Chapter 9 A Shimmering Light in the Dark


    Surprised, Princess Hua Jing quickly jumped to her feet and fixed her dress. Despite the pain, she


    forced herself to curtsy toward the figure, dressed in a yellow robe at the door. "Father, " she greeted


    him inly.


    The Emperor Ning stepped to a chair and sat down. His eyes nced at the three women inside the


    hall. After a long time, he said, "Wife, I am so disappointed. You had reported to me about Yun Shang''s


    recent abnormality and indicated that she might be possessed by evil spirits. So you asked me to send


    for a Taoist priest to perform exorcism. Even though I don''t believe in ghost or demons, for Yun Shang''s


    sake I still obliged. I never imaged you would let someone into the pce without at least some


    diligence. You are the Empress Yuan Zhen of Ning, the woman I have taken as my wife. And yet, you


    can''t even handle such a small matter properly. How can I trust you with control of my pce any


    longer?"


    Hearing his displeasure, Empress Yuan Zhen felt a chill crawl up her spine. She knelt before him and


    ced her forehead on the ground. "I''m so sorry, Your Majesty, it is all my fault."


    Suddenly, the empress heard Yun Shang''s voiceing from behind her. The tone was soft and


    caring, "Father, please don''t me mother. She did everything for me. That priest was a bad man. He


    cheated mother. Sister was hurt too! We can''t let him get away with it!"


    Emperor Ning didn''t rx in the slightest. "A maid told me that the priest even pointed a sword at Yun


    Shang. What if he had hurt her today? What if he tried to assassinate me? How can you take


    responsibility for this, wife?"


    Yuan Zhen kowtowed again to the emperor, "Your Majesty, it is all my fault. I shouldn''t have been so


    neglectful. I willunch an investigation immediately."


    Emperor Ning looked at her with indifferent eyes, "There is no need. His crime was obvious. He has


    already been dealt with. As for the travesty in the courtyard earlier, I have already dispensed Lady Shu


    to investigate the problem. You will have no further part in the matter. Hua Jing''sing-of-age


    ceremony is merely days away. You should busy yourself with the preparations. Be careful not to make


    anymore mistakes. Lady Shu will assist you."


    Hearing the emperor''s pronouncement, the empress felt rage building up inside her, but she dared not


    speak. She touched her head to the ground again and answered the emperor, "As you wish, Your


    Majesty."


    Emperor Ning nodded, stood up and left the room, leaving Empress Yuan Zhen prostrate on the floor.


    After a while, as she got to her feet, the empress noticed Yun Shang in the corner of the room.


    Frowning and trembling with anger, she pointed at the girl and said, "I can''t believe you can be this


    sophisticated at such an age. How dare you speak ill of me before my husband? Is this what I get for


    treating you so well, as my own daughter for all these years?


    Yun Shang almost rolled her eyes. Treating me her so well? She restrained herself though, this was not


    the proper time to opening break from the empress. With this realization, she looked at the empress,


    teary-eyed. "What are you talking about mother? I don''t understand a word? I didn''t mean to say


    anything to father. I don''t know who told him about what happened. I was napping in Qingxin Hall when


    father and Lady Shu came in. Lady Shu first took me in her arms tofort me. She said I must be


    frightened to death. She cursed that bad priest and said she knew he was fake. She thinks he was too


    bold and reckless. After that, father asked me how I felt. I told him I was worried about Hua Jing,


    because she got bit by a dog. He came here at once. I thought he wanted tofort you, so I came


    too.


    "Lady Shu, " the empress'' eyes zed with fury, "How dare she do that to me? Isn''t it enough for her to


    be an open consort of the emperor? Or does she now need to rece mepletely?"


    Yun Shang felt the urge to smile again. No one''s hands were clean in the emperor''s harem. She hadn''t


    forgotten when, in herst lifetime, Lady Shu had yed her against Empress Yuan Zhen. Now, it was


    Yun Shang who would be adding fuel to fires around the pce! She would take this moment to gain


    the upper hand against her enemies.


    Yun Shang pulled out a small white jade bottle from her sleeve and began to hand it to Hua Jing. "I


    want to give you this, sister. It is a medicine from the imperial physician himself. I used it before and it


    worked well. There isn''t even a scar now."


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    "Who needs your damn snake oil!" Princess Hua Jing shouted as she pped the vial from Yun


    Shang''s hand. As the pnded, Yun Shang lost her grasp on the vial, which smashed into pieces on


    the floor.


    Yun Shang quickly squatted down and began to pick up the pieces of ss with her fingers. "Sister,


    your wound must be very painful. Mine also tortured me and put me in a sour mood. But it will be OK, I


    promise. Mother will get the best doctor in the imperium. You''ll be fine in a few days."


    "Hua Jing, apologize to your sister. She was only trying to help." And Yun Shang, be careful. The


    shards are sharp and cut through skin like paper. I''ll have my servants clean it up. I''m fatigued now and


    need to rest. You should return to Qingxin Hall for a rest yourself. You must be exhausted from the


    courtyard earlier." The empress gazed contemptuously at Yun Shang, who was still squatting on the


    ground. Her voice though, was masked with a loving, motherly tone.


    Yun Shang rose and curtsied to the empress. "Take care, Mother." She backed out of the room slowly


    and left Qiwu Pce at once.


    After the door closed behind Yun Shang, Pricess Hua Jing walked gingerly over to the empress and


    held her hands. "Mother, it''s obvious that she was behind this. Why did you take her side?"


    Empress Yuan Zhen sat down in her chair and frowned, with a touch of weariness in her face. "No, it


    wasn''t Yun Shang. For all these years she has been short-tempered and unwise. She is no capable of


    something so borate. Even if she had some part in the events earlier, it was while being used by


    another. I think I''ve be to kind and generous to the emperor''s concubinestely. But it is them who


    are mistaken. I will not be an easy target. I will teach Lady Shu a lesson. Thedies of his majesty''s


    harem will once again know who has power around her."


    "Mother, how can you be so sure it was Lady Shu? How could she have known what we were


    nning? Besides, Yun Shang was the only person unhurt today. How do we exin that?" Hua Jing


    seemed to have her doubts.


    But the empress didn''t seem to be listening. She murmured to herself. "Even if his majesty has


    forbidden me tounch an investigation, I''ll find a way to figure out who''s behind this. And when I find


    out, I swear I''ll show no mercy."


    The empress stood and called for her attendant, "Xiu Xin, Xiu Xin!"


    The top maid hurried in and bowed slightly to her master, diligently awaiting her orders.


    "I need you to secretly bring all of the servants of Qingxin Hall before me. I''ll sift through them and get


    to the bottom of this!"