FORCES OF CHANGE

            Manyin running across the palace she negotiated a corner and arriving towards the gates of the harem she made it through the narrow walkway to the east until she was walking through another smaller entrance that set her right into the Courtyard of Yang Jieyu's quarters.

            Mounting the stairs that led to the door, she halted outside.

             "Ma'am, it is I." She muttered and Xiaoyang opening the doors from within, she quickly rushed before her and immediately she stopped to see the latter lost in her thoughts for a moment as she was seated behind her table.

             "Ma'am?" She called her and a for a while showing her utmost composure, she turned her attention to her and noticed her immense discomfort and fear, she was sweating profusely and gasping for air to breathe.

              "Why are you like that?" She asked.

              "Bad news Ma'am." She replied.

              "How come?" Yang Jieyu inquired.

              "It's the South Palace." She replied.

              "What about it?" She asked.

              "Her Highness the Empress Mother is in a critical condition as we speak Ma'am, she attempted to take her own life." Manyin replied.

               "What?" Yang Jieyu muttered as she stood up from where she was seated and she sashayed out of the building.

               Emperor Ningzong on his way to the Assembly Hall for the daily assembly he was intercepted by a lady in waiting.

              "Your Majesty?" She cried to him.

              "How dare you block His Majesty's path?" Eunuch Deng asked.

              "Pardon me Your Majesty but there's something urgent that you should know." The woman said in tears and the latter looking at her seemed to recall a familiar face until he finally recognized her.

              "You are one of the Empress Mother's Ladies in waiting?" He asked.

              "Yes Your Majesty." She replied.

              "Why are you here?" He asked.

              "Forgive me Your Majesty, Her Highness......" She hesitated.

               "What about her?" The Emperor asked aloud but the latter seemingly having difficulty in saying anything she was taking her time.

               Liu Zhan still pacing around outside the Palace Yang Jieyu arrived through the gates and turning and recognizing her at once she hurried over towards her and blocked her path immediately.

               "You did this." She said.

               "How dare you speak to Milady like that?" Xiaoyang acted up against her when the Emperor Ningzong walking into the Courtyard everyone recognizing his presence they fell in order and Yang Jieyu moving to the side as well the Emperor halted in front of the two women.

               "Your Majesty." Liu Zhan muttered.

               "What is this I hear?" He asked.

               "Her Highness...." She replied.

               "Did mother?" He asked.

               "Her Highness was doing fine just last night Your Majesty, after Yang Jieyu visited her, she had a rather uneasy mood, before I knew it Your Majesty, this morning, she'd already taken the poison." She replied and the Emperor turned and looked at Yang Jieyu who kept her head down.

              The doors of the room opening the Imperial physician walked out and the Emperor rushing towards him he offered his respects.

              "Her Highness, how is she?" He asked.

              "The Crown Prince is already inside with her, it seems that Her Highness' condition is critical at the moment." The physician replied, "she has descended into a coma." He added and hearing this the Emperor Ningzong rushing up the stairs he flung the doors open and turning towards the direction of the Empress Mother's bed, there he saw her lying lifelessly as the Crown Prince Zhao Jun watched the wet fabric on her forehead.

             He got closer to the two and the young boy noticing him he moved to the side while he set his eyes on the Empress Mother whose lips looked cracked and purple and her eyes had very dark bags beneath them, she had aged instantly that her hair appeared to have already turned gray on the sides and she'd become too thin her veins and temples were exposed.

             "Mother?" He muttered, "why have you done this to me." He asked in tears as he held the fabric on her forehead with his left and her hands on top of her abdomen with his right, slowly he studied her and it seemed that as he searched for a beautiful memory but could hardly feel any.

            The doors of the room having been opened Yang Jieyu approached him slowly from behind as he wept and confirming with her eyes she could hardly feel any peace at heart.

             "Ma'am?" The Crown Prince Zhao Jun called to her as he bowed his head and the young man hearing the sound of her light footsteps his head resting on his mother's side he spoke something he had never said in a long time.

              "Return to your Palace Jieyu." He lightly muttered under his breath.

              "Your Maj....." She said as he interrupted.

              "Please." He pleaded and the latter certain that her presence was unwanted she didn't protest a second time bowing her head as she turned around and walked towards the doors.

               While they were opened up to her she walked out slowly and quietly and the ladies in waiting and the physicians outside still preparing medicines for the Imperial Mother watching Manyin and Xiaoyang approached her.

              "Are you alright Ma'am?" Manyin inquired but silently she nearly stumbled at the top of the stairs when they held her up.

              "Let's return to my residence." She said.

              "Ma'am......?" Manyin outrightly opposing she raised her hand and silenced him.

              "Please." She muttered.

              "Yes." Xiaoyang replied as she helped her down and slowly they departed from the compound.

              "What, the Empress Mother, poisoned?" Cao Zhaoyi inquired.

              "I couldn't be mistaken Ma'am, rumour is that her Highness attempted suicide as there was a bottle of poison that was found in her hand and I heard that she was frustrated after Yang Jieyu's visit to her personally last night." Linxiang reported.

