CHAPTER 14

She arrives at the palace and rushed inside. She found the physician finishing making the diagnosis.

“Your Highness,” they said.

“Is he fine?” she asked.

“The crown prince will be fine, he just needs some rest and take the medicine I will prescribe,” the Imperial physician said.

“That’s good, you may leave us,” she said as she sat next to her son.

She held his hand and looked at him. He was in pain; she could see it.

“What happened to you? Who hurt you like that?” she asked tears swelling in her eyes.

“I bumped into the Saintess today,” he said looking terrified.

“What happened?” she asked now being worried.

“I insulted her after she refused to show her respect to me. Who wouldn’t respect the crown prince? She then did this to me,” he said and she felt her world shattering.

“That evil woman shows no respect to anyone, son. Even your father respects her and not the other way around. You should have attended the banquet; you could have seen how arrogant she was. Maybe you wouldn’t be suffering like this,” she said looking at her poor son.

She felt very bad that her son had to suffer in the hands of that evil woman but she was going to solve that soon and make sure the root of all her problems will be uprooted. By then she will have nothing to worry about and watch that Noble Consort suffer again the pain of losing her son once again.

“Mother, we are royalty and she is just some master in the pugilistic world. She should show respect to us and not the other way around. When I become Emperor, I will make sure I remove that palace from the world forever,” her son said and she felt very proud of him even when she knew it would be impossible to go up against that palace.

They once tried and the whole city became a mess, they lost the battle to that woman. She was the most powerful and deadly martial art master she had ever known. She wasn’t a force to be reckoned easily with.

“I know you will make me proud. Now just rest and leave everything to me, I will make sure I avenge your humiliation today. Now rest and recuperate,” she said leaving his bed.

“I will not see you out,” he said.

“Rest,” she said and left her son’s palace.

She was going to make sure she avenges what that evil woman had done to her son. Why was she keeping on causing more troubles for her?

She returned to her palace and settled down. Her dinner was brought up to her. She ate it alone since the Emperor wont becoming to her chambers in the end. After finishing her food, she retired to bed. She was sleeping when she heard some very disturbing news. She woke up and her maid was there.

“What’s happening? Why the noise so early in the morning?” she asked.

“The inn has been burnt down and there are no survivors,” she said.

“Which inn?” the Empress asked.

“The one the Saintess was staying in, they can’t put out the fire and no one seems to be alive,” her maid explained.

She felt very relieved upon hearing that, her cause of suffering was finally gone and now she will finally rest in peace. What better way of celebrating this day than waking up and go to see the look on that wretched Noble Consort’s face?

“Prepare my bath,” she said with a happy face.

She took her bath and wore her official robes. It was going to be a great and long day after all.

***

All he ever wanted was to get his long-lost son back. He thought that by announcing that his son was back he could get to catch the people that were responsible for his assassination back then but now he got killed again. Who would be so evil to burn down an inn with so many people in it?

He didn’t really like the Saintess since she didn’t respect power and was so powerful but since she saved his son and gave him a woman whom he loved; he had set all his grudges aside. Even if he wanted to fight against her now, he won’t be able to win the battle. The Saintess was too strong and powerful that it wasn’t wise for him to launch a direct attack on her.

Now they were both dead and gone and he couldn’t find who to ask or arrest. The court was so busy and he was supposed to get ready for an internal war now that the Saintess has died in his city and after he invited her to the banquet.

He had always suspected that the Empress and her father were responsible and now they had hit again. He knew exactly what they did to his son, how evil and cruel they were. They caused him to lose a son he loved so much and yet he couldn’t detain them and interrogate them without any proof.

Because of him, he lost a chance to reunite with his son again. His Noble Consort had fainted upon hearing the news and she has still not wakened up. He didn’t want to lose everything in just a day. He couldn’t risk it, something had to be done.

“The officials are here,” his personal attendant said; upon hearing the arrival of the officials, he got ready for court. He walked into the hall where all the officials bowed down until he was seated.

“You may rise,” he said.

The officials rose and the court session begun.

“We need to tighten the security of the city because we don’t know when the Lotus palace might attack us in retaliation of what happened,” another court official said.

“We need to investigate who is behind what just happened. That was the Saintess and the long-gone prince that just died in that fire,” another one said.