Lady Yang and her entourage marched up to the office of Investigations within the Palace and led by Qing Yi they halted in front of the main building which was close to deserted.
Qing Yi turning to greet her she responded with a smile.
"There are your charges." Lady Yang muttered, "aren't you going to punish me?" She inquired.
"The people outside are against you, Her Highness is lenient she will only have you given a simple punishment but I fear in the eyes of the people it shall be too light and for you Ma'am whose crimes are unforgivable, all your paths are bound to lead to total destruction." Qing Yi replied.
"His Majesty would expect Her Highness to protect me." Lady Yang spoke up in her defense.
"Given her ailing self and everything that has transpired she is benevolent but you see even the world will say she tried and she was merely weak." Qing Yi replied.
"All your ploys and schemes lead us to this?" Lady Yang inquired.
"Open your eyes Ma'am." Qing Yi said and spreading her arms she signalled for her to look around which she did.
"I see your point." She said.
"This is what happens when you choose a wrong opponent." Qing Yi remarked.
"Everything we do we don't regret, if you wish to silence us in the annals of history then yours is a most innocent and futile dream, however if I survive beyond this point which I definitely will, you can ask your family to prepare for you a coffin." Lady Yang said.
"We'll see if you'll be bluffing the same thing again." Qing Yi muttered.
"Anyone?" She called and a couple of ladies in waiting surrounded Lady Yang while others forced her onto her knees she didn't resist even as they bound her.
"Bring me the wooden cane." Qing Yi muttered and at once her subordinates bearing a platter in their hands they carried it towards her, pulling off the veil for the world to see she picked it up and tightly holding onto it she started slapping Lady Yang with it.
"Ma'am?" Xiaoyang shouted after her.
"Count every one of them." Lady Yang shouted at her and Qing Yi persisting she slapped over and over again but her eyes reddening, Yang Meizi showed no hint of weakness or tears.
"Not even a whimper!" Some of the ladies in waiting exclaimed as they stared at her in amazement by the time Qing Yi reached the a hundredth slap she was exhausted though still smiling the people watching had grown tired while Lady Yang's cheeks were swollen.
"Enough Milady." Her subordinates told her, "the Empress had said that only two hundred were enough." Another added and Lady Yang hearing this she looked at Qing Yi hatefully her eyes exploding with rage while she bit her teeth.
"Everyone hear me out." Qing Yi said, "the Empress is benevolent and I understand that Lady Yang has learnt her lesson she shall be more careful in her conduct from now on." She added as she looked down on Yang Meizi herself sweating profusely the Ladies holding her let her go.
"Thank Her Highness." Qing Yi demanded.
"I am grateful for Her Highness' teachings." Lady Yang said as she bowed down where she was kneeling and Qing Yi pleaded with the sight she smiled and sashayed away while Xiaoyang hurrying over to her mistress with her entourage they helped her up onto her feet.
"What have they done to you Ma'am?" She inquired as she caressed her red cheeks.
"Patience." Lady Yang replied.
"How can you even say that Ma'am?" Xiaoyang asked as she examined her.
"We'll take them out once and for all." Lady Yang replied as she looked at Qing Yi who vanished from her sight.
"What?" Emperor Ningzong said when he heard the news.
"Yes Your Majesty." Eunuchs Deng replied, "the Empress asked Qing Yi to slap the Noble Lady Yang with the wooden cane on her cheek a hundred times." He insisted.
"I see." Emperor Ningzong said, "wasn't it too brutal?" He asked.
"Her face is swollen I heard but the servants could have exaggerated it too much, however it is true if they say that it was very brutal because the whole capital is in upheaval and hopefully this punishment could calm down the rather turbulent mood." Eunuch Deng replied.
"All I know is she might hate me and perhaps the Empress was very cruel but it's better than Lady Yang being sent out of the Palace and even worse being killed." Emperor Ningzong muttered.
"I hope so too Your Majesty." Eunuch Deng remarked, "at times one of the hardest of things to do is to contain the fury of an angry mob." He added.
Empress Han seated in her Chambers Qing Yi knelt down before her presence.
"How was it?" Empress Han inquired.
"As hard as I could possibly slap her, her face puffed up and her eyes reddened, I could see her about to explode even though she hardly let out a whimper, the humiliation she faced must have been overwhelming." Qing Yi replied.
"That's good enough to know." The Empress asserted.
"Really Your Highness?" Qing Yi inquired.
"There's nothing more painful than hatred that you can not expose it kills you on the inside and preys on your uneasy soul." The Empress replied.
"What will become of her now?" Qing Yi inquired.
"What's the worst that could possibly happen when sadly it is for her one of those punishments too great and yet it is inadequate when it comes to the wrath of the people." Empress Han muttered.
"At this rate the news has already spread about the capital and I am very sure that the people shall sooner or later be up in arms." Qing Yi confirmed.
"Well done." Empress Han said, "first we should see out her ego before we lay her corpse." The Empress said as she smiled ghastly.
