"Out of the two of you, one is as idiotic as the other." Master Guo strutted in the room with a fierce air of disapproval as he looked at Ning Zhuo's arm. "You have worked so hard to be crown prince and you're throwing it all away because your father requires you to have heirs before you strut off in armor. This is not an irrational thing for any father to ask of his son. The emporer, whom is responsible for the entire imperial clan, needs this even more so. Your father is not young anymore. He may sit on the dragon throne, but he is mortal same as I."
"Royal father never wishes me to have anything good. The only people he spoils are my younger brothers."
"As he should as they are the heirs who will not inherit. Do you think just because your father sits high and mighty above all that he is also allowed to do what he wants? Of course not. I have shared his burdens, there has been many sacrifices to keep such
As Yan Sha entered the royal palace from the private side gate, the air inside of the palace was tense. There were few servants milling about instead of the unusual bustle of activity that she was used to after she had gotten used to the fact that this was her new home. There were other concubines that her father kept who had their tasks as well as guests of the court and courtiers themselves who had come up for the day's court. Seeing everything so quiet, made her wonder what had happened.She nudged a maid and asked her this observation.The maid shook her head. "I'm only here to serve quietly, your highness. We cannot speak of the common folk here. There is a mysterious fog rolling in from our larger neighbor. There are rumors it's a bear coming to swallow Caiwong whole.""You have a lion here," Yan Sha surprised herself as she said it boldly. She had never spoken thus out loud but it was true and she knew
Zaiyuan's face was cold as he looked through the ranks of young men who were doing rounds at the fortress. Young men who were not the hardened veterans he was hoping for. Truly he had always stationed the harder soldiers towards the opposite of Jungpi from Caiwong as at the frontier was where the tribes were all canabalistic savages. The grizzened generals were all gone but one who was standing behind him, Kong Bai, with a lanky son in tow, Kong Su.The son was no flower either as he had been trained by the same Master Guo. The scars of his time were visible on his face as he twitched around the twisting scars on his face. The skin that was supposed to cover his eye was missing and the tendons and soft tissues were stretched taunt against what had been burned and missing. When the boy was in closer company he would take off the white jade that had been carved as it's color was close to that of skin.Now that they were in the pres
"There is news, sir." A messenger bowed low as he handed the missive to Ning Zhuo. "You can take your leave. I don't need to return any message other than the one to the emporer." "His majesty has sent an imperial decree that you should also read. I was told to recommend this to you and I apologize if I offend you. You may discipline your servant as you see fit." "Leave me alone, close the door behind you. I will not whip a man who brings me words from people I am kin to. You have not spoken out of turn, but I am still in a ferocious mood." "Would you like some tea?" "Do we have the Jungpi tea?" "Of course sir." "Bring me a pot of it as soon as it is boiled." After the servant closed the door behind him, Ning Zhuo opened the missive: the second princess of jungpi was seen outside the gates of the fortress smoking a deer with a young lieutenant. they were intimate.
