THE CANNONS GO OFF

            The sun having set, Cao Zhaoyi and Han Touzhou were secretly seated in her Chambers while the two of them gazed at a couple of papers in front of them.

            "So I asked you and the others to meet up?" She muttered.

            "There's only one way to prove if the others fell victim." Han Touzhou responded and the woman stretching her hand first she picked one of the papers and held it over the fire, the right corner being lightly struck by the heat from the flame but there was nothing.

            "These aren't the papers we use." Cao Zhaoyi remarked as she put it back down.

            "You received a message?" He asked.

            "Yes?" She responded as she picked a note from underneath the mat that covered her table and placed it before him while Han Touzhou holding it in his hands he looked through it.

            "It's strange, it's like my calligraphy." He said.

            "Yang Guifei wanted all of us to meet at this place, it couldn't have been for nothing." Cao Zhaoyi mentioned, "but in deed as I hoped, she remains human after all and her curiosity had the best of her." She said.

             "But you won't turn up, and neither shall our people, she'll only become more suspicious." Han Touzhou added.

            "Not at all." Cao Zhaoyi responded, "someone will have to turn up after all." She assured him.

            "How certain can you be Ma'am?" Han Touzhou asked her.

            "You just wait patiently, I promise you that you'll enjoy the show." Cao Zhaoyi responded as she smiled at herself ghastly.

             Yang Guifei seated in her room, before her Bao Langya, Yang Cishan and Beiyuan along with Manyin anf Xiaoyang stood facing her.

             "You called us Ma'am?" They asked.

             "Yes." She confirmed.

             "Ma'am, the longer we take then we could as well lose them." Yang Cishan mentioned.

             "You are going nowhere." Yang Guifei mentioned.

             "Why Ma'am?" They asked her.

             "This Palace is helpless without you, I am helpless without you, besides, I can't have you hunting down the Rebels every time, every move that we make either political or personal could stake our lives, our dreams and ambitions." She responded.

             "So Your Grave is asking us to do nothing?" Bao Langya inquired.

             "Yes." She responded.

             "But Ma'am........?" Yang Cishan mentioned.

             "There's something else that I am going to need you to do for me." She responded. 

             "How can we be of service?" Beiyuan inquired.

             "There's another residence I am going to ask you to watch." Yang Guifei responded, "watch the Imperial Princess Yuping." She added.

             "Princess Yuping?" Yang Cishan inquired.

             "Bao Langya, I want you to secretly escort the Palace staff to the Grand Palace." She added.

             "That's His Majesty's personal residence." Manyin mentioned.

             "Yes." She replied.

             "But Ma'am......?" Xiaoyang also voiced her protest.

             "There's one place I want the rest of you to gather." Yang Guifei responded.

             "Where Ma'am?" They inquired from her.

             "Around Cao Zhaoyi's Palace." She responded while the rest of the others looked at her very much surprised.

            Cao Zhaoyi and Han Touzhou still seated quietly Linxiang made her way inside the room and bowing her head to the both of them she eventually stood upright.

            "Ma'am, Your Excellency." She gracefully said.

            "What is it?" Cao Zhaoyi asked. 

            "We have received news, the Imperial State Tribunal has dispatched it's troops and they have started moving to the secret location." She responded.

            "And His Majesty?" She asked.

            "He's in the Grand Palace." Linxiang replied.

            "It won't be safe for His Majesty tonight." She remarked as she turned to Han Touzhou, "Your Excellency if I may, someone must convince our enemies of His Majesty's whereabouts and your presence in the Palace will merely jeopardize our position." She said.

            "You are now banishing me?" Han Touzhou inquired.

            "I wouldn't." Cao Zhaoyi responded, "if however you wish to be safe in the Imperial Palace then the best place would surely be His Majesty's study, if he wishes to be there alone, no one will even dare to disturb him." She assured him.

           "Very well." Han Touzhou responded.

           "Have His Excellency escorted outside." Cao Zhaoyi muttered and the old man standing up, he bowed his head to her and withdrew from the room while being accompanied by Linxiang.

            Yang Guifei was seated inside her Chambers alone holding a small piece of paper in her hand while she stared at the candle that was lit before her.

            Slowly she lifted it and positioned it over the flame and while the heat struck it a small unclear black insignia of a dragon appeared before her eyes when someone who was veiled in a dark cloak appeared before her.

            "You summoned me Ma'am?" He asked.

            "I trust your skills above everyone else." She responded.

            "I didn't let you down Ma'am." He said.

            "Minister Xia kept his side of the deal, I love the way that you get your job done most of the time there's something that I want you to help me find." She responded.

             "What is it Ma'am?" He asked.

             "I want you to get into Han Touzhou and get me a book, it looks like a ledger and in it it should contain a series of these properties." She said as she placed a smaller book on the table which the stranger took.

             "Properties?" He inquired.

             "They each belonged to one of the deceased Seigniors and if you can not get it burn the house down." She mentioned.

             "What if Han Touzhou is there?" He asked.

             "Then you just let him be and return and report to me." Yang Guifei responded.

             "Yes Ma'am." The man replied as he turned around and walked out of the room while she raised the paper that she'd partially burnt over the candle while she smiled at it.

              "Alright." She said to herself, "I shall scoop up all those miscreants and see what you shall do with your men in my hands." She whispered as she smiled at herself ghastly.

             Peng Zishou and a couple of guards from the Imperial State Tribunal stationed themselves outside a house where a number of Courtiers with their faces veiled were making into an entrance.

            "Han Touzhou's supporters are here." One of his subordinates mentioned.

             "Who would have thought that they would come here on their own!" He exclaimed.

            "It doesn't matter anyway, what matters is that we have them." Peng Zishou responded as they slowly closed in on the residence.

            Linxiang returned into the room where Cao Zhaoyi was seated and waiting for her.

