Chapter Five
Ling Fei thought about the last meal she shared with her mother.
‘Mother you should eat,’ Ling Fei said.
Ling Fei picked up the best vegetables and put it into her mother’s bowl.
That night Jiang Thi couldn’t sleep. The following morning she was awoken by the sounds of firecrackers. She carefully got out of bed to not disturb her daughter then she dressed and walked into the kitchen to prepare morning dishes.
Ling Fei didn’t sleep deeply either and she woke up early too. She dressed and wore a pair of old embroidered shoes.
Ling Fei knew there was something worrying her mother because they didn’t keep secrets from each other. She walked into the kitchen and looked anxiously at her mother who was busy cooking.
‘Mother…’ Ling Fei called.
‘Yes?’ Jiang Thi asked.
Jiang Thi was startled by her daughter’s voice and her right hand dropped a white radish on the floor.
‘Ling Fei, why did you wake up early today?’ Jiang Thi asked.
Ling Fei picked up the white radish, she put it on the table and held her mother’s hand.
‘Mother come with me,’ Ling Fei said.
‘What is it?’ Jiang Thi asked.
Ling Fei dragged her mother to their chamber.
Ling Fei sat next to her mother on the bed and her matured eyes looked into her mother’s eyes.
‘Mother what happened?’ Ling Fei asked. ‘Mother you don’t need to hide it from me anymore. Whenever there’s something worrying you, you can’t sleep at night.’
‘It appears left and right can’t be hidden,’ Jiang Thi said.
‘Mother if you don’t tell me then how can I tell others?’ Ling Fei teased. ‘Mother you can tell me and I’ll listen attentively.’
Jiang Thi reluctantly told her daughter everything about receiving the empress dowager’s request and her worries about her daughter’s future.
Jiang Thi didn’t care if her daughter was betrothed to Na Lam years ago. ‘I don’t want you to enter the palace. I know the little emperor is temperamental. If he sees anyone as an eyesore he’ll want to behead them. The court officials are scared to lose their lives each day. I don’t want you to risk your life. I lost your father, I can’t lose you too. I declined the empress dowager’s request.’
Ling Fei had forgotten about her past meeting with Na Lam.
‘Mother, I and Elder Qin perform in the streets and have heard rumors about the little emperor,’ Ling Fei said. ‘I think he needs someone to guide him and who he’ll listen to. If he continues being a bad emperor then sooner or later the kingdom will be destroyed in his hand. I think the empress dowager came to see us as a last resort.’
‘You talk like your father,’ Jiang Thi said. ‘He is a man of princ.i.p.als. He was loyal to kingdom. But what happened in the end? He sacrificed his life and you and I are left to struggle to stay alive.’
Jiang Thi clutched her handkerchief in her shaky hand.
Ling Fei hugged her fragile mother. ‘Mother, our hard life is in the past. I won’t let that person hurt us anymore.’
‘I don’t want your life to be in danger,’ Jiang Thi said. ‘Let’s leave the imperial city and not come back here anymore.’
‘Mother, running away isn’t a solution,’ Ling Fei said. ‘I’ve practiced Kung Fu each day for many years because I want to avenge father’s death. Now the opportunity has arrived. As long as I enter the palace I can see that person and find out how father died that year.’
‘Ling Fei!’ Jiang Thi said. ‘A thousand times you can’t do something that foolish!’
Jiang Thi’s heart almost stopped beating. She thought her daughter practiced Kung Fu to support their family. She didn’t think her daughter wanted to avenge her husband’s death.
‘Mother seeing your white frightened face I know you believed me,’ Ling Fei said. ‘Mother, I was only jesting.’
‘Only jesting?’ Jiang Thi asked suspiciously.
‘Of course,’ Ling Fei said. ‘Killing an imperial family member is a crime punished by death. I still have mother so I wouldn’t risk my life.’
Jiang Thi was rea.s.sured by her daughter’s words and her heart began to beat steadily.
‘You scared me to death,’ Jiang Thi said.
‘But if the empress dowager comes here to ask us for help then we can’t decline her request,’ Ling Fei said. ‘Why don’t I go to the palace and talk to the empress dowager. If I can’t help her then I’ll have a reason to decline.’
‘That’s a good suggestion,’ Jiang Thi said. ‘Ling Fei, stay here and sleep. I’ll go back to the kitchen to cook.’
Ling Fei smiled with her mother until her mother left the chamber… she couldn’t live under the same sky as her father’s killer. She was determined to seize the opportunity to give back justice to her father.
Shen Huang didn’t notice the coldness in Ling Fei’s eyes.
‘Lady Ling, are you hungry?’ Shen Huang asked. ‘I’ll go prepare your morning meal.’
