CONSEQUENCE & SUSPECT

The room was silent, and then erupted in applause. The Emperor was moved by the boy's retelling of the tale.

The Emperor remained impassive, despite the boy's impressive retelling of the tale. While the others in the room were impressed, the Emperor was not so easily swayed. He had a keen eye for detail, and he knew that the boy had left out some key details.

But the Emperor also saw something else in the boy's eyes - a spark of intelligence and insight that was rare to find. And so, even though the boy's tale was not perfect, the Emperor saw something special in him, something that could not be taught or learned.

  The boy stood there, frozen with fear. He felt the eyes of everyone in the room upon him, and he struggled to find the words to speak. "Hello, Your Majesty," he finally managed to say, his voice barely a whisper.

"Hello, my young friend," the Emperor replied, his voice gentle and reassuring. "There is no need to be afraid. Just speak from your heart, and tell us what you know."

The boy looked at Samson, who smiled encouragingly. "Hey brother, it your turn" Solomon make jest of him.

"However, if you fabricate this story in your imagination, you will meet a terrible end. You are a mere child, and your words are not to be trusted. I demand that you tell correctly, from now on, or you will suffer the consequences. Do you understand? He added "I wonder why your parent didn't teach you that when a king is talking you must keep mute until the king is done talking" The Emperor spoke in a stern tone, his eyes flashing with anger.

The boy was terrified, and he could barely find the words to reply. "I-I'm sorry, Your Majesty," he stammered. 

The boy began to speak. "Long ago, in the year 1865, there lived an Emperor who loved to spend time in the Garden of Poison. This Emperor was a mighty ruler, with powers that were unrivaled. Some say that he was reborn into this world, and that he possessed knowledge from a previous life.

"One day, a terrible storm swept through the Empire, bringing with it destruction and chaos.

However, despite his power and authority, the Emperor had a dark side. He was known for his womanizing ways, and he had numerous concubines in the palace. The royal symbol at the time was a hyena, a creature that represented the Emperor's power and strength.

But one day, the Emperor ventured into the forest and came across a herd of buffalo. In a fit of rage, he slaughtered many of the animals, causing the herd to flee. This enraged the spirits of the forest, who punished the Emperor by changing the royal symbol from a hyena to a buffalo.

As the boy paused in his story, he seemed to be struggling to find the right words. He touched his head, as if trying to trigger a memory. "Suddenly, a buffalo appeared before the Emperor. And then, a thought came to him. Could it be that the spirits of his ancestors had sent this buffalo to him, to help the Empire avoid destruction?" The boy's eyes widened with excitement, as he continued his tale.

The Emperor raised his gun and took aim at the buffalo. With a single shot, he felled the animal, and a great silence fell over the forest. The Emperor then proclaimed that the entire Empire would eat of the buffalo, and that from that day forward, the buffalo would be the symbol of the Empire. With this proclamation, peace was restored to the land, and the Emperor's legacy was secured. But as the years went by, the Emperor grew old and weak, until finally, he died.

The legend tells that, a year after the Emperor's death, strange events began to occur. The royal cemetery where the Emperor was buried started to emit a mysterious light, and the ground began to tremble. Then, a figure emerged from the earth, and the people gathered around in awe. It was the Emperor, resurrected and ready to fulfill his mission.

The Prime Minister, ever the loyal servant, had made sure that the Emperor's body was well preserved, and he was determined to keep the Emperor from decaying. But little did he know that the Emperor had come back to life.

The palace was in a frenzy, as the people ran out into the streets, screaming and shouting. They saw a figure, bathed in a glowing light, making its way towards the throne. Its eyes were pitch black, and its features were ashen and pale. It was a ghostly apparition, and everyone was afraid.

The Emperor's family and advisors huddled together, trembling with fear. None of them could move, as the ghostly figure drew closer and closer. The Emperor interrupted "shut up! Shut up! What this tale for, so are you trying to tell the Emperor that you telling an imagination story" said the Emperor.

Everyone sitting lost their appetite in continue eating their food unlike Solomon, both family became depressed of Devilee story, his parent looks nitwit to witness their son in telling a fantasy story.

"So Henry what can you say about this" the king asked "Your Majesty, it was indeed a rather cool and fantastical tale," Henry replied, "but I must admit, it did have some rather gloomy moments." The King nodded in agreement. "And as for the punishment, I must say I am quite curious," Henry continued, "but I trust your judgement, Your Majesty."