            "His Excellency is in the Imperial Study." She said to her.

            "Very well." Cao Zhaoyi muttered, "I understand that His Majesty might not be feeling well at the moment, invite him over to my Palace." She ordered.

           "Yes Ma'am." Linxiang responded and bowing her head she got out of the room.

       Emperor Ningzong in his personal Chambers he was lost in thought when Eunuch Deng walking in at the moment he bowed his head before him.

           "Your Majesty?" He said.

           "Please." The Emperor halted him and he ceased unwilling.

           "Don't let it bother you." He asserted and the latter hesitant his Head Lady walked in.

           "Your Majesty, Court Lady Linxiang us requesting to have an audience with you." She said to him.

           "I wish to be alone." The Emperor muttered.

          "She claims that it's very urgent." The old woman mentioned and hesitantly the Emperor acquiesced to her presence which she fulfilled nearly immediately.

           "Your Majesty." Linxiang said as she arrived through the Emperor's quarters.

           "What's the matter?" He asked the young girl.

           "Cao Zhaoyi wishes to have a word with Your Majesty." She responded.

           "She could have come here." The Emperor asserted.

           "Her Grace was worried that you might not be feeling well but now that I have seen you she claimed that she had a surprise she prepared for you in person." Linxiang spoke gently.

           "Alright then, I shall be on my way." Emperor Ningzong mentioned and the young woman bowing her head she turned around and looked at Eunuch Deng who was staring at her.

            "If you may excuse me Your Majesty?" He muttered.

            "You may go." Emperor Ningzong replied while the young man retired briefly from his service, hurrying behind the palace while holding a note under his sleeve, as he strode through a couple of dark corridors he arrived at a corner which upon negotiation, he was suddenly struck at the back and he fell unconscious.

            A number of Eunuchs dragging him they covered his face and tied his feet and hands and carrying him away slowly another stepped into his shoes and organising himself, he moved up to the Emperor's study.

            Walking in, he bowed his head to him.

            "Your Majesty." He said gracefully.

            "Where's Eunuch Deng?" The young man asked.

            "He is a bit unwell and has passed out." The young man replied.

            "Is that so?" Emperor Ningzong asked.

            "Yes." He confirmed, "I have been assigned to escort Your Majesty to Cao Zhaoyi's residence." He added.

            "Alright." The Emperor said and standing up, he moved around the table while the young man stepped aside for him to pass and leading the way outside the room, the young man looking back at his table he moved out of the room shortly after.

              The other Imperial State Tribunal guards at the time having surrounded the whole house in the deserted quarter of the town, they moved up to the doors and windows led by Peng Zishou.

              He took the first step and opened the door to storm inside the room while yelling only to be received by a group of veiled assassins.

               A fight broke between the two parties as they charged towards the Imperial State Tribunal guards and Peng Zishou in the lead then resisted capture unsheathing his second sword and holding it firmly in his left hand as well.

             He swang it magnificently as one advanced in his direction and with a decisive strike the latter was disarmed before him as the strife continued.

              Another pair charged at him with their blades ahead and himself bending he slid backwards until he approached the wall when he somersaulted and landed behind the two swinging his sword and severing their heads.

             "It was a trap." One of his subordinates concluded.

             "Send word to Yang Guifei." Peng Zishou ordered and the young man penetrating the Assassins, he made it out of the danger zone leaving his master and the others still vigorously fighting the masked men.

             Yang Guifei in her Chambers Manyin rushed in.

             "Ma'am?" She cried aloud as she bowed her head before her.

             "Why are you dismayed?" She inquired herself a bit strangely calm.

             "His Majesty has left the Grand Palace through the back door Ma'am, he's heading in the direction of Cao Zhaoyi's Palace." She responded.     

             "I see." Yang Guifei muttered.

             "Ma'am, do something, it's a bit strange that His Majesty has to meet her up at this late hour, who knows what he might do?" Manyin protested.

            "Really?" Yang Guifei asked and the young woman responded with silence, "Cao Zhaoyi is in deed a very good student." She said.   

            "How can you be calm Ma'am?" Manyin  asked her. 

            "Nothing good comes from haste, you wouldn't think that this strife isn't something that we were prepared for?" She replied.

            "Ma'am...!" Manyin wondered as she muttered under her breath while the latter stood up.

            "Take me to the Imperial Seal." Yang Guifei mentioned.

             "Yes Ma'am." Manyin replied and stepping aside, Yang Guifei walked past through the doors of her Chambers and descending the stairs with her retinue she charged in the direction of the Grand Palace while Linxiang at a distance happened to be watching everything.

             Emperor Ningzong arriving through the gates of Cao Zhaoyi's residence, he found the fairly old woman standing at the top of the staircase which led to her personal Chambers.

             Noticing his presence almost instantly she quickly descended and rushed over to his side and bowing her head he looked her in the eye.

           "Your Majesty?" She softly spoke to him.

           "You wished to see me?" He inquired.

           "Yes." She replied.

           "What's the matter?" He asked.

           "I don't think it's appropriate to discuss it here given that you have come a long way, allow me at least Sire, may I receive you inside?" She muttered while the Emperor considerate of how sincere she looked found himself in a difficult position that it was impossible for him to decline.

            "Alright." He agreed and mounting the stairs before her, she looked at the Eunuch behind him while he smiled bowing his head to her and she went after him shortly.

             The Emperor getting into the room he looked around at the tidy place and felt drawn in by the sweet smelling incense.

             She kept her footsteps light behind him until he settled at the table that had been filled with a variety of dishes.

              "What is this?" He asked.

              "Please have a seat first Your Majesty, I heard that you haven't been feeling well the past couple of days and that you have been skipping your meals, it's not the very best but at the very least have a try then perhaps I can find some peace." She responded and holding the small kettle of hot liquor, she poured him some in his small cup and he picked it up and took the first sip.

