Take This

Ba-dump, ba-dump. [W-what is he doing?] Ding Yiu looked at Prince Ping who had pulled her into an embrace. [Why do I feel a little anxious?] She gently placed her hands on his chest. If he tried anything funny, she was ready to push him away.

"Take this," he said with a soft voice.

Dangling before Ding Yiu's eyes from his hand was one beautiful, circular jade pendant. It had an intricately designed shape with a golden dragon curling its body around the green stone.

"This is..." Ding Yiu uttered, staring at the expensive pendant. She was mystified by this random action of his. Was he showing off his wealth? Or is he wanting someone to praise his beautiful jade?

"This was specially designed and gifted to me by my royal father. I've always carried it around with me. Seeing this pendant is the same as seeing me," Prince Ping said. He lightly pressed the cold jade against Ding Yiu's forehead. "Take this. I'm giving it to you."

Ding Yiu stared at Prince Ping for a moment before bluntly responding, "I don't want it."

"If you won't take my pendant, I'll chuck you in prison for trespassing into my palace," Prince Ping swiftly responded with a smile. It was a rather malicious smile as well. "You still need to come to my palace to find Heng right? I'll have plenty of opportunities to deal with you. It could be worse than spending a day in prison depending on my mood." He added with a hint of wickedness to his voice, "unless you decide to never show your face in front of me, I suggest you take this. I'll let you off if you do."

Ding Yiu parted her lips slightly from downright incredulity. Was she supposed to be more shocked that Prince Ping believed in Heng's lie, or his sudden, childish blackmailing to get her to accept his pendant? [What is he planning? I don't understand]. She flickered her gaze from Prince Ping to his jade pendant. This was probably the first time Ding Yiu failed to decipher her situation. It was beginning to frustrate her. [I can't avoid seeing him since I'm staying in Ping Tian Palace], she thought carefully, [Xiao Yiu, why did you marry him and make my life so difficult now? I feel like I've got no other options but to accept his pendant….]

Seeing Ding Yiu's bewildered expression, Prince Ping struggled to hold in a small laugh. She was probably unaware that her eyebrows were beginning to scrunch together as she remained silent to think. Prince Ping found her clueless pondering rather cute. [I could look at you like this all day], he thought, [normally, all you do is anger me. This is a nice change].

After what seemed like forever, Ding Yiu finally reached for the jade pendant, "I'll take it."

"Good girl," Prince Ping said softly. Having accomplished his objective, he released Ding Yiu from his light embrace, feeling satisfied.

"What's your real intention for giving me this?" Ding Yiu pressed for an explanation.

"Seeing that pendant is the same as seeing me. From now on, you can come and go freely from Ping Tian Palace," Prince Ping stated. He looked into Ding Yiu's eyes, firmly saying, "no one inside my palace can hurt you without my permission."

A strange, hazy warm feeling began to take over Ding Yiu. Instinctively, she clenched onto the jade pendant tightly. [Did I hear him wrong? Why do I suddenly feel so warm inside] she wondered, averting her gaze from his to calm down. Prince Ping's response was so unexpected that her mind was now blank. She was only aware of her rapidly beating heart. [What is this strange feeling? It's not quite right to describe it as shock or...excitement....]

"I'm going to set an order for Sixi and Jing Ke to strengthen the Palace's security. Should there be any suspicious looking people, they are to be killed immediately," Prince Ping explained. "You'll probably end up dead if you get caught sneaking in again." He then turned away from Ding Yiu, before muttering, "that's not something I want... Well you shouldn't be doing this in the first place. Since you like visiting my palace so much, I thought this would be the best arrangement."

"So... you were worried for me. You care about me," Ding Yiu deliberately said the obvious. Although Prince Ping remained silent, she could see his ears slowly turn bright red. That placed a contented smile on her face. [When you're being considerate and kind like this... I find you more likable, Xia Qian Ping]. She now had an instant urge to tease him. "If you're not worried about me then..." she slowly suggested, "could it be, that you want me to come to Ping Tian Palace more often? You actually want to have me around you."

Her last sentence was like a shot to Prince Ping's chest. His heart and mind seemingly stopped to only ponder on that one suggestion. [I... I want you to be around me...] he mentally repeated. He felt his cheeks immediately heat up. "D-don't get ahead of yourself," Prince Ping half-shouted from embarrassment, "this is just for saving my life. There's no other reason. There can't be any other reason."

