BROKEN VOWS

       The Crown Princess Han was seated in her Chambers early in the morning when she was joined by her sister and Concubine Zhong who was another secondary wife of the Emperor Ningzong.

       "Congratulations Your Highness." They said bowing their heads to her.

       "Isn't it too soon?" Crown Princess Han asked.

       "You are the Empress." Princess Consort Han replied.

       "I haven't been invested as of yet." Crown Princess Han said.

       "The ministry of Rites is preparing the Imperial Edict and once the mourning period is done then you can rest assured that you shall be the master of all six Palaces." Lady Zhong replied.

        "What's worth not waiting for, I have looked to this day all my life and I hadn't expected that it would come so soon." Crown Princess Han remarked.

       "Certainly it has Your Highness." Her sister remarked gently as she smiled.

        "You already have a son and you are by title the Crown Princess, naturally give it a year or two he'll become the Crown Prince as you are yet the eldest and most legal wife." Lady Zhang assured her.

        "Quite right." Crown Princess Han replied and the three women sipping at their cups of tea altogether the doors of the room were opened and Qing Yi walked in.

        "Its about time." She muttered.

        "Your Highness." Qing Yi replied as she bowed down her head to her.

        "You have been gone for way too long." Crown Princess Han remarked.

        "I had to keep a close eye Your Highness." Qing Yi replied.

        "The Empress is now in the cold Palace and it serves her right, soon enough I'll become the Empress and you'll get again have to replace that filthy wench's subordinates and become Supreme head Lady of the Central Palace." Crown Princess Han said and that instant Qing Yi falling to her knees she kowtowed to her mistress full of so much joy.

        "Thank you Your Highness." She praised.

        "There's no need." Crown Princess Han replied, "if not you who else could it be that understands me the most in the world and owing to the fact that you have grown up with me in the palace there isn't therefore anyone else that I could trust more than I trust you." She added.

        "Your Highness is benevolent and Qing Yi is willing to serve you with all her life." The young woman muttered while Lady Zhang facing the Crown Princess she smiled.

        "Quite a loyal servant you have." She said, "Liang'er here is fond of giving me headache." She remarked.

         "Soon enough she'll understand, after all if I am elevated to the rank of Empress I shall put in a good word for you all to His Majesty and seeing that he has yet to please the world he certainly wouldn't mind bestowing upon the both of you new higher titles." Crown Princess Han assures.

        "Your Highness is indeed very benevolent." Lady Zhang said.

       "This is what should happen when the Harem is put in charge of a true and efficient ruler, we can all be good women of the Emperor without harbouring any ill intent." Her sister went ahead to say.

        "You all flatter me too much and it leaves me speechless." Crown Princess Han said as she slowly turned to Qing Yi who standing up she looked at her and judging from her expression she could tell that there was something wrong.

        "You might forgive me now if I may sound rude but I was too worried about last night that I could barely sleep and now I am feeling a little bit too tired I wish to have some rest and I'll talk to you later." She muttered.

        "We understand Your Highness very well so permit us to take our leave." Lady Zhang and Concubine Han stood up and bowing their heads to her they immediately withdrew from the room while Qing Yi content that they were nowhere close she rushed to the Crown Princess' presence and went down on her knees before her.

        "What is wrong?" Crown Princess Han asked.

        "I kept a very close watch on His Majesty as you had instructed and after the coronation when he was required to spend the night in the Emperor's room he moved out late and he spent the whole night in the dungeons." Qing Yi replied.

       "In the dungeons?" Crown Princess Han asked.

       "Yes." Qing Yi replied.

       "What would he be doing in there?" Crown Princess Han asked.

        "I couldn't tell before and after I consulted and asked around I was reliably informed that a couple of days ago he apprehended the Court Lady Yang." Qing Yi replied as the Crown Princess immediately stood up infuriated.

        "What did you say?" She asked.

        "As you heard me Your Highness and I don't know what it was that happened between the both of them but one way or another I find it suspicious that her apprehension was kept secret." Qing Yi replied and the Crown Princess falling back into her seat she smacked its arm furiously.

         "So there sure was something going on between my husband and her." She whispered to herself as she nodded her head.

        "Is there anything that you would rather have me do?" Qing Yi asked.

        "For His Highness to apprehend her it could mean one of two things and considering that he is a rather tolerant person the first would be that she offended him greatly and the second is if the latter isn't what happened he is merely protecting her." Crown Princess Han replied.

       "It must have been the former." Qing Yi said.

       "But a word from the Emperor is enough to have her lose her head and yet he would rather spend the night in the dungeons I find it strange when I recall that she had that fearless expression and at one point he must have held affections for her in his heart." Crown Princess Han said.

       "Then perhaps he doesn't wish to punish her?" Qing Yi asked.

       "He could be expecting so much more from her and should that be the case then I don't know." Crown Princess Han replied.

        "It's quite difficult for us to comprehend this matter for all that we know we can not be too sure as of yet." Qing Yi remarked.

