A CRIMSON SPARK
"What?" The Crown Prince Zhao Jun muttered aloud.
"It's trouble Your Highness, the Imperial State Tribunal is on the verge of collapse." Liu Zhan muttered.
"And how could it have possibly come to be?" He asked.
"It's obvious Yang Guifei is to be held responsible, "one way or another after the witchcraft scandal of the Crown Princess His Majesty was suspicious and asked the Grand Chancellor to Investigate its members." Liu Zhan responded.
"Is it so?" The Crown Prince asked.
"We tried to bring her down so badly, she exploited that opportunity, ultimately she has turned this issue into a nation concern and with the State Tribunal under investigation, who is to say that other Courtiers won't be investigated as well?" Liu Zhan asked.
"Is there no way that the officials can be saved?" The Crown Prince asked.
"With too many corpses having been excavated in the compounds and backyards of the State Tribunal's Ministers and the Imperial Coroners having all agreed that those young men and women died brutally from excessive torture, ledgers of bribes those Ministers were taking from the taxes and other criminals, unresolved cases that were closed having been documented as well and some files that were even reported but never dealt with. In some residences even arms and ammunition that are the exact models of those that were found a couple of years back at the White Deer Grotto Academy, it's all irrefutable proof so it'd require a miracle Your Highness." Liu Zhan replied.
"The Imperial State Tribunal will be persecuted, the Neo-confucianists especially Zhu Xi will be exonerated, Yang Guifei shall have consolidated for herself the support of these men." The Crown Prince mentioned.
"Perhaps Han Touzhou might know something that could help?" Liu Zhan mentioned.
"Arrange for me to have a word with my grand uncle." The Crown Prince mentioned.
"Yes Your Highness." Liu Zhan said as she stepped out of the building.
The Crown Princess Cao Xuan seated in her Chambers she was lost in her thoughts recalling the words that Yang Guifei had once mentioned to her and the Crown Prince herself feeling uneasy she rested her hands on the table.
"Your Highness?" One of her Ladies in waiting cried as she made her way before her.
"What is it Lusi?" She asked.
"Someone is here requesting to have an audience with you Your Highness." She responded.
"Not now." The Crown Princess said, "I wish to be alone." She mentioned.
"Forgive me Your Highness but it's Yang Guifei who is requesting for an audience." Lusi replied.
"Yang Guifei?" She asked.
"She wishes to have a word with you in person." Lusi replied.
"Let her in." The Crown Princess Cao Xuan said and at that very moment withdrawing, the doors of the room being flung open Yang Guifei walked in before her with a smirk on her face.
"You wished to have an audience with me?" The Crown Princess asked.
"Pardon me if I inconvenienced you in any way Your Highness." She replied as she took the seat that was right in front of her and slightly raising her head over her shoulder and staring at Lusi, the Crown Princess nodded at her and she withdrew from the room leaving the two women all alone.
"Something you wish to tell me?" The Crown Princess asked.
"I thought about the offer that you made to me Your Highness." She said.
"Did you consider it Guifei?" The Crown Princess asked a bit surprised.
"I am a mother therefore I expect that you would understand." She responded.
"What is your resolution Ma'am?" She asked.
"Leave the Palace." She replied.
"What?" She asked.
"You heard me right." Yang Guifei mentioned, "leave this Palace for the sake of everyone else." She mentioned.
"I do not understand." The Crown Princess Cao mentioned.
"I am not one to be patient every time, I can't even lie to you that I have dared ever since I set foot in this Palace, but if you stand in my way I promise you that blood is going to flow through these walls, that it shall reek throughout and that your nights shall be very dark, you shall never sleep or breathe in peace until you ultimately beg me to take your life." She mentioned.
"What do you mean to say to me Ma'am?" The Crown Princess asked, "I approached you like a woman as well that wants to protect her family." She mentioned.
"And that is why understanding your position I am giving you an offer that I never give to others, a chance that I could withdraw any moment." She mentioned as she placed her hands onto the table, "show me your resolve Your Highness that I may save you, show me that most sincere resolve and I shall spare your family enough tears." She added.
"Ma'am?" The Crown Princess muttered.
"You won't move." She demanded.
"I am sorry Ma'am." She mentioned, "you are only here because you are fighting to protect your family there was never a moment that you allowed yourself to become weak." She mentioned.
"You aren't me Your Highness." Yang Guifei remarked.
"But I can be like you." Crown Princess Cao Xuan mentioned.
"Have you been through what I have been through?" She asked while the latter kept quiet.
"Of course not." She muttered while the Crown Princess looked aside.
"There's two people in this Palace Your Highness, I once told the Late Empress, those that are already dead and those that are going to die she pressed yet again." She mentioned, "I am ember Your Highness that can not be treaded upon, I am an insatiable fire whose flame is inextinguishable, I am order, I am pain, I am poison and I am death." She remarked as she stood up from where she was seated and bowed her head to her.
"Your Grace really means to be this sinful?" The Crown Princess asked.
"Once I am outside this room there's no telling what I am going to do or how much the Crown Prince shall be hurt, one thing is certain though, consider this the last shred of my most sincere compassion to you." She replied as she turned around and walked out.
