Forbidden Tomboy 3 – True Authority

“Isn’t this going to cause problems?” Rave asked.

The question had been on John’s mind as well, but he had not managed to get his eyes off the imperial tomboy’s butt for long enough to formulate it. The black fabric stuck to her REALLY snugly, like a latex glove, emphasizing not only the roundness of the individual cheeks but also the creases created with every step. The width of her hips created a natural wiggle. The balanced juiciness of her perfect behind jiggled ever so softly.

John had to reel himself in to listen to her answer.

“I’m counting on it.” Lu Zhi winked over her shoulder. “Let my reputation as a breaker of norms be strengthened. No conventionally feminine empress am I, for I am the empress that shakes the foundation of the bureaucracy. Let them wail impotently, let them gather their political capital and smash it against the walls of my schemes, for we have judged them and found them wanting.”

Nightingale chuckled behind a raised wing. “Differences between governance are ever interesting to behold. Lydia could not wield such an iron fist, for a lack of opportunity.”

“You westerners believe in checks and balances and that is well and good. In the Mandate of Heaven, we observe the authority of the exceptional,” Lu Zhi stated. “You may cling to your inferior model.”

She said it jokingly, but John knew she meant it. She had been raised from birth to believe in the superiority of their system and the Gamer could hardly argue against it. The fact was that the Mandate of Heaven could run an empire with an absolute sovereign, because they had a selection mechanism that assured them good monarchs. Other nations did not have a jade dragon of incredible wisdom and might floating about, so that made matters a little more complicated.

“Checks and balances slow decline and ascension both,” he said. “It has its advantages.”

“It has its advantages,” Lu Zhi readily conceded, “but at the end of the calculus, the benevolent sovereign provides the most for their people. It would be to our advantage, were you to adjust to this model.”

John had done plenty of thinking on the monarchy question recently and was in an equilibrium state. That was to say that he was as conflicted on it as ever, but he had embraced the conflict. For the time being, the warring arguments in his head had called a ceasefire. It let him play the tease off with a chuckle. “Should we talk about this so openly?”

“No servants follow us here and only my spies listen to us,” Lu Zhi assured, to which Nightingale, Ehtra, and Claire all nodded.

“Alrighty, my turn to ask a question,” Lee spoke up. “Where is ‘here’?”

Lu Zhi had guided them to a corridor hidden behind one of the many curtains, and they had been following it since. It had a curve to it and sloped downwards, spiralling along the great jade pillar at the heart of the palace.

“The Forbidden City has four rough segments,” Lu Zhi explained. “The Cardinal Estates, where the Cardinal Chosen would dwell were I to invoke them. Then we have the western Forbidden City and the eastern Forbidden City, separated by the Path of Divine Dew that leads to the Heavenly Jade Palace.”

Delicia snorted. “…Can I joke about how absolutely ridiculous all of those names are?”

“Would you prefer it if I said the FC has four districts, the CE for the CC, the WFC, the EFC, and the ICC?”

“Icecrown Citadel?” Lee asked, confused.

“Not quite,” Lulu joked – and she was in full Lulu mode at the moment. Regal tensions had left her, making this an interaction between lovers, not rulers who were also secret lovers. “Imperial Court City is what that stands for. You may find those names overblown, little brat, but I much prefer them over the mechanical taste of acronyms.”

“You can give stuff cool names without putting the words ‘Heavenly’ and ‘Imperial’ in everything,” Delicia teased.

“Well, you could, but what if you happen to be a ‘heavenly empire’, hmm?” Lulu laughed and smiled. “Ah, already your presence is improving my mood manifold. I look forward to the coming eight days.”

Time flowed about 25% faster in the Forbidden City. A minor adjustment, but still an impressive one given the size of the whole thing. Eight days was a generous estimate, considering travel times.

“Alright, so we’re going to this Imperial Court City… and no one there can eavesdrop?”

“It is isolated from the rest of the Forbidden City by eternal decree, barred to all but those we personally invite.”

“So, it’s the Forbiddener City!” Delicia exclaimed.

“Ye!” the imperial tomboy affirmed. “Do not look for the Forbiddenest City; were you to find it, we would need to hunt you down.”