Lady Yang seated in her Chambers she stared at her reflection in the mirror in the silence and with darkness having engulfed the whole place she had only the faint candlelight to illuminate her bruises her eyes teary she was overwhelmed by the memories of her dead infant son Maha.
"Maha?" She called his name faintly, "Maha my boy?" She whispered to herself when she heard Xiaoyang's voice.
"Eunuch Beiyuan seeking Your presence Ma'am." She announced.
"Let him in." Lady Yang said and the doors being opened Beiyuan walked in to her silence she didn't break her gaze from the mirror.
"Ma'am?" He called.
"You must have heard, how thoughtful of you!" She responded.
"It must be painful." He remarked.
"Yet what is more intolerable than missing my Maha?" Lady Yang inquired, "it's been months I can hardly forget how beautiful he looked and everyday I stare at the faces of his murderers I bleed." She muttered.
"Wherever he is Ma'am, he's living a very comfortable life and he's looking down on you." Beiyuan said.
"Am I really so evil?" Lady Yang inquired.
"Ma'am....." Beiyuan opting to speak in her defense she interrupted him.
"Forget it." She said, "I hurt having still failed to save him and not even the pain of these bruises could compare to the pain of losing a child." She added.
"You have waited for so long Ma'am, why did you let them weaken you?" Beiyuan asked.
"They didn't, they never could even if they tried Beiyuan, by now I hope it shall be clearer to His Majesty in the future, a small set back and victory of our enemies doesn't mean our loss in this war." Lady Yang said as she wiped the small tears in her eyes and looking from the mirror yet again she turned and looked at Beiyuan.
"What is Ma'am's resolve?" He inquired.
"The Empress tried I understand better than anyone else what her intentions are and I know that things won't end with this they shall instead become worse." Lady Yang said.
"She's made her move Ma'am, let's also play our cards." Beiyuan said.
"We surely will when the time is right but there's something that I need you to first do for me." Lady Yang said.
"What is it Ma'am?" Beiyuan inquired and the Lady Yang pushing her hand beneath her table, she pulled it out a short while later and unfolding it there was a small bottle.
"What is this Ma'am?" He asked.
"His Majesty trusts the Empress dearly that is of recent, to eliminate that trust it's important we show him the Empress that he's used to." Lady Yang replied.
"Ma'am, if the truth is found out you could fall into trouble." Beiyuan muttered.
"A regulated amount will cause faitugue and excess shall cause poisoning, the fate of His Majesty rests in your hands alone Eunuch Beiyuan and knowing how much I need him to call the shots for me you understand what I mean." Lady Yang said as he hesitantly took the bottle from her hands but looking at him she tightened her grip on him and smiled.
"It's a very hard task yes, but I have already lost my humanity there's nothing more for me to lose." Lady Yang muttered and Beiyuan standing up he bowed his head to her as he withdrew from the room while she smiled at herself ghastly.
"This is all your doing Your Highness, you won't blame me." She whispered to herself as she turned to the mirror in front of her once again and softly touching her face she caressed her painful cheeks joyously.
It was very early in the morning and one of the Eunuchs rushing from the Grand Hall hurried up to the entrance of Emperor Ningzong's private Chambers and the doors being opened for him he hurriedly rushed inside.
The Emperor surrounded by a couple of ladies in waiting was being dressed in his usual Morning assembly robes.
"Your Majesty." The Eunuch said as he knelt down before him.
"You seem bothered." He pointed out.
"It's bad Your Majesty." He replied and the Emperor ceasing to look in the mirror turned around and faced him.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"The masses are discontent Your Majesty." The Eunuch replied, "the grains of the people have suddenly gone bad and there are people that are spreading rumors around that Lady Yang is to blame." He added and the Emperor hearing this he clenched his fists and charged out of the building at once furiously with his Retinue the Eunuch staying behind he smiled at himself ghastly.
Empress Han seated in her quarters she could recall the words that Yang Meizi had mentioned to her a couple of days before and the thought of them made her feel uneasy.
"Is it so?" She asked herself, "can the voices of all the men in the world not eclipse your whisper?" She wondered when Qing Yi announced herself.
"Your Highness it is I." She said.
"Come in." Empress Han replied and the young woman complied as she stepped up in her presence and bowed her head with a bright smile on her face she knelt down in front of the Empress.
"Congratulations Your Highness." She said.
"What is it?" Empress Han inquired.
"The Capital is in a stir and the whole kingdom is in upheaval, Lady Yang will collapse sooner or later and the intervention of Zhao Ruyu shall be his own political demise, as we speak even the Courtiers gather in silence certainly His Majesty can guess their innermost thoughts but what matters the most is the fact that the people won't let him protect Lady Yang from their wrath even if he so fervently wished for it." Qing Yi replied.
"It seems as though everything is falling in place." The Empress remarked.
"Everyone sympathizes with your kind Highness and they are calling Lady Yang a witch, others say that she eats young children her image throughout the capital has been tarnished and yesterday's incident has merely made her lose more face." Qing Yi said.
"Then we must be ready for the climax." Empress Han said.
"Yes Your Highness." Qing Yi replied.
