The Good Doctor part 1
- Location
- United States of America
Hmm... It would be a little sad if I didn't at least try and post an Omake in the month of July. So, I wrote the very first section of a larger omake that has been bouncing around in my head. Hey, at least this time the guy isn't a street rat or a prisoner!
The Good Doctor: Part I
I dreamed. I knew it was a dream for the events playing out before my eyes happened in the ancient past when I was younger, brasher, and more arrogant from the qi coursing through my veins. I also knew that this was a dream for it was exactly the same dream I had been plagued with for 100 years now. This was the dream of when I killed the traitor Zu Dao, my best friend, and brother.
Abruptly, I was awoken from my nightmare by the sound of a hesitant knocking at my door. Understanding flashed within me as I realized that it was only 3:00am in the morning, well before I was normally roused from my seldom bouts of slumber.
I called out to the messenger, "One moment, I wish to be presentable before hearing the esteemed message you have been tasked to bring me."
I briefly flexed my qi to cleanse myself from the sweat that always followed the nightmare and began quickly readying myself for the message. Finally placing my gloves over my blood stained hands, I opened the door to greet the messenger waiting outside of my room.
"Greetings, I'm sorry the message had to wait for me to become presentable, who desires my attention at such a time and could not bear to wait or use more prompt means of communication?"
The messenger looked pale and ragged, it seemed that he had no desire to be here either. However, when he spoke it was with the presentation of the seal of authority, "The Emperor, long may he live, has requested your presence in his court at your earliest convenience."
I nodded at the messenger and began to walk briskly to my room in order to wear clothes fit to be presented in front of the Emperor, long may he live, himself. After finishing my preparations, I walked to my balcony, faced the direction of the Imperial Palace, stepped up on to the railing and flexed my qi, summoning the air and heavens themselves. In an instant, I was before the gate of the Imperial Palace, in all of its splendor.
I made my way through the familiar corridors of the Palace, moving past guards, servants, and sycophants as the court of the Emperor grew ever closer. Eventually standing in the vestibule of the court, I nodded to the guards who had been guarding the entrance. Without a sign of acknowledgment, they turned and pushed open the great doors and when there was enough room for me to pass I began walking forward. The moment before I crossed the threshold, I flexed my qi and the world slowed to a crawl. With my sense of time distorted to such an extent, I could comfortably assess the situation and see if there were any clues as to the reason the Emperor had called the head of his ministry of health to be presented in front of him.
Emperor An was, of course, sitting on the Dragon Throne with the court room filled at the sides with murmuring sycophants plotting, betraying, and all around trying to win the tightly spun political games that they were always playing. Of more interest, was the few individuals that were talking to the Emperor, all of them were either from the newly acquired province or from regions that boarded the province. In other words, pardoned traitors. A weary sigh vibrated through my cranium. There was a good chance that it was politics, actually, it was almost always politics. I hated politics.
Time snapped back into focus again as I crossed the threshold, walking briskly through the opened center directly towards the Emperor. Reaching the appropriate location in front of the Emperor, I bowed deeply to him and stated my appearance before his presence "Zu Hao presents his unworthy self before the Imperial throne. You have willed my presence before your majesty and as such, I have arrived."
The Emperor waved away the men who were around the base of his throne and began to address me, "We have been notified that your ministry has been failing in the task that has been required of you."
That did not sound particularly pleasant, for I had no idea what matter he was addressing. Without missing a beat I responded, "I am humbled that your majesty would take the time to check on the workings of a ministry as lowly as ours, however, nothing has been brought to my attention in regards to where I have failed my duty. If his Excellency would be so gracious as to instruct me as to where my ministry has failed, then I will do everything in my power to correct the oversight."
"It has come to our attention that in our western provinces a plague has been allowed to spread, unchecked by your ministry of health. What say you to this failure of yours?
"That it is a failure of my ministry, and as its head, I will accept responsibility for the plague and seek to do everything in my power to correct this failure," I responded, quickly thinking of an opportunity to be salvaged from this debacle. "If it would be pleasing to Your will, I will personally go to the west to investigate and curb this plague in order to save face for this failure of mine."