        "Have people keep a close eye on her." Crown Princess Han replied, "report to me in case anything happens between the both of them." She ordered.

        "Yes Your Highness." Qing Yi replied as she quickly withdrew while the Crown Princess still curious she massaged her temples with her right hand as her mind drifted away in thought.

       Yang Meizi walked out of the dungeons and outside in front of her she saw Nuwa who was standing and waiting.

       She rushed over and held her arm while the young woman raising her hand up to the sky she veiled her eyes from the sun.

       "How long has it been?" She asked.

       "Three days Milady." Nuwa replied as the two still stood in the same place hardly setting a foot away.

       "How is the palace?" She asked.

       "The Empress is Retired and pushed to the Cold Palace for a while after which she'll be sent away to a more distant residence, Han Touzhou on the other hand could rise soon enough to the position of Chancellor having yet had a hand in the Emperor's ascension." Nuwa replied and hearing this she started out with the first step while Nuwa followed away.

       "I am free from the palace." She said.

       "What do you mean?" Nuwa asked.

       "My pardon was granted as the Emperor has acceded the throne, I must oblige to his good grace and move further away not because I am afraid for myself but I fear for you." Yang Meizi replied.

        "And what have we done to deserve your attention?" Nuwa asked.

        "I'd wonder but I'd rather not ask, the Court is full of righteous men that can counter Han Touzhou's might, the longer I stay you will only suffer, as I recall Bao Langya and Bo An really dreamed of being soldiers and Master Bao close to the age of retirement has seen way too much, at the end of it all which one of us could face the children of Han?" Yang Meizi replied while Nuwa kept quiet.

       "This isn't you to keep quiet." Nuwa said.

       "Is this how little you trust me?" Yang Meizi asked.

       "Milady." Nuwa cried.

       "You desire this palace much more than I do on one hand, for once I want to be an ordinary woman but the Palace can't let me love the man of my dreams, I'd prefer the life on the floss, or the mountains if not the prairies, there my soul will feel whole again and I'll protect every last little memory I have left to hold very precious to myself." Yang Meizi said as she moved away hardly looking behind.

      Nuwa for a moment she stood in one place and looking at her while she vanished she looked back at the dungeons where her mistress had come from.

       "What if I told you that I desire not this Palace, what if I told you that there was someone in it that is the reason I can live like an ordinary woman as well?" She muttered under her breath as tears ran down her cheeks and she collapsed onto the ground and sat there in pain with the sun shining down on her harder than she'd ever felt.

         Yang Meizi arrived at the Martial Academy and once inside she sat facing Master Bao who silently analysed her appearance.

        "When was the very last time you had your period?" Master Bao asked

        "Recalling well enough a month ago, right now, it's late by four days." Yang Meizi replied.

        "Have you any doubts?" Master Bao asked while she kept quiet he eventually raised his eyes to her as she seemed very uncomfortable under his gaze.

         "Is it the Emperor's?" He asked.

         "No." Yang Meizi replied.

         "I am well informed that he loved you so much, you couldn't have possibly....." Master Bao remarked.

         "Even if I have sinned, it couldn't be his, I could hardly bring myself to accepting his affections for me." Yang Meizi replied as the old man furious he slammed the table and he stood up facing her.

          "How?" He asked.

          "I was out of the Palace during the lantern festival, between me and Shi Miyuan....." She spoke up while he seemed surprised.

         "So he is the father of the child that you are carrying?" Master Bao asked.

         "Aside from himself, there has never been another that I have given myself to." Yang Meizi replied.

         "Now that he'll become a Prince Consort and the Emperor's brother in law sure he has a number of people on his back, much sooner than we had expected Shi Hao is starting to fall out of the young Emperor's favour, the Grand Empress Dowager is too old as it is, if she must have Han Touzhou for an ally she of all people must beware of the consequences she's likely to be acting up in his defense when in reality she isn't." Master Bao replied, "but you are foolish." He scolded while she kept quiet as he returned to her and sat down just across the table.

          "Until now you knew too soon that there was something wrong, you did the very least to get vengeance but knowing that you had performed a crime this grave for a Court Lady you could only antagonize the Crown Prince and bring him to push you out of the Palace." Master Bao said.

         "Years of toil and so many machinations have yielded too little for me that I have grown worried for myself, Han Touzhou got more powerful even with the Empress falling so low and now I own only too little of the might to contend with him it could take me more years as there's not yet another Emperor in the Palace more willful than the late and now his niece will rise to the phoenix throne and claim the Crown of the Empress for herself." Yang Meizi replied.

        "Is there no hope?" Master Bao asked.

        "I'm happy that His Majesty demanded to never see me again but what worries me the most of all things is this child within my womb." Yang Meizi replied as she patted her lower abdomen in silence and in tears, "For this child, for Yuan'er to live and for me, it is important that I take this child away from the capital." Yang Meizi replied.

