As the night rolled in and the guests arrived, Ying Yue was sitting next to Jianyu, greeting nobles who came to pay their respects. Out of everyone that came, only Shi Chen kept her gaze down and refused to look Ying Yue in the eye. After two hours of greeting everyone, Jianyu was now making an announcement to welcome the end of summer as the harvest season approaches.
Throughout the whole speech, Ying Yue kept her eyes only on Shi Chen. Shi Chen had no idea Ying Yue was onto her. She was so fixated on Jianyu that she didn't even realize all the dinnerware were silver.
Meanwhile, Ah Yi disguises herself as a maid and sneaks into the royal kitchen. With everything being so hectic, no one was really paying attention to who was in the kitchen. As everyone was starting to leave with the food plates, Ah Yi panics to try and find Ying Yue's plates. Quickly scanning the area for Ying Yue's portion, she spots a maid walking in.
"Excuse me, do you know which ones the empress portion? I'm supposed to check something to make sure it's good. The head chef asked me to."
The unsuspecting maid, points towards the corner. Ah Yi quickly thanks the maid and watches as she was out of sight to open the food lids and drop in a drop of poison in each dish and into the tea pot.
Once her task was over, Ah Yi quickly runs out of the kitchen and heads off to find Shi Chen. Little did she know that the maid she encounter was none other than Li An who was sent by Ying Yue.
Soon, everyone had their table filled with food. Jianyu motioned for dancers to enter and entertain his guests. Unlike everyone else, Ying Yue kept her attention to the unsuspecting Shi Chen. Ying Yue could see Shi Chen staring at her from the corners of her eye; waiting for her to take a bite. Breaking into a smile, Ying Yue decides she was going to give Shi Chen what she wanted. Slowly taking off the lids, Ying Yue could see the food were safe to eat. Shi Chen on the other hand didn't even realize her silver bowls had a hint of black around the edge. Without looking, she grabs a chopstick full of pork meat and rice and chews on it as she stares at Ying Yue; hoping to see her collapses. Ying Yue smiles the moment she saw Shi Chen eat her own poison. Clearing her throat, Ying Yue motions for Jianyu to silence the crowd. Jianyu lifts up an arm and quiets he crowd as Ying Yue sips tea from her cup.
"How are you feeling, Shi Chen?"
"What...what do you mean?"
Shi Chen stares in shock at seeing Ying Yue looking and acting fine even after eating. In that moment, Shi Chen feels her vision go blurry and her breathing becoming heavy; to the point she felt like she was suffocating.
"What....what's going on?!"
The prime minister wife freaks out and runs to Shi Chen's side. Ah Yi who finally returned from changing her clothing watched as Shi Chen was on the ground and gasping for air. She quickly glanced over to Shi Chen's food and realized she had eaten the Zhen poison. Ying Yue on the other hand showed no emotions and ignored all the side chatters and commotions happening next to her.
"How does it feel to get a taste of your own poison?"
The prime minister slams his hand on the table and stares at the emotionless Ying Yue; shocked and mad he accuses her of harming his daughter.
"Your highness! What is the meaning of this?! Today is a day of celebration and yet you poison my daughter in front of so many?! What do you have to say for yourself?!"
Ying Yue clicks her tongue and turns to face Jianyu. Once he gave her the okay to do whatever she wanted; Ying Yue walked towards the prime minister and Shi Chen.
"Ah Yi was it? I've heard quite a bit about you."
"What...what do you mean, your highness? I'm just a lowly maid."
"A lowly maid yet you have the guts to sneak into the royal kitchen and try to poison my food?"
"I don't understand what you mean, your highness!"
"Okay then, maybe she can help jog your memory. Li An!"
Ying Yue calls for Li An to stop hiding and show herself. The moment Ah Yi saw Li An she then realized that Ying Yue was already a step ahead of them.
"After you left, I had her switch my food with Shi Chen's portion. I also instructed her to be the one to serve it to her."
"Your highness, she's just a maid! Surely she's gotten me confused with someone else!"
"And you're just a maid yourself! I trust Li An with my life and I trust her actions. You didn't really think I was going to sit back and let you do what you wanted, did you? Prime minister! What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Shi Chen....is this true?! You tried to poison the empress?!"
"No, father! It wasn't me! It was all Ah Yi's idea!"
"My lady...?"
Ah Yi was shocked to see Shi Chen throw her out so quickly. Falling to her knees now, Ah Yi stares at the nearly lifeless Shi Chen who was slowly dying because of the poison. Ah Yi bites back her lips and turns to face Ying Yue.
"Your highness...I will tell you everything."
"Very well, but don't try to lie to me. I will know."
Ah Yi goes into details and exposes Shi Chen's plot in front of hundreds of nobles. Making sure to not hold anything back, she goes into details of what Shi Chen was hoping to accomplish. The prime minister shows a face of disgust and quickly moves away from the dying Shi Chen.
"Your highness, I had no idea my daughter was this delusional. Please allow me to take her back home, where she can die in peace."
Jianyu finally heard enough and cuts in front of Ying Yue and glares down at the prime minister.
"I've warned you to watch over your daughter, prime minister. Do you know the sentence for trying to murder someone of the royal family?"
"It is execution of the entire family, your majesty."
"Then you know what to do. I will give you the honor of ending your own life. Let today be served as an example to those who plot against the royal family."
