TiHao's mayter

At the same time, the party for the majority of Knights start too. It's in a very huge hall, with many separate tables and basically an all-you-can-eat buffet. There are tons of drinks and delicious food and even music, eastern but a modern vibe one. There is enough space to dance and sit with friends, it's clearly designed as a party for younger people, without formalities, unlike the other side.

No, it's not the iconic challenge everyone has been waiting for, in large scale with the Emperor himself participating. But it still involves WuXin. And his whole Shiinden.

Out of nowhere, WuXin receives a very formal invitation to a celebration to honour Shiinden and ALL its Knights, for their services.

The event will have two parts: a public ceremony to award the Knights and a banquet/party within the Imperial Palace. The party itself will be divided, due to the number of participants: the Gold Knights, WuXin, the high members of the Court (Generals and Ministers) and other personalities of importance (Miliary officers, Counts and Dukes) will celebrate together with the Morning Sun, all the others in a different section of the Palace. Easy to guess which is the group that is going to have fun and the one that will be bored to death, only to find comfort in the etiquette rules.

Everything is quite ordinary for events of that kind and it's not even so strange that the Emperor wants to please Shiinden, that is at all effects the most powerful organisation around. What is really weird is the timing: the celebration is due to happen only three days after the receipt of the invitation. Usually, these things are planned with months of advance, as they require a lot of work and organisation. But there is no mistake, only three days later, the celebration is at all effects happening.

The public ceremony is held in the main square of Shiirhuang, so that the citizens can witness. There are awards and recognitions for the Knights, plenty of praises for Shiinden school too.
After that, which lasts about an hour, they move to the Palace, dividing the Knights to their respective side of the party.

In the banquet hall, where the Emperor's group will be, there are several short tables, rectangular and separate. But unlike usual, they aren't single person but family size, so that each of them can dine with their beloved ones. Naturally the short table or the Morning Sun is on a slightly higher platform, in front of them all, as if he was on a stage and they were his audience.
The tables have been impeccably set by the servants of the palace, very traditional, WuXin won't find a chopstick holder in the wrong spot, but not much fantasy, clearly. :v

As he mentioned, he doesn't go to meet HaoLin until his duties are over. That way, he can take off the formal robe, get rid of that creepy makeup, all the jewels and formalities and just… be MiaoTong. The version of himself he prefers, the one he wanted to be.
Since he was told that the child was so scared, he wants to be as reassuring as possible and he knows well how scary the appearance of the Emperor can be.

When they meet, in the designated room in the Crown Prince's residence, there is just them two. Qing explains HaoLin his decision, but not the reasons behind it. He doesn't want to scare him even further or give him the wrong impression. He intends to invest a lot on keeping him the safest possible. He may not be his child, but that doesn't mean he would value his life any less.
Besides, HaoLin is WonPil's son. Nobody has ever bothered to even just ask him what's the connection with WonPil, so he sees no reason to explain it.

Among the various reassurances, Qing also tells Hao that he will give him anything he wants, in return. Not just once, but as many times as he will desire.
In that context, they actually come up with a particular agreement. Connected with the only thing Hao wants and all Qing can try to do about it.

BangSul might think that he is still the usual defenceless baby as he used to be, but in truth, he is more shrewd than his assness shows.
He is well aware that his position is still precarious, due to the rumors that led to himself exposing the truth. And he is also well aware of the fact that several powerful people will try to take profit of that, to take the throne for themselves.

He knows that SongYu is back to the 'good' old self and he definitely didn't forget what he tried to do, after LianBi's death. In a way, he is quite resentful towards him too. He knows that the Zhou will try something for sure and he wants to be prepared for it, of course. He may have not wanted the throne, but now that he is on it, he has no intention to give up on it. Nor to die.
Another person he suspects to be plotting against him is… Minho. He is a high officer in the army, these days, and expressed his discontent towards the new Emperor in multiple ways and occasions. Who would have thought that he'd end up having to defend himself from his own father. Again.

Unlike BangSul thinks, he is convinced that his choice of Generals is still quite strong, regardless the new circumstances.
Qi may not have a big influence within Yung family and the aristocracy, but still… he has whole Shiinden on his side and that's powerful.
ShiSui controls the whole crime in Shiirhuang, which leads to plenty of advantages for the Crown too, including useful information.

The only doubt he has, now, is actually TiHao. The most experienced General, perfect to manage the military side of the country, but… he doesn't have his own organisation, his family has assets and reputation, but not much more than that. Another thing that makes him insecure about him is what he found out: that he seeks alliance with the Zhou. It was ShiHao to reveal that to ShiSui, who then told Qing, in private. He can't help but not see it as a good sign. Maybe TiHao is actually loyal, but he can't be fully sure about it. If he only seeks power, he could even find a way to turn the army against him in favour of the Zhou, and still have all he wants. Maybe more.

He is maybe turning slightly paranoid, but that's probably part of being a ruler. The pressure and dangers don't really help a person to maintain his mental balance.
One thing he had in mind since the very moment he decided to step up as Emperor was to get in touch with his old friends: the shinobi. He didn't forget Haru nor what she tried to do to help him, in multiple occasions. He sees them as more worthy allies than most of the Imperial organisations he can rely on.
And for that reason, he tried to get in touch with their leaders and most known members, to hire them as spies for the Crown. A bit of a Wu Zetian strategy.

He is also not sure if he can rely on the Imperial Assassins, with the changes that happened to the organisation. He has a feeling that even if they still were pursuing their purpose of protecting the Crown from rebellions, all the Zhou would have to do is send their girl to Zhan and Qing'd find the IAs surrounding his bedroom.
Maybe he is a bit pessimistic and underestimates the influence Li has in the organisation, but still… he trusts Shinobi better.

He can't fire TiHao without a reason, nor so lightly. If he did that, he'd look even weaker and insecure to the eyes of the people, which never helps. Rather, he has an idea to make him in an uncomfortable position, but that, at the same time, might please him and make him more willing to cooperate with the current Crown.
He thinks that making HaoLin his heir is not just an overall positive thing to strengthen his own position, but also an ensurance that TiHao won't betray him.
Once the Emperor is gone, the next obstacle for any new taker to the throne is the Crown Prince and usually… it either ends with his death or exile, imprisoned in some manor far away. It might be a bit of a cruel decision of Qing, but he also intends to keep HaoLin safe at all costs.