       "And from the capital where to?" Master Bao asked, "sooner or later he or she will demand to know about his father what will you say?" He persisted as he turned around and holding his head he faced the window, "as age mates back then I told the same thing to your mother but what do you think was her response?" He asked.

         "The same?" Yang Meizi replied.

         "It's a cruel world, here I hoped you'd have a more glorious fate than hers." Master Bao replied while she took a deep sigh.

         "This Zhao family has every problem on its shoulders " Yang Meizi remarked, "the number of foes it has made through the years must be too great." She muttered as silence prevailed for a moment and the old man eventually broke it.

         "There's some land that we own in the Countryside, it's close to the mountains and quite far from the capital in the South in Fuzhou and it's close to the sea as well so I can imagine that it won't be too awful." He said, "live there well enough as I manage everything here and should Khan Talha inquire about you any further I shall put in a good word." He remarked.

         "Thank you." Yang Meizi said as she stood up to bow her head to him.

         "Don't thank me." He replied.

         "Is your Courtesy undeserving of my applause?" She asked.

         "You have staked your life for the orphans of the fraternity that I feel grateful you gave them a purpose to live, but you are doing something that's not right as well much as it's the safest option for both father and child, I can only regret that you have placed your affections to high towards a mortal man, yet I am sorry that at the end of it all half your efforts and sacrifices were for nothing." He replied.

        "Then I wish that you'd do one more thing for me." Yang Meizi said as she moved up to his side an she stood a couple of paces in front of him.

        "What is it?" He asked while she stretched out her hand and then she placed something in it.

        "Help me give it to him." She muttered as she withdrew while he saw there a  as he walked out of the room leaving her quietly on her own.

        The Emperor was seated in the throne room and the Courtiers gathered there they looked at him.

        "Your Majesty." They said as they bowed their heads to him while he on the other hand kept quiet with his eyes on them.

         "Is there a matter that you wish to petition?" He asked when looking at one another the Grand Chancellor Shi chose to keep quiet and spectate from a distance as the Minister of Rites stepped out.

         "Your Majesty." He greeted while he nodded his head out of formality which he took as a sign of his acceptance of the rather humble salutation.

         "Your Majesty the Emperor is young and the Country is blessed with yet your ascension to the throne, while people realize yet their most August Sovereign new with this dawn, it is important for the nation to have a mother." Zhao Ruyu replied when Han Touzhou emerged from the crowd and also faced the Emperor.

         "Under normal circumstances if I may Your Majesty as tradition dictates that with the presence of a Crown Princess before the coffin of the Late Emperor, the emergence of a new Sovereign can not guarantee her position which is to be formally defined so that peace may reign in the harem." He muttered.

         "Crown Princess Han is very humble and enterprising, she is brought up from a very respectable family and well educated, compassionate and she has already bore the Imperial clan an heir, in addition to that she is quite friendly with all the other ladies in the harem." Emperor Ningzong said.

         "I see that Your Majesty takes a liking to her." Han Touzhou said.

         "And she is to be cherished let alone act up as a nation's mother." Emperor Ningzong said.

         "Your Majesty is wise." Zhao Ruyu spoke reluctantly.

         "The Grand Secretariat will draft the Edict but considering the fact that we are in a period of great mourning no lavish celebration can yet be carried out lest the people will talk and rebels will point their fingers at me and which one of them won't say that I am like my father?" Emperor Ningzong ordered.

        "Yes Your Majesty." Minister Zhao Ruyu replied.

        "One more thing." Emperor Ningzong said while the whole room retained it's silence.

        "I would wish to reduce the sentence of all criminals that have been apprehended and have shown a degree of reform and diligently that the old corrupt ministers have been swept put their positions need to be filled in the Imperial Court." Emperor Ningzong said.

         "Could it be that Your Majesty has any ideas?" Han Touzhou asked.

         "My Teachers Huang Shang and Lo Tien put in quite an effort in my upbringing and seeing to it that their meritorious service be rewarded and that they too could chance to serve the state I failed to consider as the Imperial Censorate is too small, on the other hand it is right that the Office of Rites has grown to fond of Minister Zhao the Grand Secretariat should draft yet another Edict.

        While considering an office fitting for my tutors the position of Left Chancellor will be taken up by Liu Cheng, Zhao Ruyu is henceforth the Minister of Defense in charge of the Bureau of Military affairs and His Excellency Han Touzhou shall now assume the position of Head of the Grand Secretariat." Emperor Ningzong said.

         Soon enough the Court dismissed Han Touzhou descending the stairs he was accompanied by his counterpart Li Pi who was a man that was short and very thin with a chiseled face but very old and reserved.

        "You look baffled?" Han Touzhou asked.

        "To think that His Majesty called all the shots?" Li Pi asked.

        "Why so?" Han Touzhou asked.

        "It's surely not something that you do not know." Li Pi replied.