Manyin and Xiaoyang waiting outside the Crown Princess quarters the doors were opened and she walked out to stand at the top of the staircase next to which they waited.
"What is it Ma'am?" Xiaoyang asked.
"How is the Princess Royal?" She asked.
"She's already meeting with the others." Manyin whispered.
"As always." Yang Guifei replied, "prepare for the prayers tomorrow." She mentioned.
"Yes Ma'am." They all replied in unison while she turned around and looked at the building smiling at herself ghastly before she descended the stairs and continued her way.
"Your Highness?" Lusi said, "what was that?" She inquired.
"She intimidated me." The Crown Princess replied.
"How dare she?" The latter remarked.
"I am very worried, she seemed too calm and all the more the words she spoke." The Crown Princess mentioned.
"What did she say?" Lusi inquired.
"Could she have been sincere!" She exclaimed.
"More than anything Your Highness Yang Guifei doesn't take to heart the safety of His Highness." She mentioned, "given all the recent happenings within the palace what is there to guarantee that she can keep any end of her bargain, what is it there to assure us that she can be entirely trusted?" She asked.
"I don't know." Crown Princess Cao replied.
"Word is already spreading in the Capital that Your Highness brought in dark materials into the palace, the people out there are also calling you a witch, to put it simply there is one thing I must say, they are exploiting the situation of the Imperial State Tribunal to pressure His Majesty." Lusi said.
"There's no telling what Yang Guifei will do at this point in time and I am more than worried that calamity shall befall us sooner or later it is therefore important that we keep a close eye on her." The Crown Princess said.
"Don't worry Your Highness." Lusi replied.
The Imperial Princess Qi'an's carriage halting outside a teahouse, she stepped out with her face veiled and mounting the stairs that led to the structure, she came into a small dark compartment where a couple of officials were waiting for her in the dead of night.
"Your Highness." They said to her as they bowed their heads in synchrony.
"At ease." She mentioned as she settled in her seat.
"You summoned us." One of the Officials mentioned.
"You are all respectable and smart officials that are well qualified, what matters is that His Majesty trusts you and you belong to none of the virtual political factions at Court or cliques." She mentioned.
"You flatter us Your Highness." Another remarked.
"Perhaps." She agreed, "but which of the statements that I have mentioned to you is wrong?" She asked.
They kept quiet.
"You are all aware that the State Tribunal is collapsing and sooner or later as one of the most efficient institutions of the government His Majesty shall need to keep it running." Princess Qi'an mentioned.
"Yes." They agreed.
"Over the past couple of months is there any amongst you all that I have not treated well enough?" She inquired.
"No Your Highness." They replied in unison.
"Our service is for the Great Zhao Dynasty that means that by all means we must protect the Great Song Empire, the other Courtiers however seem to forget and think the world belongs to Cao, to Han and to Yang which of these isn't a sin too Great?" She asked.
"None." One replied.
"I promised you all that when the time comes I shall show you my thoughts which has now set me before you today, with small and gentle innocent steps it's high time we made our move as well." She mentioned.
"What does Your Highness have in mind?" They asked her.
"I have thought about it keenly and I can't underestimate your capabilities in serving the State, we must sit on the next Imperial State Tribunal to gain just as much significant power in the Imperial Court." She mentioned while the others seemed startled.
"How are we going to do that Your Highness, the others have Yang Guifei and Consort Cao, Han Touzhou and the Grand Chancellor to plead for them while we have no one." One asserted.
"Perhaps." She replied, "but worry not for you have me." She mentioned.
"Your Highness........" They seemed hesitant.
"None apart from me regards your affliction, none hears your cries and relents according to the multitude of my mercies. I am His Majesty's sister, I am a daughter of the Zhao Clan, I shall make you the most powerful men in the world and on the condition that your allegiance lies with me." She said.
"Yes Your Highness." They replied in synchrony as they bowed their heads to her and looking at all of them she smiled at herself ghastly.
Yang Guifei seated in her Chamber, she recalled the words that the Crown Princess had mentioned to her.
"I am sorry Ma'am." She mentioned, "you are only here because you are fighting to protect your family there was never a moment that you allowed yourself to become weak." She'd mentioned to her.
"You aren't me Your Highness." She'd remarked.
"But I can be like you." The Crown Princess had seemed to remind her and lost in all these thoughts for a moment the doors of the room were opened and Manyin walked in before her with Beiyuan.
"Ma'am." They said in unison.
"Have a seat Beiyuan." She said to him while he complied.
"What is it that bothers you?" He asked.
"We must hasten our steps, the Crown Princess will be cautious and will keep watching me this I know for sure, I need to know how far with the Princess Royal?" She responded.
"She's determined to push her supporters to the Imperial State Tribunal." He replied.
"But how would she do that?" Manyin asked standing beside them.
"She's the Princess Royal, the one way that I think would be easiest and most convenient in my perspective would be approaching His Majesty." Beiyuan replied.
"She might as well do just that." Yang Guifei mentioned.
"What are we going to do now Ma'am?" Beiyuan asked when Xiaoyang announced herself outside the room.
"Ma'am, it is I." She said.