"I understand that His Majesty must first be broken first for him to lose the war so we'll make the people break him." She remarked happily.
"The people are out of order Ma'am." Xiaoyang informed the fair Lady who keeping her pride she seemed rather composed hearing that.
"As I had anticipated, the Empress is finally making her move." She muttered.
"Everything as you had demanded has been prepared Ma'am I fail to see what it is that you are still waiting for?" Xiaoyang muttered.
"It isn't too late as the Empress has started to move then we shall additionally move as well." Lady Yang said and raising her head to Xiaoyang she seemed to understand what it was that her mistress hinted on.
"We'll bring in the Criminals once His Majesty's Assembly swings in progress." Xiaoyang muttered.
"In the mean time I shall go and see the Empress." Lady Yang muttered.
"Yes Ma'am." Xiaoyang replied as she stood up and Lady Yang leading the way she exited the room and stood at the top of her staircase where her ladies in waiting had converged.
"Everyone shall accompany me to the Empress' Chambers, we'll offer our daily greetings." She mentioned.
"Yes Ma'am." They replied in unison and descending the stairs she led her own entourage out through her gates while the rest of her company followed Xiaoyang.
The Courtiers gathered outside the Grand Hall Eunuch Deng appeared in their presence.
"His Majesty deigns you all with his presence." He announced and each of the Courtiers bowing their heads to him he made his way at the top of the staircase where he turned and faced the world dressed in his Assembly robes with their ceremonial tablets they later stood upright and faced him while he looked infuriated.
"I trusted you my most capable ministers to manage the situation at hand and this is how you responded to my order?" He asked aloud.
"Pardon us Your Majesty but the people are out of order and as far as this is concerned the harem is your personal affair the least we can do is to offer our advice." Minister Xia asserted.
"Before me are the best bureaucrats of this our great Nation and at the same time amongst us their are traitors that are bent on creating trouble in this our heavenly kingdom." Emperor Ningzong muttered.
"What makes you say so Your Majesty?" Grand Chancellor Shi Hao asked.
"There was a plague in the Palace that spread from Lady Yang's residence and that we heard and the music of the Nation has lost its melody the Guqin strings got torn each one by one I am convinced that there's someone that intends to ruin the reputation of the Imperial Prince." The Emperor said.
"We are deficient in that type of evidence Your Majesty and the people can only be quelled by the signs of good fortune even when the skies have only spelt the prevalence of inauspicious signs." Han Touzhou muttered.
"This issue should be divined Your Majesty." Minister Xie led the others.
"Please resort to divination Your Majesty." The rest of the people pleaded with him for a moment reserving his silence he looked at them and while they kept their heads low and seemed most determined to have what they wanted he smiled.
"Is it not evidence that the people need?" He inquired and hearing this they each raised their heads and looked at him keenly.
"Yes Your Majesty." They replied hesitantly.
Empress Han in her Chambers another of her Ladies in waiting moved up to her.
"Your Highness, the Empress Dowager and the Grand Empress Dowager are all here." She said.
"Really?" She inquired.
"The other Imperial concubines and Consorts shall be here soon to offer their daily greetings it must have been because they heard that you weren't feeling well." She replied.
"Where's Qing Yi?" The Empress asked.
"She'll be back soon enough." The young woman replied.
"Help me get ready." The Empress ordered.
"The gates of the Central Palace were flung open and through it the Imperial Concubines marched in and they mounted the stairs that led to the main hall where they found the Empress seated.
"Greetings Your Highness, may Your Highness live forever." They said gracefully and the Empress smiling at them, Eunuch Gong announced the presence of the other two Empresses who marched down the aisle that had been created by the Concubines the Empress Han stood up from where she was seated and she greeted them.
"Your Highnesses." She muttered and the two retaining their silence moved up to their seats and there they settled while she followed their example a short while later, Lady Yang walked in as well into their presence when Qing Yi appeared.
"Greetings Your Highnesses." She said to them.
"What is the matter Lady Yang?" Grand Empress Dowager Wu inquired.
"I am here to report a crime." She replied bowing her head to them the Empress Han staring at her intensely she turned her gaze to Qing Yi who was not so far from her.
"What crime is it?" Grand Empress Dowager Wu inquired.
"The capital is in chaos over the past couple of unfortunate events that have transpired within the palace and beyond it the last couple of days but these faults including the rumours of the plague within my Palace were entirely orchestrated by one individual." Lady Yang said.
"What are you talking about Lady Yang?" Empress Han asked.
"Court Lady Qing was behind everything." Lady Yang said and all the other Imperial Concubines gulping with surprise the latter seemed confident in her claims.
"Court Lady Qing you are talking about isn't just a mere Court Lady, given everything that has transpired Ma'am you should understand the consequences of slander in the Inner Court and as the Empress it is therefore my duty whether I desire to protect you or not to uphold decorum and ensure that these are strongly abided by." The Empress Han said.
"I understand your position Your Highness and I wouldn't dare to make this accusation without any evidence." Lady Yang said and turning to Xiaoyang she walked up to the door.