        "All the masterminds in His Majesty's ascension have been awarded handsomely which isn't a practice that has been rare in every dynasty, all important places have all been distributed equally to allow us all to share in power and glory His Majesty would hope to settle all possibilities of tension that are likely to build up." Han Touzhou replied, "but more than anything else he posses a few elements that could make him an independent and Great Monarch yet his directive if well approached can be faulted with him having given us all sabres to strike one another whenever we choose to act up." He added.

        "I see." Minister Li Pi replied.

        "The Grand Secretariat can suggest all notable promotions and draft Edicts of the Emperor so we are just as lucky to be in the position of Censuring them, Liu Cheng is the Chancellor of the Left but his reputation is greatly impaired to say that he would last long in the arena is an oversight, the Tutors are inexperienced and sooner or later their senility will take precedence and lead them to a grave, while Zhao Ruyu is an Imperial Clansman who has been given full charge of the three divisions of the Imperial guards and the State troops his foundation is most solid, Grand Chancellor Shi only retains his position because he is a favorite of the people and His Majesty wishes to protect his sister this way, aside from that, when I think deeper over and over again he is in a great position with no power." Han Touzhou remarked.

       "So one person benefits the most?" Li pi asked.

        "Zhao Ruyu is therefore someone His Majesty can trust the most and you and I both know that he is an old time favourite of the Grand Empress Dowager who helped him secure the succession, at least for the time being I could emerge triumphant to link the Imperial Court to the Inner Palace but two hostile camps will rise in place." Han Touzhou replied.

        "Great." Li Pi muttered.

        "A storm is coming." Han Touzhou said.

        "With these clear skies?" Li Pi asked.

        "You of all people understand what I mean." Han Touzhou replied as he continued his way.

       Emperor Ningzong returning from the Grand Hall he met along the way the Crown Princess Han who smiled at him and bowed her head.

        "Greetings Your Majesty." She spoke calmly while he nodded in appreciation.

        "It must have been very long." She remarked, "I personally wished to invite your Majesty over to my Palace for lunch." She muttered.

        "The Courtiers were rather concerned and I couldn't possibly turn a blind eye, I am new to the throne while the eyes of the world are on me." Emperor Ningzong replied.

        "I see." Crown Princess Han muttered.

        "The Grand Secretariat is drafting the Edict and soon Your Highness shall be the mother of the people, as it is that I mourn my grandfather I would rather prefer to stay hungry for the time being." Emperor Ningzong said.

         "If Your Highness wishes, I shall simply do your bidding." She said as she stepped aside while the young Emperor walked past her and Qing Yi moved up to her mistress.

         "Any news on that girl?" Crown Princess Han asked.

         "I have kept a very close eye and she's left the capital a bit earlier in the morning heading South." Qing Yi replied.

          "He shows no concern for another." Crown Princess Han remarked.

          "Is Your Highness feeling alright?" Qing Yi asked.

         "He has changed so much." Crown Princess Han replied as she turned and looked at her personal servant, "but that girl surely leaves me worried I am not certain when it shall be that he'll summon her to the Palace." Crown Princess Han spoke out.

         "If there surely is something for us to worry our men will report to me in person, you can rest assured Your Highness, I believe that between His Majesty and that Court Lady there couldn't be more as she is out of sight, sooner or later he shall forget her." Qing Yi convinced the latter.

        "I certainly hope so." She replied as she watched her husband negotiating the corner in a distance.

        "Father, where is she?" Bao Langya asked.

        "This isn't something for you to know." Master Bao replied as he moved across the room to the nearby shelf and pulled out a book which he opened to look through.

         "I learnt from Nuwa that she left the Palace and there isn't another person that she could run to except from you father, I was told that she left the capital early in the morning but what for?" Bao Langya asked.

         "She entered the Palace to seek vengeance for her mother on the Empress, the Empress is Retired with no power and another one of those prisoners of the cold Palace, to put it simply what more is there for her to do in the Palace if the one thing keeping her there has ceased to exist?" Master Bao asked.

         "Han Touzhou has only become more powerful." Bao Langya replied.

         "So you are discontent?" Master Bao asked as he sat down while his son stood in front of him and placed his arms on the table looking at him.

         "Surely the Empress was powerful but now it seems that she was merely another pone that Han Touzhou needed to secure the place of his niece as the future Empress only in a matter of days when the Grand Secretariat drafts the Edict she will be elevated to the position of Empress which will strengthen his position in the Imperial Court and give him a grip over the harem." Bao Langya replied.

        "And in yet the final hours of the ploy he identified himself as yet another of the Grand Empress Dowager's faithful supporters the long she would stay in the Palace unable to accept this alliance she would have made the Grand Empress Dowager her enemy which wouldn't be that good for all of us either." Master Bao raised his voice while his son for a moment went silent.

         "You mean to say that she did this for us?" Bao Langya asked.

