The Next Empress? pt. 2

(Narrator's pov)

The prime minister took a bottle from his sleeve and pushed it across the table towards the fifth prince. From afar, it looked like any ordinary medicine bottle. But if one were to take a closer look, one could tell that the design on the bottle wasn't one from the kingdom. 

The fifth prince reached out and took the bottle. He examed it before asking.

"Are you sure that this will work?"

Prime minister: "Yes, your highness. I'm sure this will work. I have never once heard the moon storm fail its job."

"Moon storm? What on earth are they trying to do?" I thought

Fifth prince: "Good. This time, I'll definitely teach that little girl a lesson. She thinks she can look down on me just because she has people backing her up? Huh!"

"Ahhhh, so I'm their target." 

The two men continued their conversation for about another 15 minutes before the fifth prince left the room. However, he did not leave the mansion afterward. Instead, he took a path that led to the woods behind the mansion. I flew after him, and we ended up at a small house. From the looks of it, the house was built a long time ago. I landed on a branch nearby and watched as the fifth prince entered the house. 

Voice: "Your highness! You're here. I've been waiting for you."

Fifth prince: "Of course. How could I keep you waiting."

Turns out that it was the prime minister's daughter who was waiting in the house for him. I wonder how often they had these secret meetings? 

I continued to listen to their conversation and heard some interesting things.

RuoLan: "Your highness, when will you get rid of the girl? She's getting on my nerves."

Fifth prince: "Soon. Soon my dear. My dear ninth brother is next as soon as I get rid of her and her family."

RuoLan: "(giggling)... Good. I'm waiting to see the day when the Ming clan falls. How dare they look down on us just because they have the emperor's favor."

"Huh. So this is their plan." I thought

The two of them continued their conversation, and one thing led to another. The next thing I knew, I heard things I didn't want to hear. So, to avoid tainting my ears, I flew away. Who knows, maybe their wedding will be moved up due to some good news.

When I returned to my office, I finished the other reports left on my desk. As I was working, Bai Yang stopped by again. This time he brought a cold glass of tea.

Bai Yang: "Drink this. I'll give back some energy."

Me: "Thank you. By the way, have someone keep an eye on Han RuoLan as well. Especially if she visits the doctor or calls upon one."

Bai Yang: "I understand. But... is the fifth prince trying to harm her as well?"

Me: "No. It won't do him any good to lose his biggest supporter. However, it would be better for him to find a way to tie them to him forever."

Bai Yang: "You mean..."

I nodded my head, and Bai Yang understood what was going on. He quickly left and went to assign someone to the new mission. After he left, I returned to doing my work and drinking tea. A couple of hours later and I was finally done with work. So, I packed everything up and headed back home.

When I got home, father and brother weren't back yet. So I had some time to rest and get some stuff done. When it was almost time for father and brother to come go, I checked on dinner. However, on my way to the kitchen, I ran into uncle Su.

Me: "Uncle Su, what's going on?"

Uncle Su: "My lady, there is a letter for you."

Me: "For me? Who is it from?"

Uncle Su: "It's from your grandpa."

Uncle Su handed me the letter, and I opened it up.

Letter: "Ling'er, I will be late to your treatment for about a day or two. We ran out of the herb that you need. I will be to have someone go get some more. Don't worry. I prepared another medicine to help you hold off for a while."

It turns out that we ran out of herbs. Missing an herb or exchanging it for another one was risky to try. One wrong move, and I could die. I looked back at uncle Su, who handed me a small bottle. I thanked him and went on my way.

A little while later, father and brother came home, and we all had dinner together. As we ate, we talked about our day, and father and brother were both very surprised to hear about my little adventure today. They knew that the fifth prince was ambitious, but they never thought that it was to that extent. 

After dinner, I went to take a bath before taking my medicine. One more day of work, and then I would take the next couple of days off. Before going to bed, I called Bai Yang over to help me take care of some things.

