Lady Cao still fetching water and crossing over from the Courtyard of the temple to the well she was intercepted by Linxiang who seemed rather excited.
"Congratulations Ma'am." She said and behind her a couple of Eunuchs and Imperial guards turned up that she could hardly believe her eyes.
"You're..........." She was saying when they interrupted.
"Ma'am shall return to the Palace with us." One of the Eunuchs said.
"Me, return to the palace?" She inquired.
"Yes." The Eunuch replied.
Hearing this Cao Jieyu returned to her room while she was accompanied by Linxiang and sighing in relief, the latter got closer to her while she sat down onto the floor.
"Are you alright Ma'am?" She inquired.
"What happened at the Palace?" She asked.
"Yesterday the Empress Mother returned to the Palace and rumour has it that Yang Jieyu's influence in the harem has started to diminish, I'm uncertain if Her Highness I'd willing to support you Ma'am." She said.
"She wouldn't." Cao Jieyu replied.
"How come?" Linxiang inquired.
"They merely need someone to contain Yang Jieyu's might and that's the only purpose for which I exist to them, Her Highness is like myself so which of us two would prefer to bow to the other?" She asked.
"None." Linxiang responded.
"At this rate we can't even trust Minister Cao." Cao Jieyu said.
"What are we going to do Ma'am?" She asked.
"Get me dressed and it's high time that we returned to the Palace." She muttered.
"Yes Ma'am." Linxiang replied replied as she stood up and bowed her head.
"Now that heaven shall return those things that they stole from me it must be God's will and if so they abandon me, I shall make myself an Empress they shall worship." She muttered as she smiled at herself ghastly.
In a short while Linxiang returned and dressed her up entirely that as everyone earnestly waited to receive her outside she got out in her finest attire.
By sundown of the next day the Imperial Concubines and Consorts dressed to their best were gathered in the Courtyard of the Empress Mother's Palace when a beautiful Palanquin was led in amidst a couple of attendants while the guards ahead bearing torches with themselves it was immediately lowered in front of everyone.
The curtains being flung open and Linxiang offering her hand to her mistress Cao Jieyu took it and stepped out dressed in a beautiful Crimson silk dress that was adorned with numerous floral designs and with a simple train and jacket hovering on top, her headdress made in the shape of beautiful coloured orchids she was another dazzling spectacle beneath the staircase on which the Empress Mother and Yang Jieyu were standing.
"Greetings Your Highness." She offered her respects to the old woman who smiled heartily at her while her eyes travelled to her side where she saw Yang Jieyu uneasily looking down on her.
"You are most welcome to the Palace Jieyu." She muttered.
"And I trust that you shall look after me well enough." She said.
"No worries my dear, you are in perfect hands." Yang Jieyu assured her.
Lady Cao was led to her new residence and walking into the building she looked about the whole place that had been tidied.
"Ma'am, Yang Jieyu is here to see you." Linxiang spoke from outside and the latter quietly moving around the table that had been set inside she sat down.
"Let her in." She said when the doors were slid open and the young woman gracefully walked in.
"Ma'am." She said as she bowed her head to her while the latter caressed her abdomen.
"Please have a seat." She said and Yang Jieyu immediately complied with her request.
"It's been a while since you left." Yang Jieyu said.
"Seeing that you're here to see me you must have missed me so much." Cao Jieyu muttered.
"Not as much as you have." Yang Jieyu replied.
"You really don't disappoint me." Cao Jieyu asserted.
"And neither do you, seeing that you are here with His Majesty's child you have lived up to our cunning nature I can't help but wonder which charm it was that carried him miles away to taste the feel between your legs." She uttered.
"I seem to have my ways Ma'am." Cao Jieyu responded.
"And since you are here then I suppose that I won't be bored anymore." She pointed out.
"What can I say Ma'am after all I couldn't help but feel a sombre note being struck within me at the unfortunate loss of your child it must be that you are cursed by the heavens perhaps you'd never be at peace or in the position to raise a child from your womb in your arms." Cao Jieyu remarked.
"It's nothing at all my dear since it is for everyone to have a price to pay for their actions, he is in peace having been a most innocent martyr to our cause I trust he's in a much better place." Yang Jieyu mentioned.
"I don't understand how he ever had a mother like you." She said.
"Don't try to even make an attempt at comprehending." She replied.
"You have really changed so much over the past couple of years." Cao Jieyu said.
"Changed, yes." Yang Jieyu mentioned, "it's the inevitable part of all things, having death following me everywhere I often remind myself, a single moment of weakness is sufficient to make me cease to exist." She added.
"So it seems, but now I have you to thank, the Empress out of the Palace and somewhere waiting for death to embrace her, you have really succeeded at making things easier for me." Cao Jieyu said.
