ONE

Luoyang City

The rumbling of two horses racing pierced through the dark quiet night. Both horsemen appeared to try to outrun each other. The fear of being late for the meeting with their lord drove them to keep pushing their horse harder, charging ahead with intense urgency.

Both may seem like two local rich young lords who just came out from the brothel. They were dressed in exquisite clothes, riding their horses from the famous prostitute’s area towards the riches’ mansions area in Luoyang City. The horses they were riding were not any regular horses but horses meant for the royal family.

The first rider suddenly pulled back the reins. The horse he was riding immediately stopped then dramatically turned around. The second rider behind him was compelled to follow suit.

They went back to one of the aisles they passed in the corner of the city. They were still near the famous prostitution area on the west side of Luoyang city. There were a lot of small dark aisles in this area which was famous for criminal activities. The two horses walked slowly towards a horse-drawn carriage parked at the mouth of a small dark alley. 

It seems like it was purposely parked there to cover the aisle. One old horse was still tied to the carriage and it was breathing heavily. The two horses which were twice the size of that regular horse stopped in front of the carriage. The old horse began to move nervously.

“Show yourself or I will tear this carriage apart!” The first man commanded with a sharp tone, pointing a long sword toward the carriage.  The other man beside him pulled out his own sword towards the same direction and both waited in silence.

It was obvious there were scuffles in the carriage. The man lost his patience and moved his hand with the sword directed at the link that bound the horse to the carriage. Immediately, the horse that had been moving restlessly was separated from the carriage and the horse broke into a furious gallop away from them. The carriage’s front crashed to the ground with a bang.

Two shabbily dressed men and a woman with excessive makeup immediately scurried out of their hiding place. The three kneeled on the ground and began bowing repeatedly to the two men smothering with dangerous vibes.

"We did nothing, sir. Please spare us."

"We are just homeless people. We have no valuables."

The two shabby men begged for forgiveness while banging their heads on the ground. The woman, who was a madam of a prostitute house, only looked down in silence.

"Then, why were you hiding when you heard us past this street?”pressed the first man.

They were both still on their horses, still holding their swords, towering over the three who were still kneeling on the ground. Both of them could see that the two men on the ground were lying. Even though they are dressed like peasants, both have well-built postures. Muscles that are not possible for the homeless to have.

"Open the blinds. Show me what’s inside the carriage.”, the first man commanded, his voice unusually sharp for a man.

The three exchanged glances. One of them stood up and began to approach the edge of the carriage. His hand was holding the end of the cloth that was covering the weathered carriage, when the other man abruptly jumped from the ground, throwing a deadly dagger towards the men in front. 

The first man smiled disdainfully at this low life peasant and deflected the dagger with his sword like he was swapping flies. In a fluid lightning fast movement, he swung his sword for the second time and the peasant fell to the ground. He started to scream hysterically while holding his severed hand. His palm laid on the ground before him. His blood splashed to the woman next to him and made her scream hysterically. The man with severed hands fainted instantly. Meanwhile, the madam prostitute looked pale and covered her mouth with both hands.

The first man turned his head and found his buddy already standing next to the carriage. One hand opened the blinds while the other hand returned his sword to its case behind his back.

"Where is the other scoundrel?", asked the first man.

"I killed him”, replied the second one briefly without turning around. "Ge, look."

The first man did not have the intention to get off his horse. He just led his horse closer to see what was inside the carriage. The first thing he saw was a pair of round eyes staring back at him. Obviously, those eyes looked terrified.

A young beautiful girl laid and covered in a thick mat. Her delicate hands were tied above her head. Scars and blood around her wrist indicate that she might have tried many times to escape. A dirty scarf laid not far from her face. Judging from the trace of blood on the edge of her lips, they figured her mouth was covered earlier too. Her legs were also tied up securely.

Stammering voice sounded behind them. The madam prostitute, who was still sitting on the ground, finally opened her mouth.

"These two men tried to sell the girl to me. They forced me to take her out of Luoyang and to work as one of my girls. I tried to refuse before both of you passed this street. Sir, please spare my live." The madam begged fearfully.