             Yang Guifei and her Retinue arriving outside the Grand Hall she halted in front of the servants who bowed their heads to her.

             "Where is His Majesty?" She asked.

             "Forgive us Ma'am." One responded hesitantly. 

             "Did you hear my question?" She asked again, "where Is His Majesty?" She insisted demandingly.

             "Court Lady Linxiang came to collect His Majesty but after that she left without him, the next thing we know, the Emperor was missing that it's likely that he went through the back door." One of the Eunuchs responded.

             "Open the Hall." She mentioned coldly and nearly everyone looking at her they were very surprised by her reaction and immediately complied without any hesitation.

              "I wish to be alone." Yang Guifei said and holding her hanfu, she ascended the stairs that led to the doors, throwing them open, she made an entrance into the dark room.

              The moment she was inside the already quiet room, she looked around at the Emperor's table where she saw the Imperial Jade seal stationed, it was itself glowing remarkably and the closer she got for a moment, she studied it.

              Resting her hands on the table, she rubbed it and with a halt in her footsteps, she moved behind the Emperor's seat for a moment before she bent down and picked up an empty golden scroll.

               Smiling at herself, she looked at it intensely for a moment while her eyes returned to the very seal she'd walked in onto.

              After a couple of drinks, Emperor Ningzong was already indulged into a very deep conversation with Cao Zhaoyi.

              "There's so much on your mind Sire." She pointed out at first.

              "It's very tragic." He responded as he took another sip.

              "I am listening." She assured him.

              "I am the ruler of the heavenly people but I can not control my very own people." He wailed, "they rebel against me, but I am too lenient, my heart is itself too soft, I am not one to be loved and cherished amongst them, after all their heart's deepest desires surpass the respect and honour that my office command." He added.

                "I understand Your Majesty." Cao Zhaoyi informed him.

              "But who have I to cry to?" He asked.

              "There's me Your Majesty." She insisted in front of him.

              "I am the Emperor and every feeling it can't be mass excitement or anger, look as appealing as I must be and if I am displeased it should be felt, no heartfelt expression, no emotions, no feeling, the throne is itself a prison of very many unspoken chains and the captivity of those iron chords is one that never ceases until death." He said to her while he picked up the cup and took another sip before stumbling onto the table and resting there upon it his head.

              She stood up from where she was seated and then got closer to him while she lifted his head and suddenly supported it on her lap.

             "For a moment, I want comfort." He said as he started to fall asleep.

             "Here I am." Cao Zhaoyi whispered to the young Emperor.

             "Yes." He appeared to agree with her in his drunken nature.

             "You never notice how much my heart breaks to see you like this Your Majesty, you wouldn't know how hurt I feel when I look at you, I burn from within a thousand and ten thousand times more, my love for you is no different from a bottomless pit where I enjoy falling endlessly every time nonetheless." She remarked.

              "Yang Guifei?" He suddenly called her and she surrendered her undivided attention.

              "Your Majesty." She responded in a sombre tone but she didn't seem prepared to show it even knowing that he wasn't in his right mind at the moment.

              "Don't leave me Yang Guifei." He kept on saying to himself as he took a couple of deep breaths his eyes closed at the moment and he himself he was asleep.

              "Yes Your Majesty." Cao Zhaoyi kept on saying to him, "sleep a little bit more, long enough to make me Your Empress." She remarked as she caressed his head lightly and softly when Linxiang walked into the room.

              "Ma'am?" She said bowing her head to her.

             "What is Yang Guifei doing?" She inquired.

             "Her Grace went to the Grand Palace Ma'am, she entered His Majesty's Chambers alone." The latter replied.

             "I see." Cao Zhaoyi remarked as she looked at the Emperor who was still lying on her lap.

            "Ma'am, she's aware that His Majesty isn't there she'll definitely come out here seeking him." Linxiang assured her mistress.

            "Let her." Cao Zhaoyi responded, "it's not like as though we shall simply let her have her way in." She added.

            "Ma'am, she'll break down those doors even if she has to do it." Linxiang pointed out.

            "Suppose she did, we have His Majesty in such a drunk state, he just needs to sign an appeal and consent at the very least, I shall become the Empress thereafter." Cao Zhaoyi mentioned as she smiled at herself ghastly.

            Yang Guifei's Retinue along with Manyin uneasily waiting outside, the doors of the Grand Hall were flung open and empty handed as she'd walked in, she walked out.

            "Ma'am." Everyone said to her as they bowed their heads.

            "Return to Yuxiangling Palace." She responded firmly that they all seemed surprised about her reaction while herself not waiting any longer, she descended the stairs while her retinue immediately fell in line and they accompanied her on her way out of the compound while she approached its gates where a couple of Imperial guards were stationed.

              She halted in front of them and themselves in recognition of her status, they paid her homeage.

              "Seal the gates and don't let anyone in." She ordered.

              "Yes Ma'am." They replied in unison and as they shut the gates she turned around and looked at the elevated building in a distance with a rather serious expression on her face before a full regiment of Imperial guards flocked the whole place.

             Content with their efforts Yang Guifei turned around and continued in her direction while Han Touzhou was still quietly seated in the Imperial Library's study himself feeling somewhat uneasy with a couple of memorials in his possession.

              Cao Zhaoyi still looking after the sleeping Emperor, Linxiang returned to her presence and bowing her head she turned to her.

             "Ma'am?" She spoke a bit hesitantly.

             "What's wrong with you?" She inquired from her.

            "Yang Guifei......" She halted half way uncertain of how best she would say it.

            "She seeks an audience with me?" Cao Zhaoyi assumed.

            "No Ma'am." Linxiang responded.

            "Then what is it?" Cao Zhaoyi inquired.

            "Her Grace just returned to Yuxiangling Palace." She responded that Cao Zhaoyi where she was seated she widened her eyes with surprise.