The King smiled, and then turned to the boy's parents. "As for you two, I admire your dedication to your son's education. However, I feel that a lighter punishment might be more effective." He paused for a moment, considering his words. 

"I don't think the punishment is content for me to give you" each family become sad to hear the king word, "I want to say, King prudent Solomon got it right!!" said the Emperor, everyone applaud him, and his parent were happy that Solomon got it correct, but one thing is that, they are wanting to ask him, where did he read and grasp the whole tale written from the past history.

But the Emperor's words were not what the family expected. "Prince Beckham, please escort Devilee to clean the entire palace," he said, and the family gasped in shock. "But, Your Majesty," the parents began to protest, but the Emperor cut them off. "I have made my decision," he said firmly. "Now, please do as I have asked."

Devilee looked up at his parents, his eyes full of confusion. He didn't understand why they were so upset. He had never cleaned the palace before, but he didn't think it would be so bad. 

The mother's voice was full of disappointment and anger. Devilee could feel her eyes boring into him, and he could see the frustration on his father's face. "But, Mother, I was only trying to..." Devilee began, but his mother cut him off. "You were only trying to what, make us look bad in front of the Emperor?" she snapped.

Devilee was at a loss for words. He had only wanted to help, but now he had made everything worse. He felt a pit in his stomach, and he began to cry. "One house please!!" said Emperor, the King become interested in his little grandson, he smiled at him and told him, he's cool, "your parent are respected for teaching you what necessary to know in this great kingdom, but I would like to ask you Solomon, how did you know all these"

"Everything I said was thanks to Samson," Solomon said, bowing deeply. "He told me the whole story last night." Samson glaring at Solomon for telling the truth, his eyes became pale blue, the Emperor's gaze shifted to Samson, and he narrowed his eyes. "You are not who you claim to be," the Emperor said, his voice low and dangerous. "I see now that you have been hiding your true power from Me." the Emperor looks in amazement, "wow!!" he nodded positively and likewise bewildered for not recognizing the future true heir,

Samson remained silent, but the truth was clear in his eyes. He had indeed been hiding his true power, and the Emperor had finally seen through his deception.

"Now that we know the true story of the buffalo and the Emperor's reign," the King said, addressing the princes, "I want you to remember this lesson. Always be honest and true to yourself, even if it means revealing your true power. A kingdom can only be strong when its ruler is honest and honourable."

They took the King's words to heart, and bowed deeply in respect.

  "Your wish is our command his majesty" said in unison as they bowed and excuses the dining hall, but later in the dusk, Devilee let out a groan and clutched his side, feeling a terrible pressure building up inside him. He tried to stand up, but his legs were weak, and he stumbled to the floor. His heart was racing, and he was sweating profusely.

******

  The family of prince Beckham couldn't rest because their only son is busy cleaning all past 3 hours, the Prince's wife watched him pace back and forth, wringing his hands and mumbling to himself. She had been trying to ignore it for the past few hours, but she couldn't take it anymore. "Sweetheart, can we talk?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm and steady. "You seem preoccupied, and I want to know what's going on."

The Prince stopped pacing and turned to face his wife. "Yes, we can talk," he said, his voice sounding distant and distracted. "Dear, don't you noticed the king is having concubines outside this days". 

  "What did you see Milady" he replied, the Prince's mind was reeling. He had always trusted his father, and the thought of him going out in the middle of the night, "I saw him returning earlier today in the dawn" said Milady "what!!, did you mean my father did that?, he returned this morning, so that means, he isn't at home throughout last night" he replied and added "how did you figure this out" he yelled out, "I was upstairs in my room about to take a nap, so I saw him going out in that night, even held a box of money" said his wife "so this could mean, that the reason, he's resenting me and my families, wow!" the Prince's heart sank. He knew what this meant.

  They turned their attention to the television set, which was a vintage black-and-white model that had been installed in the room years ago. It was a relic from another time, but it still worked well enough to pick up the local station. The ICU reporter's voice crackled through the speakers, and they both listened closely.

"Breaking news!!, "Prince Henry our future Emperor helped a poor men by giving him bunch of money as a good share full giver".

  On the screen, they saw an image of Prince Henry and his family, standing on a red carpet that led to the front two doors of the prestigious Master Kiang Martial Institute.

The Prince's mind was racing, his thoughts spinning out of control. He felt as though a dark shadow had been cast over his life, and he didn't know how to make sense of it all. "What am I going to do?" he thought to himself, feeling lost and confused. "I can't let this ruin everything I've worked for." Mmm, I......….