         "Had it not been for her counsel the Grand Empress Dowager would be somewhere in the Cold Palace, she made him an Emperor eventually the older would have to worry and as a Court Lady having involved herself in the affairs of state it wouldn't have been possible for her to survive losing her head because the young Emperor must appease the officials and who is to tell if he is fond of her or not, the state is much more important." He replied.

         "I didn't know." Bao Langya said.

         "I am old and I raised her as per the last wishes of both her mother and uncle, she has already been exploited enough by us we have yet a firm foundation, vengeance isn't my calling and I don't have the right to stop you if you insist on it however if I must then I forbid you not to search out for her and let her live in peace." Master Bao remarked as he stood up to walk past his son.

        "What about the Silver Fraternity?" Bao Langya asked and the old man stopped in his footsteps before he turned around to face his son.

        "What about it?" He asked.

        "She is the last pure blood and daughter of Master Zhang Shansheng." Bao Langya replied.

         "To me and to the world the Silver Fraternity is dead." Master Bao replied, "the one thing that she was trying to protect were it's last surviving children." He added before he quickly walked out of sight vigorously shutting the door behind himself his father a bit older could feel his ailing but nonetheless appeared strong despite the crumbling that was going on inside him.    

        The carriage carrying the fair dame, they halted by the river as the driver got down from the front to the side of her window.

        We are here Milady and we'll rest for a while." He said and hearing that she walked out as slowly, she moved to the shore and studied the calm tide, it surely was remarkable and surely was beautiful in her sight.

        For a while the silence prevailing with the wonderful melodies of the birds she could inhale a very deep breath and let go for a while it felt as though she was free from the world.

         As she stared on long enough, she was met by a very old man that was seated with his walking stick in the water as he slowly hummed to himself a tune that she knew to be familiar but she could barely tell what it was it forced her to draw closer to him.

        "Is it your habit to peep at an old man?" He asked.

         "And who is there to address me?" Yang Meizi asked as she drew closer and sat by the shore.

         "A shaman." He replied while she studied his red and orange hanfu and the large beads that he was wearing around his neck, his hair was just starting to develop some grey strands she knew too little that he was the man whose words sparked off yet what was the most painful beginning of her young life.

         "You look like a monk." She remarked.

         "In a monastery they called me crazy yet would you be surprised if I told you that I know you?" The old man asked as she laughed.

         "You to know me?" She asked.

         "Is there anything wrong with that?" The old man asked.

         "Does it matter as it is yet your speciality to look into my future?" Yang Meizi asked.

          "And aren't you curious to know?" The old shaman asked.

          "Why would I wish for it, I am tired of looking for answers, I simply want to live like an ordinary woman." Yang Meizi replied.

          "And who said you are destined to be an ordinary woman?" The old man asked.

          "You tell me what is there that you know." Yang Meizi asked.

          "Some time ago I arrived here for the last five years, I sat by this river every day and there I mused at the wonderful sight from every dawn to dusk." The shaman replied.

          "What did you see?" Yang Meizi asked.

          "Tranquil, hope, beauty in every wave and life restored to every breeze that came from the sea dry but returned their wet." The shaman replied.

         "And you could see all that?" Yang Meizi asked.

         "I know well enough to tell that you run from the Palace, you have become a hostage in the land of your birth yet even not a tombstone with your stone deserves to grace it but more than an Emperor, more than a king many countless lives have been shed for you both knowingly and unknowingly do you really think that you can run from your destiny?" The old shaman asked and Yang Meizi stood up furiously.

         "I don't care who you are, I don't care what you are but what do you know about my destiny?" Yang Meizi asked.

          "I hate that I have these years but would you know of everything that happened sometime back, these very lips proclaimed the Emergence of a Sovereign Star over the Palace the Empress Dowager took me for granted then, she certainly must have and a while later you bring yourself to me we are no different from pones and whatever this life throws at us we embrace wholeheartedly." The old shaman asked.

          "I'll go farther away from the Palace." Yang Meizi confessed.

          "With the child in your womb, with love, for once you let yourself feel vulnerable for once you feel you are nice, you are a sword that is trying to become blunt against the world, you are a wave that is struggling to swim against the current, you are a woman that is struggling to survive against the men in this world." The shaman muttered at the young woman who was preparing to walk away forcing her to halt in her footsteps.

        "Why did you stop?" He asked.

        "I had every right to happiness, that Palace has deprived me of it all the longer I stay there unable to see or love I'll feel no different from a prisoner held in the dungeons, no different from a bird longing to fly in a very narrow and small cage." Yang Meizi replied and the old man hearing her words he stood up and faced her back.

         "Many words we'll say, the only way for a bird to learn to fly is to break it's wings the first time it jumps out of the best, but remember your mother, remember your child, remember your heart and soul, remember your love, as it is that the heavens give us courage in lieu of a strong hand, every moment you live you hope, but the only one that can turn a cage into a sky is yourself and not me or another." He muttered.

         "I'll take it that we did not meet." Yang Meizi said.