‘Shen Huang I want to see the empress dowager,’ Ling Fei said.
Ling Fei was too young when her father died and she couldn’t remember everything that happened many years ago.
‘I’ll go see Que Cong Cong,’ Shen Huang said. ‘He’s the empress dowager’s personal eunuch. I’ll pa.s.s on Lady Ling’s message that you want to the empress dowager.’
‘Then I’ll need to trouble you,’ Ling Fei said.
‘This is part of my duties,’ Shen Huang said. ‘If Lady Ling doesn’t need anything else then I’ll leave first.’
Shen Huang bowed and left Ling Fei’s chamber.
Ling Fei didn’t know what the empress dowager’s purpose was for asking her to stay in the empress’ chamber.
‘The emperor is here,’ a eunuch announce.
Na Lam entered Ling Fei’s chamber before she could compose herself. He stood in front of her in his gold clothes. Xiao Shun Tu stood behind him. She thought Xiao Shun Tu’s red eyes looked sleep deprived.
‘Why aren’t you kneeling in front of me?’ Na Lam asked.
Na Lam couldn’t wait to see Ling Fei so he visited her chamber before their agreed meeting.
Ling Fei yawned, slowly stood and knelt in front of Na Lam.
Na Lam crossed his arms and he looked down on Ling Fei. ‘I want you to leave this chamber. I’ll ask Xiao Shun Tu to arrange a different chamber for you.’
‘Your majesty if you want me to leave this chamber then your majesty needs to ask the empress dowager,’ Ling Fei said.
Of course Ling Fei wanted to leave the empress’ chamber but she didn’t want to look helpless in front of Na Lam.
‘Don’t think you can use imperial mother to threaten me,’ Na Lam said. ‘I’m the emperor. My orders are law. Anyone who dares to oppose my orders is opposing the law.’
‘Does the empress dowager need to follow your majesty’s orders too?’ Ling Fei asked defiantly.
‘You daring demoness,’ Na Lam said. ‘Do you dare to oppose me? Don’t think because you have imperial mother’s support you can spread your arms and become a phoenix. I’ll never grant your wish.’
Ling Fei’s heart was disgruntled. If her father didn’t teach her to keep her promises then she wouldn’t be involved with the troublesome Na Lam.
‘Your majesty do you remember our agreement?’ Ling Fei asked.
Na Lam’s eyes lit up. ‘Yes. I only need to defeat you in a dual.’
‘If your majesty can defeat me in a dual then I’ll willingly disappear,’ Ling Fei said.
‘Will you keep your promise and disappear after I defeat you in a dual?’ Na Lam asked.
Na Lam didn’t believe Ling Fei would easily let go of an opportunity to be his empress. It was a position many women desired.
‘I always keep my promise,’ Ling Fei said.
Ling Fei thought the palace was a vast ocean and somewhere she couldn’t stay peacefully.
‘Alright, it’s a promise!’ Na Lam said. ‘If you break your word then you can’t blame me for punishing you.’
‘It’s a promise,’ Ling Fei said.
A while later Shen Huang returned to Ling Fei’s chamber and she was startled to see the emperor. She quickly knelt in front of the emperor.
‘What are you doing?’ Xiao Shun Tu asked Shen Huang.
Shen Huang’s body shook. ‘Shun Cong Cong asked me to serve Lady Ling.’
‘If you have nothing to report then leave,’ Xiao Shun Tu said. ‘Can’t you see the emperor is spending time with Lady Ling?’
‘Yes Xiao Cong Cong,’ Shen Huang said.
Shen Huang put the tray of food on a table and left Ling Fei’s chamber.
Ling Fei thought Na Lam had no intentions of leaving the chamber. She glanced at the tray of plentiful food on the table and feared she would waste most of the food.
‘Your majesty have you eaten a morning meal?’ Ling Fei asked.
Na Lam didn’t expect Ling Fei would ask him if had ate yet. ‘Not yet.’
‘Then shouldn’t your majesty leave to eat a morning meal?’ Ling Fei asked
Ling Fei didn’t know what Na Lam’s purpose was to stand in front of her and glare at her with big wide angry eyes.
‘You dare kick me out of this chamber?’ Na Lam asked. ‘The whole palace belongs to me. I can eat anywhere I want to in the palace. No one has the right to kick me out anywhere in the palace.’
Ling Fei supressed her frustration. ‘I only wanted your majesty to return to your chamber to satisfy your majesty’s stomach so in the afternoon your majesty will have energy to fight with me.’
Na Lam thought the more Ling Fei wanted to kick him out of her chamber the more he didn’t want to leave.
‘I want to stay here and eat a meal,’ Na Lam said. ‘Is there a problem?’
End of Chapter Five