybe we should go back and fall in line? The people are complaining that we did not wait for our queue." one member of the Sword Masters said when he noticed the people glaring at their direction.

"Look at those two. The man is sitting in his horse like no one in this world is above him. And the lady is riding her horse like nothing in this world can distract her. Such dominance is rare to see! We should learn from them." his other companion declared as they continue to follow the two figures.

After few more breaths, the young emperor and his bodyguard arrived at the entrance where there are few soldiers collecting an entrance fee. The other six Sword Masters follow behind. One of the soldiers immediately approached them.

"There is a line! Yo--..." the soldier started to scold them but was silenced when the emperor shows his jade token. An empire token! Upon seeing the item, the soldier was dumbfounded for a while.

"Ahmm... Ah..." the soldier probably did not expect to see an emperor travelling and is at his wits end. As his brain tried to construct a word to say, another soldier walks to them. When the second soldier saw the jade token, he offered a customary bow to the new arrivals. This soldier is much more experienced than the first one.

"Your Majesty, forgive our ignorance!" the second soldier apologized.

"We are just passing by. What is this long line of people for?" the emperor asked the soldier. He was astonished by how long the line is.

"Oh, this is just the line for collection of entrance fees for commoners your majesty. Our Emperor does require them to pay every time they enter our small kingdom." the second soldier responded politely.

"Emperor Hong Te is really business minded! Only he would think of this idea! How admirable!" the young emperor casually said a remark. The second soldier could not help but laugh a little. It was indeed true. His emperor would even account even a single penny! Even his presence requires a payment. If the neighboring empire invites him in, they would have to pay money to get him to agree first!

"We shall no more delay your journey your majesty. You may enter." the second soldier said as his hand gestured the emperor to the entrance. The six people behind did not hesitate to follow. In the entrance wall, the kingdom's principle is also plastered with gold fonts.

"Money is money."

These three words can be considered as the golden rule of the Hong Empire. The explanation of this principle is known as, no matter how small the value of a copper & silver coin or how big the value of a gold coin is; it is still money. Every single coin is valuable. This is why the emperor in this kingdom is the most successful business figure in the region even though his territory is small.

"We will continue our trip until we reached our destination. Since you have already arrived here, there is no need for all of you to follow us." the emperor said to the Sword Master.

"See you around friends!" the six of them said in unison and they even mimic the bow from the second soldier in the entrance. They stared for a long time at the retreating figure of the lady and the emperor swiftly riding their horses.

"I did not expect to meet an emperor in our journey. I will definitely tell our leader on our next visit." the youngest member commented when the two figures are nowhere to be seen.

"That emperor is young and benevolent. He even let us follow him. He is a good example of a great ruler." The eldest one of them uttered with admiration in his eyes.

"We actually saved money from our entrance fee this time!"

"Such character is destined to prosper!"

"Do you think the lady is his empress?"

"If the lady is the empress then what a terrifying kingdom they rule! It would be a combination of two powers. The first is the power of authority from the man and the second is the power of strength from the woman!"

"Well, their kingdom is probably away from here. And it's a pity that we did not hear the soldier mentioned which kingdom they are from. But judging from the soldier's reaction when he saw the man's token, the empire surely holds high reputation!"

"I think they are from the South or maybe from the Eastern side."

As the six Sword Masters continue to exchange their opinions and speculations for the whole day, the two people that they keep on speculating had managed to exit the territory of Hong Empire. The busy road along their way is now replaced by tall and thick stone walls.

The two figures are almost at the entrance of the Ru Empire. This is the most guarded kingdom in the region. This is because the former emperor who ruled this empire was a military man. King Ru Ning had focused his attention to the defense of his kingdom more than anything else. Through his reign, he had managed to create a well guarded kingdom.