Part 38: The Imperial Palace

Episode 36: The Imperial Palace

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Last time, we killed Grand Inquisitor Jia and every other Lotus Assassin in the fortress, and narrowly escaped Death's Hand thanks to Sagacious Zu sacrificing himself to buy us time. Before Jia died, she told us the Emperor is actually behind the creation of the golem army, and Silk Fox has decided to head for the Imperial Palace and learn the truth from her father.





Floating in the skies over the Imperial City, the palace is quite a spectacular sight. Obviously, it's heavily guarded as well, and if Silk Fox hadn't told Kang to attach flags bearing the royal seal to the Dragonfly, we'd have no chance whatsoever of getting in there.



As it is, we're easily able to find a nice landing spot for our flyer.



Something's a bit different about Silk Fox, I see. Naturally, she has no reason to disguise herself in her own home, so the veil has come off.



That doesn't look or sound good for Wild Flower. Maybe something in the palace is making Ya Zhen stronger.





Yep, Ya Zhen's about ready to possess Wild Flower completely. No matter what Silk Fox says, I think we should maybe do something about this. But what can we even do to help in such a situation?





Then come, we must face him inside the girl's spirit.

I'm sure this will work out somehow.





This whole fight can be avoided if you never interact with Ya Zhen at all, but I wanted to show him off in the LP so here we are (I think the fight makes for a more satisfying conclusion to her personal quest, anyway). If the fight is skipped, you just get a scene with Silk Fox knocking out a servant.





Oh, good. If Chai Ka is as useless in this fight as he was the last time we took him with us, our spirit is doomed.



Honestly though, I don't know if Chai Ka actually can die in the duel. He's not an active companion here, and we can't see his health or anything.



Ya Zhen (whom the HUD is calling "Yazhen" for some reason) is really just a reskin of a toad demon, so this fight is quite straightforward.



Just watch out for poison and his charge attack.



Ya Zhen.



She will not know what happened here, only that it was important, that the darkness is gone, and that you are to thank for it.



Despite its appearance, Guardian's Strength is not an essence gem but a technique (+5 to health and chi). I'm pretty sure that icon was originally meant for a gem, since only gems normally have round icons like that.





I don't think I've ever shown it off before now, but Chai Ka tends to do this kung-fu pose when he talks through Wild Flower.



I am glad to see that Wild Flower appears well. It must have been a very disturbing experience.

No more than our own if we don't keep moving.

Yes, while you were... elsewhere, a servant tried to warn me against entering my *own* home! We need to confront my father as soon as possible.



I must hear it from my father's mouth. I must hear how he explains all these lies, the golems. Death's Hand... all of it. You go ahead, but only take one other with you. The rest should guard the rear and only fight if needed. I do not want a full war within these sacred walls.

Taking Silk Fox along is the obvious option in this situation.



That said, you don't have to take her with you, she'll show up to spout exposition when she needs to. Still, might as well bring her along.



The Chapter 4 intro appears after the discussion with Silk Fox, and I figured I'd leave it in its original place this time instead of putting it at the start of the update like I did in the last two chapters.



Now, before we proceed, let's just have a quick word with all our party members.



I wish we could have visited the palace under better circumstances. I feel like an invader in the heart of my own land. Let's keep moving.

I thought there'd be more half-dressed serving girls with bowls of wine and food. What kind of Emperor doesn't have serving girls? Let's get going. Maybe he keeps the good stuff farther in.

We should keep moving. It would be most impolite to miss an appointment with the Emperor himself.

I can't believe we're actually inside the Emperor's palace. I must admit, I feel as though I'm trespassing... like I don't belong here. Perhaps the Emperor can give me some courage... I seem to have lost mine.



Somehow I missed this bit of dialog with Hou in the previous chapter. I have no clue when it became available, because I checked up on our party members quite regularly in Chapter 3 and this was not there the last time I did so.



Some say there are spirits out there that masquerade as people, and I suspect she may be one of them. She has my soul, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Well, I suppose that's possible, since some spirits like Aishi the Mournful Blade's ghost dad are able to take human form... somehow. I still don't know how that works.





Still, I put my arm in a sling and was continuing on my way when I was run down by a rogue bun cart. When I came to, my wife had returned and was in a foul mood. Apparently, everyone she had visited died from food poisoning. But why not her? I mean, I'm sure she ate at least one of the buns I sent.





To be honest, I'm slightly more worried about Hou attempting to murder his wife with poisoned buns.



Well, not after that story, that's for sure.



