Imperial Palace.
Under the gilded sunlight overhead, the Taiji Hall shone with resplendent gold and jade.
Ji Xuan stood upon the Nine-layered Platform, looking at the great hall stretching out beneath his feet, thoughts surging in his eyes.
"Old slave congratulates Your Highness!" Behind him, a withered old man suddenly appeared, slowly, the old man clad in a dull gray robe, face hairless, eyes turbid.
"What is there to congratulate?" Ji Xuan said blandly.
"Your Highness now oversees the affairs of court; you are the uncrowned king of Great Xia. Once the time is ripe, with but a single thought from Your Highness, the heavens themselves can be overturned. This is a matter of great joy." The withered old man said.
Ji Xuan gently shook his head, his tone calm and without ripples: "Overturn the heavens? If this king had wanted that seat, I could have sat upon it a hundred years ago. What I seek now is no longer worldly Authority."