            "What!" She exclaimed aloud while she seemed puzzled herself.

            "There's something strange with Yang Guifei, she isn't the type of person that would jyst let this slide like that, she wouldn't just stay quiet." Linxiang mentioned.

             "Something isn't right." Cao Zhaoyi mentioned.

             "What are you going to do Ma'am?" Linxiang inquired from her.

             "Get me the Imperial Seal." Cao Zhaoyi responded.

             "What!" The latter seemed surprised.

             "Have the Imperial Seal brought to my residence on orders of His Majesty." Cao Zhaoyi mentioned as she smacked the table in front of her.

            "How certain are we that the guards will believe us?" Linxiang inquired and the young woman picking the golden token, she slid it across the table and showed it to the young woman.

            "This is His Majesty's token, with it you are free to do what you want and no one will stand in your way because as long as you have it and His Majesty is with us, everyone will trust that we have his mandate." Cao Zhaoyi responded.

             "Yes Ma'am." Linxiang said and bowing her head, she immediately withdrew from the room having ceased the token within her hands.

              "Very well Ma'am, I want to see, with His Majesty by my side, what's the worst that you could possibly do to me?" She flattered herself joyfully.

              Yang Guifei arriving in her Chambers she sat down.

             "Ma'am....?" Manyin about to talk to her she halted the young woman when Xiaoyang rushed through the doors of her Chambers in panic as well.

              "Bad News Ma'am." She mentioned and bowing her head, she offered her the letter in her possession which she opened and looked through its contents.

              "What is it Ma'am?" Manyin inquired.

              "The supporters of Han Touzhou and Cao Zhaoyi didn't meet as planned, the Imperial State Tribunal's forces fell into the hands of Assassins and fiercely resisted them." She responded.

             "That means that we couldn't possibly charge them for orchestrating a coup." Manyin mentioned.

             "We won't." Yang Guifei mentioned.

             "If it was all a scheme by Cao Zhaoyi, what did she hope to achieve?" Xiaoyang asked.

             "It was a distraction." Yang Guifei responded.

             "A distraction!" Manyin seemed surprised.

             "Haven't you realised it yet, the Emperor is in Cao Zhaoyi's residence and what happens there isn't something that we can see much better than her, she moves the Emperor and controls him, she intends to designate herself as the Empress." Yang Guifei asserted.

            "Impossible Ma'am, there needs to be a dinner for that to happen which dinner is tomorrow." Xiaoyang muttered.

            "Rules and regulations, statutes amended at times are meant to be broken, it was but an oral decree of His Majesty, the recent events must have pushed him to decide it much sooner for the better the people would feel, himself too vulnerable at the moment which of his actions will he reverse and we can not possibly forget this ourselves that there are people supporting Cao Zhaoyi we can't apprehend because we didn't catch, she was playing to this at least, we had the days, the time and everything accurate and all she needed to do was to turn everything to her advantage and that was by acting much sooner." Yang Guifei asserted.

             "That bitch." Xiaoyang cursed.

             "She's become a bit too smart herself." Yang Guifei remarked.

             "The Emperor is the most powerful piece of the game and unfortunately for us he happens to be under her control, once an Edict is advanced, it will be as good as over for us." Manyin said.

             "An Edict, yes." Yang Guifei muttered, "the end of us that won't be." She assured them.

              "How so Ma'am?" Xiaoyang inquired.

              "We shall proceed according to plan." Yang Guifei replied as she looked at Manyin, "Send for the Imperial physicians, Princess Yuping's Palace and later Cao Zhaoyi's shall be put under total lockdown with immediate effect." She ordered.

              "Yes Ma'am." Manyin replied and with her colleague, they both withdrew from the room.

             Linxiang and a couple of other ladies in waiting they approached the gates of the Grand Palace and jumping over the threshold they were set in the Courtyard as they approached the rest of the servants that stood on guard.

              Particularly charging up to one of the Emperor's Head Ladies she bowed her head to her.

             "How may we be of help Milady?" She asked gracefully.

             "We are here to transport the Imperial Seal to Cao Zhaoyi's residence." Linxiang responded.

             "Forgive me Milady, Yang Guifei gave us orders not to let anyone inside." The woman responded and the latter pulling out of her clothes the Golden token and showing it to the young woman, she was taken aback.

            "Milady....!" She exclaimed.

            "What do you say my dear?" Linxiang inquired and without any protests the servants moved aside  while Linxiang proudly walked into the Grand Hall along with her colleagues.

             Manyin arriving at the Imperial Sanatorium she greeted the Imperial physicians and nurses present.

              "How may we be of service." The Physician in charge inquired.

              "Yang Guifei beseeches your kind consideration Milord, the turn of events in the heart of the harem is out of hand and worse at the moment there is strange disease amongst the staff within the Imperial Princess Yuping's residence along with that of Cao Zhaoyi." She responded.

               "Don't worry Ma'am, we'll do our very best." The Imperial physicians replied.

              "We are all relying on your capable talents." Manyin remarked and bowing her head she moved away while the Head physician mobilizing all the others, they followed after her as they moved through the Forbidden City.

              Linxiang and the rest of the ladies within the Grand Hall looked around the whole place but there was no sign of the Imperial Seal.

            "It's not here." One said looking underneath the table.

            "It's not here." Another said walking in from the side Chamber.

            "Impossible." Linxiang muttered as she recalled having looked at it the past couple of hours and vividly recalling how Yang Guifei had departed without it in her possession for a moment she seemed confused.

            "Ma'am, could it be that Yang Guifei hid it?" She asked.

             "It seems." Linxiang responded and at that moment one of the ladies following her suddenly fell to the ground and unconscious that they all seemed alarmed.