(5 minutes later)

Bai Yang: "Greetings, my lady."

Me: "Bai Yang, help me look into a type of drug called moon storm. Also, help me find a girl from the brothel. Someone reliable, someone that looks similar to me."

Bai Yang: "From the brothel? Is this related to the fifth prince?"

Me: "Hmmm. I suspect that the drug is another aphrosadic. I'm sure that he will pay me a visit soon."

Bai Yang: "I understand."

Me: "Oh, and bring me the reports. I'll work on them while I'm home."

Bai Yang: "Understood."

With that, he left, and I turned in for the night. The next day, I went back to the barracks to watch over the evaluation. It was bright and early when the test began. There were only 1500 men in the ghost army, and 500 were stationed outside the capital. Every six months, the men would do a rotation so that those who hadn't seen their families in a while could reunite with them. Meanwhile, the men in the capital would train and improve their skills, preparing for anything that could happen.

The evaluation was split into combat, archery, and horseback riding. Anyone who was deployed has to master all three categories. Besides Zhi Xuan and me, I had a few more senior-ranking soldiers. Since the test had three parts, I assigned each person to a group and had them overwatch the eval. As for me, I would move around to see how everyone was doing in general. 

I started out with the combat group. There were various weapons that the men could use. Each was able to choose what they preferred and trained with it. Having a variety is always a good thing. During combat, the men were tested to see how well they could react and defend themselves. On the battlefield, weapons had no eyes, and humans didn't exist. All that was on the battlefield was winner and loser. 

As I watched the men, I saw that their training had progressed smoothly. Of course, no one was perfect, but they showed that their efforts had paid off. While I walked around, one particular person caught my eye. His skills were better than most. However, he seemed to be the youngest of the batch.

Me: "Zhi Xuan, who is the guy over there?"

Zhi Xuan looked over to who I was pointing at. It took him a while, but he said.

"Ahh... You must be talking about xiao Chen."

Me: "Xiao Chen?"

Zhi Xuan: "Oh, his name is MuChen. However, everyone calls him xiao Chen cause he's the youngest."

(Xiao in Chinese means little.)

Me: "I see. How old is he?"

Zhi Xuan: "Hmmm. I think he's 20 this year."

Me: "Indeed. Alright, let's move on."

In the ghost army, there were really no age limits. One could enter as young as 15 years old. However, they must fit the requirements. The ghost army was the secret weapon of the Ming kingdom. Not just anyone could join. One must prove that they are skilled enough, and even then, if they didn't pass the test on the art of war and loyalty, they weren't allowed to join. Due to all the requirements, most people who joined the army were at least 20. All men were chosen from the imperial army, so they had the essential training to be a soldier.

The evaluation took a couple of hours, and by the time it was over, most of the day had gone by. I returned to my tent, and my senior officers brought in the results. They also gave me a report of their own based on the observations that they had made throughout the day. After listening to everyone, I dismissed them, and everyone left for the day. 

Since I would be able to come back for a few days, I ended up staying late to finish up the paperwork for the evaluations. New groups are usually assigned within a day or two of the test. If I didn't finish them now, there would be a delay in the new training. 

As soon as I finished my work, I quickly headed home. I got home around the same time as my father and brother. We got changed and sat down to have dinner together, chatting and enjoying time together.

After dinner, I returned early for the night. I went over to the bathroom and got into the pool. 

(Narrator's pov)

The days were getting colder, so the water temperature was warmer. After a long day of work, the warm water helped relax her muscles and mind. BaiLing watched the steam float up from the surface as she sat in the pool and had her back against the wall. As BaiLing pushed the water around, she couldn't help but think of what had happened the back couple of weeks. So many events had played out, some more related to each other than others. However, the cause of it all was the return of the ninth prince. Sometimes, she couldn't tell whether he, himself was a blessing or a curse. 

She then shook her head and pushed it out of her mind. BaiLing leaned back and closed her eyes, trying to relax as much as possible. The less stress she put onto her body, the less pain she would feel over the next few days.