"You of all people should understand that a shadow can do little to nothing, it has no power and all that it has to wait for is the rest of the work to be done by it's master." Yang Jieyu muttered.
"Learning from you well enough is that a threat?" Cao Jieyu inquired.
"Learning from me you should be in the position to tell that you need to be rather very careful from now onwards." She replied.
"Don't worry, if it's to guard His Majesty's child that I bear with me even with my whole life it shall be my devotion." Cao Jieyu said.
"I hope so my Jieyu, I hope so too." She said reassuringly with a smile on her face as she stood up and bowed her head before she turned to walk away.
"Careful Ma'am, in every fight cautiously see to it that you do not conform to the very nature of the enemy you chose to face." She said to her while the latter halted in her footsteps.
"Don't worry Ma'am, to become my very enemy is worthless I am prepared to only become much worse." Yang Jieyu said as she looked at her over her shoulder and the doors of the room being opened she immediately walked out and left the latter in so much deliberation.
The Imperial Prince Zhao Jun in his own room he'd locked the maids outside and silently he held onto a pillow and caressed it in tears as he thought about his mother.
"Mother." He called in a lowly tone when the Empress Mother walking through the gates of the residence she marched up to them.
Recognizing her presence the ladies in waiting rushed up to her and offered their salutations.
"What's going on?" She inquired.
"His Highness." They replied.
"What about him?" She asked.
"He's been like this for months ever since his mother was banished from the palace, he appealed to His Majesty to see his mother even if once in a year but His Majesty is unwilling." His Head Lady replied.
"Is it so?" She asked.
"Yes." the woman confirmed while the latter smiled at her contended.
"And his meals?" She asked.
"He refuses to eat but when he gets tired he eventually succumbs given that he is still very young." She replied.
"Give them to me." The Empress Li said and looking at the Lady beside her, she handed over the tray to the old woman who walked up to the door.
"Open it." She said.
"Your Highness......" They were speaking up in protest when Liu Zhan raised her voice.
"Are you disrespecting Her Highness?" She asked.
"We dare not." They replied as they complied to her order and the latter gracefully walking through the doors she moved up to the young Prince who was lying in his bed.
"Your Highness?" She called him but he refused to turn around.
"I said I don't want anyone inside here." He raised his voice.
"My Prince." The Empress called him again and furious he turned around to see who it was.
"You......" He'd raised his voice until he recognized the old woman who smiled at him and immediately his heart softened.
"Forgive me." He immediately apologized.
"What for my dear?" She inquired.
"I didn't know...... " He Said.
"That it's me?" She asked.
"Yes." She replied.
"You must have been young by then." She said.
"But how could I forget you grandmother?" He asked.
"It's good to see that you remember." She said but the young boy quietly he looked down unable to look her in the eye.
"You are already roughly eleven years my Prince, I hear that you refused to eat your meals because of what happened to your mother and that you don't take your classes, your ask your Attendants to keep away and you are always playing on your own." She muttered.
"Yes." He replied.
"Are you going to just cry your eyes out like a sissy?" She asked.
"Pardon me Your Highness." He immediately apologized.
"I came here because I was worried for Your Highness and seeing you like this I must say that I am disappointed because you should know that your mother is to blame for being out of the palace." She Said.
"I refuse to believe what Your Highness says to me, for I know my mother well enough, she couldn't kill Yang Jieyu's child I know this." He defended her.
"Won't you ask me why?" The Empress Li asked.
"Why?" He Said.
"The only crime that your mother made was that she was weak and she was surrounded by enemies, Yang Jieyu and her supporters, all those greedy men belittled her and blinded your father, they turned the whole nation against her and when you act weak in front of me wherever your mother is we can not guarantee whether she'll live to see the dawn of another day but as always more than anything she would want you to be strong and to become the Crown Prince of this nation." The Empress Li muttered.
"Your Highness...." He was still saying when she silenced him.
"I can only help Your Highness if you show me your resolve, if you become strong I shall help you become the Crown Prince and ultimately the Emperor of the Great Song." She enticed him while his eyes shone with so much hope she pulled him into a hug.
"You must be a good boy that listens to your grandmother very well, if you wish to avenge your mother and get justice for her then you shall heed what I tell you and become strong enough, strong enough to take the throne." She whispered.
"Yes Grandmother." He muttered.
"What's that, I need to hear you loud and clear." She mention.
"Yes Grandmother." He spoke a bit louder that pulling away from him and looking into his eyes, she wiped away his tears and smiled as she picked up the bowl of soup in her hands and eventually she fed him.
Once she was done, she exited from the Imperial Prince's Chambers and halting outside for a moment she turned to the Imperial Prince's Chief Lady in waiting.