             "Ping'er?" Her colleagues called her as they hurried around her but the latter unconscious and sweating profusely one of her friends holding her hand realised that there were a series of red spots on her body.

             "What's wrong with her?" Linxiang inquired and the rest of the general staff that were stationed outside moved in for a moment led by one of Beiyuan's subordinates.

             He looked at the hand from a distance without touching it.

             "It's a disease." He muttered, "it could be contagious." He said and his eyes widening at the moment he looked at Linxiang.

             "What are you talking about?" She inquired.

             "Forgive us Milady." The man replied and at that moment everyone else who was part of the Emperor's Retinue stepped out of the building and left the young man alone.

            "What are you doing?" Linxiang continued demanding at the top of her voice.

            "We are shadows in this Palace and we have rules and regulations that we are obliged to follow, someone has collapsed within this room so before the Imperial physicians arrive we shall have to bar you from leaving this vicinity." The young man asserted.

             "You can't do that, I have the Golden token." Linxiang said.

             "But the life of His Majesty is in the balance and we can not compromise the father of the nation with the wishes of a Palace hussy." The young man said and quickly withdrawing from the room while Linxiang approached the doors she was shut within with the rest of her friends.

            The young man stepping outside at the top of the staircase he looked at Xiaoyang who was standing below and bowing his head to her with a smile, she returned the salutation before she turned around and walked out herself.

             Cao Zhaoyi impatiently seated in her room with the Emperor at the time still sound asleep, the doors to her Chambers were flung open and one of her Ladies in waiting made her way through to her presence.

             "Ma'am?" She said panicking while the latter turned her attention to her.

              "What's it now?" She asked.

              "The Imperial Princess Yuping's residence has been surrounded by Imperial guards and physicians, it appears as though there has been a problem." The young woman replied when Cao Zhaoyi herself surprised to hear that she stood up immediately.

              "How dare they?" She asked when lashing out of the building she flung the doors open and charging out of the Courtyard at the moment she negotiate a corner with her retinue into the direction of her daughter's residence. 

               Having passed at the moment, Yang Cishan along with Manyin and another set of guards moved into the direction of Cao Zhaoyi's Palace where they barged through her gates armed to the fullest surrounded the whole area.

             "What are you doing hope?" Some of the servants inquired.

             "Forgive us  as well but we are following orders and taking necessary precautions." Yang Cishan mentioned and at that moment, the Imperial physicians walking in a short while latter, one of the ladies in waiting immediately collapsed to the ground unconscious.

              Everyone else falling into panic her colleagues held her while one of the physicians quickly rushed to her side and ceasing her arm and revealing it to the world there was a red rash on it which startled everyone.  

             "How come?" Some of them asked themselves.

              "There's a plague in the vicinity." The physician said, "while we are still investigating the disease, His Majesty shall have to be transferred from this danger to safety." He asserted and Yang Cishan hearing that he moved past the crowd of attendants and forcefully made his way into the room where they rushed to the drunk and semiconscious Emperor in the bed and they bore him out.

              Cao Zhaoyi rushing through the entrance to her daughter's residence she was greeted by a set of Imperial physicians who bowed their heads to her.

              "Ma'am?" They said.

              "Step aside." She insisted.   

              "Pardon me Ma'am but we can't." Beiyuan said.

              "And what right have you to stop me?" She asked.

              "I have every right Ma'am, I am obliged by the rules which govern the Palace and the Inner Court to shield Your Grace from any probable danger." Beiyuan responded.

             "What probable danger is my daughter to me that you have to bring in Imperial guards into the harem?" Cao Zhaoyi inquired on top of her voice.

              "We are investigating a dangerous disease in the Palace and had your Grace been concerned that much about Her Imperial Highness you would have closely monitored her health, her life is on the line Ma'am and we are not sure if it's contagious as of yet but until the Investigations are done Ma'am, no one will be welcome to exist in even the slightest bit of proximity to her." Beiyuan assured.

               "You shall move aside or I shall move you myself." Cao Zhaoyi said as she got closer.

               "Will Your Grace bear the consequences of your actions?" Beiyuan inquired.

               "Will you bear the consequences for your actions of defiance against your senior?" Cao Zhaoyi asked him and the young man quiet for a moment he stepped aside.

               "Be my guest Ma'am." He said, "but once you go in we shall confine you with Her Highness." He assured her and paying little attention she was raising the first step.

               "That means that you won't return to Your Palace, that means that His Majesty will have to be alone tonight." He went ahead to inform her and it was at that instant that she recalled the words that they had told her before.

              "I am going to rise to that Phoenix throne Ma'am, you just wait, and besides, the one person that shall deliver it to my hands shall be none other than yourself." Yang Guifei had once mentioned to her.

             "Her Grace has returned to the Yuxiangling Palace." She recalled Linxiang telling her and withdrawing her foot immediately she smiled at herself.

             "That bitch." She muttered under her breath as she turned around and looked at Beiyuan who was smiling at her.

             "Return to my residence." She ordered her Retinue.

             "What Ma'am?" One of her Ladies in waiting asked.

              "You heard what I said clearly, it isn't like I was stuttering." She said to her.

              "Yes Ma'am." The latter replied hesitantly as she led the others away at a distance while Cao Zhaoyi got closer to Beiyuan.

              "This is not yet over, we shall get even." She assured him.

             "This is Her Grace's game, and it only gets over when she says it is." Beiyuan responded and Cao Zhaoyi turning, she immediately descended the stairs and rushed in the direction of her residence while they watched her.

              Yang Guifei seated in her Chambers the doors were flung open and Yang Cishan with a couple of other people moved in supporting the Emperor in their hands.

               Feeling weak and opening his eyes a but he looked at her while she stood up where she was and bowed her head.

               "Your Majesty." She said.

               "At ease." The Emperor said as he was helped into the main seat while Yang Guifei looking at the others she nodded her head and they immediately withdrew from the room.

