Sun Tiger, Moon Serpent

Three

Taiyoung

I waited for Yuda-nim in the sparring area, right outside the garden.

The sparring area was nothing too grand. Of course, I suspected that my father wouldn't have spent a great deal of money on crafting such a trivial patch of land. It was a simple rectangular dirt patch, and there were some straw dummies to the side which no one used.

I sat in the middle of it, geom sword laid across my knees. I had removed my hanbok and wore a more fitting white tunic, and baggy baji pants, as well as wooden clogs on my feet. Far behind me, I know Chu-ssi was watching my every move, for my sake of course.

If a future Empress were to try to escape, or do something rash, it would be on her. I'm sure she thought that.

I tied my hair into a high ponytail on top of my head as I waited. The wind was cold now--what time of year was it? Ah, right, the season of the Wind Dragon, Jyutamen.

I turned to look back at Chu-ssi. She was kneeling, enjoying a simple cup of tea, three more servants around her. She saw me staring and I smiled at her, before looking away. Turning back, I realized how bored I was getting. Surely Yuda was not taking that long?

Ugh.

I rose to my feet, putting the geom down on the ground in front of me. I turned and walked over to Chu-ssi. "Chu-ssi! Would it be too much of a hassle to ask you to get me honeyed tea?"

"Honeyed... tea? But, Neotaegun-nim, the honey is a few ways off. If we are to get honey now, I must buy some from the market!"

I bit my lip and rapidly blinked my eyes. "Oh. Okay then..." I sniffled, turned around, and began walking back to my position.

"Oh, neotaegun-nim, I do not fret, do not sob. I shall get you the honeyed tea."

Turning around once again, I smiled: "Really? Oh thank you so so much Chu-ssi!"

She sighed and smiled at me. "Stay here in the sparring area while we get on." She turned to the other servants. "Let us take a trip to the market." The other servants nodded in dutiful agreement, and then they picked themselves up, and walked down the hallway, and into the kitchen, no doubt wanting to take stock of tea and see if they could find any honey still within.

I, however, knew that there was no more honey, for I have finished them all.

I walked back to the sparring area and immediately exited to the left-hand side, which was an earthen path that led to a stone walkway, that eventually led to a stone walkway that arched over the pond in the middle of the garden and led into the pavilion.

When I got to the bridge, however, I saw my father, the Emperor of Giro'jji, and his five Prime Viziers. Each of them were easy to distinguish, as each one wore a differently colored robe that identified their stature. Five men in all, for women was simply property of men, according to the Qirongian Texts.

Thinking of the Qirongian Texts pushed the thought of religious and societal reformation into my mind. Would I be able to change and sway the hearts and minds of a thousand Giroans to believe in another way?

But I immediately shoved such thoughts away, for they were of no consequence to me at that time. At that point, I saw the five Viziers sit on their chairs, facing a six-sided table of wood, underneath the holy Pavilion of the Five.

The Pavilion of the Five was a peculiar, and arguably very unique, pavilion. On each corner of the Pavilion, pointing in their favored direction, were the Five Holy Symbols. Pointing to the East was the rising sun, in the form of a great Tiger, known as the Solar Tiger. Pointing to the West was the serene moon, in the form of a great Serpent, known as the Lunar Dragon. Pointing to the North was the Azure Raptor, a great bird that burns with ice. Pointing to the South was the Crimson Bear, cooled with fires of intense desert-flame.