"To tread on embers the rest of your life such is the price that you must pay, you'll bury your own one by one until you are all alone it is the destiny of every monarch, every ruler must sacrifice a piece of their humanity to leave a mark on history, which path shall you choose now?" He asked.

She responded merely with silence.

         "No worries, my wait has certainly fulfilled it's purpose." The old shaman replied.

         "Milady?" The carriage Coachman rushed to her and bowed his head.

         "It'll soon be dusk and we must arrive in Fuzhou." She spoke to him.

          "This way Milady." The man said.

          "Think about each word I have told you very carefully the shaman shouted behind her but reserving her silence she continued her way until she mounted the stairs into her carriage.  

          Emperor Ningzong sat with darkness all around him and staring at the candle on his table he could recall those harsh words she had mentioned to him lingering at the back of his head he gripped it with his two hands and leaned his elbows on the table when the doors of the room were opened and Nuwa walked in with a tray in her hands.

         "Your Majesty." She said to him as she bowed his head while he looked up to see who it was.

         "You...?" He muttered.

         "Her Highness the Grand Empress Dowager has sent over some Mengding tea." Nuwa asserted.

         "You can ask Lan He to put it elsewhere." Emperor Ningzong replied.

         "I would except that he is no longer Your old guard." Nuwa replied and the Emperor hearing this he stared up at her again.

         "Why?" Emperor Ningzong asked.

         "He is no longer the Crown Prince's retainer but the Emperor's, who else could watch Your Majesty both far and near if not him, he can not rest easy with all the rest he must move around night and day and guard all four corners of the Main palace instead of this room alone." Nuwa replied.

          "Just go." Emperor Ningzong ordered.

          "Perhaps Your Majesty is unhappy but is there anything wrong?" Nuwa asked.

          "Wouldn't you know?" Emperor Ningzong asked, "perhaps she sends you here to kill me." He remarked.

         "Then I am sorry if even I am awful in Your Majesty's sight, you just banished my former mistress from the Palace yet I am all alone, maybe if I was even a Court Lady that could serve you knowing that you can't look at me at least if she wronged you one way or another allow me to atone for her sins." Nuwa said as she went down on her knees and knelt down before him.

         He studied her his heart feeling guilty he seemed to notice that she too looked fair despite her age and mature with graceful deportment while she seemed just as strong willed as Yang Meizi was.

        "Even you are as brazen yet you care for her, the two of you being close you are no different from each other." Emperor Ningzong remarked as he stood up and walking around his table he ceased her hands.

        "Get up." He said as he helped her up to her feet while she stared into his eyes so innocently for a while he was overwhelmed by that same face in his memory he didn't break his gaze.

         "I am unworthy Your Majesty." She spoke in a different tone and he seemed to go back to his senses.

         "I didn't know that you could be so lonely in the Palace but now that you speak about it there's hardly any other woman that I can trust within these walls." Emperor Ningzong muttered as he let go and turning around to return to his seat she smiled at herself.

         "I am at your service Your Majesty." She said while she kowtowed to the young man who rested in his seat.

         "I understand that you know the rules of the Palace too well and I trust that your conduct can also be exemplary within, I appoint you the Head Lady of the Main Palace." Emperor Ningzong said.

         "Your Majesty is Sage, Nuwa serves your good grace she said as she went onto her knees and then with her forehead on the ground she bowed thrice before she rose up and withdrew from his room while he looked at her vanish from sight before he turned to what was a drawer under his table and there pulling it open, in it he saw a crude painting of Yang Meizi's face.

         "How I ache that you hate me and at the same time more than anything else, I wish you were here with me." He muttered to himself.

         Nuwa walking out of the Palace she arrived in the Courtyard and there halting in her footsteps, she turned around and looked at the lantern lit structure with the Eunuchs and some Imperial guards standing guard she sighed and smiled widely at herself.

         "Thank you Milady." She thought to herself, "without you in this Palace finally, I'll take your place in the Heart of His Majesty." She assured herself.

          Yang Meizi in Fuzhou she stood in the courtyard of the very small cottage that contained her while she looked at the Moon that shone in the night sky while her thoughts drifted away.

         The door behind her opened and the young man that was looking after her walked out with a fur coat in his hands.

         "Milady?" He called.

         "Why did you choose to serve me?" She asked but the young man keeping quiet for a while he remained standing at the top of the staircase he chose to sigh.

         "Milady worries too much." He replied.

         "Why?" The young man asked.

         "The mine Milady blew years ago." The young man replied.

         "What about it?" She asked.

         "I merely remember a crude shadow but I starved in the darkness, I was ailing from the batter of those men and beyond the point of revival, my soul was sinking into the netherworld it was the worst moment of my life." The young man replied.

         "So I set you free?" Yang Meizi asked.

         "Was it not your orders that turned us into free men, all the others respected you as a leader it was the aura they felt while in the Palace I heard that Milady was graceful at the dance even the earth couldn't hold another more fair, you stirred the masses and charmed men for me to hold both poise and at the same time great resolve, courage and submission, a tide swinging against the wind and flowing with the river." The young man replied.