"I understand Qian Ping," Ding Yiu giggled, finding his reaction amusing. "I'll gladly accept this," she held the pendant before Prince Ping, "I won't ever lose this. Thank you Qian Ping." She then carefully tucked it away into her robe.

"Of course you have to make sure not to lose my pendant," he muttered. [Did she just call me Qian Ping?] Prince Ping noticed. [It... sounds nice].

"You should always be like this," Ding Yiu commented, "this soft side of yours isn't bad. I thought the same the other night when you secretly placed the medicine behind me."

[Place the medicine behind you? Are you…] Prince Ping widened his eyes. A strong feeling of unease hit him as he took hold of Ding Yiu's arm. He tightened his grip, "Ding Ding, what did you just say?"

"QIAN PING!" Heng cried out running towards them. His voice was so loud and sudden that it made both Prince Ping and Ding Yiu jump. When Heng reached the two, he briskly snatched Ding Yiu from Prince Ping's grip. "Did you bully her? Did you shout at her? Were you mean to her?"

"Can't you see she's perfectly fine?" Prince Ping almost snarled. He was clearly angry at Heng.

Sensing Prince Ping's unusual tense aura, Heng gulped. He quickly grabbed Ding Yiu and pulled her into a run, "it's getting late. I'll show Ding Ding out the palace. We will visit you tomorrow. Good night Qian Ping."

"Wait Heng...." Prince Ping shouted. Though it was too late. Heng and Ding Yiu had already disappeared outside Zheng Palace's great doors. "All those two are ever good at is running away," he complained. "That meddling Heng. Does he not realize I haven't finished talking to Ding Ding?"

An extremely irritated Prince Ping pressed his lips together. [Why did Ding Ding say that? When she said the other night, she must be referring to two days ago about Consort Liu. She must've been there] he recalled, [but I didn't see Ding DIng that night. Only, at one point I felt as though… as though Consort Liu was her….] Prince Ping shook his head, "come on Xia Qian Ping. Stop thinking the impossible." He took in a few deep breaths, "Consort Liu and Ding Ding aren't the same person. I must've just misheard her now." Prince Ping turned towards the room where Jing Ke was waiting. Discarding his ridiculous speculations, he headed back inside.

Sometime later. Quite a long distance away from Zheng Palace, Heng was now stood as a grand statue, ogling at the less than mediocre residence which belonged to Consort Liu. His mouth hung open matching his widened, round eyes that seemed more lost than focussed. He had been standing there for the past 20 minutes, simply staring at the building in front of him. [How is this possible? This must be a ruse...] Heng mentally chanted. [This surely can't be real. Why is a consort living in such a rundown place? This makes no sense].

Comfortably inside their garden hut, Ding Yiu and Wan Xin were leisurely drinking tea. They have already reached their second cup of tea waiting for Heng to come out of shock.

"Xiaojie, should I just pour a bucket of water over him?" Wan Xin suggested, eyeing Heng. "If not, should I just drag him inside? I don't think he's capable of moving from that spot."

"Drag him inside," Ding Yiu decided, "try and be gentle Wan Xin."

Wan Xin sprinted out the hut towards Heng. She was about to grab his arm when Heng bolted inside the hut himself. He studied the small garden hut carefully, turning his head from right to left and up and down. He then sat down opposite Ding Yiu.

"Since when?" he gave her a very serious look.

Ding Yiu blinked at Heng.

"Don't act dumb," Heng raised his voice, "since when did you start living in this thing?"

"This thing is a garden hut," Wan Xin corrected, closing the door. "It's also where I and Xiaojie live."

"I could see that, but I can't believe it," Heng honestly spoke, "you're the Second Princess Consort so why are you living like this?"

"Good question," Ding Yiu nodded in agreement, "remember to tell me the answer after you've asked Xia Qian Ping."

"Don't avoid my questions," Heng grumbled, "why aren't you doing anything about this? Are you satisfied being abandoned here?"

Ding Yiu shrugged, "it doesn't bother me too much."

"It bothers me plenty," Heng declared. "You are the Second Princess Consort. You are Xia Qian Ping's wife. You don't belong here in this little garden hut."

Ding Yiu picked up her cup of tea to drink.

A serious Heng snatched the tea from Ding Yiu's hand and placed it back onto the table. "Listen Ding Ding," he said, "we need to do something about your situation and fast."

Ding Yiu pouted slightly, staring at her cup of tea.

"The first thing we need to do is find the real culprit who cursed Zhou Yourong," Heng continued, "Ding Ding, can you think of anyone suspicious at the time?"

"No I can't," Ding Yiu said without thinking.