             "No wonder there was nothing strange that transpired in the Palace last night." She whispered to herself.

             "What is it Ma'am?" Linxiang inquired.

             "Didn't you notice from the very beginning, we all knew that there was a coup that was supposed to transpire in the palace to place the Crown Prince Zhao Jun on the throne by the Empress Mother but in the middle of the night Yang Jieyu visited her and nothing happened perhaps it's because she knew about the rebellion as well." Cao Zhaoyi replied.

             "That wouldn't have stopped the Empress." Linxiang muttered.

             "All she needs is proof in her hands and if she'd deliver it to the Emperor he would have as well believed her knowing how his mother is at this stage for the Empress rather than fall this hard, she must have preferred to bring Yang Jieyu along with her." She replied.

            "I see." Linxiang said.

            "What about His Majesty, how is he?" She asked.

             "He knows nothing Ma'am, he's merely troubled as it is that his mother is in the face of death and everyone seems to have born witness that the last person that saw Her Highness the Empress Mother when she was in a good mood was Yang Jieyu naturally he'd feel suspicious I heard he's a bit cold and distant." Linxiang replied.

             "Such a very good opportunity before us!" She exclaimed.

              "Yes Ma'am." Linxiang said.

              "It won't be easy for Yang Jieyu but once there's suspicion, all we need to do is to stir up more and more suspicion and now it's important that we let the Courtiers hear what we want them to hear." Cao Zhaoyi muttered.

             "What should I do Ma'am?" Linxiang inquired.

             "Arrange for me to see my father." She replied as she smiled at herself ghastly.

             "Yes Ma'am." Linxiang replied as she bowed her head and got out of the room.

             Han Touzhou seated into his study for a moment felt unsettled and standing up, he walked up to the balcony of his house and there he stood and stared at the garden of chrysanthemums in his backyard.

            It so happened that Lin Xue walking in he approached him.

             "Your Excellency, you called for me?" He said.

             "The Morning Assembly was suspended for today without any reason and the Palace doesn't seem tranquil." He replied.

             "Your Excellency suspects something?" He inquired.

              "It's obvious it's something major, His Majesty wouldn't have suspended the Assembly either." Han Touzhou said.

              "I shall get to the bottom of this." Lin Xue said.

             "I want you to search out all the details even the smallest of them." He ordered.

              "Yes Your Excellency." Lin Xue replied and bowing his head he left the place at once.

              Yang Jieyu silently walking into her room she sat down behind her table while Manyin and Xiaoyang sat before her, noticing that she was awfully quiet and troubled they looked at one another before Manyin chose to speak up first.

              "I don't get it Ma'am, why would the Empress take her own life?" Manyin asked.

              "Is it not clear to you by now what her intentions were?" Xiaoyang inquired.

              "She was spared by Our Lady and guaranteed and until now Ma'am hasn't said anything to His Majesty." Manyin added.

             "Rather than lose Her Highness would instead die." Yang Jieyu mentioned.

             "Ma'am?" Xiaoyang called her concerned.

             "Yes, death is nothing in this world, to live defeated alone and inglorious is dying everyday, surely for Her Highness, there must have been no greater salvation than death itself." Yang Jieyu muttered.

              "Don't let it weaken you Ma'am." Manyin said.

              "All these years of resentment and hatred burning in me, all those days endless mourning I can't bring myself to being at the very least comfortable that Her Highness has descended into the jaws of death." She said.

              "It's probably because His Majesty is feeling sad and remorseful, perhaps it's because he has treated you badly or maybe she'd stake her life to destroy you." Xiaoyang said.

              "Perhaps it is so but how sad and awful it would be!" She exclaimed as she sighed hardly making out a tear from her eyes Manyin was rather uncomfortable about it.   

           Minister Cao still quietly seated in his study with Lady Cao his wife she noticed he was uneasy.

           "What is it Milord?" She asked him.

           "Until now is there no news from the palace?" He inquired.

           "There's hardly been a message but I heard that His Majesty on his way to the daily assembly he postponed it something urgent must have come up." She replied when the door of the room being opened one of the maids in the home walked up to the two.

           "What's it?" Lady Cao asked.

           "Someone's here from the Palace asking to see Milord." She replied.

            "Send them in." Minister Cao replied and a short while later Cao Zhaoyi appeared through the doors of the room and halting in front of the two she bowed her head and offered her respects.

            "Mother, father." She said calmly while the old man uncomfortable looked at his wife.

            "Leave us for a while." He demanded.

            "Yes Milord." She replied as she got up from where she was seated and approaching Cao Zhaoyi she studied her while the latter smiled innocently at her as well before she continued her way and the room was entirely vacated to leave the two alone.

           Cao Zhaoyi uninvited she sat down in front of her foster father.

           "Your Excellency." She said to him again.

           "Why did you come here?" Minister Cao asked furiously.

           "Seeing that I am before you are you not pleased in the very least?" Cao Zhaoyi asked.