        "They call you....?" Yang Meizi asked

        "Beiyuan." He replied.

        "I am a failure you chose to follow." Yang Meizi remarked.

         "But much better than all the others Beiyuan has seen, with no reserve, with no remorse, with no honour and at the same time no purpose you are Guayin when I say you are because I would have died then but because you cared enough for us the people you knew less you might not know how grateful I am that you saved me but you should know that I serve you because you gave me this life." Beiyuan replied that Yang Meizi turned around and mounted the stairs while he moved aside from her.

         "The floss is most beautiful here." She remarked, "if you were really prepared to follow me beware as we shall live from now on a most solitary life." She added as she vanished into the dark room while the young man remained standing outside and gazing at the fur coat in his hands.

        Crown Princess Han was seated in her Chambers and preparing to sleep while slowly and gracefully undoing her hair, Qing'er combed it backwards.

        "I heard that Your Highness will receive the Edict making you an Empress tomorrow." She spoke up breaking the silence.

         "Were you really that bored?" she asked.

         "No." Qing'er replied.

         "Then tell me what you wish to tell me instead of feeling uneasy." Crown Princess Han ordered.

          "Our men confirmed that the former Head Lady arrived in Fuzhou at dusk and that is so far away from the capital, however seeing how fast she was struggling to get away it's very likely that she is running away from something." Qing'er replied.

          "For someone as distraught as her, it's only natural." Crown Princess Han said.

          "Why Your Highness?" Qing'er asked.

          "What do the ladies in waiting day about me, what are the rumours going through the Central Palace?" Crown Princess Han asked but Qing'er kept quiet and halted combing her mistress' hair while she on the other hand smiled.

          "Is that not the difference between us?" She asked.

         "Pardon me Your Highness." Qing'er said.

         "I heard that there's quite a stir going on and you're self proclaimed to the world as the future Head Lady of all the six palaces, afterwords the people start murmuring and backbiting me saying that the Crown Princess is lenient and that they can not curry favour with me and those that are too old should be sent to the service of the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, the spares to the Retired Emperor who needs some attention, I can't ignore the presence of the Consort Dowagers as well I save them from running off to a nunnery the younger the more manipulable I could sweep the Palace clean after all I am the future Empress is there anything to hard for me?" Crown Princess Han said.

         "I got drunk Your Highness and misspoke your intentions, please pardon me." Qing'er confessed.

         "It's not your fault." Crown Princess Han muttered as she stood up and Qing'er moving aside she bowed her head, "I heard that His Majesty had an audience with Head Lady Yang's subordinate and he promoted her to the position of Head Lady of the main Palace so whatever you do, make sure you leave things clean." Crown Princess Han said and Qing'er surprised she looked at her.

        "I am sorry that you have yet another head to bow to." Crown Princess Han went ahead to say as she climbed up into her bed and Qing'er hearing this she immediately turned around and furiously but slowly, she charged out through the doors.

        Nuwa in her new quarters the doors were flung open and right at that moment Qing'er walked in accompanied by a number of Court Ladies that she stood up where she was seated and bowed her head to the both of them.

        "I wonder how is it that I may be of help to you?" She asked.

         "I remember you." Qing'er said as she walked up closely to her looking her in the eye.

         "You're Her Highness the Crown Princess' personal servant." Nuwa uttered.

         "Soon enough she'll be the Empress." Qing'er replied.

         "But the both of us remain servants." Nuwa said.

         "I knew you to be quiet." Qing'er remarked.

         "Her Highness will rule the six palaces and the phoenix crown will grace her brow, I am merely a nameless servant as it is, you can let her know on my behalf that I shall do my very best to serve her, in the mean time His Majesty will also need me to do his bidding and at dawn equally Nuwa shall cease to be my name because of his favour." Nuwa uttered.

        "Two pieces of advice if I may?" Qing'er asked.

         "For someone that has served in the Palace long enough is there anything that I do not know?" Nuwa asked.

         "Firstly Imperial favour can not be mishandled." Qing'er said.

          "If it is to know what I must and mustn't do, don't you think that I'm aware well enough?" Nuwa asked.

          "Secondly, you'd better watch out for those around you." Qing'er said and Nuwa hearing that she moved closer to her left ear and leaned right next to it.

          "I may look old but even in my youthfulness I'm hardly uneventful, I know the true colours of the harem in and out and I understand much better than anyone else that every rock within the palace is a thin glass that could shatter, but since you are concerned I couldn't be more thankful for a good friend like you, I just wish to let you know that we can't draw any swords between us and I'll protect you as long as you are willing to protect me equally since I see that we happen to both serve the same masters." She whispered as she slowly pulled away and looked Qing'er in the eye.

         "I recall that we vividly came in under different heads." She said.