"With effect from tomorrow I shall be with the Imperial Prince as he attends his lectures." She said.
"Yes Your Highness." The woman replied as she bowed her head while the Empress descending the stairs she continued her way until she had vanished from sight.
Negotiating a corner, she stopped in the Imperial gardens.
"Ask the others that we need to meet up immediately." She whispered to Liu Zhan.
"Yes." The latter replied as she broke away from the retinue while someone at a distance watched the Empress hidden as she moved into the direction of her Palace.
Moving up to Beiyuan and reporting everything, Beiyuan made his way up to Yang Jieyu whom she found seated in her own room.
"Ma'am." She bowed her head to him.
"What is it?" She asked.
"As you had suspected Ma'am, Her Highness has been in the Imperial Prince Zhao Jun's residence." He said.
"So now it's the Prince?" She muttered.
"Surely they intend to push him to become the heir apparent." Beiyuan said.
"He's the eldest son of His Majesty and the Empress Mother shall surely need him to suit her own exploits however she understands that he's the only reason the Han Clan supports her she would do whatever is in her power to protect him." Yang Jieyu muttered.
"But in my opinion if the Imperial Prince grows closer to Her Highness than to the Han Clan to them it can equally be something fatal." He mentioned.
"She must be whispering a number of things into the Imperial Prince's ears should that child ascend the dragon throne then it shall be my head waiting to sit on the spike." She mentioned.
"We can't let that happen." Beiyuan said.
"On the contrary we can." She responded.
"What do you mean Ma'am?" He inquired.
"It's not like we have another Prince that can take his place for the time being and it's not certain whether I shall conceive again but for purposes of convenience it's better than we have a child of our own from the Imperial Clan as well." She replied.
"How are we going to do that Ma'am?" Beiyuan asked.
"Studying alone won't be fun for the Prince it's better that we find him someone that he can take his classes with." Yang Jieyu replied as she smiled at herself ghastly.
"Right away Ma'am." Beiyuan replied as he withdrew from the room.
The Emperor exiting from his study all of a sudden he caught sight of Yang Jieyu who was waiting outside.
"Mei'er?" He called to her happy.
"Your Majesty?" She responded as she bowed her head and the two of them getting together they decided to stroll through the Palace.
"How long were you waiting?" He asked.
"About an hour." She replied.
"Why didn't you ask the ladies in waiting to announce you?" He inquired.
"Because I understood that you must have been very busy and it didn't hurt to wait for a while." She replied.
"Seeing that you came here there must be something very urgent you wished to talk about." He said.
"As Your Majesty is aware Cao Jieyu returned to the Palace and she is with child I fear that the room must be boring for her and as it is Your Majesty hasn't visited her I recall that she seemed a bit low when I saw her the other day." She replied.
"Come to think about it, I haven't paid that much attention to her." Emperor Ningzong said.
"Your Majesty was supposed to see me tonight I was hoping that you'd instead spend the night in her residence today." She said.
"You are so sweet to her no wonder the both of you have a very similar personality." He said.
"As it is we both grew up like sisters it hurts me when she hurts Your Majesty and also having been sent out of the Palace for a crime that she did not commit the world outside there must have been hard on her which breaks me and feels me with so much remorse that I couldn't help her." She said.
"I have heard your thoughts and you are okay with it, besides the child that she is carrying in her womb is also mine I heard that pregnant women shouldn't be gloomy all the time for the welfare of their unborn child." He said.
"Thank you so much Your Majesty." Yang Jieyu said as she smiled at him heartily.
"I shall inform her residence to prepare to receive me in the evening." He said.
"Yes Your Majesty." Yang Jieyu replied.
Exiting from the gardens Yang Jieyu halted in her footsteps.
"I need to have a word with Jinglan." She told Beiyuan.
"Yes Ma'am." He replied.
The moment dusk had fallen, the Empress Mother outside the Palace she got into a small inn where she walked in on a couple of her former supporters most of whom had changed over the course of the years.
"Your Highness." They said to her.
"It's been a long time my brothers." The Empress Li muttered.
"How have you been Your Highness?" They inquired.
"As you see we have been well." The Empress replied, "we have endured." She added.
"That's good." Someone replied.
"What about my brother?" She inquired.
"When he heard that Your Highness was banished to the Cold Palace his heart broke and as the Grand Empress Dowager Wu willed it, like your mother and your father, he was sentenced to suicide by drinking poison by Imperial decree." Minister Xue replied the latter hearing this she shed a tear.
"So that's what happened?" She inquired.
"Yes." Minister Cao replied.
"Weren't we all rebels, we had our sons and daughters, we had wives and parents, at the very least all we ever wanted was a realm that was prosperous where we could provide for those we loved and those we cherished." The Empress muttered and moved by her words they that were present bowed their heads each to look at their hands.