After getting out of the pool, she dries herself off and puts on her clothes. Then she got into bed and went to sleep. However, less than 3 hours later, she woke up in horrendous pain. She couldn't hold back the pain and screamed out loudly.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

This woke everyone in the mansion. Everyone working for the Ming clan knew of their history and everything their masters had to endure. The servants all knew that around this time of the month, BaiLing would retreat for a couple of days. However, they have never heard her scream this loudly before. Not knowing what had happened, they quickly got up and went to find her father and brother. But, before they even made it halfway, the father and son were already running towards her courtyard.

On their way to BaiLing courtyard, Zhi Chen asked his dad.

"Dad, what happened to BaiLing?"

Jia Le: "I don't know. Let's hurry and go check on her."

Soon after, they arrived at BaiLing's courtyard. The two burst into her room only to see that she was in the form of a small monkey. Zhi Chen ran up to her and shook her. BaiLing looked up at her brother and gave a small cry of pain.

Zhi Chen: "Ling'er, what's wrong with you? Are you all right? Why are you in this form?"

Jia Le: "Chen'er, let me check on her."

Zhi Chen moved out of the way, and their father moved closer to see how his daughter was.

Jia Le: "Ling'er, Ling'er? How are you?"

BaiLing looked up at her dad and held onto one of his fingers. She was in so much pain that she couldn't control what she was doing and what form she was in.

Jia Le: "Did you take something different than usual?"

BaiLing nodded her head, and he turned around and told Zhi Chen to go and find their grandpa. Zhi Chen left immediately, and about 20 minutes later, he and their grandpa came running back to her room.

Li Qiang: "What's going on? How is she?"

Jia Le: "Dad. Ling'er is better now, but she was in a lot of pain earlier. She still can't turn back into her human form."

Li Qiang went over and checked on BaiLing. From what he could tell, her pulse was the same as the last few times. Her symptoms didn't match up with what she had experienced before. The only thing different from before was the new medicine he had given her.

Li Qiang: "It seems like her body didn't adjust well to the new medicine I gave her. Otherwise, she is alright. I still need to wait for the herbs to arrive before I can start her treatment. For now, I'll try to ease her pain. We can move on from there."

Both the father and son nodded and let the grandpa do his job. A little while later, BaiLing returned to her normal form. However, her face was still scrunched up with pain. However, seeing how she was better than before was a relief to everyone. After making sure that she was comfortable, the three men left the room to let her get some rest.

Sitting outside in her garden, the three discussed what they had to do moving forward. 

Li Qiang: "Tomorrow, I'll have Yang Su go and see if he can pick up the medicine. It may be quicker this way."

Zhi Chen: "Okay, I'll take a day off tomorrow and take of Ling'er until you are ready."

Jia Le nodded his head and looked back and his daughter's room. Whenever she was in pain, he felt like he had broken his promise to his wife. A promise to keep their children safe. A promise to let them grow up happy, even if she wasn't there with them. 

Li Qiang reached out and patted Jia Le's shoulder and said.

"Don't worry. I'll do my best to treat her. In the meantime, make sure she gets lots of rest."

Jia Le nodded, and Li Qiang got up to go back home. Dawn would come a few hours, and everyone needed their sleep for another day at work. Jia Le and Zhi Chen returned to their rooms and tried to get some rest. However, just as anyone would expect, rest and sleep did not come to them as worry and fear ran rampant in their minds.

When the time came to go to work, Zhi Chen prepared a letter to notify of his absence for the day. Yet, before anyone could go anywhere or do anything, both father and son received news that they needed to be present at the court meeting. Zhi Chen had to go and get ready to head into the palace without any other choice. Although, he did not want to leave his sister behind. He knew what she would say to him if she found out that he had skipped work because of her.

Before the two men left, they called Bai Yang to come and keep an eye on her. Knowing that she would be in good hands, the two could go to work with a bit of peace of mind.