"His Highness, the Emperor Shitastsu vi Ryukyu has arrived!" the guard called as the royal carriage rolled in through the heavy wooden gates of the Imperial Palace. The palace was a sprawling monument to the wealth and power of the Empire. Little over two hundred years ago, the grand palace was little more than a sizable stone hut on the top of a hill, protected by dinky wooden palisades and guarded by a dozen or so men with stone axes. 

Now, the Imperial Palace was nearly half the size of the nearby city of Ritang, the capital of the entire Empire. With a dozens of courtyards and gardens, beautifully crafted and reinforced red walls with porcelain roofing accompanied by hundred of statues and idols representing the Inshingu faith. The Emperor's own [i]Thousand Blades[/i] patrolled the premises, standing guard at every corner and entrance with undying vigilance and armed with the most advanced weapons and armor the Empire could create. Both beautifully decorative and luxurious and also dangerously well protected, the palace was a symbol of great pride of the people. 

The Emperor step out of the gilded carriage when he had arrived at the entrance of the palace, the hundreds of advisors, servants, senators, guards and generals all jumped to attention by putting one hand behind their waist and the other over their hearts. He was wearing royal robes of golden yellow with parchment lining and silvery weaving decorating it. With a quick wave of his hand, the Emperor allowed everyone to relax as he walk through the doorway, guards and advisors followed.

There were two courts in the Imperial Palace, the Royal Court and the Imperial Court. The Imperial Court was where public appearances were made for things such as diplomacy and trade agreements, enacting new laws and hosting lavish dinner parties with Nobles. The Royal court was for strictly political matters and was actually more commonly used as the Imperial Court was often used as the Iron Root's senator meeting room. The Royal Court was much less lavish then the Imperial Palace, namely since it wasn't often seen by the public. 

Once the sliding doors of the Royal Court were closed and everyone was seated, the Emperor collapsed at his desk, “Geh, who knew playing politics for 14 hours straight could be so tiring.”
“Your Highness, it is a crucial par-“ 
“I know it was a joke.” Shitatsu interrupted his domestic advisor as he straightened himself out, “Alright then, what is the agenda today?
“Food storages are dropping and the price of rice is rising again.”
“One of our pirate fleets captured a rogue merchant vessel. It had no flags on it and the captain is refusing to tell us where he is from but demands immediate release or we will suffer political consequences.”
“The festival will be here in a few weeks, we must prepare.”
“The House of Roderick is once again requesting more funds for their projects.”
“There has been more border tensions due to peasants claim land they don’t own.”
“There are reports of pagan rebels raiding armories for weapons.”

The young emperor sighed, today was just one of those days that nothing went right. The festival would require a lot of surplus food for celebration but there was no extra food at this time of year. He hoped he wouldn’t have to get the pirate fleets to raid ships for food.
“You know you want too.” A voice said to Shitatsu.

The Emperor nearly jumped over his table as everyone else in the room leap to their feet before realizing whom it was. It was Muchi, the Devil of the Sea. She played with Shitatsu’s hair, “The Black Wings of Cold are ready to go raiding, we have had some fun in a while you know.”
“That’s because the last time I asked you guys to go raiding trade, you ended hauling back a foreign warship and that created a political mess.” The Emperor was clearly not amused, “And how the hell did you get in here?”

The pirate queen winked and shrugged her shoulders as everyone returned to their spots. The Emperor sighed as he looked on a small piece of paper contain his agenda for today,Calmarr, can I suspect you have some idea on how the hell to balance all of this out?”
“Course mi lord,” the dwarf spoke in a hearty voice as if he had just been drinking. Knowing him, that wasn’t impossible, “I’ve already drawn up some plans.”
“Have you factored into account Roderick’s request for more funding?” one of the guards took the papers from Calmarr and handed to Shitatsu.
“The last two take that into consideration.”
“Touksen, how goes the construction of the new heavies for the fleet?” Shitatsu addressed his best friend and retainer while flipping through the pages of plans and numbers.
“On time you Highness, three Zhan Zhe’s have already been finished along with a Zhan Cui.”

The Emperor sighed as he looked out the window to admire some passing clouds. A servant arrived and began passing out tea in fine china cups mixed with a bit of kumis. Muchi didn’t get any of the kumis-tea, but she had brought along her own bottle of alcohol of questionable size.

“Have we gotten any word of our emissary to the Lastar lands?” Shitatsu sipped his drink as he prepared some ink to write with.
“Our border guards have reported that he is across to border and all of the gifts are accounted for.”
“Very well then, I will ask for all of you to leave, I must finish these papers soon.”

With that the room soon emptied with no one but the emperor and two guards left. Shitatsu put down the Three Mountain Crown, on the table in front of him the golden crown of Ryukyuan rulers inlaid with pearls, a national treasure. With a snap of his fingers, a few servants rolled in carts with books of various subjects, archived reports and letters that soon surrounded the young ruler and they carried him charts and packets at his orders. The noise returned to the room as the young emperor got to work. Just because he had power didn’t mean he didn’t have work.

[hr]
[b]Tl;dr
[/b]

- Emperor Shitatsu has come back from some meeting that last 14 hours straight; presumably slept on the ride home.
- There is an Inshingu festival soon, however Shitatsu worries if there is enough food to hold it. Muchi offers to raid some trade ships for food and is shot down.
- The House of Roderick is once again requesting more funds for their projects.
- There has been more border tensions due to peasants claim land they don’t own.
- There are reports of pagan rebels raiding armories for weapons.
- 4 new heavy ships have finished being constructed and are added to the fleet
- An emissary is on a diplomatic mission to try and form an alliance with the Lastar nation.
- The Royal Court is now more like a library as Shitatsu gets to work.