The taste of his own blood was new to him as Ning Zhuo slipped in and out of consciousness. Some of the memories were sweet. There was the cry of a baby as he held it and someone cooed, "good girl, good girl, can you say father?" There was a garbled voice followed by a laugh as the cooing continued. "Good girl, good girl, don't these snacks taste good? Do you want to share them with dad when he wakes up." The blood dribbled out of his mouth and trailed down his neck as he started to remember darker things. His wife hanging by a noose around her neck as he walked in. How did she get so high up if there was no chair around her. The skeletons of the side court as he entered for the first time, there was so much dirt there blowing about. Someone really needed to sweep in there. Why hadn't he told someone to do it regularly? Yan Sha leaving him again and again and again, her hands around his neck screaming wrenching, telli
Caiwong advanced forward on the third day, like it had been foretold. Zaiyuan watched from the ramparts as the catapults were pulled forwards. He tensed as the archers rained down on the approaching soldiers easily. The bodies started to pile up on the ground and the rivers were stained with the war color. It was a shock of bright against the dismally colored molted ground.As the horses started to come, Zaiyuan saw one rider leave their gate and start riding along the side with a sword and cut the ropes along the ground. She was wearing a man's riding uniform here as she struggled with the weight of the sword in her hand. The gesture was probably for him to make the prince consort look more than a man who wore neutral colored silks and bowed before his queen. The helmet flew off her face as she flew with a vengence toward the enemy.As the ropes were cut, the ground around the approaching troops started to collapse and s
In a pool of inky black water, the consistantly of soot, sat Yan Sha with her body contorting in inhuman shapes. Bending and unbending as her body moved like a demented spider in a circle. Her back arched in and around like it was a stick bending close to breaking. All the vertabrae in her back were thrust out as the shadows on her back were shifting all around. The lion on her back which had been poked so beautifully, now looked like a tangled web where the lion was stuck in the midst of it angrily clawing through points.All around the pool, Langhua and Yan Ming looked at her wailing form with concern as there were shadows following every movement as if Yan Sha was moving very quickly all at once instead of hardly at all. Her back contorted with her arms running up and down her body as inky splashes poured out of her back tattoos. Yan Sha hacked and coughed out the same thick viscous fluid. Her eyes were blown with the same black ink colo
Langhua poured tea into the leaves she had arranged neatly in the cup as she looked out over the view in her manicured pavilion. The servants had replaced all the dead flowers now with white ones and all the flowers from Caiwong had been thrown out. Who knew where the maids had hid them, but she did want the atmosphere to feel as home as she could. She signed as Yan Sha's blackened eyes were turned to her as she looked demonically at the cup in front of her. The cup was placed closer to Yan Sha such that Langhua could avoid touching her. "My dear, I know that you frighten yourself when you look in the mirror, but this is a temporary change. I was like this when my father died. Sometimes these qualities are needed to keep us away from things that are not for us." "I know you mean well. I also understand whom it is that you are talking about. I am doing my best and this is the reward for not touching the very
Ning Ren licked his lips as he looked through the letters that had been intercepted by his agents. Maybe today his efforts would finally be recognized. It was so beautiful to see the fruits of his labor in front of the only person he wanted to get praise from. In a pile in the corner were all the letters that Ning Zhuo had tried to send to Jungpi. The emporer sat opposite who personally slid open several letters and read them."Such a good boy this child has been. It's unfortunate that he could be ruined so." As he kept a letter open, he turned to Ning Ren. "Has there been any reply from the other side? This threat needs to be removed if the dreams of our forefathers should come to be accomplished.""Wei, Yan, Jungpi . . . shall all fall by dominos. Brother is befuddled by women. He has really lost his touch as he pours his heart out in these letters. It's very fortuitous that his heart--"The emporer's eyes
“Who dares to disturb the emperor after the court session? That’s bold of whatever minister can even bear the thought of death for his point. This is not the time to keep pushing a point that has died through discussion. Tell that courtier that I will execute him if he persists with his petition. I am not in the mood to entertain anybody under any circumstances. I will not be forced into doing more things that I have no care for.” Ning Zhuo nursed his head as his head was spinning after reading so many memorials. Even though the pile to the left of finished memorials was more in height than the one on the right, he knew there was a whole pile of them that his eunuchs had hidden behind a pot to encourage him to continue. It was incredibly annoying as work now was never ending. He already knew all the sides to the argument so he was irked that some small person was still trying to push after being re
Langhua, the queen of Jungpi, put her arms around Yan Sha tightly and started to cry as Yan Sha was too shell shocked to move or react. “You’re healthy. My daughter has finally returned to me the way that she does in my dreams. To see such a beautiful sight is beyond what I have hoped for so many years. I am so happy. You’re healthy finally. I have felt such guilt as your mother for sacrificing so much just to stabilize the reign of the incumbent. I searched so hard for an answer to my question of how to stabilize what I had put up for slaughter.” “Mother I—“ Yan Sha didn’t know what to say as she was so used to the brutality of the ruler. To be even here to see the tears and true joy in her return to a better state of health made Yan Sha realize that her aunt really did love her even if she preferred her own daughter above Yan Sha. 