"Come on in." She said and a couple of physicians walked in holding a set of clothes and bed covers in their hands.
"Your Highnesses." They greeted the three Empresses.
"What's the meaning of this?" Grand Empress Dowager Wu asked.
"These were all beddings and clothes of the Ladies in waiting that fell sick and we're serving in my residence and as I speak they are being tended to but that's not the main point here." Lady Yang muttered.
"If I may Your Highness?" One of the physicians requested.
"Present your case." Grand Empress Dowager Wu demanded.
"What's strange with all the clothes and beddings of the sick maidens is that they all seem to have powdered purslane on them." The man said, "if inhaled in large portions it could cause migraines, loss of consciousness, breathing disorders and worse for pregnant women it could even induce a miscarriage." He added.
"Is it so?" Grand Empress Dowager Wu inquired.
"More witnesses are already being questioned at the Tribunal and that includes the maidens who came in contact with these clothes they have each confessed to their crimes and a common name has surfaced the testimonies as well." Lady Yang said and one of the physicians bearing the tray with the letters he handed it over to Xiaoyang who bore them towards the Grand Empress Dowager while the Empress was watching and distributing them to all the three Empresses they each analysed the contents.
"Is this true Court Lady Qing?" Grand Empress Dowager Wu inquired.
"Your Highness, they are merely slandering me." Qing Yi spoke in her defense as she went down on her knees.
"Your Highness Lady Yang is cruel that I have tried to be respectful of her but I don't know what I did wrong for her to resent me this much." She insisted.
"This is not all Your Highness." Lady Yang muttered, "the Zithers' strings got torn on the Imperial Prince's birthday and nearly a month before I am forced to believe everything was planned ahead of time by Court Lady Qing if you need justification I am sure by now His Majesty already has the evidence having arrested the people that were in charge of making the Zithers, the reason the strings shattered was that the third string was intentionally made of thin wire which was over suspended, any continuous plucking over time would cause them to break anytime and the Guqin being a fundamental music tool that guides the others, it's failure had to distort the music we hereby came to a conclusion that this had to be the work of a single person and not Heaven." Lady Yang said and the Grand Empress Dowager furious she turned to Qing Yi.
"I want to believe that none of this happened yet with all that is going on someone is clearly responsible for what is going on in the palace." She said to her.
"Pardon me Your Highness." Qing Yi said, "these are all lies and I have been framed." She claimed.
"Court Lady Qing as far as I know is one of the six Matrons that head the six departments therefore she foresees a lot of the things that happen in the palace and in the harem there isn't a woman with more power that can influence all decisions like her, she's been to every one of those departments and knows all the corners in the palace." Lady Yang said.
"Silence you liar." Qing Yi protested as she looked at her while Lady Yang looked at the Empress.
"They say that I poisoned Your Highness." Lady Yang said, "but the bangles they accused me with are fakes and being manufactured by one of the best jewellers in the kingdom they must have his signature on them." She added the Empress where she was seated she shuddered.
"Can you prove your Innocence Lady Qing?" Grand Empress Dowager Wu asked furiously and the latter keeping quiet Yang Meizi fiercely raised her gaze to the Empress.
"An ordinary Court Lady to have had all these machinations underway she must have had an accomplice and what's even debatable is the fact that she could do it entirely on her own." Lady Yang said, "someone must have been behind her that is." She asserted.
"No." Qing Yi replied all of a sudden as she looked at the Empress.
"Is it so?" Lady Yang inquired.
"I won't deny it any longer Your Highness but this was all my doing and all the ladies were working on my orders." Qing Yi confessed and hearing this Xiaoyang smiled while the Empress Han stood up from where she was seated.
"What?" She asked.
"Pardon me Your Highness." Qing Yi said as she bowed her head and at that very moment Lady Yang smirking the other Concubines and people present began whispering amongst themselves.
"I did Your Highness the Empress the Greatest disservice by failing to conduct much better the Imperial Prince's birthday music coordination I allowed myself to be easily set up by Scoundrels." Lady Yang said.
"Forget it, it's done with." Empress Han said.
"The Courtiers, the people and the world don't take it that way Your Highness yet this is a matter of our inner Court that has made your health entirely bitter and given you a hard time." Lady Yang remarked.
"No." Empress Han muttered.
"It must be hard for Your Highness to believe but Court Lady Qing wants to drive a wedge between Your Imperial Highness and the Consorts, surely, this is a crime which is unpardonable it is a breach to the rules we abide by." Lady Yang asserted.
"I shall accept any punishment Your Highness." Qing Yi pleaded.
"As the Empress it is therefore your duty whether you desire to protect her or not to uphold decorum hence failing to punish her will reflect poorly on Your Highness and this being a crime that upsets the Imperial Court and stirs turmoil in the kingdom a punishment as raging as a storm will be sufficient to settle this chaos once and for all." Lady Yang said.
"Lady Yang is right." Grand Empress Dowager Wu muttered as she turned to the Empress who seemed to have a hard time responding.