“Tell me who is behind this kidnapping?”, asked the first man firmly.

The madam gasps then hit her own forehead to the ground. Stammering, she answered that question while crying. "I… s-s-swear I… do not know who had hired these two bastards to kidnap this young girl. They just said this girl's family intended to get rid of her."

It is common for rich families to have family feuds. They have an official wife, second wife, and their concubines, meanwhile all their children compete with each other to inherit their family line. They would do anything within their households in order to win the family war. 

Boys got poisoned, girls were thrown away, husbands died, wives returned to their parents' homes. This was not strange anymore if this girl got deliberately dumped by her step mother or relatives to become a prostitute in another city or even sent out to another kingdom.

The first man finally decided to come down from his horse. This time, together with the second man, they released the young girl. They cut all the binding rope but the girl remained motionless. Both of them started to feel strange. Both of them pulled off the thick mat that wrapped around the girl's body only to discover that the girl was paralyzed. Someone must have pressed her acupoint and both men were sure that the person who did it was not one of the men who were now lying on the ground.

The clothes worn by this beautiful girl seem expensive. There was not a single piece of jewelry on her. Her hairstyle looked just like the hairstyle of commoners even though her hair had messed up. Judging from her clothing material alone, it indicates that this girl is not part of a noble family. She could be one of the daughters of a concubine from the rich merchant family in that area. Ever since the new dynasty was established, even though merchant is the lowest profession among commoners, some merchant families were quite wealthy. 

The first man quickly pressed her acupoint so she could speak and move.

“Which family do you come from?" He asked while watching the girl who started to sit up on her own.

This young lady acted strangely. She looked down at her clothes, appearing to be surprised and confused. Then she moved her hands, flapped like a bird. She began to beat her legs softly but then she howled in surprise at the shape of her foot. It was like this was the first time she saw a pair of binding feet.

"Which family do you come from?" The first man repeated the question, this time more emphatically.

The girl turned her body. From the way she looked at the two men, her bizarre expression stunned the two men. 

"Jiang." She answered, almost like a whisper. The girl pointed to the ground. "I heard they mentioned the Jiang family when I regained consciousness. But I cannot remember a thing. I do not remember who my family is. I do not remember who I am."

“Do you mean Duke Jiang?” The first man glared at her. 

The second man shakes his head, he could not believe what she said. “It is impossible. Duke Jiang has only one son and one daughter. If Duke Jiang’s daughter was kidnapped, this whole city would have known about it.”

“But her foot….” Before the first man could finish his sentence, the other man snapped back at him. 

“A lot of merchant’s daughters bind their feet.”

“Please, dà ren, please spare this low life.” The madam wailed at them. She kept bowing to the ground until she heard something being thrown to the ground.

She lifted up her head just to find a pouch that contained silvers on the ground, arm length from her face. Confused with the whole situation, she did not dare to touch the pouch and remain still, shivering in fear. The first man carried the beautiful lady with both arms, while the second one was pointing his sword to her nose. 

“Just consider we bought this girl from you. Now, scram!” The moment the first man shouted at her, with trembling hands, the madam swapped the pouch into her chest then got up and fled for her life.

The two men did not even have interest to check whether that madam had already gone. They looked at each other while the young girl was still in one of their arms. 

“Gē, we need to hurry back. Wáng ye is waiting for us.” After he lowered his sword, the second man turned around. With teary eyes, that beautiful young lady watched him while her head was leaning securely on the other’s shoulder. 

“We bring her along.”, said the first man.

“But….” The second man hesitated on that idea. He knew this girl must not be just an ordinary girl and he knew his buddy felt the same way with him. 

“Wáng ye is not in a good mood lately. Especially after we report to wáng ye what we found at the capital.” The first man gazed at the girl in his arms. “This girl might be able to help calm down our wáng ye for some time.”

Noticing the girl leaned weakly with teary eyes and remained silent, the second man asked: “You pressed her acupoints?!” 

“Yes. Now, help me get her on the horse.” The second man's eyeballs widen. His fellow just nodded firmly and ignored his reaction. 