I sensed the Emperor give pause, considering the offer. Before this calamity, I had been in favor with the Emperor and he could likely see how this situation came about. It would be a simple matter, expensive but simple, to bribe every one of my agents in the western regions to stay silent about the plague for a time while sprinting messengers ahead to inform the Emperor of my "failing." The Emperor would have been forced to dismiss me if I had fought against the news and it would have shamed me to simply accept responsibility. Losing a trusted servant at court would have been a blow that the Emperor would have had little room to deal with especially after his handling of the Sun incident. Hopefully, with this way out that I had given him, I could remain alive and in my position, and the Emperor could retain my service and loyalty in his court of vipers and sycophants.
After a moment of deliberation, the Emperor spoke, "We are pleased by your willingness to correct this error of yours. However, while you are gone, who would continue your duties as the Head of the Ministry of Health? Your talents and skills are nearly without peer, who would you have taken up the mantle you wear while you are in the west?"
I calmly stated the final part of the plan I had just concocted, "My personal assistant, a man who is known as Huang Biming, has enough skill to hold the position until I return. Should he encounter a problem that he is not prepared to handle, he is easily able to communicate with me despite any distance between us and I will be able to guide him on the proper course of action."
"We declare it so," spoke the Emperor. "Prepare your things to travel to the Western provinces that have so recently come under my authority in order to stop the plague from spreading and to destroy the root of such a danger to my Empire. Order Heung Biming to take up your position as Head of the Ministry of Health until your return. We have willed it, and so let it be so!"
A messenger standing to the side of the court bowed deeply to the Emperor and approached me. I handed him the signet ring denoting my position as Head of the Ministry of Health and told him where to find Huang Biming. As he raced off to impart the news to him, I bowed once more, deeply, to the Emperor and took my leave. I had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. I needed to see which of my agents had been bribed and inform the Ministry of Integrity of their identity, I needed to find who had bribed them and report those individuals to that same ministry, and I needed to stop a plague that was apparently sweeping the Western provinces. I had no idea what the plague did, where it started, or where it was probably heading to. I also had been tasked with not only stopping the plague but also destroying whatever had caused it, or at least identify the cause enough so that it could be prevented from happening again. I kneaded my temples as a painful pressure built up between them. This was going to be a long, difficult, and tiresome "vacation" from the politics of the capital city. I flexed my qi when I left the palace and once again I stood on my balcony. It was time to do what I do best, save the Empire from disease and filth. And traitors I suppose.
The Good Doctor: Part I
I dreamed. I knew it was a dream for the events playing out before my eyes happened in the ancient past when I was younger, brasher, and more arrogant from the qi coursing through my veins. I also knew that this was a dream for it was exactly the same dream I had been plagued with for 100 years now. This was the dream of when I killed the traitor Zu Dao, my best friend, and brother.
Abruptly, I was awoken from my nightmare by the sound of a hesitant knocking at my door. Understanding flashed within me as I realized that it was only 3:00am in the morning, well before I was normally roused from my seldom bouts of slumber.
I called out to the messenger, "One moment, I wish to be presentable before hearing the esteemed message you have been tasked to bring me."
I briefly flexed my qi to cleanse myself from the sweat that always followed the nightmare and began quickly readying myself for the message. Finally placing my gloves over my blood stained hands, I opened the door to greet the messenger waiting outside of my room.
"Greetings, I'm sorry the message had to wait for me to become presentable, who desires my attention at such a time and could not bear to wait or use more prompt means of communication?"
The messenger looked pale and ragged, it seemed that he had no desire to be here either. However, when he spoke it was with the presentation of the seal of authority, "The Emperor, long may he live, has requested your presence in his court at your earliest convenience."
I nodded at the messenger and began to walk briskly to my room in order to wear clothes fit to be presented in front of the Emperor, long may he live, himself. After finishing my preparations, I walked to my balcony, faced the direction of the Imperial Palace, stepped up on to the railing and flexed my qi, summoning the air and heavens themselves. In an instant, I was before the gate of the Imperial Palace, in all of its splendor.
I made my way through the familiar corridors of the Palace, moving past guards, servants, and sycophants as the court of the Emperor grew ever closer. Eventually standing in the vestibule of the court, I nodded to the guards who had been guarding the entrance. Without a sign of acknowledgment, they turned and pushed open the great doors and when there was enough room for me to pass I began walking forward. The moment before I crossed the threshold, I flexed my qi and the world slowed to a crawl. With my sense of time distorted to such an extent, I could comfortably assess the situation and see if there were any clues as to the reason the Emperor had called the head of his ministry of health to be presented in front of him.
