"Those who received their boons without effort often failed to appreciate or properly use them. Those who clawed their way up with their own efforts, mostly made the most of their blessings.

A good birth means much, but so does honest effort." - Old Huan words of wisdom.

Zhang Hu-Lao, one of the highest ranked generals in the Al-Shan empire's military, sat in his booth set above and close to the stage below. His husband, Mustafa bey Leung, the current Marshall of the army, sat beside him and held his hand in a gentle, affectionate gesture.

The two of them were accompanied by two of their adopted daughters in the relatively private booth, placed just below the emperor's booth.

Their eldest, Tahira, quietly flirted with her newlywed husband, whom she married just last winter. The man was one of the more promising juniors in the military, and served as a squad commander for the imperial guards.

Ayesha, their youngest, was looking closely at the gathered crowd below, as she squinted her eyes in search of a certain figure. Namely that of her middle sister Rafiqa who had chosen to participate in the event to prove herself.

Hu-Lao had a rather complicated relationship with his three adopted daughters, who were in actuality his husband's nieces by blood, adopted when they were but infants and toddlers. The three girls loved and respected him as a father, with Rafiqa and Ayesha particularly close to him due to their interests in military arts.

All of which made his feelings even more complicated. He cared deeply for the girls, he treated them as his daughters. Yet at the same time, he was also the man who had personally killed their blood fathers during the civil war. Rafiqa's and Ayesha's father were slain by his own hands.

The girls knew they were adopted, for obvious reasons, but they had never asked about their real parentage. Some part of Hu-Lao dreaded the day they asked about it, and their reaction to the truth, for he and Mustafa had resolved to tell them exactly that, should the girls ever ask for it.

He was relieved from his musings when the imperial herald announced the Emperor's arrival, and all eyes turned towards the booth reserved for his use, the highest one in the most secure position available.

Not a minute later, the young Emperor himself came into sight, which elicited cheers from the waiting crowd, and a simultaneous salute of respect from the participants that were arrayed below the stage.

Xain walked slowly towards the prepared seats, as he personally guided the very pregnant Layla to her seat first. Their child was expected to be born within a month at the latest, and the emperor doted greatly on his empress all this time.

Only after he settled her down on the plush seat, covered with soft pillows of down, and draped a soft, warm silken blanket over her frame, did he turn to address the waiting crowd.

With practiced flourish, the Emperor announced the opening of the grand tournament, as the crowd wildly cheered. Below on the stage, Ishmael, Mustafa's long-time confidant and one of the empire's current generals, called on the participants to come forward and draw their lots.

Despite their obvious martial backgrounds and the preponderance of rowdy, rough looking types amongst the crowd, the participants lined up in an orderly manner and drew their lots. Some cheered as they drew a favorable lot, others groaned when they realized that they drew a famed opponent.

It was not unusual for the Al-Shan Empire to conduct a martial arts tournament like this, with the winners and others who impressed rewarded with positions within the military.

Nobody was surprised when the Emperor announced that he wished to hold one this early spring to celebrate the upcoming birth of his child. Such an event was considered a good omen, after all. At most they were surprised that the Emperor only stated his wish at such short notice.

A few of the traditionalists under High Magistrate Wang had protested when the Emperor opened the tournament to everybody regardless of background, but given the high number of once-commoners amongst the current ministers and generals, his objections were ignored.

Usually such tournaments only allowed those who had already made a name for themselves, or descendants of nobles, or people who had someone in higher positions vouch for them. The announcement that this one was open to everyone attracted a crowd unlike any tournament seen before.

Of course, they had held a preliminary to eliminate those who had just come to try their luck. All the current contestants were pitted against an active soldier, and only those that held their own or won were allowed to actually participate.

That still left over a thousand people, though.

The stages themselves were arranged to handle that exact issue. Sixteen rectangular stages were set up, all of which were easily moveable and could be merged to form a larger stage. With sixteen duels ongoing at any one time, the crowd would quickly be thinned out, while keeping things to the scheduled time.

Hu-Lao scanned the crowd and finally spotted the figure he was looking for. It was not his second daughter, but a slim and short Huan girl instead, who was making her way towards one of the stages when her name was called.

It had been over two years since he last saw Ying Xiao. The once emaciated, stunted waif of a girl had visibly grown up, though she remained small in stature. Even from the distance, Hu-Lao noticed the light, well-trained way she moved, and the confidence with which the girl carried herself.

Her existence - and her being a blood mage trained by the Blood Demon herself - was a closely guarded secret. Other than the Emperor, a few trusted ministers, and the few imperial guards who had actually come into contact with the girl, nobody even knew of her.

Not even Mustafa knew. Hu-Lao had permission from the Emperor to inform his husband, but he had deemed it unnecessary for the time being. He himself was relatively out of the loop. He knew the Emperor had plans that involved the girl, but no clue whatsoever on the details of that plan.

Her presence at this tournament meant the whole thing was likely part of the plan, however.

She stood across the stage from a young man who wore finely embroidered silk. Hu-Lao recognized the man as a descendant - great grandson or thereabouts - of High Magistrate Wang. The young man seemed to have said some demeaning words from the frown he saw on Ying Xiao's face, then brought out a finely made three-sectioned staff from his storage artifact when prompted by the referee.

Hu-Lao scoffed at that. The three-sectioned staff was an impractical weapon, which required many years of practice to even be proficient at. It was also quite popular, because a well-known living legend happened to wield one.

In his decades of military career, Hu-Lao had only ever seen one user of such a weapon who was actually a threat instead of some twerp with a too-high opinion of themselves. Namely the Silver Maiden herself, Aideen deVreys. To be fair, the living legend had many, many centuries of practice with her weapon, a level of expertise no mortal could ever come close to.

Ying Xiao had taken a long staff crafted to resemble her usual double crescent halberd from the prepared rack of wooden weapons by the stage. The tournament only allowed blunt, wooden weapons so as to avoid undesired injuries and deaths.

Once the referee signaled the start of the match, the little twerp from the Wang family twirled his weapon around him. Fanciful forms and moves, of little use beyond looking good, Hu-Lao thought with some disdain.

Ying Xiao just looked at her opponent with an exasperated look, and the instant he entered her range, swung her wooden halberd one-handed at him. The blow struck the man's side, shattered his wooden weapon when he tried to block the strike with it, and likely broke a few of his ribs before the force behind the blow literally lifted him off his feet and hurled him bodily out of the stage.

Several of the nearby contestants looked at the scene in surprise, a couple of which even lost their matches due to their distraction, which their opponents capitalized on. Ying Xiao just calmly gave a salute to the referee and walked down the stage after her victory was announced.

In his private booth, Hu-Lao couldn't help but to grin with amusement.