***

The trio entered the back of a residence in the center of Luoyang city. Just right after the sunrise, a two horses carriage with one guard sitting on the saddle's control, came out from the front gate of the same residence. The carriage calmly headed to the east side of the city. The carriage stopped once it reached the back gate behind a huge mansion, bestowed by the current emperor to his first surviving son, Li Fei Long.

Once the carriage was safe inside the backdoor of the mansion, two men dressed in eunuch outfits jumped out from the carriage. The first eunuch gave a signal to the taijian who was standing by waiting for their arrival. 

“Take her to the back side of wáng ye’s quarter. Inform pό zi to bathe, feed, and dress her up to serve wáng ye tonight.”

Once they heard this girl was meant to serve Duān Qīn Wáng, two tài jiàn held her carefully. Both of them carried her up above their shoulders and went to the inner court in a split second.

Both high rank eunuchs now walked side by side towards the same direction slowly and calmly. They have been arranged to serve Duān Qīn Wáng, since the day Li Fei Long was born. They have been devoted to Li Fei Long for many years. Supported Li Fei Long safely entered his adulthood, received the title of Duān Qīn Wáng, and became one of the solid candidates to be crown prince.

For almost a decade in his reign, the current Emperor did not seem to have interest in choosing his next successor. Unlike The Late Emperor who had chosen his first born son to be The Crown Prince the moment he claimed victory over the war, seized the throne and proclaimed himself as emperor of a new dynasty, Xi Dynasty. 

Only, the chosen Crown Prince died in the war while he was waging a war to enlarge the realm of the empire. The second son, Li Yuan Tian, was chosen to be The Crown Prince to keep the new dynasty stable and since then the Xi dynasty has grown and prospered. After Li Yuan Tian became Emperor, he changed his temple into Emperor Shang Di, and under him, Xi dynasty even advanced in art, literature, economics, and power.  

Sure there were schemes inside hòu gong, but The Empress was not an ordinary character. The Empress's family background has supported The Emperor as well. And thus this royal family grew even stronger until the empress was confirmed to be no longer able to give birth to a dragon son. 

Now all eyes were closely watching the four Qīn Wáng who have entered adulthood. Each of them has been bestowed the title Qīn Wáng, their own fῠ and cè fei. One by one has joined the royal court and carried political responsibilities. The most appealing were Duān Qīn Wáng and Ruì Qīn Wáng.

Both have equal supporters in the court. Both have high rank birth mothers that came from the most influential noble families. One was Jing Gui Fei and the other one was Shu Gui Fei. Since The Emperor remains neutral to all Qīn Wáng, the people of the Xi dynasty proclaim how wise and illustrious The Emperor was.

Ming He and Qian Chang Xin reached the study room and informed their arrival to Li Fei Long who has been staying there since last night. After dismissing one junior tài jiàn, Li Fei Long takes a sip from the steaming tea cup on the side table.

Both eunuchs bowed down in front of him. Ming He is the first one who gave his report. “Report to wáng ye. Nú cai has informed Jing Gui Fei to rush back to the palace.”

“Did you explained the situation?”, Li Fei Long asked calmly. He put back his tea on the table and looked at his most trusted people.

“Yes, wáng ye. Jing Gui Fei ’s entourage is reaching the palace as we speak right now.”

Noble Consort Jing got permission from The Emperor to pay a visit to the royal temple outside the capital city to pray for Empress Dowager’s health. Who would have thought on this rare occasion, The Emperor gave an imperial edict for Li Fei Long to do inspection to Luoyang city and at the same time The Emperor also summoned the Minister of Personal, Minister of Rite, and the Head of Department of State Affairs.

The last time The Emperor summoned these high ranked officials privately was for Imperial Gongzhu betrothal to Fuma. Therefore, Li Fei Long felt anxious. Jing Gui Fei was not in the palace. While Li Fei Long was carrying out state duties. 

It was an open secret that The Grand Chancellor’s daughter, Han Yao Ying, was the prime candidate to be betrothed to one of the Qīn Wáng.

