Blue

“Sell the palace.” Greed dropped the last couple of bills, watching them flutter to the ground.

Ling seemed to be considering.

“Well,” he actually liked the palace. “Maybe not the palace. But maybe sell a few concubines and take up weekly fasting.”

“I’m not going to sell the concubines, they’ll go freely,” the emperor said, rubbing his temples. Ling looked like he had aged about twenty years from just a few days as emperor. He didn’t comment on fasting.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Greed slumped in the plush chair he was lounging in, a few pieces of paper wrinkling. “Your pops was a hard core spender. You have some serious financial catch up to do if you want to pull this country out of debt.”

“How much?”

Greed held a paper in front of the emperor’s face, and his eyes bugged.

“Are you serious?”

“According to the bills, yeah. And these are just the ones we found.”

Ling flopped flat on his back.

Greed sighed, kicked his leg up and rested his ankle on his knee. He was wearing a silk changpao which bunched up awkwardly at undignified positions and occasionally tried to strangle him. He was pretty hellbent on getting used to it.

“Maybe you could try taxing imports? That could bring some cash in. Or cut funding to the clans.”

Ling still laid flat on the floor. Greed nudged his slippered foot.

“What if we did sell the palace?” Ling said a little too thoughtfully.

Greed snorted. “Sure, if you want to be homeless.”

“Well,” Ling sat up, propping himself up on his elbows. “What if we downgraded? I am getting rid of the heir system and of the concubines. With that we won’t be needed as many laborers to make food or tend to the palace.”

Greed sat back, scratching his chin. “Alright. But who would buy it?”

“A handful of the clans are wealthy enough to tend to it, I’m sure. And I’m guessing they would want their property back considering I’m a Yao. The Yao clan hasn’t held the emperor’s seat in over a century.” Ling was beaming now. “And we could build a new palace in a few years or so, more centralized and better fit for our needs.”

Greed sighed. “But I like the palace.”

“I would love to sell it to you,” Ling grinned.