"Come in." Yang Guifei said and the latter complied as she halted before them.
"Ma'am." She said humbly bowing her head.
"Tell me." She mentioned.
"All the preparations have been made Ma'am." Xiaoyang said.
"Then all that's left is His Majesty's approval?" She inquired.
"Yes Ma'am." Xiaoyang replied.
"Great." Yang Guifei muttered as she immediately stood up where she was seated before them.
"Where are you going Ma'am?" Beiyuan asked.
"I shall seek out His Majesty." She replied and happily she sashayed out of the room while they all followed her.
Emperor Ningzong in his study the doors were opened and Eunuch Deng walked in.
"Your Majesty." He said bowing his head.
"Is there anything urgent you wish to talk to me about?" He inquired.
"It's Yang Guifei." He replied.
"What about her?" He asked.
"She is requesting to have a word with you." He mentioned.
"Let her in." He ordered.
"Yes." Eunuch Deng replied as he withdrew from the room and a couple of moments later, Yang Guifei walked into the room.
"Your Majesty." She said.
"Guifei?" He replied while she sat down before him and noticed that he was rather absent minded.
"Is there anything wrong Your Majesty?" She asked.
"Perhaps." He replied, "how can you be this calm?" He inquired.
"Is this about the Imperial State Tribunal?" She muttered.
"They are guilty, they have committed atrocities in my name, but there is you and there is as well the Crown Princess." He responded.
"Could it have been her will?" Yang Guifei spoke what was on his mind.
"Yes." He responded.
"Is she that ambitious?" She asked.
"It's hard to tell, apart from you that I have known for many years I don't think that there is another in this world that I know, that I understand." He muttered.
"They are all liars, they are all people that want something from Your Majesty and the Crown Prince, I am one that will always give and desire nothing in return, I am one that is content with whatever you have given me in abundance." She remarked.
"Hmmmm." He muttered while nodding his head in approval.
"However I can't help but worry for the Crown Prince, if in deed the Crown Princess was that malicious then perhaps I am worried about the scrutiny she's bound to face in the future moreso if she can't amend her ways and act up like one who is supposed to be the mother of the nation." She said.
"That's true." Emperor Ningzong affirmed.
"There's been rumours in the Capital, the Imperial family might be heavily implicated, with Your Majesty's blessing there's nothing that we ask with a sincere heart that the heavens won't grant." She mentioned.
"What do you mean?" Emperor Ningzong inquired.
"I have thought about it Your Majesty." She responded, "if you will Sire, I had organised for a simple prayer at the Temple outside the Palace tomorrow very early in the morning." She said.
"A prayer?" He questioned.
"The streets are bustling with news that the Crown Princess brought dark materials into the Palace it wouldn't reflect well on the reputation of the Imperial house, I thought that there is need to reassure the people, need to show them that we are just as peaceful, besides, the Dynasty is peaceful as it is, then we could get rid of the darkness that is lingering over us all." She said.
"You are very thoughtful and I don't know what I would have done without you." He said to her.
"Thank you so much Your Majesty." She said.
"No, thank you." He replied as he stared passionately at her while she smiled innocently whole bowing her head to him.
Manyin and Xiaoyang standing outside with Beiyuan they waited for her when the doors were opened and everyone present bowed their heads and they greeted her.
"Ma'am?" They said.
"At ease." She replied as she smiled at herself ghastly before she continued her way.
"What?" Cao Zhaoyi muttered.
"I heard with my own ears, the Emperor's servants were talking about it that the Imperial Noble Consort has genuinely asked His Majesty to grant her the permission to conduct a prayer ceremony at the temple tomorrow." Linxiang responded.
"After everything that has transpired, why would Yang Guifei organise this prayer ceremony?" She asked herself.
"I don't know." Linxiang replied.
"According to the Palace rules, it's the Empress that is cut out to handle things such as prayer ceremonies, if Yang Guifei insists to do the very same she is aware that she could face public scrutiny for her actions, she might be the highest Consort present in the harem but the Crown Princess can as well conduct such a ceremony on behalf of the Inner Court." Cao Zhaoyi remarked.
"But who could scrutinize her, who would even dare to censure her?" Linxiang inquired.
"In deed, she has a number of supporters in the Imperial Court, there's the question and the fact that she has been victimised." Cao Zhaoyi muttered.
"We'll let the Crown Princess perform it Ma'am." Linxiang asserted.
"No." Cao Zhaoyi said, "this is just good enough." She added.
"I don't understand Ma'am?" Linxiang said.
"All in all the people consider Yang Guifei to be blessed, she can proceed with the ceremony but who is to tell what would possibly happen if because of the ceremony something tragic transpired in the Palace?" She responded.
"What are you getting at Ma'am?" She inquired.
"The heavens were dissatisfied and simply because Yang Guifei on behalf of the Inner Court took this drastic decision without discussion to perform a duty that isn't hers by right, we could stir sufficient opposition towards her and what's best is that who would the world surely believe?" Cao Zhaoyi muttered as she smiled at herself ghastly.
"Ma'am, a prayer ceremony, I don't agree." Beiyuan said.
"I thought that you were arranging it for the Crown Princess Ma'am." Manyin said.