"May I suggest five hundred lashes to show the rest to be wary of their actions and to demonstrate to the world who runs the harem and rules the Inner Court?" Lady Yang muttered as everyone's eyes widened with surprise Qing Yi responded by looking at her mistress with teary eyes pleading for her approval.
"Do as she says, five hundred lashes it is." Grand Empress Dowager Wu ordered.
"Yes Your Highness." Wan Mei and Wan'er responded they descended the stairs towards Qing Yi and the other ladies in waiting around her they held her up and dragged her from the room while Empress Han stared at Lady Yang fiercely.
The Courtiers having arrived at the State Tribunal, they halted in the Courtyard of the building in silence before the Emperor made his entry.
"Greetings Your Majesty." They honoured him and looking at them he sat down.
"What is going on Sire?" Han Touzhou inquired.
"You'll learn of it soon enough." Emperor Ningzong muttered and looking at Eunuch Deng he faced the nearby doorway.
"Bring in the Criminals." He shouted on top of his voice and the gates being opened they brought in a group of men who were led to His Majesty's presence and they were forced onto their knees.
"What's this Your Majesty?" Minister Xie inquired.
"Was it not evidence that you were strongly after?" Emperor Ningzong inquired.
"But still this doesn't make sense Your Majesty." Minister Xia supplemented.
"Sire...." Officer Jiang still speaking he was interrupted.
"Thanks be to Lady Yang who figured it out before you all did my kingdom would have fallen into chaos, was it not you who were my most upright and competent Courtiers?" He asked and they all responded with silence.
"This is a matter of the inner Court but in a short while it only required a simple spark to become a Grand state affair and the climax would have been the head of Lady Yang as my resolve had it not been for these traitors who had the clothes of her Ladies in waiting sprinkled with Purslane, furthermore these very brains were behind tampering with the production of all those Zithers that were used to ordain the Imperial Prince's birthday." Emperor Ningzong muttered on top of his voice.
"Forgive us Your Majesty." The men pleaded.
"That I sincerely wish for but you have messed with the wrong ruler you see." Emperor Ningzong remarked.
"Your Majesty...." The Men cried to him in unison.
"I am not one to believe that this is your will do definitely there must have been someone behind you, if you are considerate enough to deliver to me the masterminds behind you in this ploy so shall I consider sparing the lives of your clan and kinsmen." Emperor Ningzong said.
"Your Majesty wills it then so it shall be." One of the men said.
"Have you made up your mind?" Emperor Ningzong asked.
"Believe us Your Majesty, we were merely following orders we do not know who it was that did this." One of the men professed.
"Is it so." Please believe us Your Majesty." They each cried in unison while the Emperor turned to look at the Courtiers around him that were keeping quiet and having their heads low.
"Grand Secretary Han?" He called out to Han Touzhou who turned to him.
"Your Majesty." He offered his earnest salutations.
"These criminals are no longer useful and the people are demanding for justice to the Imperial Prince, which death do you think shall suit the people's desire because personally I was considering the worst one possible being death by a thousand cuts." Emperor Ningzong muttered.
"Your Majesty?" The men appealed to him.
"Have the executioners ready." He added.
"Yes Your Majesty." Han Touzhou replied.
"There was something I remember Your Majesty." One of the men spoke up but the Emperor still not listening he stood up from where he was seated while the Courtiers understood better to remain silent about everything.
"The person that gave us the orders was from the Palace." The man said and the Emperor halted in his footsteps at once he turned around to look at him.
"There's a lady." He said, "I don't know her by name but I can identify her by face." He added and smiling Emperor Ningzong looked at Lan He who walked up in front of the man and holding a scroll in his hands he unfolded it to reveal his contents.
"On it there was a drawing of Qing Yi.
"Tell me oh loyal subject of mine, is this the woman you claim you came in contact with?" Emperor Ningzong asked.
"Yes Your Majesty, it may have been dark but I remember her face very well, she was the one." The man confessed.
"Isn't that the Empress' Lady in waiting?" The Courtiers murmured amongst themselves.
"We received orders from her to add the Purslane and to tamper with the Zithers." He added and the Emperor infuriated he turned to Han Touzhou.
"You heard him well enough I won't have to explain it sooner or later." Emperor Ningzong muttered as he turned back to Lan He.
"Take them back to the cells." He ordered, "this case is dismissed and you can all return to your homes." He added as he continues his way while the Courtiers bowed their heads to him as his entourage passed.
Qing Yi hardly protesting she was paraded through the palace while the servants all around the place looked at her.
Lady Yang and the Empresses standing at a pavilion they watched while she was led into an open square where Imperial guards were stationed and bearing two large wooden canes in their hands she was tied to the wooden board below.
"Empress must feel so dismayed." Grand Empress Dowager Wu muttered.
"Pardon me Your Highness." Empress Han muttered.
"You see my dear, women like ourselves appear once in a century and they call it magnificent, however those that announce themselves before us we only interprete them to be contenders." Grand Empress Dowager Wu said as she turned to the young woman beside her.
"Understood?" She asked.
"Yes Your Highness." Empress Han replied.