"It is because we were weak." She said.
"Yes Your Highness." The others concurred with her.
"Some of our own children betrayed us there's nothing that hurts as much as that but seeing you here today my heart is filled with hope yet again." She said.
"What does Your Highness have in mind?" Minister Cao inquired.
"We say goodbye to those days of awful memory, we turn our eyes away from those years of darkness and defeat we are now to look up ahead to raise our eyes to the future we can't stay fallen forever it's high time we got back onto our feet stronger again." The Empress Li replied.
"How are we to do that Your Highness, the Balance of Power in the Imperial Court isn't in our favour and Cao Jieyu has amassed supporters of her own significantly ever since they heard she was with child, Yang Jieyu herself is closer than most of us when it comes to matching up with the strength of Han Touzhou and he on the other hand is going to great lengths to beat his opposition especially the Neo-confucianists in the government and the whole State." Minister Cao said.
"While I was in the Cold Palace I realised that just as one's strength can be built it can be diminished and now that I have returned to the Imperial Palace surely, I shall raise a Crown Prince of my own and turn his against his maternal relatives." The Empress replied that everyone seemed surprised.
"Your Highness, Han Touzhou supports that you look after him but sooner or later I fear that he shall come to realise it." Minister Cao asserted.
"Godwilling there shall be that day they all will but I don't intend to destroy Han Touzhou's supporters, rather I intend to win them over but until then there is something that I must ask of you." She said.
"Say it Your Highness, we shall do whatever we can." Minister Xue said.
"Sell half of the wealth that we own collectively and I shall do so as well, use it to raise a private army in secret one in the capital and another in the outskirts." The Empress replied.
"Yes Your Highness." They all said in unison as they bowed their heads to her while she smiled at herself.
Emperor Ningzong walking into the Courtyard if Cao Jieyu's residence he caught sight of her as she rushed over to him.
"Your Majesty." She greeted him.
"Cao'er?" Emperor Ningzong said.
"Yes Your Majesty." Cao Jieyu replied as she bowed her head to him and himself a bit sorry he was led inside the building.
"How hard it must have been for you in Xuanmiao!" He exclaimed.
"As you see Your Majesty, your Cao'er is fine." She remarked while he held her and pulled her closer to his chest.
"You'll forgive me as I wanted to come here and see you the moment that you returned to the Palace but unfortunately I was detained." He said.
"Cao'er understands that Your Majesty is the ruler of all people under heaven and that you are always busy with the affairs of state, you tire hearing out those Courtiers and reading their petitions if there's one thing that I am guilty about then it's the fact that I can't be of great help to you, but if I am to be thankful, a single moment's worth of your thoughts on me is a most sufficient blessing." She muttered.
"When I have you and Mei'er beside me, the harem is peaceful, how I so wish it would remain so always." He said to her.
"We simply try our best Your Majesty, after all it is in our longing that when you grow weary from the world, you return to our most loving arms to seek comfort, love and shelter." She said to him and pulling her away for a moment he glanced at her bewitching naivety in her eyes.
"I have been very unfair to you as a wife." He said.
"There's no need to say that Your Majesty." She muttered.
"For this child that you carry in your womb I am very happy, let it be a son that you bring forth I promise that I shall make you a Shufei" He said.
"Your Majesty, I am merely happy in your service that I couldn't possibly long for a mere rank that is high as long as I can be by your side." She Said to him.
"You and Mei'er are my happiness, whoever harms you hurts me as well and whoever hurts you shall pay dearly for all their transgressions." The Emperor muttered as she rested her head on his chest.
"Don't worry about me Your Majesty, knowing that both me and sister Mei'er hold a place in your heart I am contented." She whispered.
"Surely." He replied, "surely." He said.
Yang Jieyu being accompanied by Xiaoyang they got into Lanling Court and walking into a small room that had been prepared for her, she found Jinglan seated that he stood up and offered his salutations.
"It has been a very long time." She said to him.
"I heard that you wished to see me Ma'am." He said.
"There's something urgent that I must do for the both of us and I need your help." She said as she sat down in front of him while he also humbled himself before her.
"What is it Ma'am?" He asked.
"Once you owed me your life our debt was settled and here I am seeking a mutual understanding I was hoping that you would comply because it seems to me that there's no other way." She said.
"What do I benefit from this?" He asked.
"I trust that yourself and I both want Han Touzhou dead as it is and for that to happen you need power which I can not promise you I can personally wield but I can grant you the access to it." She said.
"It does sound reasonable Ma'am but how could I tap that Power?" He asked.
"There's many things I have gained over the last couple of years that are seen and unseen some even those closest to me do not know, there are channels that give me power both actually and virtually, in the palace and in the Inner Court but as it is even with all that power I am not content." She said.