Grand chancellor, Han Xiu Wen, is the nephew of Empress Dowager. A very capable man who married The Emperor’s royal sister, Grand Princess Li Liang Rong, The Grand Princess Li Liang Rong was widely known as one of the empire heroes, who fought along with The Late Emperor, The Late Crown Prince and, The Emperor during wartime.

 Hearing Li Fei Long’s deep sigh, Qian Chang Xin did not wait for his lord to ask him again. He quickly continued to report his findings. 

“In accordance with wáng ye’s prediction, Shu Gui Fei’s maiden household has been sending some rare treasures to The Grand Chancellor’s mansion.”

Of course Shu Gui Fei and Ruì Qīn Wáng did not want to lose the opportunity. Even though Li Fei Long has the bigger chance since he was the oldest Qīn Wáng. Still, he felt anxious. 

Li Fei Long and Han Yao Ying basically grew up and been long time since he decided that she was the one who would be perfect to become his phoenix companion to sit on the throne. Han Yao Ying’s family support and her elegance has captured Li Fei Long’s eyes. The problem was, not only Li Fei Long felt that way. Ruì Qīn Wáng and Shu Gui Fei have made few low-profile attempts to connect with The Grand Chancellor and Grand Princess.

Li Fei Long can only cleared his throat. For now, there was nothing he could do. He could only wait and see. He waved his hand to excuse Ming He and Qian Chang Xin. The two eunuchs moved to their post and started to serve Li Fei Long like usual. 

***

“What’s your name?”

The question from the eunuch was met with her silence. If only she could say her real name, she would answer it right away. The problem was she had time traveled to an era she could not recognize. 

Both eunuchs who brought her to this astonishing mansion, were watching her closely while she was sitting at the center of a big bed chamber guarded by one pό zi who gave her a bath earlier.

“Then, let’s wait for wáng ye to meet you and decide what will wáng ye do to you.” The eunuch smirked at her while his eyes looked at her up and down. 

“I am the daughter of Duke Jiang.” The beautiful girl glared at him with fierce eyes.

With her clear smooth skin and cheeks red like peaches, Ming He was assured that this young pure girl would be able to please wáng ye. And if this girl has intelligence, Ming He was pretty sure that she could land a great position once wáng ye bring her back to Duan Wang Fu.

“If you really are the daughter of Duke Jiang, then you would have given me your name.” Ming He looked at her coldly, his steely eyes made her shivers. 

“I told you I could not remember anything. The moment I regained consciousness, I heard one of the kidnappers mentioned Duke Jiang.”

From the way the girl interacted with Ming He and Qian Chang Xin, both applauded her for her bravery. Her eyes look scared but at the same time has the courage to defend herself. The pό zi had informed Ming He and Qian Chang Xin that this girl was still as pure as snow, meaning she was still a virgin. Other than having amnesia, the girl was healthy and on top of that, immensely beautiful. 

“It is possible that you have heard wrongly,” Qian Chang Xin said emphatically to the girl who sat on the chair in front of him. He wanted her to stop dodging the purpose of her being taken to this quarter. “We both saved your life. That makes you owe us your life.”

“Actually, you should be delighted to know that our lord is actually Duān Qīn Wáng.” Ming He gestured respectfully towards the outside as if he was giving it to Li Fei Long himself. Then he turned his face back to the girl who clearly looked angry. 

“And why should I feel delighted? I owe my life to both of you, not to your lord.” The girl snapped angrily. 

She lifted her chin as if she did not want to be looked down by these two eunuchs. Qian Chang Xin still felt that this girl has this elegant aura that bothers his guts. But he has ordered special spies to investigate whether it was true that Duke Jiang’s daughter had been kidnapped. And the report he and Ming He received before they stepped their feet here suggested that nothing had happened at Jiang Gong Fu. 

“After you serve our wáng ye, your attitude towards us will change significantly.” Ming He walked one step closer but his words apparently just triggered her to jump from her seat. 

“I will not serve any wáng ye.” She asserted in defiance. Meanwhile her balance betrayed her. Probably because of her foot binding, she almost fell backward if she did not hold on to the edge of the round table. 