"Two hundred lashes is enough to have a person killed, won't five hundred grant her the most humiliating death?" Empress Dowager Xie inquired.
"Such is the tragic fate for all those that go against the wishes of His Majesty." Grand Empress Dowager Wu confidently replied and an infuriated Empress Han clenching her fists with fury she looked at Lady Yang who seemed to inwardly enjoy the show while they started flogging Qing Yi.
After a short while the Emperor barged through the doors to his Chambers and furiously he sat down at the table behind his desk.
"Please appease your anger Your Majesty." Eunuch Deng muttered to him.
"Alas the Empress' true colours have been unravelled before me you expect me to sit silently, I should have known that she masterminded all this but inwardly I falsely believed that she'd changed for our sake yet it seems I was wrong, after all old habits die hard and now the Imperial Prince will only suffer for his mother's mistakes." The Emperor scolded.
"Court Lady Qing is being flogged as we speak the Inner Court has taken measures, I heard that she denied the Empress' involvement and she chose to shoulder all the accusations." Eunuch Deng remarked.
"She is too loyal a servant you should understand that by now, if not the Empress who could she protect after all she's merely a servant whose death shall mean nothing but if the Empress collapses, the influence of Han Touzhou shall collapse as well." Emperor Ningzong remarked.
"You can't be too sure Your Majesty." Eunuch Deng muttered.
"So you are defending the Empress?" Emperor Ningzong inquired.
"If Court Lady Qing confessed to her faults and excluded the Empress, that's irrefutable proof of her Innocence as far as this ploy was concerned and the Courtiers would as well protect her upon these grounds." Eunuch Deng muttered.
"When I think about the pain that Lady Yang endured my heart bleeds, she must be relieved more than anything else but if she'd remained silent she would have shouldered this burden all by herself." Emperor Ningzong remarked.
"We're quite lucky that she learnt of the Purslane so soon and we acted cautiously otherwise it would have been too late for her." Eunuch Deng muttered.
"In deed we thank heaven." Emperor Ningzong muttered, "heaven must be praised." He added.
"Amen." Eunuch Deng replied.
"Once Court Lady Qing has served her sentence I shall pass by Lady Yang's residence." The Emperor muttered.
"Yes Your Majesty." Eunuch Deng replied as he bowed his head to him.
Empress Han furiously she strode into her room and Eunuch Gong following her he halted in front of her table behind which she sat before she rested her fist and smacked it.
"Please appease your anger Your Highness." He said.
"I was hardly cautious." Empress Han replied, "I can not bear seeing her anymore or looking at her." She remarked.
"All shall be well Your Highness." Eunuch Gong said.
"I was too lax and all it took her was a short while for her to turn everything around and all the tables, five hundred lashes are too cruel I bet she's pissed that they slapped her with a wooden cane." Empress Han muttered.
"Five times as much this is her declaration of war." Eunuch Gong replied.
"And who could I possibly turn to without Qing Yi, if the lashes don't kill her at the very worst, she'll be a cripple." Empress Han added sadly.
"Let us hope for the best." Eunuch Gong muttered.
"No." Empress Han replied.
"There's not much that we can do." Eunuch Gong informed her.
"We were anticipating the wrath of the people only their silence could contain this matter to the harem, as long as it's no national concern sooner or later we the ladies can consider it a matter of the Inner Court in which His Majesty can not intervene." Empress Han replied.
"The Empress Dowager Xie could do little harm, but you forget Your Highness, there's still the Grand Empress Dowager who is the tallest and oldest tree in this forest." Eunuch Gong muttered.
"Soon." Empress Han replied desperately.
"Your Highness....?" Eunuch Gong protested.
"An opportunity, yes, Lady Yang has it, time is something alone that can save us but it isn't on our side and today they were just lashes tomorrow it's her everything to make sure that both Qing Yi and I collapse." Empress Han said and with her hands placed on the table she leaned and looked at Eunuch Gong in the eyes.
"Lady Yang expects you to retaliate Your Highness and that's why she's made every effort to provoke you to confront her openly over the issue, if Your Highness loses yourself to her I greatly fear that sooner than expected you'll be burying yourself along with Qing Yi because you merely wish to save her." He reprimanded her.
"I can not let Qing Yi die I must do everything even if it requires me to cut down that eighty year old tree." Empress Han said when suddenly the doors to her Chambers were flung open and one of her Ladies in waiting rushed in.
"Your Highness." She said in tears.
"What is it?" The Empress asked as Eunuch Gong turned to her.
"Lady Qing......." The young woman replied.
"What's wrong with her?" Empress Han inquired.
"Her five hundred lashes were cut short, she fainted in the process." The young woman replied and hearing this the Empress stood up from where she was seated and strode out of the room while Eunuch Gong followed closely behind her.
Lady Yang sitting in her Chambers Xiaoyang knelt down in front of her.
"Ma'am?" She called to her.
"Trying, yes, it must have been so." Lady Yang muttered softly.
"The Criminal passed out having weathered three hundred lashes alone." Xiaoyang muttered.
