Xiyang was agitated, he cares the most about his reputation, and now he is in such a position that his reputation was at stake, he sent his men to bring Jinhai and the sculptor, so that they can help him out.
But due to the long journey and tiredness, Yaofan was feeling sick, so Yanshu fed him extra soothing medicine, and he fell asleep. Jinhai came running to Yaofan's room, to call him for help,
"Yaofan.... please open the door, it's urgent"
Yanshu was sleeping next door, she came to see who was shouting outside, it was Jinhai,
"uncle what happened, is everything all right,"
"hey kid, why is your father not responding, it's urgent, please wake him up," he said,
"but I gave him medicine just now and he may not be able to get up, what is it, why are you so tensed?"
"oh...no..., what should I do now, I will be ruined...he will behead me..."
he started crying.
"you first calm down, and tell me what happened?" said Yanshu
"Prime Minister decided to gift the statue to the Emperor but..."
"but what? uncle, what happened?"
she asked curiously,
"those people, they broke it... now the prime minister is standing outside the palace and sent his men to bring the sculptor to repair...but what to do now...."
Yanshu was shocked to hear that the statue was broken,
" even if father comes along with you, it is not impossible to mend it again",
"What...!!, what do you mean kiddo, you don't understand, the prime minister's reputation is at the stake, and if anything goes wrong, he will come for us,"
he was panicked and was wandering here and there...
"he will kill us, ...hey child please wake him up...go... wake him up"
Yanshu was concerned too, she thought for a while,
"Uncle I know a way out, but there is one condition"
"What is it, kid, if it can save our lives I am ready for all the conditions," he said with determination.
" ok, uncle, listen to what I say, very carefully,"
he came near to her, Yanshu continued,
"send someone to get some black color for me, and ask your men to bring black mud from the village as soon as possible,"
he was so surprised,
" What will you do with the black color kid?"
Yanshu sighed and said hesitatingly,
"I will go as a statue,"
Jinhai was out of speech, it took him a while to get back,
"Hey, kid do you want us to die for sure, or do you think this is a joke"
"do you have any other way out? I know what I am doing, ... that's my statute, and only I can do that", said YanShu seriously and untied her hair bun,
Jinhai was shocked to see, that the boy with whom he knows for days is not a boy but a beautiful girl,
" Uncle, I know this is life-threatening, but I can't think of any other way, please allow me to save our lives, my name is Shen Yanshu and I am his only daughter,"
Jinhai was concerned about her safety, but the situation they were in was far more dangerous than anything else,
"But it will be so hard, ... you can't even move...can you do it? you are a girl, it will be very tough for you,"
"Yes I am a girl but I have been through many hardships that a man couldn't take, don't worry uncle I can face it, but you need to take care of my father and be careful while you replace the statue."
She dressed the same as the statue and covered a rug and headed to the palace, before leaving, she left a letter beside her father, in which she wrote,
"Father this may be my last words, please take care of yourself, and if heaven gives us another chance, we will meet again, please don't worry about me, I am ready to accept my fate, Jinhai uncle will explain to you, the other things,"
Jinhai and Yanshu headed over to the palace.
After reaching there, she colored herself black as the statue and stood on the stand, it was placed on a moveable cart so it was easy for them to take her in without realizing that she was a girl not a statue.
Xiyang didn't realize that it was a human being, a girl not a monument, he presented it to The Emperor as a gift.
The Emperor was fascinated by the beauty of the monument and rewarded Xiyang with many treasures, he was so impressed by the gift and came down to take a look,
" Aaah..wa...I never saw such elegant art like this, Xiyang, you made my day, you always surprise me, ha...ha...ha..."
He was so happy and everyone at the banquet was astonished.
"This sculpture will be established in my royal garden, and I want to meet the sculptor who made this in person, can I? my dear Xiyang," The Emperor said excitedly,
"Yes, my lord, the whole world, belongs to you, I will bring him to you tomorrow," Xiyang said feeling honored,
Yanshu was taken to the royal garden, it was a restricted area so no one goes there without permission except the Emperor, when all the soldiers left the garden leaving behind the statue, Yanshu relaxed for a while.
She heard someone coming towards her and stood like a statue again.
Someone came near to her and asked a man standing behind him,
" Is this the magical statue you said in the stories",
It was a voice of a young man but the way he talked, was like that of a small kid. He was so close to her that Yanshu was able to feel the warmth of his breath.
The man behind him sound like a middle-aged man, he said,
"No, dear it is not the magical statue, it exists only in stories, this one is really beautiful, but see it is not alive, let's go back, I have a lot of work to do,"
That young man stepped down and went back with the old man, Yanshu took a deep breath,
" it was so close, ... I was so scared...I hope father can mend that statue as soon as possible"
Xiyang happily returned to his house, he met his son, Qianfan at the gate, and hugged him.
It was the first time Qianfan saw his father this happy,
" What happened, father? you look so happy, what is it? I don't remember seeing you like this before,"
" oh, my son I can't explain to you how happy I am, you should have attended the banquet with me,"
" I am sorry to disappoint you father, but was everything fine there, did it go well?"
Qianfan asked his father about the banquet as he was unable to attend it,
" It was the best one in my life my son, I can't tell you in words",
"So The Emperor was impressed by the pearls you gifted him?" he guessed,
Xiyang laughed loudly and said,
"pearls, those pearls were stolen, but I m glad that those were stolen."
"what? why didn't you inform me, father?"
Qianfan was shocked to hear that, he was out for some business, and just returned, so he was unaware of the things that happens in his house. But his father's reply made him surprised as if he don't care about the expensive pearls he ordered his men to bring even at the cost of their lives.
"I presented an amazing thing as a gift to the Emperor, and he was happy, so happy, that he gave me a lot of Treasures, land, and the main thing is he proposed marriage for your younger sister, with one of his sons, it made me feel like floating in the air, I will be remarked as Emperor's relative, his in-laws, ... it's a big thing",
They both were happy to hear that.
In the Imperial garden, Yanshu relaxed for a while after so many visitors, it was the middle of the night, and there was no one around, she sat down to rest, and heard some footsteps coming toward her again, she stood up like a statue instantly and closed her eyes.
" I know your secret,"
it was the same voice she heard before, she was frightened and thought that she was caught, but the young voice spoke again,
" he said, you are not, ....but I know you are the magical statue I heard in the story, and I know how to wake you up"
Yanshu was hearing everything and she wondered what he is going to do, but that young man came near to her and kissed her on her lips...
Both were shocked, and Yanshu opened her eyes...
What will happen now? will Yanshu get caught and punished for deceiving the Emperor?...that will implicate Xiyang's family as well
read more to know what happened next...
....