Ming He acted swiftly. He moved like a ghost and restrained her, his hand grabbing her jaw firmly. Qian Chang Xin summoned the yā huan who was standing outside the room with a porcelain bowl on a tray. The girl’s eyeballs widened after she saw Qian Chang Xin bringing the bowl towards her.

She could see how dark the liquid was inside the bowl. The smell was too strong for her nose and burned her throat when the duo forced her to swallow it. Ming He pressed her nose as soon he let go of her jaw, making sure that the girl swallowed every single drop. Once done they released her and she fell back on the chair with a burning sensation crawling down her throat into her stomach.

“It is not poison,” Ming He said calmly to the girl who was still shocked. 

“Guard her until wáng ye come back to rest,” Qian Chang Xin gave order to the pό zi who was still standing with her head lowered at the end of the room. 

Both of them turned and stepped out of the room. Qian Chang Xin whispered to Ming He: “That girl is no ordinary girl.”

“If she is smart enough, she would be extraordinary by sunrise tomorrow.” No one saw a drop of sweat rolled down Ming He’s forehead. This was the first time he used drugs on a woman to serve his lord. 

Ming He and Qian Chang Xin have been taking care of Li Fei Long’s need for so long to know that their wáng ye have huge desires for women. Since Duān Qīn Wáng also has a huge imperial reputation that he needs to maintain, Ming He and Qian Chang Xin have been arranging this matter covertly.  At least until this moment. 

Both went separate ways quietly. One walked towards the kitchen to prepare for their lord’s dinner while the other walked to the study room where Li Fei Long was still finishing his work. 

***

Li Fei Long has been informed what was waiting for him inside his bedchamber. All this time Ming He and Qian Chang Xin have never let him down, so as usual, Li Fei Long did not really put too much concern about the existence of a young maiden in his bed chamber.

After Ming He helped him with his outfit, Li Fei Long proceeded to his bath which was assisted by Qian Chang Xin. While enjoying his warm bath, he heard the sigh of a passionate voice inside his bed. He glanced at Qian Chang Xin who remained bowed at his post, as if he did not hear anything.

Feeling curious, Li Fei Long quickly stood up and walked out from the tub. He waved at Qian Chang Xin, who was standing behind him holding a linen to dry his body, to go away. He looked intensely towards his bed chamber. He walked calmly toward his bed, ignoring Qian Chang Xin who withdrew himself out of the room. 

There were movements on his bed. A young girl was dancing, hands wandering over her own curves as if trying to calm the heat emanating from her body. Before he unfolds the thin curtain that separated him from the girl, that girl stopped her movement and stared at him. 

“Stay where you are!” The girl growled like a hurt animal.

Li Fei Long laughed and unfolded the thin curtain. Stunned by the astonishing view before him, Li Fei Long stood there for a moment to admire every details of the beautiful figure before him.

From her eyes, he saw her anger. The way she breathed seemed strange. By then Li Fei Long realized that the girl took love potion and by seeing her angry expression, Li Fei Long suspected that Ming He and Qian Chang Xin forced her to serve him.

He turned his head to seek his two trusted eunuchs but realized that they both had left the room. The two trusted taijian never have to force any women to be in his bed. This action annoyed Li Fei Long but he was also curious on why this girl did want to serve him. Usually women even begged to stay after serving him.

Shifting his attention to the young girl again, Li Fei Long smirked at her. He mounted the bed and faced the girl with his muscular body, Li Fei Long could not wait to fully savor what was in front of him.

“Stay back…..” The girl yelled again at him.

Li Fei Long moved forward and faced that beautiful face inches away. He could smell her nice odor. He could feel her hot breath on his face, and the feeling of it was refreshing. 

“What’s your name?” Li Fei Long whispered. But the girl looks confused. It seemed like the love potion has made her forgot even her own name.

“Should I give you a name then?”, said Li Fei Long.

Seeing that the girl rather calmer than before, Li Fei Long did not want to lose the chance. He pulled her into his arms. The girl wriggled restlessly but she stayed.

Li Fei Long drew a deep breath next to her head. Against his pride, Li Fei Long turned the girl’s face and lowered his head to land a kiss on her lips.