Chapter 9:Evil imperial concubine

"Nooooo"

A loud scream resounded throughout the spring courtyard. The two maids who had been standing guard outside rushed inside in panic to see Han Chunhua breathing heavily.

The two pretty maids who just rushed in were concerned.

"Madam! Are you alright?" they asked in unison.

"Water!I...I need water," she said in a whisper.

"Lan, go get madam water" ordered the maid wearing a ponytail.

The other one who had two ponytails nodded and dashed out of the room as fast as she could.

The one remaining was Lihua who was lightly massaging Chunhua's shoulders and back.

"Miss, calm down. It's just a nightmare. Not real" she pacified but Chunhua was still shaking like a leaf.

"Li Hua! Get the emperor please" Chunhua said with a semi-order,semi-request tone.

"But Madam, his Majesty should be in a meeting with the officials right now." said a reluctant Li Hua.

Even though madam was the favored one, it didn't mean that she could be free from severe punishment or death if she angered His Majesty.

"Fine! Just...just get lost and tell Lan not to bother with water." she barked.

"But madam ... you're not okay. I..." Li Hua was cut short by her madam.

"You wish me death right?"Chunhua asked.

"No...madam, it's not like that..."Li Hua tried to explain but Chunhua had no time for that.

"GUARDS!" she roared

In less than 12 seconds,2 able-bodied guards dressed in black and red rushed in and went on one knee, heads bowed.

"What is your wish Madam?" they asked in unison.

"This girl is evil. Flog her 20 lashes of the bull rod"Chunhua barked.

"Yes madam!" the guards shouted in unison and dragged a pleading Li Hua away.

"Nooo, madam! This is a misunderstanding"She cried.

"Increase it to 70 strokes," said Chunhua"And make sure you also do that to her accomplice"She added.

"NOOO" Li Hua's mouth was covered by one of the guards' hands and was dragged away in a disgraceful manner.

The bull rod was made from the bones of a middle level eight horned bull and a low-level dragon scorpion. Dragon scorpions were known to kill with one bite and could run really fast and the 8 horned bull had majestic strength but in the end, it was still caught by a prince 800 years ago and he made this rod from the two animals.

Now, this rod was going to be used on Li Hua who was still in beginner level 2. It's even a great feat for her to achieve considering the fact that she had no resources or time to cultivate.

One lash of this rod on her body could fracture all her ribs and another would cut her in half. Normally, concubines and even the emperor only ordered one stroke but Chunhua's ordering of 70 meant she wanted them squashed into a meat patty.

The passing maids could only shudder and run off to hide. They already were holding candles for the other unfortunate Lan.

Back in the cold palace, Theresa was weeping for she was not going to ever see her parents anymore.

She was her parents' only child for life! How were they gonna survive? Especially her mama who doted on her much more than her papa.

What about her bestie, Marabella Santiago? How will she go on? They had been best friends since elementary school. And her beloved sushi, pizza, and her doll, Lovina, she'd never see them again.

Even her idol could be no more seen. She felt the whole world hated her if not of all people, why was she the only one fit to come here?

Could it be that the deceased Han Fei Fei caused the plane crash in the process of trying to summon her?

Looking around the old, shabby, room, she saw the book the deceased pointed at before dying and vanishing.

She then got up from the shaky bed and walked towards it but a few inches away from the book, she suddenly fell down holding her head.

She was seeing a vision of two girls being dragged down to the special torture room.

Both were gagged and blindfolded. There were bruises forming at their wrists due to the way the guards roughly held their hands.

Theresa's heart began to ache greatly at this sight and she roared loudly.

Unfortunately, no one would hear her since the cold palace was made to be soundproof. Theresa kept roaring for 3 minutes before fainting, blood flowing from her mouth and eyes. Somewhere in the marketplace was Ren who had disguised himself as a middle-aged nobleman inexpensive clothes.

He still looked handsome in this disguise that some young maidens and middle-aged women could not help but wanna snatch him home and keep him for themselves.

It was evident on their love-struck faces.

However, the object of admiration pretended not to see. He had bought 16 outing clothes, four nightgowns, and 3 pairs of lady shoes earlier when he disguised as a middle-aged lady. Now disguised as a middle-aged man that even made some youths around want to hide under rocks in shame, he was heading to the jewelry shop close by.

When he finally entered, he was welcomed by a blushing female receptionist/sales girl.

Ren had picked 3 golden bell-shaped hairpins,2 pairs of golden leather belts, a golden comb and rings.

"Ah! That should be enough to satisfy that savage mistress" he thought as he kept the things he bought in his storage ring to the awe of some in the shop. Some pretended to be happy and even commended him for buying jewelry for his wife.