"Is it so?" Jinglan asked.
"I was once told by someone that I could get to the highest point that a woman in the Palace could reach and I feel that even at this point that day changed my life as it changed my ambitions." She replied.
"So?" He inquired.
"For that to happen I need to have Yang Cishan by my side and seeing that you yourself were loyal to his father you must be close enough to put in a good word for me to him and in exchange I assure you Your Excellency can be exonerated and he can finally rest in peace." She said to him.
"You must be kidding." Jinglan muttered.
"If I wasn't that serious I wouldn't have sought you out as you yourself just asked me the power that I can give you I can make Yang Cishan Your master's son a ruler and a god among men and I can give him the wealth that even provinces can not hold." Yang Jieyu replied while the latter was so shocked by her claims that his eyes widened and his lips fell.
"You just have less than twenty four hours to persuade him to become my long lost brother and when he has made up his mind he shall see me, in the mean time we shall seek out His Late Majesty's posthumous Edict and we shall gain Han Touzhou's head on a silver platter." She whispered to him as she smiled at herself ghastly.
After their meeting was done the latter got out of the Courthouse and returned to the Palace leaving behind Jinglan who was deeply immersed in his own thoughts as he recalled the words that she had said to him.
"Anyone?" He called when his servant turned up.
"Yes Sir?" He said.
"Make preparations." He Said.
"What for?" The latter asked.
"We set out for the Yang Manor at daybreak." He said.
"Yes." The latter replied as he got at it.
The Imperial Prince Zhao Jun arriving before his grandmother and teacher at the pavilion he greeted them.
"We shall begin our lesson Your Highness." The man said.
"Yes." He replied.
"I hope you are prepared for it." The Empress Li said to him.
"Yes Grandmother." He replied as the lessons commenced and Eunuch Deng passing by he happened to see them progressing well.
Returning to the Emperor who was reviewing a couple of memorials he smiled at him.
"What's the matter with you?" Emperor Ningzong asked.
"His Highness the Imperial Prince Zhao Jun is very lively today he is even actively attending his lessons he seems to have recovered from the previous grief over his mother's expulsion from the Palace." He said.
"Really?" The Emperor asked.
"It appears to be so as it is the Empress Mother is present at the lectures with him." He said and the Emperor hearing this he smiled.
"She must have found a way to convince him." He said.
"Now that the Empress Mother is back into the Palace for a moment we can breathe, the harem seems to have fallen in order and trouble has been foregone and soon enough an Imperial child shall be born." Eunuch Deng said.
"Surely, what else could be more auspicious than this!" The Emperor exclaimed as he got back to his work.
Cao Jieyu seated in her Chambers Linxiang walked in.
"Ma'am." She greeted her.
"Until now my father hasn't turned up to congratulate his daughter upon her return to the palace?" She inquired.
"So it seems." She replied.
"Arrange for me to meet with Lady Yin my mother, make sure that she gets into the Palace secretly." Cao Jieyu ordered.
"Yes Ma'am." Linxiang replied as she left her mistress infuriated.
Yang Cishan in his own study a couple of moments later the door was slid open and through it his retainer turned up.
"Your Excellency." He said.
"I asked to be alone." He said.
"Master Jinglan is here requesting to have an audience with you." He said.
"My father's former retainer?" He inquired.
"Yes." The latter replied.
"Let him in." He said and heeding his words a short while later the old man turned up into the room.
"Young Master." He greeted.
"Uncle?" Yang Cishan said.
"I was merely your father's retainer however if you see me as your uncle there's something that I am going to ask you to do for me " Jinglan said.
"Please have a seat first." He said to him pointing at the small stool in front of him while the latter acquiesced.
"You followed father for years, you are like another father to me." He said.
"I loved and honoured your father so much, I respected him with all my heart, so much I would have died for him but do you know the one thing that kept me alive for all these years?" He asked.
"I dare not ask." He muttered.
"Even dying and knowing that he was walking into trouble His Excellency ailing in his heart asked me to use whatsoever power I could wield or I could find to protect you as though you were my own and when the Xiaozong Emperor perished there was a rumour that he'd left behind a posthumous secret decree that would decide the fate of Han Touzhou." Jinglan replied.
"You mean to say.......?" He inquired.
"You shall never find peace Your Excellency as long as Han Touzhou is alive and I have been in hiding all these years seeking out answers and whereabouts of that order but until then you must become strong and to protect the Yang Clan it is therefore necessary that you ally yourself with Yang Jieyu in the Palace." Jinglan said.
"So you say, that I should gamble the lives of everyone in the whole Yang Clan on her?" He asked.
"She's already told His Majesty that you are her brother and she controls him well enough it's the temporary protection we need, she also knows and understands everything about the Edict well enough because I mentioned it to her why do you think she returned to the Palace?" He responded.