Jianyu quickly turns around and heads back to his seat as Ying Yue remained standing and looking over the dying Shi Chen. As much as Ying Yue hated bloodshed, she couldn't continue to go soft and let people like Shi Chen remain alive.
"Prime minister, you may take your daughter with you. In the morning we will send people to notify your relatives to come and collect your bodies."
"Thank you for your kindness, your highness. I will be leaving now. Ah Yi, give me the remaining poison."
Ah Yi hands over the few drops that was left in the bottle to the prime minister and watched as he carried away the dying Shi Chen. Once they were out of sight, Ying Yue removes her shawl and pulls out her sword; lightly cutting herself she allowed her blood to trickle down the sword and let it harden the sword. Wasting no time, Ying Yue walks closer to Ah Yi and points her sword at her.
"Your...highness? What's the meaning of this?"
Ying Yue grabs the sword of a nearby guard and throws it at Ah Yi's feet.
"Pick up the sword. If you can defeat me, I will erase you of your sins and you can continue on with your life. But if I win, you lose your life."
Ying Yue was no fool. Ah Yi had what it took to be a general, yet her greed led her to losing sight of the right path. People with her ambition was too dangerous to let loose, yet Ying Yue couldn't sentence her like she did Shi Chen and the prime minister as she was working under orders. Without any hesitation, Ah Yi grabs the sword and swings it towards Ying Yue with killing intent. Rather than feeling scared, Ying Yue felt ecstatic to be fighting once again. Jianyu sat back as he watched every noble that attended jaws drop from seeing Ying Yue fight. What felt like forever, ended in a flashed when Ying Yue deflected Ah Yi's sword and stabbed her. Piercing her through her chest and through her heart, almost killing her instantly. With sadness in her eyes, Ying Yue prays for Ah Yi to find a better life after her reincarnation. Jianyu motions for guards to remove the now lifeless body of Ah Yi out of the room as Ying Yue walked closer to Jianyu and rested her head on his chest as one of the problem was now out of the way for good.
The summer festival ended shortly after everything. Rather than being terrified, everyone was now praising Ying Yue for being so fearless and strong. Many of the noble daughters that attended were amazed at her fighting abilities and pleaded with their fathers to let them learn.
Morning breaks and news of the prime minister and his family's death along with the end of his bloodline was soon spreading throughout the kingdom. Li An was tending to Ying Yue as she was feeding Junjei. Just as Ying Yue was wrapping Junjei up, Shen An bursts into the room.
"Shen An, don't be rude."
"I…I'm sorry your highness. But have you heard the news?"
"If it's about the prime minister and his family I've heard it all. What did you hear?"
"I went into town to check out the scene like you asked me to, and I saw the morgue people from the funeral home coming and taking out three bodies from the prime minister's residence. But that's not just it! The whole mansion was burned down!"
"What? By who?"
"We believe it was the work of the prime minister. He left a will and surprisingly their bodies avoided getting burned since people were able to retrieve it fast enough."
"I see, at least the prime minister and his family all died together. I hope in the next life they make better choices."
"My lady, what caused you to have a change of heart? In the past you would've just disregarded them or punish them."
"I have my son now. I can't risk letting dangerous people run around. Not when they can harm him someday."
"I see, any parent in your shoes would do the same."
"Did you confirm if it was really them? Where's the will?"
"Yes, I followed them to the funeral home and was able to catch a glimpse of the body. Although they were now pale and turning blue, I could still tell it was them. I gave the will to his majesty, but he told me to bring it to you and let you decide what to do with it."
Ying Yue grabs scroll from Shen An and reads it word for word.
"Thanks for your help Shen An. I don't have an appetite today so I think I'll take Junjei with me to visit Duan Da and the others. I still have to inform him of his brother and his family."
Ying Yue cleans herself up and heads out towards the jade palace with Junjei in her arms. After fifteen minutes, Ying Yue could now see the jade palace entrance. The guards quickly greeted Ying Yue and motioned for her to enter. Ying Yue watched as Duan Da was the first one to greet her.
"Ah! Ying Yue. Nice to see you again."
"Duan Da, I come bearing bad news. Will you join me in the main hall with everyone?"
"Of course."
Once everyone was seated in the main hall, Ying Yue handed over the sleeping Junjei to Shen An and takes a deep breath as she tries to find ways to tell Duan Da of the news.
"Where do I even begin?"
"Ying Yue if you're here to tell me about my brother and his family, don't worry about it."
"What? Who told you about it already?"
"It's been the talk of the kingdom. I overheard the two guards out front and some maids talking about it this morning. Don't worry about it. I know you're not the type to kill without a reason. In fact, I should thank you and his majesty of granting them the honor to die in their own home."
"I apologize for not informing you of my plans earlier. I felt I couldn't allow myself to be swayed if you had told me not to go through with it."
"I trust your judgement Ying Yue. I'm sure you had your reasons."
"Then I won't dwell on it anymore. Duan Da, your brother left a will. He wants you to become the new prime minister. Will you accept?"
"What?"
Ying Yue hands over the scroll to Duan Da and watched as he continued to read the scroll and hold back his tears.
"Are you sure you want me as the prime minister?"
"It only makes sense to have you take the position. It was originally a role that's been in your family for generations. Although the home is now gone, we'll work on repairing the palace to its old glory. For the time being, everyone can remain in the jade palace."
"Then I accept!"
"Good, I will let Jianyu know."