Yan Sha was led to an unmarked carriage on the side gate of the Jungpi palace. It was odd at this time of day and she tensed when she saw it. This was out of her usual routine. No one had left her a note or explained why there was such a deviation so she was instantly alert. Her daggers were with her and she brandished them quickly in a way that would disarm the people around her. But as her movement was swift, there was a clothed man in animal skins who was silent and unexpected to Yan Sha such that she had not thought that such a person would be waiting for her. She couldn’t remember what happened after as the disgusting taste of medicine filled her mouth and she slipped out of consciousness. Her body was dragged into the carriage and the wild man drove off in a huff as all the servants scattered.
Yan Sha looked at Ning Zhuo with a sigh as she could feel the world around her come crashing down. Her breath came in harsh strokes as she tried not to breathe at all, if this was a dream she had to fight hard to make sure that she didn’t wake up. But reality was quick to set in. The bath house behind them was abruptly searched. They could hear the sounds of the maid explaining that there were people just here. “Don’t you feel bad for them?” Yan Sha said with a forlorn expression as she could see their panic and expressions. “They work for me. They are all paid well and even if they are taken into the Prefecture Penitentiary. I will take care of their families and make sure that their descendants are well.”
The black melange was moving up her body which as her clothing disintegrated covered all of her up to her neck. All below the water was pitch black and pulsating. He dropped the torch and there was a hiss as the fire went out. “Crown prince you cannot. I have burned many people. Everyone gets burned as they come close to me. You should not. You cannot. I am poison to everyone. Crown prince, please.” He picked up her body and the black color dripped down onto his hands. He moved swiftly out of the lake. Yan Sha touched his face and bounced back as she remembered what was wrong with her. “Crown prince? Since when have you called me that? If I truly am the cause of this, then I will search day and nig
Yan Sha laughed as she heard this. “Sister, I can’t believe that I hear you say this that you want to share me with others and even outsiders. If the Duke would hear of this I’m sure he would be positively shocked. He would say that someone has stolen away his beloved concubine sun and replaced her with a pious monk. He would look all around the moon for you until he found you right at home where he left you. But truthfully, sister, business is not for me. I could never keep all of the older matrons happy with tinctures. It would be a lot more talking than simply giving medicine.” “Well then you can be in all of their good graces and then they will want to invite us to all of the good gatherings and food tastings. Who is to know what nice things that they will share with us then?” “
“What kind of school are we talking about, your highness. I have definitely never heard of it. Whom is this legendary teacher? But on second thought I would say he has been brutal to you. Your back is full of burns and scars and marks. It doesn't sound like a place where a delicate princess should be sent, even if you are the spare.” “I am not one who has been confined to private quarters like my sister all of her life. One sibling must learn of the outside world to keep the other safe while ruling. It is my duty to protect her and guard the line in front of our house. But these is explained in the words of men, I guard the land so I may have a place to go home to and a bed to sleep on and a sister whom I know will raise my children if I am to die first.” “If you say it in this way
The person was walking upside down now and Yan Sha wondered how that could be. Then she realized that the ground was by her face. She struggled listlessly as the person dragged her away and out of sight. The scene that she had left behind was strange as there was just cloth and bones that were swept away by the morning sweepers as they wondered why this area of town had gotten so dusty. The local magistrates guessed all that ash had come from fires. Not knowing the whole area was hallowed with human remains. =\\= Yan Sha spat up black phlegm again and she coughed to clear her throat. No matter how much she coughed her throat continued to burn until she just gave up that she had gotten used to it that there was no point trying anymore. 
Ning Zhuo then turned and saw a shadow in his study. He strutted back to find his bookcases trembling. His movements to fix everything were quick. Maids immediately rushed behind him and one poked him, “Crown prince, your man from Jungpi has arrived to see you.” Yan Sha froze as she sat on the roof. There was a good opening to jump over the roofs but she was torn as she knew that it was incredibly difficult to get spies into this manor. She was proud of her former partner but could not stop the lick of nostalgia. She wanted to say that she knew him. Below her, Ning Zhuo replied. “Oh good. Send him into my study. I want to hear what he has to say immediately.”