"Uncle?" Yang Cishan spoke in protest.
"Her future is bright and she is an ascending dragon Your Excellency so if you value your father's last wish then cast aside your pride and conclude an alliance with her." He spoke on top of his voice, "that way His Excellency can be cleared of his charges and he can rest in peace." He said as he stood up and bowing his head to him he got out of the room leaving him alone as his words lingered through the back of his mind.
Cao Jieyu inside her Chambers Xiaoyang announced the presence of Lady Yin.
"Let her in." She said and the doors being slid open she walked in before her and she bowed her head.
"Please have a sit." Cao Jieyu muttered and the latter complied.
"You asked to see me Ma'am?" Minister Cao's concubine said.
"Is that the very least that you can say to your daughter?" Cao Jieyu inquired.
"Ma'am, if I keep meeting you in secret then I shall surely be in very big trouble." She said.
"I understand that it isn't very easy for you to come to the palace in secret or leave your home but you do remember what I promised you before I went to Xuanmiao?" She asked.
"Why bring that up now Ma'am?" Lady Yin asked.
"The Palace is only sustained by alliances and for me to rise to the highest point that a woman can reach in this world It is necessary that by all means I turn you into a legal wife." Cao Jieyu replied.
"You overestimate me Ma'am, there's not much that I can help you do." She pointed out.
"I need you because if there's anyone to suspect you are definitely the last person in the world someone will think of." She said.
"Ma'am?" Lady Yin speaking in protest she caressed her abdomen.
"Godwilling if the child in my womb is born a Prince then I have big dreams for him and that is to say that I shall make him the Crown Prince and if necessary even an Emperor, you a concubine and ultimately a legal wife shall become the Grandmother of a dragon no one shall dare belittle you." Cao Jieyu said.
"What can I do for you Ma'am?" Lady Yin inquired.
"I don't trust my father of late and seeing that the Empress Mother has returned to the Palace I can't help but be more suspicious because if I am right then his loyalties lie with Her Highness alone, however you are therefore the only one that I can trust and I shall lend you my eyes and ears, everything that he does I wish to know even the slightest of things, the people that he meets you just keep me informed, when and where as well my people shall tell me." Cao Jieyu replied.
"Is this it?" She asked.
"Our future together depends on this mother and you alone will choose whether to hold it or not, there isn't a child in the world to mourn for you after everything that Lady Cao has done to you with her colleagues, I can be that beautiful daughter of yours that could bring the world to your feet and teach them to fear you, who will cause them to grovel at your feet and beg for their lives." Cao Jieyu replied.
"Yes Ma'am." Lady Yin replied as she stood up and bowed her head before she got out of the room and Linxiang walked in a short while later.
"Ma'am?" She said.
"Keep a very close eye on her." She said, "of necessary tell them to guard her with their lives." She added.
"Yes Ma'am." Linxiang replied.
Yang Jieyu walking about her gardens she caught sight of the Emperor who was standing outside and waiting for her.
She rushed over to him while he seemed to feel her presence.
"Your Majesty." She greeted him while he held her hand.
"Mei'er?" He said to her as he pulled her closer to her chest.
"Your Majesty." She greeted him again in a lowly tone that he seemed to notice but first didn't take it to heart.
"I happened to see Cao Jieyu." He replied, "you were right, she must have been lonely all this time." He added.
"Who could understand that girl better than myself Your Majesty and the worst part of it all is that she is the type that prefers to keep everything to herself." She claimed.
"Surely." The Emperor said as he sat down behind the table and noticed that the latter was wearing a rather sombre expression on her face.
"What is it my dear?" He asked.
"Nothing Your Majesty." She replied.
"Mei'er, I have known you well enough to tell that you aren't doing well and you aren't that good a liar these days I can see that there is something that is bothering you." He said.
"Forgive me Your Majesty." She responded.
"Forgive you yes, that's if you tell me what's going on with you." He said to her.
"Your Majesty, I have a favour to ask." Yang Jieyu muttered.
"Go on." Emperor Ningzong said.
"I am worried." She remarked.
"What is it?" He inquired.
"I was hoping to invite brother Yang to a Palace for a dinner, to catch up with the things and stories that we've missed over the years but I fear that those Courtiers will be in an uproar and as it is he is a low ranking official they'll say that his presence would degrade the Crown in the Palace." She whispered.
"Let them think what they want." Emperor Ningzong said.
"I would be contented in doing so except that I am more afraid for you than I am for myself if possible I ask that the heavens grant me the strength to forego this ordeal." She convinced him.
"I don't like it when you keep sacrificing for my sake." Emperor Ningzong said to her.
"What is love Your Majesty?" She asked and he fell silent.
