# One paycheck for three people's work, and I did it for four or five years #
How long does it take for someone to defy fate and change their life? One day.
Perhaps not even a whole day.
As Bai Shu knelt in the main hall, with the emperor, the empress dowager, the chancellor, and everyone else fixing their eyes on an ordinary soldier like him, all he could think was how he regretted not noticing how unusual that young man was when they spoke beside the stove.
The young man had smiled as he asked about Bai Shu's background and name, then asked why someone who understood military strategy was stuck working as a cook.
Bai Shu had cooked as he talked, answering each question in detail out of sheer boredom. The young man had seemed satisfied, then turned around and disappeared.
What Bai Shu didn't know was that the young man was Nan Xing, the new emperor. After hearing Bai Shu's answers, he returned to the palace and immediately promoted him, making an unprecedented decision to send a mere centurion into battle as commander.
Bai Shu wanted no part of it, but kneeling before the emperor, he had no power to refuse. He could only accept the general's seal and thank the emperor for his favor, take responsibility for the lives of over a hundred thousand men, and stake everything he had learned in the first half of his life on a battle. To his surprise, he won.
His colleagues praised his good fortune. The emperor had taken a liking to him, restoring him to his former position and promoting him four or five ranks in a row. Bai Shu smiled bitterly. The saying that serving the emperor was like walking beside a tiger was true.
An emperor's favor was never given lightly. A ruler expected his subjects to offer him everything: their loyalty, their abilities... even themselves.
Bai Shu didn't mind. He had served in the army for five or six years. Obedience was second nature to a soldier, and serving the country and remaining loyal to his sovereign were already branded into his bones.
Nan Xing was pleased to watch Bai Shu kneel and present him with the battle report. He never begrudged anyone his trust or authority, nor the rewards a loyal subject deserved. Just as Nan Xing wanted, Bai Shu climbed over mountains of corpses and seas of blood, repaying him with enemy generals' heads and conquered cities.
It could have been a tale of a harmonious ruler and subject. But Nan Xing wanted more. Rewards, noble titles, official posts... Nan Xing gave Bai Shu nearly everything he could bestow, raising him to a summit where no further title could be granted and from which he could not descend. From then on, Bai Shu's life and death lay entirely in Nan Xing's hands.
At the victory banquet, Nan Xing allowed him to spend the night in the palace. The general knelt with his head bowed before him. The emperor lifted Bai Shu's chin and asked whether he was willing to give himself to him completely. Bai Shu did not refuse. After that, he never refused again.
The candles in the bedchamber burned all night. Nan Xing gave vent to his nearly pathological desires against Bai Shu's body. When everything finally settled, something lay in Bai Shu's palm.
It was the empress's seal, a piece of white mutton-fat jade about half the size of a palm. Its luster had dimmed from neglect. Nan Xing toyed with Bai Shu's hair, his voice satisfied. "This court is still missing an empress."
"Yes."
"And all I get is 'yes' again..." The emperor sounded aggrieved as he draped himself over Bai Shu. "When will you finally give in to me?"
A few things to know first:
* The emperor is the pursuer, and the subject is the one being pursued. The setting is heavily feudal, where every punishment and favor from the ruler is considered a blessing.
* The military system is based on the Qin military merit and rank system.
* The characters do many unscrupulous things, but don't judge two feudal landlords by modern moral standards.
Theme: Once we're done with this busy spell, we can move on to the next one.
