NationStates Jolt Archive

The streets of Mei-pei filled with the usual crowded streets packed with cars and motorcycles and all the assortment of vehicles that a big city provides. Of course the sidewalks were filled with people walking to wherever they may be going. Mei-pei never sleeps, well the New Mei-pei quarter anyway. The Old Quarter where the massive Summer Palace (which in reality consisted of over 35 Palaces and hundreds of other buildings) that stretched for over 55 miles of land that belonged to the Daughter of Heaven, Empress Tzu Yun.

In Tiamo Square in front of the Gates of Heavenly Peace, the main entrance to the Summer Palace was the largest group of protestors ever seen since the Siaagoti'pa (Day of the Fall of the Mang, the day when the Mang Imperial Dynasty fell). No one was quite sure who many people were in the Square but Tiamo Square could hold over 250,000 people and the protestors were spilling well out of the square, so it was safe to say a lot.

The mood was very ugly, the hatred was intense, in well over 20 languages and countless dialects the crowd protested and scream under a total unity. Their enemy, the Catholic Church.

The Imperial Edict that lifted the Eternal Ban of the Roman Catholic for three years was nearly over. These people wanted for the ban to be reinstated forever.

The Empress herself the Daughter of Heaven watched all this going on outside the Summer Palace on TV inside the largest palace of them all, the Palace of Eternal Bliss, a massive 20 mile palace where the Imperial Monarch and her future family would live.

"Funny that CNN picks up on stories like this so quickly." the Empress thought, "And look they are even reporting when I will hold my Audience with the representatives of the Catholic Church in front of the Imperial Court in two days. I had better make this work or my goose just might be cooked."



http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/images/091703/liuLR.jpg
Her Divine and Imperial Majesty the Empress Tzu Yun,
Titles: Empress of Saiogena, Beloved Leader of the Chu’pei Imperial Dynasty, the Star of Enlightenment, She Who is Above the 25 Thrones, the Daughter of Heaven, et al.[/size]
”Ten Thousand Years of Long Life to the Empress!”
The Empire of Saiogena

Pantocratorian Imperial Air Legion Flight 002, the custom-modified Boeing 707 reserved for use by the Despot of New Constantinople, touched down on the runway at Mei-pei's international airport. Inside, Prince Andreus, the eldest son of the Pantocratorian Emperor, adjusted the jacket of his naval uniform as he looked into the mirror. He barely felt the plane touch down on the runway.

"Your Highness," said a servant, offering him his sword. "Your sword."

"Stupid bloody thing," Andreus quipped as he took the sword and hung it from his waist. "The hilt is always getting in the way."

He looked into the mirror, and adjusted the purple sash which hung around his torso from shoulder to waist.

"Do you think I've got enough medals?" he asked his personal secretary, Sir Thierry.

"I've no idea whether the Saiogenese are impressed by such things, sir." replied Sir Thierry.

"Well then I'll just keep the ones I've got then, eh?" Andreus decides, referring to the chestful of medals he didn't earn he is already wearing. "Alright, I think I'm ready. Have we landed?"

"Yes sir." said Sir Thierry. "Shall I check whether His Eminence is ready, sir?"

"Yes, you go do that, Thierry. Oh and Thierry, have this letter sent to..." the Prince picks up a note and hands it to his secretary.

"Madame de Montmanuel?" asks Sir Thierry, naming one of Prince Andreus' current mistresses.

"No, Madame d'Isakiosopolis." Andreus says. "She made me promise her I would write to her on the plane. Obsessive, eh? She's so insecure that she literally demands that I write her insincere love letters not only while I'm away from New Constantinople, but while I'm en route travelling away from New Constantinople!"

"Can I take it then, sir, that the novelty has worn off?" ventures Sir Thierry, joking with his master and friend.

"Weeks ago." concludes the Prince. "But there are still some things about her which hold my interest."

Sir Thierry looks expectantly.

"I shan't tell you, hearing about them alone would earn you at least ten rosaries, and I don't have that sort of time to wait for the good Cardinal." says Andreus. "Now go and see if he's ready."

"Yes, Your Highness." says Sir Thierry, bowing before he leaves the cabin and walks down the hall to Cardinal Poitiers-Phocas' quarters.

Andreus picks up his naval cap, puts it on, and admires himself in the mirror.

"Not that I can blame Madame for being so enamoured of me." he murmurs vainly to himself as the servants bow and back out of the cabin.