"For me every single moment to think of you, forgive whatever it is you're never wrong and even when I am right it doesn't matter, to tolerate all hardships that the world could throw at me and you, and the best part of it being that I can give up anything for you without expecting anything in return." She said to him.
"You'll forgive that I make you suffer." He said.
"My heart holds no bitterness to you Your Majesty, I just wanted you to hear from my actions and see from my expressions." She said to him.
"I am the ruler of the whole world so why shouldn't I be in the position to give anything to the woman I love?" He asked.
"Your Majesty, please don't do anything that shall push those men to arms." She pretentiously pleaded to him.
"Was it not myself that promised to the world that I would pardon the children for the sins of their forefathers and on that very day they collectively agreed to me without any opposition as an Emperor I can't go back on my word and they as my officials are forbidden from doing the same as well." He said.
"Please rescind your order Your Majesty." She said.
"Now that I think about it you suffered in the harem because there was hardly anyone in the Imperial Court to support you and until now the grief from losing our child breaks me and hurts me Everytime I remember how the Empress cruelly treated you that it's high time I gave you a shield of your own." He said.
"What do you intend on doing Your Majesty?" She asked.
"I shall have Yang Cishan regain his title of Marquis of the First rank and from this day onward I shall make him the Minister of War." Emperor Ningzong said while the latter widened her eyes in disbelief.
"What?" She muttered totally dumbfounded.
"I won't let anyone bring harm upon you Yang Jieyu, of anyone dares to make you cry tears I shall squeeze blood from their eyes." Emperor Ningzong promised while she hugged him.
"Don't worry about me Your Majesty, I thank you so much." She said in tears wetting his chest but certain that inwardly she'd won over him as of yet while Cao Jieyu standing at a distance she watched the two as she clenched her fists in fury.
"Ma'am?" Linxiang called to her.
"Let's return to my Chambers." She said.
"Yes Ma'am." Linxiang replied as they turned around.
Emperor Ningzong returning into his study he was accompanied by Eunuch Deng.
"Summon the Grand Secretary." He ordered.
"Yes Your Majesty!" He exclaimed so shocked by his resolution.
"Yes." He confirmed and the latter withdrew.
Yang Jieyu seated in her Chambers she smiled at herself.
"Ma'am, will His Majesty fall for it?" Xiaoyang asked.
"I understand His Majesty well enough he is not as foolish as he may seem and he takes a great like to talented people he is benevolent as well but the favourite part of it is that when he gets affiliated it's personal." She replied.
"In a matter of time he'll come to realise Yang Cishan's talent and when he does he shall be very close to him we can surround him with the people he wants but most importantly, the people that shall protect him." Xiaoyang said.
"Don't worry." Yang Jieyu said, "I am certain that Han Touzhou will probably be running mad." She muttered.
"Yes Your Majesty?" The Grand Secretary asked.
"I need you to write my Edict." The Emperor said to him.
"Your Majesty, making the son of a Rebel rise this high..." The Grand Secretary speaking in protest he was interrupted.
"You remember that I announced to the world that I shall pardon the descendants of those sinners and you all agreed that I should be that benevolent and seeing that the people look up to me I can't possibly go back on my own words." Emperor Ningzong said while he remained silent.
"Yang Cishan served this country and his merit should be rewarded while his status should be reserved and furthermore he could motivate the others to turn from resistance and embrace my hand to become loyal citizens of the Great Song I have made up my mind and I have decided that he shall be promoted to the position of a First Rank Marquis and the Minister of War." He affirmed in front of him.
"Yes Your Majesty." The Grand Secretary replied as he started writing the Edict down.
One of the ladies in waiting around the place overhearing everything she moved around the building where Manyin was impatiently waiting and coming up to her ear and whispering to her what had transpired, the latter shocked and excited she immediately rushed into the direction of Yang Jieyu's Chambers.
Approaching her doors she flung them open and making her way in on her mistress along with Xiaoyang she bowed her head.
"Congratulations Ma'am." She said as she bowed her head, "His Majesty has summoned the Grand Secretary to his study and he has ordered him to issue a decree recalling Yang Cishan into the government as a Minister of War and additionally declared him a First Rank Marquis." She said that Yang Jieyu looking at her she smiled.
"I'll need to see Yang Cishan." She said to Xiaoyang.
"Yes Ma'am." She replied as she immediately got up from where she was seated and she bowed her head as she withdrew from the room.
Han Touzhou seated in his own Chambers Lin Xue immediately rushed in.
"Your Excellency." He said in a rather worried tone.
"What's the matter?" He inquired.
"His Majesty has issued an Imperial Decree recalling Yang Cishan into the government as a Minister of War and additionally declaring him a First Rank Marquis." Lin Xue replied.