           "I asked you a question." The latter remarked.

           "It's because the Empress is unconscious as we speak and on the brink of death, in the middle of the night, she attempted suicide." Cao Zhaoyi replied and Minister Cao surprised to hear this he looked her in the eye.

            "Impossible." He claimed.

            "It won't be impossible just because you say it is." Shs replied.

            "How come?" he asked.

            "Why would one stake their life at this point, hearing that it was after Yang Jieyu visited her against the latter her Highness lost that means there was no coup de tat and no coup it could only mean that Yang Jieyu was responsible." Cao Zhaoyi muttered.

             "What did you do?" Minister Cao asked.

             "I asked you that same question yesterday and you shall tell me if it wasn't more than once that I warned you that your careless actions would bring you nothing but most dire consequences it was my plea and advice that went unheeded and it is because you loved and trusted the Empress Mother so much more and for that the whole clan including your sons, wives and children will be buried along with you for your sins against the Dynasty." Cao Zhaoyi replied.

            "None of those would I have been close to possessing had it not been for Her Highness, even if she lays while dying my resolve would still be the same and that is to be loyal to her even in death." The man assured her.

           "So I trust that you are that faithful." She muttered.

            "You should understand this sooner or later." Minister Cao said.

            "Perhaps you are the one who should understand this all sooner or later your Excellency and that is the fact that we both need each other to survive." She said and at that moment she placed a paper on the table in front of him which he took into his hands and raised before her.

            "What is this?" He inquired.

            "It is Her Highness' last message and she wished that I deliver it to you people." She replied and the latter turning it around he saw the red seal at the back which he studied carefully as he stared back at her.

            "Why have you given it to me?" He inquired.

            "Her Highness must have had her reasons to have it delivered to me, perhaps it could have been that Liu Zhan must have seemed someone that would have easily attracted the attention of Her Highness' enemies and I was therefore the only one she could trust to escape the suspicion of many." She replied that the latter hesitantly breaking the seal, he pulled out the piece of paper that was inside and reading through its contents, he was further shocked that he looked at her while she seemed puzzled.

             "Why is it that I see you have gone pale?" She asked.

             "No." He muttered to himself instead.

             "I said what does it say?" She inquired a bit louder and harshly, she ceased the envelope from his hands along with the letter she opened it and her eyes perusing through its contents she acted up surprised as well as she took a deep breath and sighed.

             "Ma'am........?" He was saying when she halted him.

             "You were against following me." She muttered.

             "But....." He was interrupted yet again.

             "Her Highness deliberately gave her consent and what excuse have you this time since she's even officiated this with her own seal?" Cao Zhaoyi inquired, "perhaps she even feared that Liu Zhan won't let her but now that you have before you this evidence I wish to see for myself how loyal you are and if you insist that you won't stand behind me I won't protect you either we shall perhaps wait for Her Highness to gain consciousness." She added as she stood up from where she was seated and bowed her head to him.

              "Resent me as much as you want I don't care if you are unwilling but if you knew well enough that I am not your enemy and it's Yang Jieyu who is to blame for her ill condition then fine, you can as well doom everyone else and let us fall." She scolded him as she turned around, "you have a single day to show me your true resolve." She said over her shoulder as she continued out if the room and left the old man rather shocked.

           Getting outside into the courtyard, the two halted in their footsteps.

           "Ma'am, he seems to be reluctant that it leaves me with nothing but fear." Linxiang muttered.

           "He might be suspicious but we have to convince him." Cao Zhaoyi replied.

           "What if the Empress Mother wakes up and denies ever giving this as her last will?" Linxiang inquired.

            "Her Highness is in a very dire situation at the moment and you heard from the Imperial physician that only a miraculous recovery could save her, apart from that my father is himself loyal to the Empress Mother and not to me we shall certainly have no choice but to exploit this loyalty to our own full advantage." She said.

             Beiyuan impatiently waiting outside the Central Palace, Manyin approached him in secret.

            "Brother?" She spoke up to him.

            "What's this that I have heard?" He inquired.

            "Apparently Our Lady might be in big trouble." Manyin replied.

            "What really transpired?" Beiyuan asked.

            "After Our Lady visited Her Highness it's likely that she confronted her and since she made it clear that she doesn't want to have the issue of the rebellion publicized even to His Majesty, the Empress Mother ceased that as an opportunity and she intended to drag her along to the grave, at this rate if His Majesty allows to think that Ma'am was behind his mother's attempted suicide then I fear that they shall grow more distant." Manyin replied.

           "I don't know if I can ask Eunuch Deng to put in a good word for her to the Emperor but considering the fact that it had just been the Crown Prince's investiture to the throne, I greatly fear that her enemies shall use this to their advantage." Manyin replied.

            "We'll need to meet the others." Beiyuan muttered.

            "Ma'am won't agree to that." Manyin replied.

            "All she did in her life was to protect us therefore all we must do right now is to return the favour and protect her with our lives as well." Beiyuan replied.