               Cao Zhaoyi arriving through the gates of her residence she halted when she saw a couple of physicians loitering about the place.

               "What are we going to do Ma'am." Her lady in waiting inquired.

              "Once we set foot inside they'll surely forbid us from leaving but it's possible that Yang Guifei might be here, hurry and inform the Left Chancellor that he should rush to Yang Guifei's residence at once and find a way of stopping her in case she is there." She responded.

              "Yes Ma'am." The young woman replied as the latter walking up to her quarters she halted in front of her doors.

               "Open." She ordered calmly and without any resistance the doctors present along with the Eunuchs complied while she rushed right in where they ceased the momentum to lock her inside.

             "Open this door?" She ordered but they didn't seem moved.

              "Didn't you hear me?" She demanded.

              "Forgive us Ma'am but we are investigating a disease within the Palace, Your Grace's residence was infected and you must be quarantined until the situation is fully assessed." They told her.

             "This is all that Yang Guifei's doing, I want to talk to her, where is she?" She demanded furiously.

              "Forgive us Ma'am but we can not do that." They responded whioe ahe violently hammered the door that was right in front of her.

             Her Lady in waiting negotiated a sharp corner and made her way through the entrance and of the Imperial study where Han Touzhou was waiting with a couple of memorials.

              She pushed the doors open and startling the old man he raised his eyes and looked at her.

             "What's the matter with you?" He asked.

             "Forgive me Your Excellency but this is a matter of great urgency." She responded and the latter stood up.

              "Yang Guifei was aware of what we were doing and Her Grace night be held captive in her residence as we speak so certainly the Emperor might be with Yang Guifei." She said, "I was asked to request you to find all the possible ways necessary to stop her." She muttered as she fell to her knees.

               "What about Linxiang?" Han Touzhou inquired, "where is she?" He insisted on trying to know.

              "She was supposed to secretly bear the Imperial Seal to Cao Zhaoyi's residence but she hasn't returned." The latter replied.

               "Ask Lin Xue here." Han Touzhou said as he picked up the memorials that were close to him in a panicking manner while he strode through the doors headed for Yang Guifei's residence.

                Emperor Ningzong slowly regaining consciousness he was feeling weak when he started to recognize Yang Guifei who was close to him.

              "Guifei?" He called to her while she ceased his right hand and put it on her cheek for him to feel,

              "I am here." She said, "I am here Your Majesty." She confirmed with him while he smiled.  

              "It is you in deed." He said with a smile.

              "You are very drunk?" She assured him.

               "No." He protested while he let go of her cheek.

               "You still refuse to tell me anything don't you, what is it that is making you suffer this much?" He asked.

               "I can't make you the woman that I love my Empress, it can be anyone else but not you in the eyes of all those Courtiers and Seigniors." Emperor Ningzong responded.

               "It isn't that way." Yang Guifei assured him.

               "Which way is it?" he asked, "until now I still don't get it what it is that they fear about your kind and warm nature, I don't know why it is so that they tremble with fright at the sound of your name, why they fear their shadows when you smile." He remarked.

              "Who cares what they have to say?" Yang Guifei mentioned,

              "I do " the Emperor responded.

              "You are the Son of Heaven, you have been lenient and graceful, until now they only mess with your temperament, make a very big joke of it if you are yet so willing then ease the pain and ailing of your heart." She said as she showed him the Edict in front of him.

             "All it needs Your Majesty is your Imperial Seal and signature, then we could perhaps consecrate the remnants of all those that died in the name of the Empress themselves." She said to him as she helped him hold the brush that was in front of him and prepare him to write down onto the piece of paper.

              Before long the doors of the room were thrown open by Han Touzhou who appeared right within the hall.

              "Your Majesty?" He shouted on top of his voice as he bowed his head before him.

              "Who let you in here?" Yang Guifei inquired while the latter got closer.

              "Pardon me Your Majesty but there are matters of urgency that need to be discussed at this very moment for the sake of the welfare of the State." He mentioned as he moved up to the young man and with the memorials at hand he rested them right in front of the young man pulling the Edict away while Yang Guifei looked angrily at him.

             "Excuse us Ma'am." He demanded.

             "There's a disease within the Palace Your Excellency, His Majesty is much safer here while the Health Bureau are busy handling the affair, kindly I ask that you understand your limits." She demanded.

             "Ma'am, issues concerning the welfare of the state have no limits." Han Touzhou mentioned.

             "Can't you see His Majesty's condition?" She inquired.

             "He appeared to look perfectly fine to me the moment that he was about to sign this Edict." Han Touzhou mentioned.

             "Stop." Emperor Ningzong mentioned, "Yang Guifei and myself shall review the memorials together." He mentioned.

             "What?" Han Touzhou asked.

             "You heard him Your Excellency." Yang Guifei said as she looked at the old man, "unless of course you wish to disobey." She muttered.

             "No." Han Touzhou replied.

             "Then you can follow the same path that let you in." Yang Guifei mentioned to him and himself tightly holding the Edict in his hand he caught sight of the brazier that was close by and turned around to walk away.

              "Wait?" Yang Guifei demanded but the latter without any hesitation he threw it into the fire while he turned around to look at her.

             "Goodness Ma'am!" He exclaimed while she shot up from where she was seated.

             "What have you done?" She demanded.

             "I was a bit reckless Ma'am." Han Touzhou said as he bowed his head to her and noticed how furious she had become but she was trying so hard to hold it in.

             "Attend to the memorials Ma'am." He said to her as he turned around and looking at the brazier where he seemed content that the Edict halfsigned was already in ashes itself and couldn't he redeemed, he smiled as he walked out of the room while Yang Guifei sitting down beside the Emperor she looked at him from the corner of her eye.

             The sun rising Han Touzhou and the rest of her supporters gathered in her Chambers.