"The public will censure you and there are the Imperial Censors as well, the Princess Royal and all those other ladies, Ma'am, that is out of your caliber." Beiyuan asserted.
"There's one thing that I have always been after all my life." She mentioned and they kept quiet.
"I understand that it isn't my position to speak but if I may Ma'am?" Yang Cishan mentioned.
"I understand what worries you and I take it to heart, but if I am to become an Empress one day then there is something more that I should have more than Cao Zhaoyi." She asserted.
"You already have His Majesty's heart, you have born him a Prince and adopted another, you are at the highest position in the harem that a Secondary wife could attain, not to mention there's the Courtiers standing behind you, the Emperor's brother in law Shi Miyuan and the Grand Chancellor." Master Bao mentioned, "all this Your Grace has, all this is yours Ma'am which is why I can't help but wonder what more you really desire?" He inquired.
"We're all mortals which is why even if we have all the things in the world there's one thing above them all, a power that we should possess more than Han Touzhou or Cao Zhaoyi, one that not even the Empress Wu Zhao and Zhangxian possessed." Yang Guifei responded.
"What could that power be?" Yang Cishan inquired.
"However great a man may seem, however honourable they might appear to the world, our efforts can be fruitless if we can not have heaven's approval." She replied, "we are not great without Heaven's will." She asserted.
"Heaven's will?" Beiyuan asked.
"The one thing that I possess that they don't, that they won't even hold, that I can not let them have is heaven's will." She replied.
"How are we going to do that Ma'am?" Yang Cishan asked.
"I did this knowing that they could censure me, I did it knowing that they would use the public to persecute me or even worse that they would jeopardize the ceremony and use that to my advantage, that some would even say that I disregard the Crown Princess which is why I intend to use tomorrow to shut them up." She replied as she smiled at herself ghastly while they looked at her.
It was very early in the morning when the ladies of the palace dressed in plain white attires with scarlet and saffron, Yang Guifei in a small Palanquin she was born through the gates of the Liuhe Pagoda and there she was laid.
Manyin and Xiaoyang beside her she offered them her hands and stepped out in a beautifully decorated phoenix robe that was embroidered with gold and silver thread, her hairpins were magnificently adorning her dragon headdress and on her feet there were very beautiful lotus shaped shoes.
The two led her gently to the stairs leading to the altar that had been set outside the building and as she neared the platform on which it was raised, a Jade ceremonial tablet was handed over to her and she took it calmly.
"Watch your step Ma'am." Manyin said.
"Hmmmm." She muttered as they let go of her and she walked closer and closer to the centre while everyone was watching her and the monks and priests did the same.
She knelt down on the small cushion that had been set for her and with her head down she prayed in silence.
The wind howled and for a moment she raised her head and looked up at the two candles on the altar.
"Is it going to rain?" Xiaoyang asked.
"I don't know." Manyin replied, "the skies look very clear to me." She added.
"What was Ma'am thinking then?" Xiaoyang asked.
"It's not like she tells any of us." Manyin replied and at that moment, Yang Guifei putting down her head on the cushion, she stood up.
"Just like that?" Manyin asked.
"I have received a vision." She told the Priest.
"Ma'am?" They asked.
"We must return to the Palace at once." She mentioned.
"Ma'am?" Manyin asked her.
"You heard me loud and clear." She said as she immediately walked away leaving everyone puzzled.
Emperor Ningzong inside the Grand Hall the Courtiers had already gathered for the Daily Assembly while Han Touzhou and the rest of his Faction was silent.
"I understand that you are all concerned." Emperor Ningzong mentioning.
"Yes Your Majesty." They replied.
"In regards to the Imperial State Tribunal it is important that I put too many things to consideration." He informed them.
"Yes Your Majesty." Grand Chancellor Zhao Zizhi agreed.
"Allow me to say something Your Majesty." Han Touzhou mentioned.
"What is it?" The Emperor asked.
"We are still mourning Her Highness the Late Empress of the Han Clan that I have been inadequate over the past couple of days that I thought about it and I'm therefore requesting that Your Majesty receive my resignation." He said.
"What?" Everyone seemed rather surprised that the Emperor himself too startled he clenched his fists.
"Resign?" He asked.
"Yes." Han Touzhou replied.
"How come?" He asked.
"What can I say Your Majesty, I have aged, the Imperial State Tribunal was sinful and irresponsible in it's conduct I consider myself more than ashamed that I can't even face you or the world." He responded.
"What has this got to do with you Your Excellency?" Shi Miyuan inquired.
"There's rumours everywhere that I bewitched Your Majesty to appoint those incompetent Scoundrels and I have been slandered, if I remain in the service of Your Majesty then I fear that for my sake the Imperial household and the Court shall be implicated too." He replied.
"How sad you must feel!" He exclaimed.
"The Left Chancellor is in deed very right Your Majesty, to get that far the officials in the Imperial State Tribunal had His Excellency's blessing and surely, the people must feel that he was implicated as well in their crude actions." The Grand Chancellor Zhao Zizhi asserted.
