FSE

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Jian Li had long been Emperor and after much deliberation with many of his concubines he had decided his youngest, Jian Zheng, would be the one to ascend the throne when the time would come to pass. A festival was to be had in honor of the announcement. A considerable amount of planning was involved: the Prince's jade laden hat, the food, the magicians... It had almost been to much for even the Imperial Historian to write down. Li halfheartedly agreed to this and that on the matter, staring off at the bronze tiger a craftsman had made in his likeness. It was difficult enough deliberating orders to over thirty provinces and dealing with the empire's debt.

Ya Ling, a wolf who would be Empress, simply did not care for his apathy in the matter and insisted on only the finest things for her son. The Emperor should be doing everything at his disposal to ensure their son would be respected as a Prince, and it was only rightful that she too receive praise as the Prince's mother. The astronomers did predict ten thousand generations of glory under the boy's regime. Though some other fortune tellers had predicted peace, love, and light under the rule of one cub or another. One had even predicted much success under the rule of a girl. Still, the astronomers were the most trusted by the Emperor and so Jian Zheng would dine on the finest foods, drink the richest elixirs, and (of course) wear the most luxurious robes on the day of the festival.

Tasked with so much to do and so little time the beleaguered tiger Emperor entrusted much of the festival's planning to his advisors and offered his last minute approval on such things. In the small amount of spare time he had Li imparted some nuggets of wisdom on ruling to the eleven year old Prince. Which advisors to trust (eunuchs had very little in mind but the good of the Dynasty), morality (family first, then the community, then the empire), and continuing the bloodline (one must look for the qualities of an Emperor hidden behind make up and thin waists). Young Zheng was overwhelmed by the amount of attention he'd suddenly been getting, but took in as much information as he could. Unbeknownst to all, amidst the excitement the advisor trusted with contracting a tailor for the Prince's robes, Han Lu (a rat), had let the task slip through his paws. So when Li demanded he see the robes Zheng would be wearing for the ceremony Han Lu had panicked, but only for a very short amount of time. Zheng was confused as he had not been fitted for new clothes, but it had all been confusing so far.

"There was..." Lu squirmed a bit, then thought up a plan. "A man appeared, spectacularly dressed, and he bestowed to me the most beautiful robes I had ever seen. In just the Prince's size. Upon acquiring the robes I wept, being simply unworthy to look upon them, and packed them away. The man told me that only those endowed with enough intelligence and valiance could see and feel the robes, and that my glimpse of them had been a gift. With that, the robes seemed to fade and the man burst into smoke." Lu shakily went into his chambers and pulled out a box he knew to be empty. He opened it for the Emperor and his son. "Here they are."

At once two things happened, Jian Li felt a rage reserved for battle and advisors that betrayed him, and Jian Zheng saw the most brilliant red robes he'd ever laid eyes on. "Heavenly Mother, do I have the honor of wearing these?" The hybrid cub surely seemed insane as he turned what appeared to be nothing about and examined it carefully.

"You can see them?!?" Both Lu and Li exclaimed. Then, not to be out done by a cub, the Emperor quickly added, "Of course, they are quite magnificent."

The cub quickly took the robes to the Imperial fitting room, unaware of his private quarters for such an occasion, and began to change his clothes. The two Imperial soldiers that had been disarming at the time took notice of this and began to murmur with one another. "Is that the Prince to be?" The horse mumbled and pretended he wasn't looking, packing away his helmet. "Yeah, it looks like he's taking his clothes off and putting nothing on." The wolf replied, sneaking glances while glaring at the floor. "You know, from back here he looks more like a princess." The horse whispered and shifted to cover what had slowly been slipping out of his sheath, the wolf laughed at him. "You've been away from the capital too long. But damn, you're kinda right on-"

Zheng marched up to the soldiers, wearing his brilliant red robes, his old clothes folded over his arm, and said, "These robes are a gift from the Immortals! Only the wise and courageous can see them. That would explain why two soldiers retiring this early in the day can't gaze upon their beauty." Then the Prince left to get his father's approval of the robes.

Upon his departure the two laughed at the absurdity of the situation. "Couldn't you totally see his little sheath?" The wolf chuckled. "Yeah... It was kinda hot." The horse shamefully admitted. The wolf cocked his head sideways, "Dude, what?"

It came the day of the festival. Jian Lu had given a long speech on the merits of the Jian Dynasty he had established, and offered a toast to the future of the Empire. Then Zheng strode in in front of the crowd to his place among the court, wearing his fine red robes. In his seat he looked down to the commoners and a chatter arose between them. Then someone shouted, "The Prince has no clothes on!" To which some responded, "Never mind that, how is someone with such little power between their legs going to run the Empire?" Some commoners guffawed, others grew furious with concerns for the future. The guards tried to control the crowd and Zheng placed his paws in his lap to cover up. A strange shiver went through his body as he thought about the idea of everyone seeing his sheath, how was it that none of them could see his robes?