             "Ma'am?" They said to her while she maintained a strange silence which made the atmosphere within the room one which was very sombre.

              Emperor Ningzong on the other hand already prepared for the Daily Assembly was on his way to the Grand Hall while Han Touzhou and the rest of His supporters having already proudly made their way into the building were caught up in endless discussion.

             "His Majesty deigns you all with His Presence." He was announced and gracefully, the young Emperor making his way through the aisle he mounted the stairs that led to his dragon throne and sat down on it.

             "Long Live Your Majesty, Long Live Our Emperor." They greeted him with gusto while the Grand Chancellor Zhao Zizhi and Yang Cishan along with Shi Miyuan present couldn't help but feel the excitement that came from their opponents.

             "There is something that I wish to share with all of you today." Emperor Ningzong spoke up and the Courtiers looking at one another Han Touzhou smiled. 

             "Forgive Me Ma'am for we are ruined, who would have thought that Han Touzhou would intercept the Imperial Edict at the table?" Manyin mentioned.

             "Suppose he didn't?" Yang asked as she took from her sleeve a small golden scroll which she placed on the table right in front of them.

             "What is this Ma'am?" Xiaoyang inquired a bit surprised.

             "Don't you get it?" She asked, "Resound throughout the North, take action in the South." She mentioned.

             "A diversion?" Manyin asked.

             "A false alarm was all that we needed, Han Touzhou would go all the way to get what he wanted and the best way to turn the tide in our favour was give him what pleased his vision and satisfied his expectations." Yang Guifei responded.

               Xiaoyang gulped in surprise.

               "He wasn't prepared." Beiyuan mentioned.

               "I merely acted with caution, when I went into the Grand Hall before hiding the Imperial Seal I needed it more than anything as an insurance and because I never understood better what would happen, all the words of His Majesty I had to make my own." Yang Guifei remarked.

               "Your Grace secured an Empty Edict?" Xiaoyang inquired.

              "Yes." Yang Guifei confirmed while Beiyuan reclining in his seat he smiled.

               "How wonderful!" He exclaimed.

               "Sooner or later, politics must welcome war but because Han Touzhou didn't articulate his ultimate fantasies to his followers or their coarse establishment, it was only natural that none were keen to watch out." Yang Guifei remarked.

               "Even if he learnt at this point it is too late, he left the room and only His Majesty and Your Grace were alone and as though that isn't enough His Majesty was drunk, if there was an Edict who else apart from you would understand its contents?" Beiyuan mentioned.

              "Yes." Yang Guifei confirmed and they each looked at each other.

              "As I had anticipated his actions and rhetoric seemed to imply merely restriction and not outright resistance, in fact his programme can best be considered one that was potentially deficient of limits." Yang Guifei mentioned as she tightened her grip around the golden scroll.

              "Congratulations Ma'am." Beiyuan said.

              "Now that we have His Majesty's will, all that's left for us to secure is Heaven's blessing." She asserted as she smiled at herself ghastly.

             "And how are we to acquire that Ma'am?" Manyin inquired.

             "I'll need to have a word with Cao Zhaoyi." She responded.

             "Yes Ma'am." They each replied reluctantly.

            "There seems to be a disease within the Palace and the Imperial physicians were still looking into it's contents Sire." Han Touzhou mentioned, "is it not this?" He asked.

            "And Yang Guifei made sure that the situation is under Control, she's looked after me well enough yesterday night, recent activities were accompanied with rumours that I would postpone the Elevation of an Empress and I am here to offer my clarity." Emperor Ningzong mentioned.

            "Of Course Your Majesty." Han Touzhou remarked.

            "After farther deliberation yesterday I finally came to a decision and with effect Immediately I wish to inform you all that I have issued an Edict and tomorrow Yang Guifei will be crowned the Empress of the Great Southern Song." He said and immediately he'd mentioned it, Han Touzhou and the rest of his clique were very much surprised by his words.

            "What?" He asked.

            "You heard me, " Emperor Ningzong responded, "with effect Immediately I wish to inform you all that I have issued an Edict and tomorrow Yang Guifei will be crowned the Empress of the Great Southern Song." He confirmed.

            Han Touzhou shattered at that very moment he looked at the Grand Chancellor Zhao Zizhi and Yang Cishan who smiled at him.

           "Congratulations Your Majesty, Your Majesty is Sage." Yang Guifei's supporters exploded with gusto as they bowed their heads to him.

            Cao Zhaoyi in the confine of her Chambers the doors were flung open and Yang Guifei's shadow darkening the doorway, she walked through into her presence and bowed her head.

            "Ma'am?" She said graciously.

            "Alas you are here to see me." Cao Zhaoyi mentioned.

            "It was indeed a very long night with the knives themselves long and touching the skies." Yang Guifei mentioned with a smile on her face.

            "Your mood tells it all." Cao Zhaoyi muttered.

            "I'm sorry if my excitement betrayed me, I just thought that I should inform you about the good news in person after all." Yang Guifei mentioned.

            "You have my utmost attention Ma'am." Cao Zhaoyi mentioned and the latter helping herself down she sat before her.

            "You must be wondering how I came to be in the know." She said.

            "Huh!" Cao Zhaoyi asked.

            "There's no ledger which you gave Han Touzhou of course, for a moment you had me there, my eyes were in deed all turned to you, I would have fallen thanks to your remarkable scheme." Yang Guifei asserted.

             "You didn't." Cao Zhaoyi mentioned.

             "I am not naive, I can't say that I trusted you would do this it would be a lie, they were all assumptions of what I took to be the impossible." Yang Guifei responded.

             "So you wish for me to tell you that you have won?" She asked.

             "No." Yang Guifei responded.

             "Then why do you seek me out now Ma'am, wasn't it you who claimed that there wasn't much safety yesterday, who knows you might be sickened by me." Cao Zhaoyi remarked.   