            "If the Courtiers learn, they shall make a big fuss about it." Manyin said.

            "There's one institution that hasn't yet been involved." Beiyuan replied as he looked at his sister.

            "The Ladies' Investigations Bureau of the Palace." She said.

            "Yes." Beiyuan replied.

             The Emperor looking at his mother for a moment silently, Lan He walking through the doors of her Chambers slowly he stood behind him.

            "Your Majesty?" He called.

            "I realised something ever since I walked into this room." He said.

            "What troubles Your Majesty?" He asked.

            "It's the first time that I have seen my mother like this." He said.

            "It must be difficult." Lan He remarked.

            "Perhaps." He replied, "I am uncertain." He added.

            "Why?" He asked.

            "When was the last time that Her Highness gave me affection, I can't seem to recall the last she embraced me and hugged me tightly, not when I was marrying, not when I became the Crown Prince, neither was it the time I ascended the throne, I have hardly been around her my whole life yet somewhat it must have been that she was off in conflict with my grandmother." Emperor Ningzong replied.

            "Why do you think so much of those dark times?" Lan He asked.

            "Perhaps I am but haunted, perhaps I am merely unlucky, or our dynasty is accursed by heaven, I seem to have buried everyone of the people that raised me too much of recent." Emperor Ningzong replied.

             "It is your most gruesome fate Your Majesty, but even then there are those that are always around you, that care for you." He muttered.

             "How come?" The Emperor asked, "of all those funerals the lightest was that one in which I was certain Yang Jieyu was around, when I laid the Grand Empress to rest I trusted she would give me a child to brighten my days." Emperor Ningzong muttered.

            "Why is it hard this time round?" Lan He asked.

            "I don't know." He replied, "last time I recall she never cherished my mother as much and hearing that she was the last person that she saw before she wound up in this stage......." He muttered buy hesitated halfway.

            "Is it the rumours?" Lan He asked.

            "I thought I trusted her so much." Emperor Ningzong replied.

             "Then what's hard about asking her?" Lan He asked.

             "I don't know." Emperor Ningzong replied.

             "You won't know Your Majesty, you'll never know, but if in her silence even if she failed to convince you, at least if there's a glimpse of that trust being as strong or even existent then one word from her mouth would make your ears silent to a thousand of ten thousand from the world." Lan He muttered and the Emperor looking at his mother for a moment, his words lingered at the back of his mind.

             Minister Cao in his study he recalled the words that Cao Zhaoyi had mentioned to him.

            "Resent me as much as you want I don't care if you are unwilling but if you knew well enough that I am not your enemy and it's Yang Jieyu who is to blame for her ill condition then fine, you can as well doom everyone else and let us fall." She'd asserted confidently.

            "Could she be right?" He thought to himself for a moment.

            "Anyone?" He called and his retainer rushed in.

            "Your Excellency." He said to him.

            "I wish to have a word with Cao Zhaoyi outside the Palace, send word." He ordered.

            "Yes." The latter replied as he withdrew from the room.

            Cao Zhaoyi quietly seated in her Chambers for a moment Linxiang announced herself to her.

            "Come in." She said and the young woman arriving in her presence she halted and bowed her head to her with a smile on her face.

             "Congratulations Ma'am." She said.

             "How come?" She inquired.

             "Minister Cao has sent word Ma'am, he wishes to have a word with you outside the Palace." Linxiang replied.

             "What are the responses of the others?" Cao Zhaoyi asked.

             "We have them Ma'am at the very least if Minister Cao refuses tomorrow, we won't be so empty-handed." She replied.

             "I can't wait to see the look on his face when it hits him hard." She muttered as she smiled at herself ghastly.

            Yang Jieyu standing in the Imperial gardens surrounding her residence, her retinue of attendants at a distance she was lost in thought when the Emperor Ningzong and his coming from the Empress Mother's Palace halted.

             At a distance he watched her standing on the small bridge and hesitantly he walked up to her while the rest of the servants remained at a distance.

            Sensing the presence of someone else she turned around and looked at the troubled Emperor in his eyes.

             "Your Majesty." She immediately greeted him.

             "How come you're here all alone?" He asked.

             "Forgive me Your Majesty, I couldn't sleep." She replied as she bowed her head to him.

             "But it's cold outside." He muttered.

             "I love the cold perhaps Your Majesty, I have to worry about how you are doing and what you have eaten, how you must be feeling and how long your day has been, how hard it must have been for you to settle let alone breathe within those walls in that room where the Empress Mother lays battling for her life." She replied.

             "How could I have breathed surely?" He muttered as he moved ahead of her and he stared at the moon.

             "What do you wish to ask me Your Majesty, I can tell that there's something on your mind." She mentioned to him.

             "I suppose you do understand me that much." He said as he turned and looked her in the eye while he held her hands tightly into his and felt them cold but she could hardly whimper or shiver her eyes were dark and lifeless and for the first time, he searched for pain but there was nothing.

             "Are you sorry for my mother?" He asked.

             "I wish I couldn't." She replied.

