The air in the throne room was heavy with heat and incense. It was the middle of summer, and the heat was bearing down on the country of Daiyu like a tiger stalking its prey.
Smoke curled from bronze braziers shaped like dragons, their open mouths spitting flame-sweetened myrrh and something darker, more metallic. Beneath it all was the cloying scent of age—lacquered wood, old blood, and the faint musk of robes that had never known the touch of fresh air. It didn't matter how many windows stood open to the sun. The chamber still felt like a tomb.
Sun Longzi stood beneath a carved pillar at the foot of the dais, the long edge of his black cloak brushing against the polished stone tiles. Even with the courtiers arranged in careful rows to either side, the room felt too large. Too quiet.
Above them all, on the dragon throne, sat the Emperor.
He wasn't hunched over, despite his age and the oppressive heat; he wasn't tired. In fact, Daiyu's ruler was alert, his eyes sharp as flint, mouth curved into a smile that never reached his gaze. He looked down on his court as if they were pieces on a game board he'd already won.
The flick of his fingers was enough to summon silence. Not that anyone had really dared to speak over him in the first place.
"Well?" he asked, his voice smooth, unhurried. "What do we make of the Western Front?"
Zhu Mingyu, the Crown Prince, stepped forward. His robes were trimmed in gold, his posture elegant, his hands clasped as he bowed with precision. Always the favorite. Always immaculate.
"If I may, Father Emperor," he said, voice calm and impassive. Those who didn't know him would think that he was merely talking about the sky or something else equally mundane. But Sun Longzi knew the Crown Prince better than that. They might not be friends in the purest sense of the word, but their interests aligned more often than not.
That man, Zhu Mingyu, was nothing if not calculating. "I believe the silence in the western provinces speaks volumes. While the rest of our borders bleed from raiders, plague, and rebellion, that sector has remained untouched. No losses. No rumors of disease. No instability. I suspect… that someone there has a new type of weapon. One that keeps everything at bay."
"A weapon?" The Emperor raised a brow, the only change in his expression. Some of the ministers cringed at the slight motions while others looked around, trying to figure out their next move. If the Emperor was upset in any way, it was not beyond the realm of possibilities for everyone to die today.
"Yes," continued Zhu Mingyu, his submissive posture not moving an inch. "It would have to be something powerful. After all, we have been fighting the armies of Yelan for hundreds of years, and not once have they ever backed off to this degree, and for so long. If it is such a tool like a weapon, we must secure it before another kingdom does. For the sake of the realm."
The Emperor's smile deepened. "You believe that the villagers in the west have managed to pull the wool over our eyes and hide it from us?"
"Not the villagers," Zhu Mingyu said smoothly. "But someone… something is protecting them. And whatever it is, it does not serve the court. After all, if they truly put the Empire in their eyes, then they would have spread the information about what they are doing to the rest of the borders."
The ministers murmured, their voices hushed behind silk sleeves and trembling fans. Accusations of disloyalty, of treason, of unregistered power. It was all nonsense—but dangerous nonsense. The kind that spread like ink on rice paper.
Sun Longzi didn't speak. He didn't need to.
He was not a man who spoke unless silence failed him, and he only used silence when his sword could no longer be lifted.
His black and crimson armor caught the sun from the tall window panes, reflecting light in sharp, violent glints. He stood like a statue—still, present, and ready to cut down anything that moved without the Emperor's permission.
It was the Third Prince, Zhu Lianhua, who disrupted the air again, swaggering forward with a sneer on his lips.
"If you suspect something that powerful, how can we trust the Crown Prince's loyal dogs to retrieve it?" he asked, his tone mocking. "The Red Demons may be elite, but they are still your creatures, brother."
Before the Crown Prince could reply, the Third Prince turned to the Emperor, bowing just deeply enough to be noticed.
"Let me go with them, Father. Let me see this untouched land for myself."
"You?" murmured Zhu Mingyu coolly. "You couldn't hold a blade steady in a teacup. Do you really think that the West is like those pleasure houses you enjoy visiting?"
Sun Longzi didn't so much as blink as the Emperor's eyes bore down on him. "Are you really one of the Crown Prince's dogs?" the Emperor asked, almost bored.
There was only one right answer. Dropping to one of his knees, Sun Longzi bowed his head and clasped his hands together in front of his face. "The Red Demons are only loyal to one, Your Majesty. You are the only one in this world who can move us. If you tell us to go East, we will never go West. If you tell us to die, then we will gladly fall on our swords."
The Emperor had become paranoid in his old age, seeing conspiracies in the shadows that didn't exist in the light. Being a powerful General, Sun Longzi was constantly dancing on a razor's edge. If they were too good, they would pose a threat and would die. If they weren't useful, they would die.
If Sun Longzi wanted to save his men, the only thing he could do or say was to pledge his loyalty to the Emperor time and again.
The Third Prince grinned wider, but it never reached his eyes as he ignored the conversation between the General and the Emperor. "Even pleasure houses require surveillance, dear brother. I'm simply saying that if the Red Demons are loyal to the Crown, then I should be the court's eyes on this mission. For balance, you understand."
The Emperor's fingers drummed on the arm of his throne. The gold inlay on his nails glinted like claws.
"Balance," he echoed softly, slowly nodding his head. "Yes… yes, balance is always very important."
His eyes flicked back to Sun Longzi, who was still kneeling in front of him.
"And you? You are the blade of my hand. My Demon Lord. Will you keep them in line?"
Sun Longzi bowed, the motion smooth despite the armor that draped his body like a second skin, before coming to his feet.
"I will kill any man who steps beyond his station," he vowed, his head lowered.
A silence fell throughout the throne room. Not a single person spoke; they didn't so much as breathe.
The Emperor looked pleased at the declaration.
"Then it's decided," he said, rising from his throne. His robes cascaded like black waves against the marble. "The Red Demons ride. The Demon Lord will lead his men and take this opportunity to train the Third Prince in what it means to fight in a war. And you, my loyal blade," he continued, turning to the man in the mask standing just behind Sun Longzi, "will ensure that if there is a secret in the west… it will not remain hidden for long."
Then, the Emperor turned to the hall with a gleam in his eye.
"Whatever it is that has been keeping the Western Front safe, bring it to me. No excuses."
The courtiers bowed low, their faces buried in their long sleeves.
Sun Longzi didn't so much as move as the Emperor continued with the rest of the court petitions.
While the Emperor looked down and saw a kingdom, Longzi saw the fault lines. The cracks in the throne. The paranoia behind every breath.
Something was coming.
And if the rumors were true, it wore smoke like silk and left no bones behind.
Let them send the Red Demons.
Let them bleed the mountains.
The only thing that worried General Sun Longzi was just how many of his men would be returning at the end of the mission.