“Is that a joke?” Rave asked.

“Mhhhmaybe,” Lulu answered, cheekily.

The spiralling corridor swerved to the right, indicating the end to it. They emerged in a hall filled with statues. Ten statues, all of them painted to resemble a person with just enough abstraction to avoid the uncanny valley. A good thought, because all ten moved their heads in mechanical unison. Blue light flickered in the white marbles they had for eyes. They reached for swords hanging from their belts. The clothes were painted, but the armaments were genuine.

“Visitors of your empress, commit them to memory, servants made from earth,” Lu Zhi ordered the constructs.

The golems drew their weapons, but only to execute a swift military salute. After sheathing them again, they returned to their innate state. “So, these are the Terracotta Army?” John asked.

“Not exactly, these are the terracotta servants,” Lu Zhi answered. “They are produced with lesser care from white jade and clay. The Second Terracotta Army dwell below. We add to its number only with the finest materials.” She stopped for a moment. “A familiar sight, Ehtra?”

“A nostalgic and yet foreign one,” the First of Hatred answered. The technology for golems had its origins in Mesopotamia and the Terracotta Army was no exception. The first had been created by none other than Sargon of Akkad, one of the many technologies born from his pursuit of creating an artificial soul. It had been a transitional technology on the path to the Metracanas, or so Metra and Ehtra told him.

Oddly enough, none knew what had happened to it. However, everyone agreed that it had existed and that the Mandate of Heaven had learned of the design at some point or another. Compared to modern golems, it was an archaic process – expensive as well. However, it had its advantages, especially on a large scale, or so Lulu told him.

Truth be told, John had no proper sources on the matter. Neither army had been actively used in over a thousand years. The Mandate of Heaven maintained them as a project of prestige and deterrence. Whether it would actually work in a modern war was somewhat doubtful.

“Did you get an answer from the Dangun Clan?” Ehtra asked, suddenly.

“Yes, but I have to disappoint you, they said that Telal was too busy,” Lulu said, slightly apologetic.

Ehtra scowled and directed her gaze away from the imperial tomboy. Her annoyance was not with her, but with the sibling that would not show himself. “Lazy,” she muttered.

They proceeded out of the house and into the Imperial Court City. Terracotta Servants standing around each building, some of them in movement to tend to the various gardens. While it was called a city in its own right, it was ‘only’ the size of two of the complexes in the east and west wing of the broader Forbidden City and much of that was dominated by Lulu’s personal park.

A white duck quacked and stormed towards the group.

“Ah, I remember this one,” John said and put his foot in front of the charging waterfowl. “No further, Docald Duck.”

“QUACK!” the upset duck declared, repeatedly trying to get around John’s foot. The animal desired to reach Nathalia. So far, the dragoness had been quietly walking along, which was a pretty good sign that she had learned the necessary patience for basic diplomacy. The old Nathalia would have stopped the prime minister at the very first gate when he had said ‘John and his companions’. It would have become an argument that she should be named, preferably first.

“He really likes the colour red,” Lulu explained.

“I really like duck,” Nathalia stated and picked the critter up.

The duck excitedly waved its orange feet in the air.

Then it exploded.

John was prepared for it and it still managed to make him jump. One moment the duck was sitting in Nathalia’s hand, unaware that she was contemplating the best way to fry him, the next, white feathers were scattering through the air. Feathers were all that was flying about though. It looked as if someone had ripped open a pillow and nothing else.

“Ah, a Phoenix Duck.” Nathalia clicked her tongue, scanning the nearby green area for any flowers. Under one of them, a small yellow hatchling sat. The pink petals of the plant served as a hat for the reborn animal. “I desire to try one, but this always happens and there is no meat on hatchlings.”

“And he was just back to full size,” Lulu sighed theatrically. Red-feathered ducks formed a protective circle around the now smallest member of their flock. “Behold my kingdom of cuteness!” she declared and gestured at the rest of her park.

