On My Way: The Demon King Made Me His

Chapter 196: Well Played Lihua

Lihua smirked seeing the reactions. Everyone looked amber except one. She got the answer right then.

"Are you all eager to become the next Emperor?" She asked her people. 

"No," everyone said. Aqua looked at her father and back at Empress Lihua. 

"No?" Lihua asked. "Why? I thought except Water Realm's Aenon, everyone looked eager to become the next Emperor. Everyone looked at King Aenon then. He did look dull. 

"Pa, what is going on?" Aqua asked.

"Keep quiet, don't take part in the election process," he said to his daughter instead. 

"Why?" Aqua searched for an answer on her father's face. 

"I guess there is no one here fit for the crown then, no one is open and brave, I just wanted the answer, straight answer," Empress Lihua went on.

"Your highness," Beast King stood up. "Your highness I.. " but Empress quickly raised her hand asking him to stop.

"I don't want to hear anything from you," she said. 

"Your highness,"

"I said no and sit down please," Empress Lihua said. "I don't want to count the number crimes you have committed recently and weigh if there is any quality left to become an Emporer. We don't need another Tai," she said fearlessly and pretended to be heart less. Talking negatively about her late husband. 

"Your higness, you must not speak like that about your late husband, you are entering mourning, I will not mourn, not for Tai, he killed everyone I loved, tried to kill the innocent, he in the end sold his soul to satan, why should I mourn for a man of no morals and humanity?" She asked the eunuch who reminded her about mourning. 

"Forgive me your higness," the eunuch apologised and left. 

"All right," Empress Lihua said. "I would like to call someone here," she went on. Every one sat looking tensed. The kings, queens, and princes, everyone were eager. "Aqua," Empress Lihua called.

"Yes your higness," Aqua stood up immediately. 

"Don't go," King Aenon whispered. 

"What?" Aqua whispered back. "Everyone is looking pa, let go of my hand," she jerked his hands off her wrist and walked forward. She smiled at the Empress and stood next to her. To Aqua, mother in law looked pretty serious and up to something controversial and she felt sure she is going to face trouble and will need to handle it. Aqua took a deep breath. She looked at Empress Lihua again.

"Aqua dear," Lihua began. "You have been travelling alot recently," everyone began to whisper. "Silence," Lihua raised her voice. "Yes so we were..."

"Your highness you were asking me if I have been travelling..." Aqua reminded her.

"Yes yes I was saying that you must have met a lot of people while travelling, in different realms, what do you think those places were like?" 

"What exactly do you want me to say here your highness?" Aqua chuckled. 

"You know what I mean, you know exactly what I mean Aqua," Empress Lihua teased her. "Let me hear, who all wanted to exterminate your race? Who wanted to destroy your Realm?" Empress Lihua asked. 

"The one who wanted to do it is dead," Aqua said bravely. "He has been killed by us," The other Kings and Queens remained silent. The guilty ones were the ones who did not open their mouth. "But he must have been given strong support, who were they?" 

"Your highness, what task do you want me to fulfill here?" Aqua asked again. 

"A task where everyone realize their mistakes and remember their own positions and what power they should live with," Empress Lihua said. 

The others had no words to speak against the Empress this time. "Just like me, and the cowards I was over these years. I want everyone to know their own position," Aqua remained silent. 

"I would like to return back your higness," Aqua said.

"You may," Empress Lihua gave her the permission. 

"All right, let me ask you...." the whole hall went silent to listen to her words carefully. "Who do you want to choose as your next Emperor?" She put forward the difficult question to others. "You may discuss it over lunch, I will give you time," said Empress Lihua and ender the morning session of the meeting. "Begin to serve the lunch," she ordered the guards. "It is time," she said and vanished. 

The moment Empress Lihua left the hall, everyone began to discuss and state opinions with each other.

The discussion randomly had the opinion of unwilling to take the risk and claim the throne. But Beast King looked totally offended and nobody gave a damn about it. Soon after Empress left, Water King Aenon also left the scene. 

"Pa, pa wait, stop," Aqua chased her father. Jin was running behind the two. Aenon had sent the guards back to their rest rooms. "Pa," she took her father's hand. Aenon noticed that she has been addressing him as father like before. He felt relieved about that. 

"What?" He asked back.

"Should you not be discussing and stating your opinion with other Realms, why are you out instead?" She asked.

"The agenda is useless, Empress Lihua has the person in her mind, she is just toying with people to make then think that nobody deserve he position except the person she chooses," 

"Who could it be? Would she ask her family to take the throne, the people from Star Kingdown?" Aqua said. King Aenon nodded his head. He was feeling quite tensed about the situation. 

"Ok forget about it let us go get some rest then," 

"Don't wander around Aqua," father warned her.

"I won't,"

"Don't get caught with Hu...." Aenon stopped and looked around. "Huo'er," he lowered his voice.

"I won't, Aqua smiled and left. She went back to the chamber used by Empress, he was still there, waiting.

"I don't know what is going to happen," Aqau sighed.

"I saw everything," he said. 

"You came out?" Aqau was surprised. "DON'T." She said immediately. "Don't get caught or create trouble for your mother and me," she warned him. She quickly had lunch with him and left back to the hall. 

Everyone had gathered and took their seats. Then the King of Sky Realm got up and walked towards the throne. 

"Have you all made the decision?" Empress asked him.

"We have,"

"Go on, then," Lihua said and waited to hear it out. 

"There is no best candidate except..." he paused and looked at everyone. They all nodded their heads except Beast King. "Except, Aenon," Lihua smiled.

"What?" Aqua asked. Unfortunately it was too loud than she meant to that everyone heard it and turned towards her. Empress Lihua chuckled. "King Aenon," she called him. "Get ready for the coronation and handle the affairs of Water Realm quickly,"

"What about my opinion? My choice?" Empress laughed hearing Aenon asking question.

"No Aenon you wrong. You don't get choose, you get chosen and you do the dity and fulfil it," Empress Lihua laughed and told him. He was left with no choice. But he already saw it coming.