             "But you do?" He asked.

             "I am remorseful." She replied instead.

             "Why?" He inquired.

             "Can you read my heart Your Majesty, whole as I have given it to you, can you trust me above everyone else Your Majesty, can you trust my devotion that preys on me like a burning fire whose pain I cherish with my whole heart?" She asked.

             "Whatever you say I shall believe you." He mentioned.

             "But the rumours leave you doubtful that you wish to inquire, I won't blame Your Majesty, I trusted that there was nothing that could ever separate me from your love." She said.

              "That you were the last person that the Empress Mother saw in her room, that after you left she was distraught, that she's in this state because of you, if you say that none of it was true I'd turn a deaf ear to the rest of the whole world and trust none of them but you." Emperor Ningzong said.

             "I saw the Empress Mother and I was in her Chambers, I talked to her yes and I can't lie to you that she loved our conversation together and neither can I promise you that she didn't commit suicide because of me it must have been so Your Majesty." Yang Jieyu replied and for a moment the young man felt shattered.

             "Do you know how heavy this is for me?" Emperor Ningzong asked.

             "No Your Majesty, I don't wish to know, the more I know the more it hurts me, the more I break your pain will be the death of me." She replied.

             "Then tell me Mei'er what it was, what did you say, what makes her detest life this much, what was that cruel or perhaps hurting, what made her cherish death and embrace it with open arms?" Emperor Ningzong asked and the latter only remained silent for a while before she spoke up.

             "I promised that I would never hide anything from you Your Majesty, I meant it, allow me this once to keep this from you, turn your eyes and ears from me and forget that I happened." Yang Jieyu responded.

             "Tell me Mei'er, what weighs down your fragile heart, what is it that you can not tell me?" He asked.

             "Please don't press me Your Majesty, if I told you even one of two or more of those words Your Majesty, it would even hurt and kill you that I choose to bear this pain on your behalf along with the scrutiny of the world, heaven shall see my greatest absolution for my past transgressions and God shall save me from falling into a very dark and unwise world." Yang Jieyu replied and bowing her head to him, she slowly turned around and walked away leaving the young Emperor distraught in his silence as he watched her vanishing from sight.

             Yang Jieyu sitting down in her Chambers silently for  a moment the tears in her eyes dried while she recalled the words that the Empress Mother had mentioned to her.

             "We are unfortunate in life but we don't regret, today I am seated here tomorrow it shall be you sharing this fate, you shall look back on this day, remember my commitment, such is the fate of us women in this world, we Empresses only find peace in death." she'd cautioned him.

             "I am out of real tears to shed Your Majesty and even pain is scarce in my heart, to you whose heart is weak and delicate, how could I tell you that the woman whose life you're pleading for is the one that desired to overthrow you?" She whispered to herself.

           It was early in the morning and Cao Zhaoyi arriving at an inn, she was led into a room where she found Minister Cao who was seated facing the wall where her seat had been prepared.         

           "Ma'am?" Minister Cao said.

           "You requested for my audience you have it, my ears, I have lent them to you, if it is your resolve that you present to me I am ready to hear." Cao Zhaoyi Said as she sat down before him and looked him in the eye.

           "I have thought about." He replied.

           "And what is your answer?" She inquired.

           "I agree." He said and looking at him she smiled.

           "I am not disappointed as you are my father after all and which parent in the world wouldn't want what is best for their children?" She muttered.

            "But I have a condition." He mentioned.

            "Which is it?" Cao Zhaoyi inquired.

            "Her Highness could have willed that we entrust you with our allegiance but we too are a mind that can think on our own, Ma'am shall attend to matters of the harem and the palace and leave the affairs of state to us." He said.

            "Have you listened to yourself?" She asked.

             "It's your way of proving to us your loyalty Ma'am, if you can hear our plea then we shall most certainly hear you out as well." He said.

             "And if I don't?" She asked.

             "On behalf of the others Ma'am, I shall be sorry to disappoint you." He said.

             "Surely." She muttered as she turned to Linxiang and the latter bowing her head she withdrew from the room a couple of moments later returning with a group of officials who stood behind their father.

             "Tell them what you just told me." She ordered him.

             "I shall not affix my name to this cause until I am guaranteed that you can give us the state and at that the harem and the palace is where your hand must remain." He said to her in a most resolute manner that she stood up from where she was seated.

             "His Excellency has decided for you then I won't bother myself anymore." She muttered and offering her hand to Linxiang who was leading her out as she bypassed her seated foster father, one of men present blocked her path.

              "Her Highness willed before she attempted to take her own life that we follow you Ma'am she must have had a reason, Minister Cao was right however in saying that we too are a mind that can think on our own I wish to act as one and I ask to affix my name into your service." He said.

              "Me too Ma'am." Another added as he came before and in a matter of minutes the rest behind the first two were all bowing their heads to Cao Jieyu who turned around to look at her father who was still seated and facing the empty seat in which she had been.