             "This was merely a manouver to forestall your intervention in stopping me from seeing His Majesty, it was merely a charade to get him out of your hands." Yang Guifei responded while the latter burst into laughter.

             "It's not like Your Grace would actually care." She said.

             "A personality such as yourself was always destined to never possibly fit into my scheme of things and neither were you qualified to share my perspective." Yang Guifei remarked.

             "And what is this scheme of things?" Cao Zhaoyi asked, "becoming an Empress you mean?" She muttered, "turning bitter the relations between His Majesty and his subjects?" She inquired.

               "I know what is best for His Majesty, I know what is best for this State, I understand what is best for this Monarchy." Yang Guifei scolded at her.

               "Of course you do Your Grace, and what's best is perhaps you becoming the Empress?" Cao Zhaoyi asked while she kept quiet.

              "What's the difference between the Empresses Han and Li and you, you've all butchered innocent people, wished to become the mother of this nation to defeat your enemies and gain vengeance for the injustices and the atrocities committed against you." Cao Zhaoyi said it to her face and Yang Guifei reserved her silence looking at her.

              "My longing to be his Empress was to protect him, you never loved him as much as I did or even close you were interested in using him to suit your exploits, using him to protect your honour, using him to annihilate your enemies you prostituted yourself for that power." Cao Zhaoyi claimed.

               "And I have been insincere on my part to see real justice ruled as to the police of vengeance whose personal opinion is still much influenced by violent passions of strife demanding?" Yang Guifei inquired.

              "Am I wrong Ma'am?" Cao Zhaoyi inquired.

              "You killed children." Yang Guifei emphasized.

              "And aren't your hands bloodstained as well?" They asked her.

              "You should have understood any better than anyone else, you don't get to back an Empress into a corner, you don't get to back me into a corner." Yang Guifei responded.

              "In deed Ma'am." Cao Zhaoyi mentioned, "you have what you want." She added.

              "I do have what I want." Yang Guifei mentioned confidently.   

              "But do you trust that it will be the end?" Cao Zhaoyi asked her, "your Malice, there's too many questions, there's too many regulations we've broken, your ascension won't be without opposition, how do you plan on doing that?" She mentioned and Yang Guifei standing up slowly from where she was seated she got a cup of hot water and poured it in a group of beans where she took a small statue of Buddha and putting it inside, after a while, it started rising on its own while Cao Zhaoyi's eyes widened.

             "I don't need to speak to the people to convince them." Yang Guifei mentioned, "heaven will assure them for me anytime from now." She asserted as she smiled at her ghastly and turning around, she walked out of the room leaving the latter shattered herself with Beiyuan looking at her.

            "It's already too late Ma'am and there's nothing that you can do about it." He said to her, "you lost in the end, Her Grace, she is victorious." He assured her and turning around, he followed after his mistress leaving the latter furiously clenching her fists.

             The people within the streets of the city were moving about when there was an earthquake that passed and the ground itself shaking vigorously they moved aside while it cracked and slowly from it a very big golden statue of Buddha emerged to the amazement of the people standing at least fifteen feet tall and five feet wide.

               The people falling to their knees they worshipped it while along it's abdomen a sentence had been carved saying, "FROM THE HOUSE OF YANG, AN EMPRESS WILL RISE AGAIN."

               Heaven be praised." They said in unison with so much excitement.

               "How could it be?" Han Touzhou asked himself still lost in so many thoughts at the moment when Lin Xue rushed into his study.

             "Your Excellency." He said himself sweating profusely while the old man turned to him.

            "Don't tell me....." He was saying.

            "The people are in excitement, a Buddha emerged from the ground itself announcing and affirming that FROM THE HOUSE OF YANG, AN EMPRESS WILL RISE AGAIN." Lin Xue responded and the latter stumbling he nearly fell when they held him up.

             "No." He said.

             "I don't want to admit it Your Excellency but it isn't like we have a choice, Yang Guifei has won this one, Yang Guifei is victorious." Lin Xue assured him while the old man closing his eyes he immediately exploded into tears at that moment silently.

             The sun having set, the full moon was up in the skies, Yang Guifei seated at the top of the Emperor's pavilion, she gazed at it along with the stars while it showered her with it's brilliant light.

             "It's quite strange now that I see it, as a young girl I very much desired to live a carefree life but who would have thought that growing up, these eyes of mine would behold beauty in the confine of these chains of power, in the confine of this lonely castle?" She suddenly spoke up.

            "You ask me Ma'am?" Beiyuan inquired.

            "It's perhaps remarkable that this rebel Princess without a name was confident, I promised myself that I would arrive at a point in my life when I would never bow my head to anyone and everyone would instead bow their heads to me." She mentioned.

             "Are you there yet Ma'am?" He asked.

             "Where is that place, haven't I died yet?" She responded while he kept quiet.

             "All my life the things that I abhorred the most I have grown to love, the things I loved I have grown to abhor, a murderer, seductress, all these worthless names and poisonous titles I have claimed, these awful people I have become." Yang Guifei muttered sombrely.

             "All these titles Ma'am, all these names, you wouldn't care would you?" He asked.

             "I've pawned everything including my humanity for power, we are enough, we are resolute, we are brave, no more that naive little girl." She responded.  

             "Then the difference Ma'am is where I request your most sincere clarity." Beiyuan remarked.

              "Tonight Yang Guifei dies." She responded.

              "In what Palace Ma'am?" Beiyuan asked.

              "In the only Palace where you enter a Rebel Slave girl and become an all powerful Empress who rules the world." Yang Guifei replied and hearing this he bowed his head.

              "Tomorrow, the sun will rise and with it my dawn shall begin, not the Empresses Wu, Li and Han but me, it's Empress Yang's time to reign." Yang Guifei mentioned as she smiled at herself ghastly.