John had gotten a taste of her collection in the Palace of West, East, and Centre on Taiwan. This was on a whole different scale. Lu Zhi’s pond was filled with fish and otters and ducks and turtles and more. In the surrounding grass, hedgehogs and rodents and salamanders played. A small woodland was the home to deer and birds of many colours. The selection of animals had been carefully curated so that none would attack each other or eat one another.

The largest of the represented rodent species trotted up to its owner. Orange of fur and calm of demeanour, the capybara awaited scratches and soon got them. Lazily, the large rodent tilted its head back. It relaxed and relaxed further until it suddenly fell over. Lulu laughed, a delightful sound. Then, she looked around.

“Where is my Daiyu?” she wondered.

“What kind of animal is that?” the Gamer wondered, scanning his mental archive. The name translated to ‘black jade’. He expected something small and shiny based on it, perhaps a crow? A dog, maybe?

“One of my ladies-in-waiting,” Lulu answered.

“…Is the implication here that you choose your ladies-in-waiting based on how cute they are?”

“No? There is no implication here? That’s exactly what I am doing?” The imperial put a hand on the swing of her hips. “Will I be judged by you, h-oney?”

“Ya getting better at saving yourself,” Rave drawled.

“Thank you,” Lulu mused, then continued on, “In detail, we choose who is loyal and who can be trusted. The Imperial Court City is accessible only to my chosen loyalists and those that I desire to leak information to my chosen enemies. There will be an area of true privacy. Follow.”

John and his eight women did, following in Lulu’s tracks to a sizable house adjacent to the park. The Gamer noted the noise-cancelling enchantment the moment he stepped through the door. The inside was nice and expansive and simply what John expected with all of the luxury he had seen up until this point. Two years ago, he would have been stunned by all the fine china, in every sense of those words, but now he simply appreciated the beauty removed from the wealth.

There was just one oddity.

“I can’t help but notice that there are separate bedrooms,” he pointed out.

“Oh… what a silly design oversight,” Lulu said, obviously playing coy. “Guess we just have to make use of this then.”

The imperial tomboy pulled on the trunk of an elephant-shaped lamp. The hidden lever gave, causing a wall panel to slide to the side. A staircase was revealed.

“There’s more hidden paths in the Forbidden City than anyone can count,” Lulu told them. “Metaphorically speaking. I do have them all mapped out.” The tunnel was a short one, leading to the back of another wall, which slid aside after the Heavenly Jade Empress pressed a particular stone on her hip level.

Behind it was a much larger bedroom, with a much larger bed. It was harem appropriate, although John was not certain whether the imperial tomboy had installed it recently because of their entanglement or if she had already possessed it to house the incredible number of cute plushies on it. Beyond that, the decor and luxury level was about the same. John guessed that these were Lu Zhi’s preferred quarters, not her official ones. “Let me guess, they call it the lover’s tunnel?”

“I am far from the first sovereign to have a foreign lover that requires hiding,” Lulu said and walked around the bed, brushing the sheets with her hand as she did. “Now, I’ll go wash my feet and then… I believe I promised you anal?”

“Mhm, I might get in trouble with Lydia if we go and do that without her,” John answered.

“I’d be happy to have the usual, you decide while I freshen up.” Lu Zhi disappeared around a corner, leaving John to turn to his haremettes.

“Well, we all know what happens here next,” he told them.

“Yup, and I’mma leave ya to it,” Rave announced, to John’s mild surprise. “Unless you are doing the anal right now?”

“I tend towards no,” John said. Not having the anal queen around really did feel wrong. There was going to be another time. “Let’s make that a definitive no.”

“Yeah, I can give ya some space then. Anyone with me?”

“I need to see if I can find a way to play Kingdom Hearts around here…” Lee mutered.

“Someone has to read the library for Momo,” Delicia decided.

“I have a strongly worded letter to write,” Ehtra growled.

“I will familiarize myself with some of the lower nobles,” Nightingale said.

“I have preparations to make,” Claire admitted with a sigh.

“I wish to see the empress **** on my mate’s cock,” Nathalia gave her intention – which was good. One of the haremettes had to stay for all of this to stay in accordance with the rules of Lulu’s trial membership. With that cleared, they just had to wait.

A threesome with an empress and a goddess was just a normal Monday, really.