"She messed with our Manyin and she served the Empress, I couldn't be any lenient yet my intuition to His Majesty must have been that a punishment so stern could alone serve to save her from death." Lady Yang replied.
"But after what she did she deserves to die a thousand times, His Majesty would sure have her beheaded of you willed it Ma'am." Xiaoyang mentioned.
"That I know but there's no fun in doing so and what's worse I wouldn't want to have her killed with my own hands." Lady Yang replied, "at this rate the pain she'll weather will be worse than death and slowly by slowly the Empress shall shatter inwardly at the sight, but you see even if the Empress pleads her case, they wanted to use this opportunity against us I shall use it against them as well." She added.
"What are you going to do Ma'am?" Xiaoyang inquired.
"The Empress was relying on the anger and the hatred of the people to get rid of me I merely want to return the favor this time round and fight fire with fire." Lady Yang replied.
"Ma'am, you mean to say that you'll......" Xiaoyang still saying she was interrupted.
"Yes." She confirmed, "we'll swell the people's wrath against the Endless after all I trust myself well enough to know we couldn't be the only people that dare to think that the Empress' Head Lady could call all the shots without Her Highness noticing or giving orders." She added as she smiled at herself ghastly.
Empress Han rushing she slid the doors of the small sanatorium and walking inside she caught sight of Lady Qing who was being nursed at the moment.
"I don't understand why we must nurse her to health to only be flogged another two hundred times." One of the Ladies in waiting tending to her said.
"She acted up against Lady Yang who happens to be His Majesty's favourite and her machinations have clearly put the state of affairs of the country in turmoil if is a crime which is unpardonable and by Imperial law she was supposed to be beheaded but Lady Yang being lenient had to opt for those many lashes." The other replied.
"At least she gets to live." The former muttered, "had I been in Lady Yang's place I would have long had her decapitated for attempting to frame me." She added and the Empress silently hearing this, Eunuch Gong cleared his throat at once the girls turned around to look at him.
"Your Highness." They said noticing her presence.
"You may all leave." Empress Han said and without any hesitation the young women withdrew from the room while she walked closer to Qing Yi's bedside and studied her pale unconscious self fighting for her life.
"Perhaps all she is seeing is darkness." She whispered, "a darkness that I brought upon her." She added.
"It isn't your fault Your Highness, I believe that she'll soon enough regain consciousness and look at you." Eunuch Gong comforted her.
"If only it was that easy." Empress Han muttered, "I hope to stay a bit longer." She informed him.
"As Your Highness wishes." He replied as he withdrew from the room and leaving the two all alone the Empress ceased her hand into her own.
"You must forgive me Qing Yi and get well soon enough." She muttered, "rise so that you may return in my service again." She whispered to her in tears but perhaps cruel the young unconscious woman responded with silence.
"You must get up Qing Yi." She kept on saying to herself her whispers escaping the thin room Eunuch Gong standing outside the doors and hearing her he ceased his forehead and massaging his temples he looked at the ground beneath his feet disappointed.
Lady Yang wasn't walking standing in the gardens of her residence lost in thought when the Emperor and his entourage marching through the gates herself hardly noticing he spectated from a distance.
Looking at the wan moonlight that shone on her body she was very beautiful, her dark eyes shone I the darkness and she'd never looked more vulnerable than she did at the moment.
"Maha my dear." She whispered under her breath.
"She doesn't seem settled." The Emperor remarked.
"Perhaps it's because of everything that happened here today." Eunuch Gong remarked and Xiaoyang moving closer to Lady Yang and alerting her, she turned and recognized the Emperor's presence while he returned a smile at her.
The two rushed towards each other and meeting they held their hands.
"It appears as though there is something troubling your mind my dearest." Emperor Ningzong
"Pardon me Your Majesty, I just don't know what to think anymore." Lady Yang replied.
"Really?" The Emperor asked.
"It was proven that Qing Yi was guilty, I can't help but wonder what it was that I did to her to make her resent me that much to the point of wanting me dead." Lady Yang replied.
"She confessed to having pulled it off entirely in front of the whole world I can't simply believe that she worked according to an independent will." Emperor Ningzong muttered.
"Your Highness, if it wasn't her then who else could want me dead?" Lady Yang inquired.
"You are seriously asking me that question?" He responded furiously.
"The Empress has never treated me in an ill manner and she protected me during the first encounters." Lady Yang professed.
"You don't know her much better than I do." Emperor Ningzong remarked, "did you become so naive ever since you returned to the Palace?" He asked.
"Fighting in the palace Your Majesty destroyed me before, back then my heart was filled with darkness I prayed that heaven would lift that yoke of suffering from my shoulders and make me a sweet human being once again, someone to love and be loved by the others it changed my perception of people, it changed my perception of the world." Lady Yang replied and quietly the Emperor looked at her while she sighed so easily they stopped by the stood balcony that overlooked the Imperial pond and there on it the two of them sat.
"I am so sorry that all this had to happen to you unfairly." He spoke up to her.
"You don't have to blame yourself for anything Your Majesty." Lady Yang replied, "I can consider myself twice as lucky as the luckiest woman in the world, I don't wish to become like everyone else." She added.
