Tang Dynasty, Chang'an
Outside the walls of the Daming Palace, the city of Chang'an pulsed with the energy of over a million souls.
It was the grand eastern terminus of the Silk Road, where Persian merchants, Arab envoys, and Indian monks rubbed shoulders with Tang bureaucrats in the endless, bustling markets.
Inside the Dragon Throne room
Emperor Xuanzong leaned forward, resting his chin on a hand weighed down by rings of imperial jade.
He was not the soft, pampered ruler the rebels claimed him to be. He had personally survived purges, assassinations, and the political bloodbaths of his own family to keep this throne.
He still commanded the Shence Army... two hundred thousand professional, heavily armored, fanatically loyal soldiers garrisoned within striking distance of the capital.
But a king is only as powerful as his reach, and right now, Xuanzong was realizing his arm had been severed at the elbow.
