02

Emperor Tong of Caiwong, was unique in that he choose not to name a prince as a successor.   There was a crown prince whom was named, however, this was only a placeholder as he wanted there to be someone for the younger brothers to look up to, but it held no power other than the position of the name to sound nice to whom was speaking. He wanted to avoid the normal battle amongst princes for that position so he kept the position with someone who did not live in the capital often.  Also, to save his intended successor from assassination and usurping attempts from his relatives who were always griping for what did not belong to them. 

He'd kept his final edict inside of a special box that he had hidden away behind a painting in the main imperial hall.  It was guarded day and night by a crew of specially trained soldiers.  Many assassins had come for the prize, but so far all of them had been defeated soundly.  The emperor was confident in this solution would benefit all of his children to keep the balance of the rule.

But it was not to be peaceful as he intended with all of the great plans he had spend so much time planning and procuring.

. . .

An army of rebels approached the capital from the west.  It was secretly funded by the eldest prince, Ning Zhuo.  The army was lead by Ning Zhuo's allies in disguise--the Duke of Zhen and his 4 middle sons.

"Father, we need to ride harder if you'd like to get there before the gates close."  One of the boys shouted at his father from behind his white ghost mask.

"Be quiet.  You're going to give us away you idiot.  You must not let your tongue move when we get inside of the castle walls."  The Duke shot back coldly as he ordered his horse forwards. 

They were all riding their horses hard in the midst of their soldiers.  The horses' mouths were foaming as they were whipped again and again.  The gates to the imperial city loomed before them as they rode gathering dust behind them.  A sentry began to sound the alarm but an arrow was shot through his throat before he could complete it.  The guards then sprung into action closing the gates and shot a rain of arrows upon the approaching mass of troops.

The head guard at the West Gate looked through his spyglass at the approaching army and spit in dismay.  "The dust is making it impossible to know if it's an approaching company of a couple hundred or a couple thousand.  What are the orders from the commander officer of the gate in this kind of a situation?  Something like this feels extremely strange."

A guard was prostrated on the ground awaiting orders, "Should we alert the king?  Should we send a runner to warn the cavalry."

The head guard had a vein twitch in his forehead as he considered the consequences of the action.  It would not be good either way if he was right or if he was wrong.  "Send a messenger to the king."

The guard bowed profusely before getting off his knees and running off to a pair of waiting eunuchs. 

Both of them padded off quickly in the direction of the palace.

=//=

"Bing-er you shouldn't have."  Official Chu rushed towards his daughter as she dropped into a bow before him with her retinue of servants.  She was dressed more like his concubine than was proper for a dressing of a daughter.  If someone saw her here, it was bound to bring gossip and trouble to him.  She was naughty, but this was something that was beyond her usual tricks.  He wondered if she had intended to dress instead to dress like a court woman to make him less uncomfortable.

His servants all came forwards and immediately began to fuss around her.  Official Chu told them to leave them for sometime and they cleared out.  On the way, they set the meal Bingquing had brought onto the table and opened up the dish compartments so it would be easy for their ducal master to access.

Official Chu pulled his chopsticks out of it's holder and began to taste the dishes that his daughter had brought for him.  He made a face,  "Plum Blossom Soup . . . again?"

Bingquing laughed gaily, "Do you think I would let you be free from trying my new recipe?  I was trying to recreate mother's recipe, but you're the only one who remembers it.  This is the last one that I have to perfect."

Official Chu sighed and let his ladle sift through it.  Not many spoke of the former duchess in such a fond light.  His wife had been ill for most of her life so had been kept indoors.

As he was doing this a eunuch entered the room and bowed.  "Official Chu I have an urgent matter to report."

Official Chu exchanges glances with his daughter, "I made specific orders that I would not be disturbed while my daughter is here to visit me."

The eunuch's hands trembled.  "I am aware of your order sir."

Official Chu put a hand to his head in mock irritation to amuse his daughter, "And what is it that is of such importance?  Is an order from the emperor?"

The eunuch's folded hands trembled, "The Western Gate has been breached by an army your excellence,  There are soldiers approaching the inner palace."

Official Chu stood up abruptly, "What did you say?"

Bingquing looked out the window nervously to see dust gathering in the distance.

Official Chu clutched Bingquing's shoulders and shook her, "You get out of the palace immediately."  He turned to the eunuch, "You, servant.  How close are the soldiers?  What are they doing?  Are they pillaging the palace?  Who is the leader?"

The eunuch dropped to his side, "Highness, I do not know the answers to your questions.  The army did breach the harem but the commander forbade the soldiers from touching any of the palace women."

Official Chu suddenly relaxed, "They're aiming for the Imperial Palace Hall where the king is situated.  Bingquing, I have to go there to hear orders from his majesty."

Bingquing nodded,  "I'll switch clothes with one of my maids and sneak out through a side gate father.  The soldiers will pay no mind to another common maid.  I can get outside."

Official Chu shook his head.  "Such a plan is of no use.  We are not in danger.  I'm an official who is out of favor with the current king.  This is the meddlings of the officials with the treasonous princes.  Someone is eager to know the name inside of the emperor's successor box."