"If my Empress was as soft and kind-hearted as you are." Emperor Ningzong muttered.
"I wish with all my heart that even in this cruel world if I must achieve from this life it's goodness and go as high as I can, I will be good, I shall use the best of means." Lady Yang said as she raised her eyes to the sky again the Emperor enamored by her he smiled.
"For your sake I can spare Qing Yi's wife that is of you really wish it to be so." He promised her.
"I wouldn't be more delighted Your Majesty." Lady Yang muttered, "I wouldn't ask for anything more." She added with a most innocent smile she'd won over his body still a part of his soul resisting she could see in his eyes but caution kept her from doing a single mistake she knew would destroy her cover for the rest of her life.
"Could anyone be as saintly a woman?" Eunuch Deng remarked.
"She certainly is above them all." Emperor Ningzong replied with a smile on his face.
"What does Your Majesty think of her?" He inquired.
"She once was hateful and vengeful, her heart feel of rage it consumed her soul, heaven sent her to me so pure, it is now that she seems too flawless she can keep her cool and dignity, is there a person that could change so much?" Emperor Ningzong inquired.
"Your Majesty still doubts her?" Eunuch Deng inquired.
"I can't even trust the person I have become myself, I have let the Courtiers see too much of me of late couldn't they be more curious in their service?" He inquired.
"I don't care about the Court life Your Majesty it's enough for me to simply know that with Lady Yang, you are happier than any other man in the world." He added.
"Suppose I was?" The Emperor asked, "regardless of the position wasn't five hundred lashes a bit too much?" He inquired.
"Lady Qing stirred up an entire kingdom and if she took sole responsibility, I think, it's likely that she hoped to protect the Empress from being implicated because the more that I think about it, an act of lenience would have reflected negatively on the harem and the inner Court especially on the Empress." Eunuch Deng muttered.
"Perhaps." Emperor Ningzong muttered to himself.
Empress Han still watching Qing Yi the latter opened her eyes.
"Your Highness." She said shivering seriously herself.
"Qing'er?" She called.
"Please endure Your Highness, persevere." She used all the strength she had.
"You're not doing well please, reserve your strength." Empress Han pleaded with her.
"All my life there was never a moment that I felt happier than when I was in your service." Qing Yi muttered, "I am tired Your Highness and this was the only way that I had left in my might to try and protect you." She added.
"Qing'er, please hold on to me." The Empress said as she tightly held her hand.
"You must stand Your Highness, save your strength and do not collapse, please for my sake, yours and the Prince's, do not let Lady Yang win." Qing Yi whispered and a tear rolling down her cheek, Lady Yang was silently seated in her Chambers and smiling at herself.
"Don't do this to me Qing'er." Empress Han pleaded.
"Please stand Your Highness, you must persevere." She said again and falling short of breath she began gasping for air the Empress still holding her flew into panic as she screamed for the Imperial physicians and not letting go, the heart of the wind breaking free from her most desperate soul left lifeless her whole body in a gust like that amidst the darkness that filled the room with the mild candle light that was fighting to resist it, the Empress' most faithful and most loyal servant had breathed her very last.
"Qing Yi?" The Empress yelled on top of her voice and outside the skies responding with thunder the wind blowing through Lady Yang's quarters her dark side was set at peace for a moment before Xiaoyang announced herself.
"Come in." She said to her and the latter complied bowing in her presence with a smile on her face.
"Manyin has regained consciousness Ma'am, ultimately Lady Qing has succumbed to the wings of death." She informed her, "even if it was the wish of the Empress to know the cause of death, she wouldn't trace a single thing, it so happened that sadly, three hundred lashes were too much for her weak fragile body." She added.
"Well done." Lady Yang muttered as she laughed ghastly at herself, trying to override the roaring thunder, on the other side the Empress Han was quietly grieving in the presence of Qing Yi's corpse Eunuch Gong moving in he knew better to retain his silence for a while.
"Do you know the last words she said to me?" Empress Han asked him.
"No Your Highness." He replied.
"She asked me to stay strong and to persevere, she told me that I must not collapse, that I must not let Lady Yang win." She said to him.
"Your Highness...." Eunuch Gong trying to speak he was interrupted.
"What about you?" She asked.
"I'll do whatever I can." Eunuch Gong replied.
"The people shall be after me surely given everything that has happened." Empress Han muttered and turning her head and looking over her shoulder she stared at him fiercely, "before that becomes a reality we must first tear down the ground upon which Lady Yang is standing." She said.
"Yes Your Highness." Eunuch Gong replied.
"This time I shall make her cry blood, she'll dread this day more than anything else, I shall rip her down to the very last piece as if she'd never existed, even her ashes in this world I shall never allow to appear again." She hatefully swore.
YOU ARE READING
ROSES OF BLOOD
Historical FictionThe Empress Wu fostered a daughter within the Crimson walls of the Cifu Palace who with altered and faint origins she became the sister of a Marquis. Bound to her filial piety and the path of hardship, a "seductress" is what she must become poisonou...