              "Father, if you intend to hold out until the very end then I shall not force you, but know that if the Empress Mother collapses like this not one of those rallying behind you can ever contend with Yang Jieyu's might and none shall be as powerful as I am." She said.

              "I shall keep in mind Ma'am, you are my daughter after all." He said.

              "So much that I take after you my most beloved father, so much that I shall do whatever it takes to become the Empress of this nation." She assured him and the others stepping aside she walked out of the room swiftly leaving them in an awkward silence with the old man.

              "Your Excellency......" One of them saying he smacked the table.

              "Don't let me ever see you again." He muttered.

              "I hope that you make up your mind soon, the Empress might fall over and over again and perhaps this time even for good but we must still stand, if ever you really cherished her ambitions and her dreams, if ever you swelled as much affection for her cause, if ever you hated her enemies and made them yours as well, let your resolve be her final wish." They said to him as they withdrew from the room.

              Cao Zhaoyi arriving in her quarters she sat down and clenching her fists furiously she took a deep breath to calm herself.

              "What can we do Ma'am, your father seems to still be unwilling." Linxiang whispered.

              "He'll come around with time that I guarantee." She replied.

              "But it's not like time is something that we have Ma'am, perhaps could it be that he suspects that we falsified Her Highness' final will?" She inquired.

              "Even if he did it's because he still hopes that Her Highness might recover and that alone is a transgression that he doesn't think will be forgiveable we must eliminate every last reason he has to resist us." Cao Zhaoyi replied.

              "Ma'am, you mean to say......" She hesitated.

              "The Empress Mother is a sinner in the Dynasty and Yang Jieyu and His Majesty's relationship has already become very uneasy because of this very issue, His Majesty won't kill her as well and the truth would be painful for him to bear she's still the only obstacle that's keeping us from moving forward." She replied.

             "Ma'am...." She muttered.

             "The Empress Mother's already going through too much misery we should end it for her once and for all after all, there's no greater salvation than finally laying at peace." Cao Zhaoyi remarked as she smiled at herself ghastly.

             Han Touzhou seated in his Chambers quietly for a moment Lady Han was seated across from him and holding close to herself their three year old son Tawan.

              "You look troubled Your Excellency." She pointed out.

               "A lot of strange things have been happening of late." Han Touzhou replied and the doors being slid open Lin Xue made his way in.

               "Your Excellency he muttered to him.

               "Did you find out anything that's transpiring in the palace?" He inquired.

               "The Palace is in commotion as rumour is that the Empress Mother attempted suicide and she's in a coma as we speak, no one is certain of her survival beyond this point yet tragically, it so seems that everything happened after she'd met with Yang Jieyu last and they had a rather unpleasant conversation." He replied.

               "The Empress Mother attempted suicide?" Lady Han asked.

               "Yes." Lin Xue confirmed.

               "I always had a bad feeling about that woman." Lady Han said.

               "First it was Consort Han, then it was the Empress, and now the Empress Mother, surely she seems to have become much of a problem lately which problem I fear has come to cost us so much more than anything else." Han Touzhou muttered, "What about His Majesty?" He asked.

             "His Majesty was well informed and even Yang Jieyu deliberately confessed having perhaps been the cause for the Empress Mother to attempt to commit suicide he is dismayed and he hasn't sought her out after." Lin Xue replied.

              "Who would have thought that this would be for us a blessing in disguise?" Han Touzhou muttered to himself.

               "Your Excellency means to say...?" Lady Han inquired.

              "If word spreads out across the capital that Yang Jieyu herself caused the Empress Mother to attempt suicide, her popularity might just as well reduce, such is the blessing that we need." Han Touzhou replied as he looked at Lin Xue.

             "I'll deal with it Your Excellency." He said as he withdrew from the room.

             Emperor Ningzong quietly seated in his room he was lost in his own thoughts as his mind drifted far away to the conversation that he'd had with Yang Jieyu only a couple of hours before.

            "I saw the Empress Mother and I was in her Chambers, I talked to her yes and I can't lie to you that she loved our conversation together and neither can I promise you that she didn't commit suicide because of me it must have been so Your Majesty." She'd claimed.

             "Why?" He asked himself when Beiyuan walking into the room holding with himself a bowl of medicine, he halted in front of the young man and bowing his head he offered it to him.

             "Your Majesty?" He called but the latter absent minded ignored him.

             "Your Majesty?" He called again when the Emperor hearing him he turned and looked at the bowl in front of him, grabbing it, he held it up to his face and staring at his reflection in the bowl for a moment, he hesitated.

             "Is everything alright Your Majesty?" Beiyuan insisted.

             "Yes." Emperor Ningzong replied as he placed his lips onto the edges and eventually drank it all up before putting it back onto the tray.

             "Your Majesty may be rather distraught and I can tell that you're ailing." He remarked, "is it because of Yang Jieyu?" He asked.

             "How to even start." Emperor Ningzong said, "I can't help but wonder what she said to the Empress Mother that made her so damned furious, I don't know where to even start asking, yet in my heart I can tell that she's done nothing bad then why is it that she's chosen to keep this secret from me?" He asked.