"You have served three regimes as a loyal Minister, it must be that since the Neo-confucianists have been pardoned for a crime that they did not commit you feel very heavy hearted but I can not dismiss you as yet." Emperor Ningzong mentioned.
"But Your Majesty........" He protested.
"There's an unavoidable public sentiment which for the sake of the government as the monarch I must consider if this is your resolve then allow me to show you mine." Emperor Ningzong said as he looked at Eunuch Deng who nodded his head and he stepped forward from the Emperor's side.
"All Han Touzhou's wealth is to be confisicated with immediate effect but considering his service to the nation, to my father and Grand father I shall grant him a pardon, he shall remain in my service as the Governor of Lin'an, this is my will." He mentioned.
"Long Live Your Majesty." Han Touzhou said as he bowed his head and at that moment while everyone was caught up in protest and discontent, Lan He talking to Beiyuan he immediately rushed into the building to the Emperor's side.
"Your Majesty?" He said to him while bowing his head.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Yang Guifei." He replied.
"What about her?" He inquired.
"She's requesting to have a word with you here in the Grand Hall." He replied.
"Now?" He asked.
"Her Grace insists that she received a vision in the course of the prayer ceremony that she had to rush here immediately." Beiyuan responded.
"Let her in." Emperor Ningzong said.
"Thank you Your Majesty." He replied and looking at Eunuch Deng, they carried a chair to his side.
"Her Grace, the Imperial Noble Consort Yang deigns you with her presence." They announced and the doors of the room being opened the Courtiers including Han Touzhou turned around and they looked at her darkening the path.
She gracefully walked through the aisle that had been set and halting right in front of the Emperor that was seated on his dragon throne she bowed her head.
"Your Majesty." She said when Han Touzhou's supporters burst into protest.
"How dare she?" They asked.
"She comes into the Grand Hall?" They muttered.
"Such isn't the place for an Emperor's concubine." They censured.
"You requested to have an audience with me now." Emperor Ningzong spoke.
"Pardon me Your Majesty for my ill behavior but I believe that it is called for." She remarked.
"Tell me Guifei." Emperor Ningzong muttered.
"I was praying for the Inner Court Your Majesty and heaven has revealed to me a vision." She said.
"What is this vision you are speaking of?" Emperor Ningzong asked.
"Forgive me yet again Your Majesty but it is best that Her Highness the Crown Princess leaves the Palace." She said and the Emperor himself shocked he stood up.
"What?" He asked.
"It is important that Her Highness the Crown Princess leaves the palace." She confirmed, "this is the will of Heaven." She asserted.
"Forgive me Ma'am, I think it wise that you rescind, let your actions speak louder than words, since when has it been your position to dictate the position and the presence of the Crown Princess in the Palace?" Han Touzhou asked.
"I don't understand." Emperor Ningzong asserted.
"It isn't my will I agree and neither is it my position." She professed, "I wouldn't desire this as well for to me I can't blame the Crown Princess for anything but understand that it is Heaven's will, a will above us all mortals." she remarked.
"Heaven's will?" Minister Xie questioned.
"You are as mortal as we are Ma'am, if it is heaven's will that you have spoken today then it shall be heaven's will when you speak tomorrow, if it was a dream today Ma'am then your dream shall be a vision tomorrow and we know that since ancient times the gods and the heavens alone even though men may speak give us signs to justify which is their will." Han Touzhou asserted, "apart from a bluff Ma'am, pardon me if I may ask, which sign can you grant us to confirm that most sacred nature of your tongue?" He asked.
"Prove to us Ma'am." The others said and the Emperor Ningzong still silent he looked at her wondering what her reaction would be.
"Three days." She responded.
"What?" Han Touzhou asked.
"In three days, the blood moon shall ascend above us." She replied.
"The blood moon?" She heard them talking behind her back while she left a stir in them all.
"Ma'am?" Linxiang cried aloud as she made her way into Cao Zhaoyi's Chambers.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Yang Guifei walked into the Grand Hall during the Daily Assembly, the Courtiers were furious at least I heard." She replied.
"Really?" Cao Zhaoyi inquired.
"During the prayer ceremony she left hastily Ma'am and everyone was in deed puzzled by her reaction we didn't expect that she'd act up like this, but what's more surprising is the fact that she claimed to have received a vision from the heavens." Linxiang asserted.
"What vision?" Cao Zhaoyi asked.
"The Crown Princess must leave the Eastern Palace immediately, otherwise, in three days time she claimed that the blood moon would ascend above us." Linxiang said.
"The blood moon?" Cao Zhaoyi muttered quite surprised.
"She wouldn't have made such a bluff had she been uncertain Ma'am, everyone is talking about it in the palace, if it so happens......." Linxiang remarked.
"The consequences are unthinkable, besides, to think that she'd commit herself it isn't her nature to lie about something that the people would consider solemn let alone take a gamble." Cao Zhaoyi asserted.
"What do you think Ma'am?" Linxiang asked.
"It couldn't possibly happen." She said, "but suppose it did not only the Crown Prince but each of us as well shall be compromised." She replied as she clenched her fists.
Yang Cishan and all the other supporters of Yang Guifei had gathered that night inside the Lanling Court when Yang Guifei appearing before them they each stood up and bowed their heads to her.