Ren nearly choked when they said 'wife'.

Man! He is clearly single. Can't they see it?

Everything he bought at the jewelry shop amounted to 100 gold coins but he did not mind dropping a pearl before walking out of the shop empty-handed. He need not worry about food as he had bought her freshly cooked noodles from a not so top-notch restaurant.

Now he was good to go, so he walked into a lonely alley with a sly smile. After going in a little deeper, he stopped walking.

"Come out, "he said not looking back.

Immediately 3 men jumped down from the roof of a house wearing mean expressions but Ren only laughed coldly in his heart.

"You call that scary? I give you just one star in acting" he thought to mock them.

"My fellow man, you've got something wonderful there," said the oldest among the 3 men. He was wearing a green gown and white trousers.on his waist was the waist tag that read

"Arrow".

"Wow! Are you talking about my cock? You've got great eyes. My cock is really wonderful. Would you like to try it?"Ren asked as if he did not know what they talking about.

"We're not perverted like you. Now give us the ring."The other man demanded.

"Ring? But that's meant for my grandma"Ren replied looking hesitant to give them anything"You better treasure your life and give that ring to us or else..." the one wearing black amongst the three was cut short by Ren.

"Look! I bought two rings. One for my Grandma and the other for my lovely wife. Isn't it a sin to snatch a poor man's belongings?"asked Ren looking sad but it didn't go well with the greedy men whose eyes revealed strong killing intent. Seeing them like this Ren shook his head.

"You want the rings right?"He asked.

"No need to stall for time, "said the one in green

"I have only one condition."

"Say it"the 3 spat in unison.

"Ok!I have a whip here," said Ren as he withdrew his bone whip from the storage ring which made them greedier and more impatient.

"This is an heirloom but it requires me to be in saint stage to use it.I'm already this old, having trash grade roots,...I...please take it and let these rings go. They're very vital"Ren 'pleaded'.

"Enough! Finish him Han Ru."ordered the one in green.

"Yes brother"Han Ru said cracking his knuckles."Fellow next time don't chew more than you can. I am not so cruel so I'll leave you with an intact corpse"

"Intact corpse? Take this"Ren threw the bone whip towards Han Ru and then brought out a chair on which he sat on.

"You can only get my ring if you defeat my whip. When you do please wake me up" Ren said creating a barrier around him . Then he brought out a table on which he rested his head.

The three obviously were irked beyond words.

"Just a mere whip?"Han Ru caught the whip but what stunned him and his two brothers next was that the whip began to vibrate and emit red light and electricity. You don't need to guess what happened. Han Ru was electrocuted to death even all his clothes had long disappeared.

Han Ru fell down dead and smelling of roast chicken.

Seeing this the other two stared at each other and there was only one word in their heads.

"Run!"In the spring courtyard, Han Chunhua was thinking deeply about that horrible dream. How could it be? She had an evil destroyer talisman necklace that was supposed to give her good dreams. How the hell did it mutate into a terrible nightmare? She was still shaken by it.

It looks like she won't be able to sleep with her husband tonight.

And whoever did that to her--they should just wait! She will feed their flesh to her wild cat.

With that, she lay back on her bed but did not sleep. She was formulating a way to catch the one who caused the nightmare.

******

Back in the cold palace, Theresa had re-opened her eyes due to a very strong headache. What came into her view was the vision of Li Hua and Lan being hit by the bull rod just once.

She could see that their ribs were broken and even their arms had dislocated. They couldn't scream due to the gag but it was evident they held not much hope for life.

Why does she feel so close to them? The pain in her chest...

Suddenly lots of strange memories flooded her brain and she came into realization.

They once served the deceased Han Fei when she was still at her father's house but were forced to serve the evil Han Chunhua when she married the emperor. Sometimes, they'd sneak to See Han Fei in her isolated courtyard and encourage her. They were a source of joy and hope to her but at this moment they were about to be killed.

Theresa immediately got up from the ground.

"Those bastards must pay" she yelled.

********

In the alley, Ren opened his eyes due to a slight pain in his chest.

"Mistress! I need to go see her now" he muttered in panic.

Looking at those who were being chased by his flying bone whip, he sighed and created a barrier trapping the two men in it.

All the whip had to do was play with them for a while. Making sure that all was 'fine' he left riding on a sword which he did not need to do but, of course, he needs to show off.

Flying swords are considered treasures and if any sect has one or two it was a very good thing.

Now he's got something urgent to do although he doesn't deem it too urgent.

"The savage mistress is in danger"