"Xiaojie," Wan Xin nudged Ding Yiu. She whispered so Heng couldn't hear, "please try harder to think. Just because you don't care about Consort Zhou or the identity of the culprit that is no reason for you to not think."

Ding Yiu pouted being caught out by Wan Xin. She whispered back, "but Wan Xin, that whole cursing drama was so boring, my brain just refuses to solve that incident."

"Xiaojie, please be more serious about the matter," Wan Xin stomped her feet. [I know you think this doesn't concern you because Xiao Yiu is Consort Liu. But Xiao Yiu is still you] Wan Xin huffed. [And whenever I think of how badly you're treated here in Ping Tian Palace that just makes me angry]. Wan Xin looked pleadingly at Ding Yiu, [If it means you'll at least be respected here, I'm all in for carrying out Mr Heng's plans].

"Ahem, you two," Heng tapped the table to get their attention. "Don't leave me out of your conversations. I'm the main leader of this 'get Ding Ding out of banishment and back in favour with Prince Ping operation'." He paused for breath, "since you don't recall anyone suspicious, this is going to be a lot more work than I anticipated. We'll have to investigate from scratch."

"Mr Heng, weren't you there when it happened?" Wan Xin curiously asked.

"I was accompanying my father to survey some lands during that time. I only heard about this incident when I got back," Heng explained, "obviously had I known Ding Ding was innocent at the time, I would've insisted for Qian Ping to investigate the matter further." He looked towards Ding Yiu, "I fully trust you didn't curse Zhou Yourong. Tell me what happened so I can help you."

"Xiaojie, are you listening?" Wan Xin asked after a few seconds of silence in the room.

Unknown to both Wan Xin and Heng, Ding Yiu had stopped listening to their mutterings for quite some time now. Her mind was occupied with a more recent and interesting event. Namely, the two assassination attempts on Prince Ping. Rather than waste her time on working out who cursed Consort Zhou, she was more eager to know who wanted Xia Qian Ping's life. [Thinking of all the possibilities...] Ding Yiu mentally concluded, [that person is the only logical mastermind behind the two attempts]. The edge of her lips curved upwards, [seems like Xia Kingdoms political situation is tenser than I imagined. I wonder if Qian Ping has worked out the answer too].

Feeling a sudden strange shiver run down her spine, Ding Yiu stopped thinking. She looked over towards Wan Xin and Heng. There was an undeniable pressure coming from them as they stared intently at her. [Ah! I forgot we were discussing that boring topic]. Ding Yiu cleared her throat, "I already said I don't remember anything."

"Xiaojie/Ding Ding," both Wan Xin and Heng almost shouted at the same time. They were evidently vexed with Ding Yiu's lax attitude.

"More importantly, I think I know who the mastermind is," Ding Yiu announced with sudden excitement.

"You do!" both Wan Xin and Heng exclaimed. "Who is it?"

"Well I don't have evidence to back up my speculations, but I'm rarely wrong," Ding Yiu continued. "Heng, I want to see Xia Qian Ping first thing tomorrow morning. Will you accompany me there?"

"Of course," Heng immediately agreed. [When did Ding Ding know who cursed Zhou Yourong?], he wondered. [Since she's going to see Qian Ping, she must have everything figured out. No need to be worried. I'll just wait to find out tomorrow].

"Wan Xin, I'll need you to stay here and continue to pose as Consort Liu," Ding Yiu instructed, "just in case anyone does come looking."

"I understand Xiaojie."

Night passed by. It was now early in the morning and leisurely walking down the familiar path to Zheng Palace was Heng and Ding Yiu. Like a child, Heng continued to very gently tug at Ding Yiu's sleeve. He had been pestering her since they met up again only an hour earlier. Who was the one who cursed Zhou Yourong? How did you know? What will you say to Qian Ping? What are your plans? These were all endless questions Heng kept asking Ding Yiu as they went to find Prince Ping. Sadly for Heng though, Ding Yiu only gave him the simple reply of 'try working it out for yourself first' with a sly smile.

When the two had finally reached the outside of Zheng Palace, they became quiet. Indeed it had changed. As Prince Ping had warned Ding Yiu the previous night, security was tightened. There were now sentries standing either side of the heavy, wooden doors. And further within, one can see more guards lined up.

"Let me through, I'm here to see Qian Ping," Heng spoke to the sentries.

The sentry on the right gave Heng a nod, "Master Heng, you may go through but..." He looked at Ding Yiu carefully. "Who is this girl?"