" Ma'am." They said in unison.
"At ease." She replied as she sat down ahead of them while they immediately lowered themselves comfortably in front of her.
"Ma'am?" Master Bao called.
"Yes?" She replied.
"You turned up at the Grand Hall." He muttered.
"I understand that you are deeply concerned for me." She responded calmly.
"You understand that better than anyone else His Majesty wouldn't want the Crown Princess put of the Palace Ma'am, yet you still pushed him." Yang Cishan mentioned.
"Perhaps." she replied, "it's high time that things moved the way that I want." She added
"What do you mean Ma'am?" Master Bao asked.
"There is a divine right that is possessed by His Majesty, he has the mandate of Heaven to govern this Dynasty, I want to become a part of that, I want to become a part of that Higher calling and Greater honour." She replied.
"Ma'am?" Shi Miyuan protested.
"Could it be that you are rather worried?" She asked.
"A blood moon, the Imperial Astronomers should have known better than anyone else Ma'am, they speak in protest and reassure the rest that there isn't such a possibility, could it be that men like themselves that can predict the signs of heaven for the sake of heaven's good grace upon you have gone blind?" Yang Cishan inquired.
"And that's what makes me more different from them." She replied.
"How so Ma'am?" Jinglan asked.
"I am no mortal before the eyes of men." She replied, "I am eternity, I am Sovereignty, the will of heaven on this earth, a voice begotten of the gods." She responded as she looked at them with a smile.
They each seemed confused.
"That's what the people will learn, that's what history will tell, if we must gain the hearts of men, to be stronger the will of heaven must abide with us, it must abide with me." She asserted as she stood up from where she was seated and bowing her head to them she immediately walked out of the room and left them puzzled.
"Her Grace........" Bao Langya was saying when his father halted him.
"Her intention is that in her triumph the people might fear her and worship her." He mentioned.
"What's the possibility that for Her Grace success is guaranteed, what's the possibility that without a sign and just her word is enough we should be assured of victory?" The Grand Chancellor Zhao Zizhi first spoke up.
"We have already taken a gamble to come this far, what more have we to lose that we already hold so dear?" Shi Miyuan responded while they each seemed to nod in approval.
Yang Guifei returning to her Chambers she sat down while Beiyuan and Manyin along with Xiaoyang situated themselves right in front of her.
"Ma'am?" They said.
"How is it?" She asked.
"Talebearing has already spread throughout the capital there's no doubt that the whole country will know it sooner or later." Beiyuan replied.
"Great." She responded.
They kept quiet.
"Ma'am?" The two ladies in waiting said to her.
"You must be worried." She said.
"Yes." They replied.
"It's only the beginning." She assured them, "our adversaries are a bit too great and our dreams are themselves too innocent and inadequate." She added.
"What is your dream Ma'am?" Beiyuan asked.
"You will know with time." She replied as she lowered her eyes, "it could be weeks, it could be months, years and decades are much likely and even generations." Yang Guifei responded.
"If Your Grace says so." Beiyuan replied.
"But until then shall you stand with me?" She asked.
"The choice has never been mine Ma'am, after all, what use is this life if you are not my direction or purpose?" He asked.
"Of course, what use is it?" She asked in a lowly tone.
The Emperor Ningzong seated in his study was silent while Eunuch Deng and Lan He understanding why they couldn't bring themselves to acting up in front of their master.
He first took a deep breath and then sighed when Eunuch Deng concerned he spoke up to him.
"Your Majesty.....?" He called, the food in front of the young man had already turned cold.
"Sure?" Lan He called and he responded with a rather puzzled gaze.
"The blood moon?" He asked himself.
"Do you doubt Sire?" Eunuch Deng inquired.
"Yang Guifei has never begrudge anyone and that is ever since she returned to the palace, worse she wouldn't have taken such a big risk to tell a pie that is that big to the world." He responded.
"There are Imperial astrologers Your Majesty, men that have dedicated their lives to studying the heavens and unravelling their mysteries and she is though talented another ordinary woman Sire." Lan He remarked.
"Perhaps." He replied.
"Your Majesty still chooses to believe?" Superintendent Deng inquired.
"It is only right that I do so, perhaps because I am pitiful, perhaps because she could lose her head for lying to me and then deceiving the entire nation." He replied.
"Three days time Your Majesty." Superintendent Deng muttered, "three days time." He assured him.
"We have no choice but to wait." He replied, "at the very least should anything go out of hand, I need you to make the necessary preparations for her to be secretly sent from the Palace." He ordered.
"Yes Your Majesty." Eunuch Deng replied as he withdrew from the room at once and left him alone with Lan He beside him.
Han Touzhou walking into his compound with Lin Xue one of his household servants rushed to him with a lantern and intercepted him on his way to his Chambers.
"Your Excellency." He said.
"What's the matter?" He asked.
"You have a very important guest that is waiting for you in your study." He asserted and Han Touzhou without wasting time he hurriedly made his way up to his doors and sliding them open, he walked in to the Crown Prince that was eagerly waiting for him.
"Your Highness?" He said himself quite surprised.