Emperor An was, of course, sitting on the Dragon Throne with the court room filled at the sides with murmuring sycophants plotting, betraying, and all around trying to win the tightly spun political games that they were always playing. Of more interest, was the few individuals that were talking to the Emperor, all of them were either from the newly acquired province or from regions that boarded the province. In other words, pardoned traitors. A weary sigh vibrated through my cranium. There was a good chance that it was politics, actually, it was almost always politics. I hated politics.
Time snapped back into focus again as I crossed the threshold, walking briskly through the opened center directly towards the Emperor. Reaching the appropriate location in front of the Emperor, I bowed deeply to him and stated my appearance before his presence "Zu Hao presents his unworthy self before the Imperial throne. You have willed my presence before your majesty and as such, I have arrived."
The Emperor waved away the men who were around the base of his throne and began to address me, "We have been notified that your ministry has been failing in the task that has been required of you."
That did not sound particularly pleasant, for I had no idea what matter he was addressing. Without missing a beat I responded, "I am humbled that your majesty would take the time to check on the workings of a ministry as lowly as ours, however, nothing has been brought to my attention in regards to where I have failed my duty. If his Excellency would be so gracious as to instruct me as to where my ministry has failed, then I will do everything in my power to correct the oversight."
"It has come to our attention that in our western provinces a plague has been allowed to spread, unchecked by your ministry of health. What say you to this failure of yours?
"That it is a failure of my ministry, and as its head, I will accept responsibility for the plague and seek to do everything in my power to correct this failure," I responded, quickly thinking of an opportunity to be salvaged from this debacle. "If it would be pleasing to Your will, I will personally go to the west to investigate and curb this plague in order to save face for this failure of mine."
I sensed the Emperor give pause, considering the offer. Before this calamity, I had been in favor with the Emperor and he could likely see how this situation came about. It would be a simple matter, expensive but simple, to bribe every one of my agents in the western regions to stay silent about the plague for a time while sprinting messengers ahead to inform the Emperor of my "failing." The Emperor would have been forced to dismiss me if I had fought against the news and it would have shamed me to simply accept responsibility. Losing a trusted servant at court would have been a blow that the Emperor would have had little room to deal with especially after his handling of the Sun incident. Hopefully, with this way out that I had given him, I could remain alive and in my position, and the Emperor could retain my service and loyalty in his court of vipers and sycophants.
After a moment of deliberation, the Emperor spoke, "We are pleased by your willingness to correct this error of yours. However, while you are gone, who would continue your duties as the Head of the Ministry of Health? Your talents and skills are nearly without peer, who would you have taken up the mantle you wear while you are in the west?"
I calmly stated the final part of the plan I had just concocted, "My personal assistant, a man who is known as Huang Biming, has enough skill to hold the position until I return. Should he encounter a problem that he is not prepared to handle, he is easily able to communicate with me despite any distance between us and I will be able to guide him on the proper course of action."
"We declare it so," spoke the Emperor. "Prepare your things to travel to the Western provinces that have so recently come under my authority in order to stop the plague from spreading and to destroy the root of such a danger to my Empire. Order Heung Biming to take up your position as Head of the Ministry of Health until your return. We have willed it, and so let it be so!"
A messenger standing to the side of the court bowed deeply to the Emperor and approached me. I handed him the signet ring denoting my position as Head of the Ministry of Health and told him where to find Huang Biming. As he raced off to impart the news to him, I bowed once more, deeply, to the Emperor and took my leave. I had a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. I needed to see which of my agents had been bribed and inform the Ministry of Integrity of their identity, I needed to find who had bribed them and report those individuals to that same ministry, and I needed to stop a plague that was apparently sweeping the Western provinces. I had no idea what the plague did, where it started, or where it was probably heading to. I also had been tasked with not only stopping the plague but also destroying whatever had caused it, or at least identify the cause enough so that it could be prevented from happening again. I kneaded my temples as a painful pressure built up between them. This was going to be a long, difficult, and tiresome "vacation" from the politics of the capital city. I flexed my qi when I left the palace and once again I stood on my balcony. It was time to do what I do best, save the Empire from disease and filth. And traitors I suppose.