            "Maybe she didn't mean it." Beiyuan replied.

            "She confessed to me herself." Emperor Ningzong said.

            "Similarly while the Grand Empress Dowager was still alive there was an issue that was concerning her poisoning, what I am trying to say is that this matter hasn't been investigated." Beiyuan replied.

            "If I involve the State Tribunal I fear that I might only make the situation worse for her." Emperor Ningzong replied.

             "Who said that Your Majesty needs the State Tribunal, if you wish to present the traitor to the world then I assure Your Majesty that Yang Jieyu is innocent and the only people that can help us are the Lady Investigators of the Ladies' Investigations Bureau of the Palace." Beiyuan said.

             I'll need to have a word with them." Emperor Ningzong came to a resolution.

            "Yes Your Majesty." Beiyuan replied and smiling he withdrew from the room.

           Cao Zhaoyi seated in her room in silence Linxiang walked in.

           "Ma'am, I have something to report." She alerted her.

           "How's the Empress?" She asked.

           "Her situation hasn't improved yet as I speak however I have acquired it." She replied as she placed the small bottle on the table.

            "This is it?" Cao Zhaoyi inquired.

            "Yes Ma'am." She replied, "just three days of small regular dosage shall be enough to put the Empress to rest, if we don't use it excessively, it won't be detected regardless of what is done." Linxiang replied.

            "Find someone to deliver it to her in secret, in the mean time I shall have a word with Han Touzhou." Cao Zhaoyi remarked.

             "At this rate Ma'am, the Empress Mother was the guardian of the Crown Prince he wouldn't simply agree to anything you say." Linxiang pointed out.

             "I know that." She replied as she pulled from under her table an envelope which she placed on top of her.

            "Deliver this letter to him and surely, he shall make haste and seek us out." She muttered.

            "Yes Ma'am." Linxiang replied as she withdrew from the room and left the latter inside smiling at herself.

           Emperor Ningzong in his quarters waiting impatiently, Eunuch Deng walked in.

          "Your Majesty, Madam Jing of the Ladies' Investigations Bureau of the Palace is here to see you." He announced.

          "Let her in." Emperor Ningzong muttered and the young woman walking in before him, she bowed her head to offer her respects.

         "Your Majesty summoned me?" Lady Investigator Jing said.

           "I understand that you are an affair of the Inner Court and you are the hand of the Empress in the harem and the Palace." Emperor Ningzong muttered.

             "By Your Majesty's grace." She replied.

             "As you are aware the Empress Mother attempted suicide and it's rather hard for me to believe at the moment what everyone says I am bent on finding out the real cause." Emperor Ningzong replied.

             "Then if you please Your Majesty, for me to help you I have a favour to ask and I am hoping that it's not already late." Madam Jing said.

             "What is it?" He asked.

             "Allow us to search Her Highness' Chambers and if possible her Palace." She replied.

             "Why?" Emperor Ningzong asked.

             "Her Highness attempted to commit suicide in her own quarters it must surely be because of something therefore if she was compelled I believe there's some evidence that we could find." Madam Jing replied.

            "Your Majesty, I think it's right, I understand that it might be uneasy but nonetheless if it's trying to find out the cause of Her Highness' current state then perhaps we shouldn't cast this opportunity aside." Eunuch Deng said to him.

            "You have my permission." Emperor Ningzong said.

            "Thank you Your Majesty." Madam Jing said as she stood up and bowing her head she departed from the room.

             Liu Zhan in the Empress Mother's Palace with the Crown Prince beside her, the doors were opened and Madam Jing and a couple of Lady Investigators walked in.

              "What are you doing here?" Liu Zhan asked as she stood up from where she was seated and walking up to them they bowed their heads to her.

              "Forgive us Ma'am, were here on behalf of His Majesty." Madam Jing said.

              "Why?" She asked.

              "We've been given permission by His Majesty to search these Chambers." Madam Jing replied.

              "How dare you?" The Crown Prince Zhao Jun snapped at them.

               "Pardon us Your Highness but we are the heart of the Inner Court and since Her Highness the Empress Mother attempted suicide it causes upheaval, we must therefore search for anything in this room that could have compelled her to do so." Madam Jing replied and looking at the Lady Investigators behind her, they moved about the place and started looking everywhere while Liu Zhan stared at them hatefully.

             After a while Madam Jing moved up to the nearby table and running her hand across it she stopped for a moment on the table cloth.

             "Something's here." She said to Liu Zhan and pulling the cloth away she saw an envelope that was hidden right underneath the rest gathered around her including the Crown Prince.

             "Did this belong to Her Highness?" Madam Jing asked Liu Zhan and the latter quiet she looked away.

             "Perhaps." She remarked as she broke the seal on the envelope and then looked through it's contents she eventually pulled out a piece of paper which she unfolded and looked through while her eyes widened.

             "What does it say?" Liu Zhan asked as the latter handed it over to her and looking at it she could clearly tell the handwriting of the Empress Mother she fell silent for a moment as Madam Jing ceased the letter back from her.