"I need to have a word with you Your Excellency." The Crown Prince Zhao Jun mentioned and the older hearing out his plea he immediately settled down before him.
"Your Highness must have heard that you choose to seek me out at this very late hour?" He mentioned.
"About Yang Guifei, surely, everyone in the Capital has their own tale but all the versions are similar at least." The Crown Prince Zhao Jun replied.
"What could she have been thinking?" Han Touzhou muttered.
"It's hard to tell but we should be worried about the blood moon." The Crown Prince replied.
"What if we were Your Highness, they are more experienced and what's confusing is that they are certain that the blood moon won't come to pass." He mentioned.
"The issue was three days, there's approximately fifty hours from now, it's rather hard to predict what could possibly happen in the next forty eight hours because as far as I know Yang Guifei, she wouldn't act up like this without a legitimate cause." The Crown Prince mentioned.
"What does Your Highness mean to say?" Han Touzhou asked.
"The Crown Prince's life and her future are on the line, when I think about it, what transpired with the Imperial State Tribunal, I can't help it but think that regardless of what the conditions may be the end result for her will still be the same." The Crown Prince mentioned.
"What can we possibly do Your Highness?" Han Touzhou asked.
"Now isn't the time to be weak willed Your Excellency, we should be avenging my mother's death so whether the blood moon ascends above us or not that isn't my problem." The Crown Prince mentioned.
"Your Highness.......you mean......" He hesitated.
"There's only hours to the blood moon I have only a couple of hours to kill her myself." He asserted.
"What?" Han Touzhou muttered.
"The end result is that Her Grace wins but it is true, without the Imperial Noble Consort, whether her supporters like it or not there is no victory." The Crown Prince Zhao Jun muttered as he smiled at himself ghastly.
The sun rising over the capital Yang Guifei was kneeling in front of the tall Buddha Statue in the Imperial Temple, her eyes staring at it's glittering magnificence for a moment she mused when the Crown Princess Cao Xuan walking into the hall she halted right behind her and knelt down.
"So this is it Your Highness?" She said to her.
"You really want me gone that much Guifei?" She inquired.
"Whether it's you or the Crown Prince my resolve is that I am trying to prevent blood from flowing through the Palace." She responded.
"Since when was Your Grace feeling that sincere?" The Crown Princess asked.
"What do you think?" She responded.
"You tell me Ma'am." The Crown Prince mentioned.
"You can imagine I was a young girl that was raised to be a warrior, I recall that as other children were out there playing with dolls and toys I was always brandishing a sword, spear or sabre." She replied looking at the Golden Buddha ahead of her.
"Ma'am...." The Crown Princess was saying when she interrupted.
"How many people do you think I have killed?" She inquired.
The Crown Princess kept quiet.
"How well is it that you know Your husband?" She asked yet again but her reaction was no different.
"I have already spoken too much Your Highness, you might be confused but nonetheless you know what I am capable of doing more than anyone else just as much as you would perhaps understand your husband, if he is rather hasty in his actions you must offer your counsel to him one way or another but above all it's important that you let him know, his reaction shall be my victory, whether it'd be peaceful or by force." Yang Guifei said as she stood up from where she was kneeling and bowing her head to the Buddha, she turned around and walked out leaving the Crown Princess puzzled.
Han Touzhou and Lin Xue in the dead of night they were joined by the Crown Prince who eventually led them into a very small cottage within the city.
"What's this place Your Highness?" He inquired.
"You don't have to worry." The Crown Prince Zhao Jun replied and the deeper that they gor inside, he eventually happened to reveal to him a large pile of boxes that had each been arranged on top of one another.
"Here." The Crown Prince mentioned.
"I don't understand Your Highness." Han Touzhou mentioned.
"Open them." He ordered some of the men that were present and they complied without wasting any time pulling off the wooden lids the first thing that he noticed were a couple of guns and along with them gun powder, swords Spears and shields alike all clustered for a moment the old man's heart froze.
"Your Highness?" He said.
"This is it Your Excellency." The Crown Prince replied.
"Your Highness doesn't mean to rebel." He mentioned.
"There's only one Rebel in this Dynasty and that is going to be the Imperial Noble Consort." The Crown Prince Zhao Jun replied.
"Enlighten me Your Highness, pardon my senility but you might have overstepped the boundaries, I may sound foul mouth but from my counsel I think you of all people should comprehend my sincerest intentions at heart, if you are going to turn Yang Guifei into a rebel then who is it that the world would believe, what is her justification?" He asked.
"The same reason that His Majesty would have wished to make her Empress." He replied.
"What?" The Crown Prince asked.
"She has the Grand Chancellor, she has a number of supporters in the Imperial Court, she has a Prince and she rules the harem that is along with the Inner Court, the only difference is that it's the Crown Princess that hinders her power she saw it best to get rid of her." He replied.
Han Touzhou kept quiet.
"One way or another we have given her a reason to become a Rebel and His Majesty won't know necessarily, what do you think as those that have learnt from our past we shall do?" He asked.
"Her tongue is poisonous Your Highness must know." Han Touzhou remarked.
"What use is the tongue in a lifeless body?" The Crown Prince asked.