Wild Flower and Chai Ka have nothing interesting to say.





Good luck. If you succeed at whatever it is you are doing, maybe later we can do some loops.

Huh, I guess I was mistaken when I said the end of chapter 3 is the point of no return for sidequests, because it seems Kang is more than happy to take us out of here at any time. I knew you could still go to the furnace in chapter 4, but forgot he still offers the fast-travel option as well. Eh, whatever. We don't need to worry about that anyway, since we're done with sidequests.



All right. Time to head through this ludicrously huge door and make our way to the Emperor.



This room has two focus shrines but not much else of interest, so let's keep moving.





I wonder if that lady is the servant who got clobbered by Silk Fox while we were fighting Ya Zhen. It certainly looks like she might have been telling the guards about intruders in the palace.





So much for the quiet approach.





Going up the stairs, we run into more soldiers and are soon joined by a group of Lotus Assassins.



That's nothing we can't handle. After killing everybody, we take a look at the two bookstands in the room.



This one completes a book set, giving us a technique called Inner Peace (Chi+4).



The other book just has some information about the Lotus Monks before they became Lotus Assassins. They obviously weren't a nice bunch in the first place, but maybe Zu was right and they used to have some honor before they went full cartoon villain under Death's Hand.



That's that, moving on. This section of the game is very linear.







Taking the elevator up puts us close to the throne room.



Well, this obviously isn't the throne room just yet, but it has to be close. The path appears to lead to some kind of a courtyard.



I doubt Silk Fox minds us... err, damaging these soldiers.





There's a focus shrine and a spirit font here, but we're more interested in the giant door.







Khor Miah the Swift Arrow--Defender of the First Age and commander of the borderlands during the Horselord incursions. Seng Si the Broken Bough, the first woman to rule openly. She changed more in a single valiant battle than many others did with entire campaigns.

Interesting. Anything else?



I can see at least one problem with those tombs, especially Sun Li's.



That is what you said he told you, but here is the tomb of the Glorious Strategist before you. Is this all a lie?



No... they have been sealed for twenty years. I don't have any more proof than what was announced to the people.

Sealed, huh? Quite convenient. The Emperor probably said something along the lines of "Sun Li and Sun Kin were traitors to the Empire, and as such their tombs shall be forever sealed to hold their eternal shame" and that was that. I'm sure nobody would doubt that at the time, especially since the Emperor had just ended the Long Drought and seemingly could do no wrong at that point.



Silk Fox is really starting to accept that something sinister is going on around here.



And your next question will be, "What is in there if the brothers aren't?" I can't say, but my father will explain everything. He has to. But... your conviction is disturbing. I will definitely bring this up with my father when we confront him. We are close to the throne room. The longer we take, the more questions I have.

According to Master Li, Sun Kin fell at Dirge. That matches the story the Emperor told the public, at least.





One more bookstand along the way, this one features the official version of the events at Dirge and the aftermath.



And one last fight before we reach the throne room.





I... I don't know what my father has done, or what his reaction will be, but I want you to know something. I... I've never cared for someone like this before. Not for any man... or woman for that matter. We have to face my father and find out what has happened... what he has done. If we still can, afterwards, let's find what we truly mean to each other.

Well, we have all the time in the world.





I can only hope that my father has been the victim in this. I pray he has the answers I seek. The fate of the Empire depends on it.

Dawn Star and Sky are like "oh for fuck's sake you two, why do you have to do this now". But with that wonderful BioWare romance dialog out of the way, it's time we enter the throne room and confront the Emperor.



VIDEO: The Throne Room (the rest of this update is in the video, and I strongly recommend watching it)







I am the eldest and, therefore, the Emperor! I have you at a disadvantage, and yet you toy with me. What do you know, Glorious Strategist? Where is the Spirit Monk amulet?

You will find out soon enough, brother.

Father!



Silk Fox's outfit is not really common garb in the Jade Empire, but whatever.



Don't lecture me. Master Li's student brought me evidence from the Lotus Assassin fortress. You allowed Death's Hand to corrupt the Empire.



Hello!





Brother Li, did you plant the seeds for this fool to come here? Layers upon layers. Always the Glorious Strategist.



You know, I think Silk Fox may have figured both of these out by now.



I don't blame you for your foolishness. What can you possibly know? The Emperor is the manifestation of divine power.

That is your role as figurehead. How could you betray the people? Your greed has unsettled the whole of the Empire. The dead no longer sleep!





They are unimportant.







It takes more than a handful of Lotus Assassins to stop us, you know.