            "Forgive me for having barged in on such a short notice Milady but His Majesty needs to be made aware." She said as she turned around and with the Lady Investigators they walked out of the building leaving the two puzzled as the Crown Prince Zhao Jun watching Liu Zhan weakly falling to her knees he turned around his eyes and looked at his grandmother who didn't seem to be getting better every moment.

             "Ma'am?" Xiaoyang cried as she made her way into Yang Jieyu's Chambers.

             "What is it?" The latter asked her.

             "A letter was discovered in Her Highness' Chambers by the Lady Investigators that had gone there on His Majesty's orders and it was Her Highness the Empress Mother's suicide note." Xiaoyang replied.

             "A suicide note?" She asked for clarity.   

             "Yes Ma'am." Xiaoyang replied.

             "Could it be that the Empress.......?" Yang Jieyu said to herself and realising it she immediately stood up and rushed out of the room while Xiaoyang followed crying after her.

             Beiyuan walking about the backyard of the Palace Manyin approached him.

             "What happened?" He asked her.

             "The suicide note was discovered." She replied.

             "That's good." Beiyuan said as he sighed.

             "What are we going to do brother, Ma'am shall take notice of this sooner or later and we won't escape her fury." She said.

             "Ma'am has shouldered enough in her life as it is you can tell she already felt bad for the Empress Mother who turned out to be no different from a big coward that now she's suffering for it." Beiyuan replied, "we must protect her regardless of her protest, it's our duty." He muttered.

             "Yes." Manyin replied hesitantly.

            Emperor Ningzong waiting in the dead of night in silence in his study there was nothing but a faint candlelight that shone in the room and himself deeply immersed in his own thoughts at the moment, Eunuch Deng made his way to his presence.

            "Your Majesty?" He said to him.

            "What is it?" He asked.

            "Madam Jing is here to see you." She mentioned.

            "That fast?" Emperor Ningzong inquired.

            "She says that they happened to find something in the Empress Mother's Chambers." He replied.

            "Let her in." He acquiesced and the latter withdrawing a short while later, the young woman walked into the room.

            "Your Majesty." She greeted him.

            "I am told that you discovered something." He said.

            "Yes Your Majesty." Madam Jing said as she tucked her hand into her sleeve and pulled out the envelope that had been in her position.

            Yang Jieyu arriving at the entrance of the Grand Palace the guards in front held out their spears and blocked her path.

            "Let me in." She said but they kept quiet.

            "I said let me through." She demanded.

            "That won't happen Ma'am?" Lan He said as he suddenly turned up behind them.

            "It's urgent." She said.

            "His Majesty particularly gave the order not to let you in." Lan He replied

           "What?" Emperor Ningzong replied.

            "Forgive us Your Majesty but we found this in Her Highness' Chambers." Madam Jing said as she handed over the envelope to him while the young man took it into his hands and reluctantly he stared at it for a moment.

            "What's the matter with you Your Majesty?" Eunuch Deng inquired.

            "I don't know what it is that I shall see in these papers, I don't know what will happen afterwards, I don't know what it is that I shall do, my mind is willing but the same can't be said for my heart." He replied.

            "Would Your Majesty be content with silence, perhaps if so how many of those shall be hurt, how much pain and grief shall you bear, tell me Your Majesty, is it not much better to seek clarity than live in oblivion and darkness?" He asked.

             "This is all that we could find Your Majesty, on your orders we'd turn the whole Palace upside down again to unravel everything that we could possibly desire." Madam Jing said and the Emperor at that moment taking a very deep breath he opened the envelope and pulling out the piece of paper that was inside he unfolded it to read it's contents.

             After a moment of silence he broke down and was in tears.

             "Your Majesty?" Eunuch Deng called him and placing the letter onto the table, the latter looked through it's contents for a while.

             "Her Highness intended to end her own life according to her free will?" Eunuch Deng muttered.

             "Yes." Madam Jing replied.

             Yang Jieyu returning to her Chambers slowly she was met by Manyin and Beiyuan who were waiting for her.

             "Ma'am." They greeted the lowly woman who raised her eyes and looked first at Beiyuan and then to Manyin.

             "Where have you been?" She asked.

             "Forgive me Ma'am." She replied.

             "Come inside Manyin." Yang Jieyu ordered and Xiaoyang and the young girl following her they ascended the stairs that led into her Chambers.

             "After a much awkward silence between the three Yang Jieyu massaging her temples quietly with her eyes closed she opened them yet again and after much deliberation she chose to speak up.

             "A suicide note was left by the Empress I heard, the Ladies' Investigations Bureau of the Palace was involved in the matter under the Emperor's consent of course which I find to be strange I so wish that should there reside a hint of contentment in your heart then tell me what it is you're hiding." Yang Jieyu demanded as she tried to keep a calm demeanor.

             "You shall forgive me Ma'am but as you suspect, we were responsible for this." Manyin said, "we arranged Her Highness' suicide note." She asserted.