"It couldn't be......." Han Touzhou muttered in disbelief.
"Yes," the Crown Prince replied, "a valiant rebel leader that died resisting arrest for justice to be delivered is the fate the annals of our History will accord her." He remarked as he smiled at himself ghastly while Han Touzhou for a moment he was afraid and more than anything else it had occurred to him that the grand nephew beside him had perhaps become a man that he was more than certain he could no longer understand.
The Imperial Astrologers watching the stars from their tower with their instruments, they each gazed hard enough and wrote down the constellations.
"Anything?" One asked the other.
"It's rather hard to tell." The latter replied.
"How come?" He asked.
"She could declare to the world that the Blood Moon shall ascend above us there must have been at least a simple trick, but if such a mystery can not be unravelled to us, how is it that we can convince the people we understand the signs of heaven much better than anyone else?" The latter replied.
"I heard that it was said that Her Grace caused rain to fall in Jinghu South when she brought herself before the altar and knelt to worship the heavens, many called her a goddess others presume that it's likely that she's a maiden that has been anointed by the heavens themselves." A third one asserted.
"Each of us here is qualified to call on the heavens after all it's signs are revealed to us, how is it that we are not as close to being gods as she is to being a goddess?" He asked.
"I don't know." Replied the latter, "what is it that she has learnt all her life to get there?" He asked but at the moment they all fell silent.
It was very early in the morning and the Emperor Ningzong standing in his gardens he gazed at the saffron sky as the sun rose in the orient, himself rather puzzled, for a moment he uneasily exhaled and Yang Guifei passing the territory she came to a halt when she noticed the worry that eclipsed his face.
"Ma'am?" Linxiang said to her.
"Leave us." She responded and her entire Retinue immediately withdrew while she got close to her husband from behind.
"Your Majesty?" She said bowing her head to him and himself surprised by her presence he smiled casually.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I heard that Your Majesty barely slept at night and you weren't having your meals, I was merely concerned for your welfare, I was troubled that I had to seek you out." She responded.
"I see." The Emperor replied.
"You look so troubled." She mentioned.
"Knowing me well enough you must understand why." He replied.
"It's about the Crown Princess." She mentioned.
"This vision of yours leaves me so much concerned." He remarked, "yet if you are in deed lying to the Nation and to me it must be that you are feeling inwardly guilty for the Crown Princess you want to let her have this one Victory, you want to silence the world and bear the weight of her sins." He said.
"And it makes Your Majesty uncomfortable?" She inquired.
"Why?" He asked.
"I never lied Your Majesty." She assured him.
"The Astrologers can't seem to agree, it is so that they seem inadequate and fail to see what the heavens have revealed to you and in any case a lunar eclipse would have been predictable they personally think that your resolution is quite strange this time." Emperor Ningzong mentioned.
"It's tonight Your Majesty." Yang Guifei responded as she mused at the waters of the Imperial pond where he'd been staring.
"Mei'er.....?" The Emperor insisted.
"What is heaven's will Your Majesty, is it not that the mandate of heaven was handed over to you Your Majesty, to your Zhao Clan?" She inquired.
He kept quiet.
"I am blessed Your Majesty and that is itself the will of heaven, if I might turn a deaf ear to this one order that the heavens have given me, if I am to act ignorant Sire and desist in offering you my good counsel, then who is it to tell what troubles might befall us all?" She muttered as she bowed her head to him and turning around, she walked away while the Emperor was left there standing all alone.
The Crown Prince was seated in his Chambers in silence when the Crown Princess before him stared at the young man concerned.
"Your Highness?" She called to him but the latter ignored and in that moment, the doors of the small room were flung open and Liu Zhan walked in before the two.
"Your Highness." She gracefully said bowing her head when the Crown Prince turned all his attention to her.
"What did you find out?" He asked.
"His Majesty shall be in his study tonight, as such Yang Guifei shall appear and wait for him in His Chambers." She responded.
"Alright." The young Prince replied as he stood up from where he was seated and the Crown Princess stood up with him.
"What are you going to do Your Highness?" She asked.
"Whose to tell what Yang Guifei will do tonight?" He asked.
"Your Highness, is there something that I do not know?" She inquired.
"I am worried for you that is, I am worried for my brother." He said, "I want you to watch the Imperial Prince Zhao Tan for me." He mentioned.
"Until when Your Highness?" She inquired.
"The night must pass." He replied and without waiting any longer he immediately marched out of the building leaving her rather puzzled about his remarkably strange behavior.
Yang Guifei seated in her Chambers, the doors were opened and Manyin walked in before her bowing her head.
"We've received word Ma'am." She said.
The latter kept quiet.
"His Highness the Crown Prince is on the move." Manyin asserted.
"Is everything ready?" Yang Guifei inquired.
"Yes." Manyin replied and hearing this, the young woman stood up at once.
"Where is Beiyuan?" She asked.
"Waiting outside." Manyin replied.
"I'll see him." She mentioned.
"Yes Ma'am." Manyin replied as she stepped aside while Yang Guifei rather absent minded she smiled at herself ghastly.
"So this is it Your Highness?" She thought to herself, "this is your decision after all?" She concluded inwardly.