          "But does it mean that we shall serve them for the rest of our lives?" Nuwa asked and Qing'er laughed.

          "Then what will make you a trustworthy servant?" She asked.

          "Anything that can allow me to keep my head, otherwise I'm unwilling to live a very short life as it is." Qing'er replied.

           "Don't worry, I'll keep that in mind." Qing'er said as she turned around to walk out.

          "You are leaving too soon yet you came in here with an earnest wish to see me, is it that I wasn't hospitable enough for you to at least take a sip of cold water?" Nuwa asked that Qing'er raising her head she looked over her shoulder.

         "I am sorry that I am merely too loyal a servant I reside beside my mistress, I thought you to be faithful to your latter yet surprised to see you here alone can I not be very curious?" Qing'er asked.

         "You can search every nook and cranny but the Palace may seem too big but it is too small for a well known person to hide." Nuwa replied as her guest showing herself out through the door she smirked calmly as she turned to return right back to where she was seated before her arrival.

          It was very early in the morning and the sun itself having risen over the hills there was a knock at the entrance of the Shi Manor and Dong Hua rushing over he opened the door to see a man whose back faced him.

         "How may I help you sir?" He asked all of a sudden when the stranger turned and looking into his eyes he noticed a strange glow as those were yet one of the most familiar features that he had ever seen.

         "Master Bao?" He asked.

         "Is your master at home?" Master Bao asked.

         "Yes." Dong Hua replied.

         "I wish to see him." He muttered and the young man acquiesced reluctantly.

         Shi Miyuan was quietly seated in his Chambers and darkness all over there was only one brilliant beam of light that shone in and it illuminated the centre of the room.

         "May I come in Milord?" Dong Hua asked but the latter remained silent he brazenly walked in while Master Bao followed behind him and the younger turning to look at the old man ahead of him he immediately stood up from where he was seated and he bowed his head.

         "Milord." He greeted.

         "There's no need for formalities as I am here on brief business." Master Bao said and Shi Miyuan looking at Dong Hua he seemed to take a hint at what the two were saying.

         "I'll take my leave." He said as he withdrew from the room and closing the doors behind himself the two sat down at the table observing yet a moment of awkward silence Master Bao only gave Shi Miyuan enough time to gather his composure.

         "What is it?" Shi Miyuan asked.

         "Are you not dreadful?" Master Bao asked, "will you live the rest of your miserable life mourning, won't you embrace that fair young woman?" Master Bao asked.

         "In what position?" Shi Miyuan asked.

         "I now see why she insisted that I see you." Master Bao said.

         "And now that Milord has seen I am destitute, I can hardly breathe right now every moment I am walking I am suffocating and at the very best wishing that one moment I sleep and I do not open my eyes, that I leave behind this world and forget this world." Shi Miyuan replied.

         "For a woman?" Master Bao asked.

         "She is more than a woman to me." Shi Miyuan replied.

         "I suppose that she is, but if anyone is to blame that you can not be together it is because you are weak, there is nothing for you to give her in this century your love for her is useless, you can't give her life or power to stand against her foes." Master Bao said.

         Shi Miyuan looked at him.

         "You come to tell me this?" He asked but the old man tucking his hand into his clothes he pulled out from around his chest the half pendant that the younger seemed to recognize immediately.

         "Not at all." He replied as he placed it on the table and he slid it right underneath his very eyes he could barely blink.

         "What happened to the pendant?" Shi Miyuan asked.

         "All emotions are delicate and in a fit of rage she charged at the Emperor and committed yet a grave sin." Master Bao replied and immediately infuriated the young man stood up.

         "What?" He yelled on top of his voice.

         "His Majesty remains grateful and he banishes her out of the capital, tranquil returns to the Palace and she is protected from the world, she urged me to deliver a message to you knowing that your uneasy temper would jeopardize her position and endanger her." Master Bao replied as his eyes became teary and the old man stood up and equally faced him.

          "The further she is she is protecting you from wrath and you have a wife to look after that happens to be the Emperor's blood sister soon enough you'll become a Prince Consort and you'll have to lead by example and after that for His Majesty to tolerate and trust you you needn't come close enough to fooling yourself into searching for her." He said.

         "No, it's not true." Shi Miyuan rebuked.

         "And I am not commanding that you believe me only demanding that you understand, forget her and let her live in peace otherwise the day that you seek her out of all the worst things you should be prepared for the very first should be to bury her." Master Bao assured him as he turned around to walk out.

          "Do you really believe that I am willing to go that far?" Shi Miyuan asked and the latter halting in his footsteps he slightly looked over his shoulder.

          "There's nothing for you to give her therefore a man that can not protect his wealth and his desire is not fit to be a man at all." Master Bao replied as he continued his way having stirred yet a very turbulent mood in the room, the young and innocent a victim of cruelty a young man was fallen and shuttered, but all that could hardly compare to the doom set ahead of him, a tale full of only broken promises was the narration that could suit his feeling