Check out Dawn Star in the T-pose back there. They really didn't do a very good job optimizing this game for widescreen, did they?



Welp, that might stop us for a sec.



Whatever that energy blast from him was, it was powerful enough to knock down everyone except Wu.



Also, it turns out the Emperor is a spirit that has been masquerading as a human. Well, he does have the power of the Water Dragon, so it's no wonder he can pull off something like this. It did seem a bit odd when he looked 30 years younger than Master Li despite being the eldest of the Sun brothers, but this'll explain that as well.





I'm going to hazard a guess that the crystal he's got embedded in his chest cavity is the source of his power. Judging from this bit of dialog, Sun Hai wasn't in great health at the time of Dirge, and I wouldn't be surprised if wanting to live forever as a God-Emperor was the main reason he went through with it in the first place. The fact the Long Drought ended was probably just the icing on that particular cake for him.





Yeah, that is enough evil monologuing for today.



Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this last time, but we gained another two gem slots when we found the third part of the amulet. That brings us up to seven slots.



Do you even know what you hold, child? What truly led you here?





What did Li tell you? That I murdered your people and caused the restless dead? Side effects! Afterthoughts! This is about power, and I will add yours to what I have stolen! Even if you are impervious to my sorcery, it changes nothing. I am a god! Come, student of Li! Your quest for death is at an end!

Well, he certainly doesn't lack for confidence. I mean, he is the God-Emperor, so that is understandable.





Sun Hai isn't going to bother with us just yet, though, instead sending a bunch of soldiers and Lotus Assassins to do the job for him.





These guys are not that tough, but the fight is still quite challenging because of the sheer numbers. When you kill the soldiers, more will appear (sometimes materializing out of thin air) in their place and this goes on for some time.



Eventually, however, they're all done and we can follow Sun Hai further into the throne room.



Your defiance grows tiresome, student of Li. You must learn your place in the order of things.



And apparently this idiot is going to teach us? Nice dance moves, nerd.



These masked gentlemen are Lotus Assassin Masters. They've got a lot more HP than their lesser brethren and hit a little harder as well, but...







...they die just like all the rest.



After the fight, we can check one of the nearby jars for Warrior of the Infinite Spirit, a technique adding +7 Chi and +1 Charm.



I just wanted to show off the description for Guardian's Strength because it's kind of nice.



Right. Maybe now our self-styled God-Emperor will bother to actually fight us instead of sending more of his useless goons to get slaughtered at our hands.



Very well, I will face you myself! No matter your destiny, you will fall here today!

We shall see about that.



The Emperor uses a variety of fighting styles. Here he's starting off with Tempest, naturally missing by about a mile because we're not about to get hit by a lone enemy's long-range projectiles at this point.



The gimmick of this fight is that the Emperor is immune to the kind of style he's currently using himself. So, if he switches to Viper, Leaping Tiger won't work because martial styles won't have any effect until he changes to other kinds of styles.



And that's about it, really. The Emperor's got quite a bit of health, but once you have the fight's gimmick figured out it shouldn't be too difficult to wear the guy down.



When you get his health low enough, Sun Hai is shown powering up (or something) in this extremely brief cutscene.





It doesn't seem to affect the fight itself in any way, though. Sun Hai keeps using the same styles and doesn't hit any harder or become more resilient (at least not noticeably so), so I'm not sure what the deal was there.



And thus ends the reign of Emperor Sun Hai. I think. Since he's a spirit, won't he be able to come back after a while, or did we just kill him super dead with our badass Spirit Monk skills?



Master Li seems to have recovered from that energy blast we saw earlier, good to see it didn't do any lasting damage.





That crystal must have been the actual source of Sun Hai's power.





Perhaps Master Li can explain to us what the crystal actually does and how it's related to the Water Dragon. Maybe he'll also explain everything regarding his capture.





Everything has gone as it should.



I can see that, my student.





Of course she remembers, why wouldn't she? After all, the relationship between Master Li and Wu is much closer than just the usual mentor-student kind, as he was the closest thing to a father Wu had for all those years and she surely remembers everything Master Li ever taught her.



...?!













You may remember the "flaw" in Wu's fighting style several characters thought they saw but couldn't nail down. Well, it wasn't just Wu being an awesome kung-fu hero who's been trained to bait people into seeing false openings.





Indeed, it turns out the Glorious Strategist has been playing us all along. Like a damn fiddle, as another Master once said.











This right here is obviously what Sun Li had planned for his student... from the very beginning.



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