"What, His Majesty gave that order?" Han Touzhou asked.
"I confirmed it Your Excellency." Lin Xue said.
"How strange!" The latter remarked.
"It's so shocking that Yang Cishan returns to serve into the government as the Minister of War he's no different from the Minister of Defense Minister Xia it seems to me most likely His deliberate effort to contain our power." Lin Xue remarked.
"Yang Cishan as far as I know was never particularly close with the Imperial family and he was only virtually affiliated with the Late Grand Empress Dowager after she saved him and his entire clan from death, a most likely cause of this must be Yang Jieyu." He said.
"As far as I know, our intelligence hasn't informed us about them being particularly close in any way." Lin Xue asserted.
"They are both Yangs so which of them is to be trusted?" Han Touzhou asked.
"None." He responded.
"Just like that we were surprised that Yang Jieyu was behind the installation of Zhao Zizhi as the Grand Chancellor and the Neo-Confucianists have get become another big threat to us all it is high time that we dealt with Wengong once and for all." Han Touzhou remarked.
"How are you going to do that Your Excellency?" Lin Xue asked.
"You wait and see." Han Touzhou assured him.
Yang Cishan in his own residence hearing the news Jinglan walked in.
"Uncle." He said as the latter bowed his head to him and he sat down while their retainer joined them.
"I heard a funny piece of news." He said.
"What is it?" Yang Cishan inquired.
"Tell him." Jinglan said as he turned to the young man that was standing right next to them.
"Yang Jieyu in the Palace has informed us that His Majesty has designated you as the Minister of War and promoted you to the position of a Marquis of the First Rank." He said.
"A First Rank Marquis and a Minister of War?" Yang Cishan said.
"Yes Your Excellency." His retainer replied.
"I told you Your Excellency, like it or not now you have gotten high enough to have the attention of Han Touzhou you can't expect him to spare you this time round but yet again you have power and an opportunity to use it." Jinglan said.
"I never knew that her enchantment on His Majesty was this deep." Yang Cishan said.
"I told you that Her Highness was an ascending Dragon but putting that aside now that you are a step closer than way too many people you should strive for favour before His Majesty's eyes." Jinglan said, "as it is a number of people envy you for that position and it seems to me that this was her resolution after all if she couldn't win you over persuasively she has done so by force." He said.
"I get it." Yang Cishan replied.
"Ultimately it might seem that the Emperor is a foolish man but only a wise man would tell he's probably trying to strike a Balance of Power between the different forces in the inner Court and in the harem." He muttered.
"But why do you seem fond of Yang Jieyu that much?" He inquired.
"In the very woods I took refuge she saved me from the jaws of death and in those same woods she lost her one and only child that she loved more than life itself, she's blinded yes by hatred and that can't be altered entirely however when I think that she has so much against the house of Han she could go all the way which is the type of ally I require." Jinglan replied.
"What's the guarantee that she'll succeed?" The young man asked.
"There's no guarantee that she'll succeed." Jinglan replied, "the only guarantee is that she won't give up and she'll fight to the bitter end even if it must be against the whole world." He added.
"Must I really see her?" He asked.
"It's not like you have a choice anymore unless of course, you mean to dishonor his Majesty which will reflect badly on your Excellency and worse doom the fate of the whole Yang Clan." He replied.
"His Majesty has finally done it Your Highness." Minister Cao said to the Empress Li with whom he was seated with at the same table.
"He takes so much after his grandfather." She muttered as she sighed
"In time to come Cao Jieyu shall deliver the Imperial Child and if it's a boy she'll be blest to even rise above Yang Jieyu in rank within the harem yet at that point her ambition might push her to seek out a way of making her son the Crown Prince I'm worried that her return might jeopardize us even more." Minister Cao said.
"Her return was necessary to keep Yang Jieyu occupied and judging from the current state of affairs, the latter has started to call the necessary shots we shall need to take precautions and stick to our original plan." The Empress said.
"But Your Highness......" Minister Cao was still saying when the old woman interrupted.
"I understand your concerns." She said while he kept quiet.
"By that point in time the mourning season shall be over and we shall advance our concern to have His Majesty designate a Crown Prince as he had promised to us." Empress Li said, "that way the balance of power in the harem shall be sorted and in the Imperial Court as well." She added.
"By the way, how is the Imperial Prince Zhao Jun doing Your Highness?" He asked.
"One of the Imperial Concubines blinded his father and his Grand parents and maternal relatives sacrificed his mother and failed in protecting her as always a child that is young and naive he will be sufficiently hateful to suit our cause." The Empress Li replied.
"I hope it all goes well Your Highness." Minister Cao said.
"Don't worry Your Excellency, surely, it will." She assured him as she smiled at herself ghastly.