An Eight-year-old Princess

This unexpected request had taken Prince Jing by surprise. He shot a glance at Yun Shang and saw her nodding at him. Then he looked towards the Empress who was sitting next to Emperor Ning. The Empress? Prince Jing squinted and stood up, "Your Majesty, this is unfair since I don't have the silk ball in my hand."

Emperor Ning laughed heartily, "Lady Shu was right. It should be you."

Prince Jing had no choice but to sigh in agreement. "Since it is also Your Majesty's wish to see me play, I will play the xiao* for Lady Meng to dance. But I will require one more person to join us. Will Your Majesty permit my request?"

(*TN: xiao is a Chinese vertical end-blown flute, which is generally made of bamboo.)

Emperor Ning nodded, "Since it's a request from you, as your brother, I would not disappoint you. So tell us, who is this person? You can name anyone here."

Prince Jing gave a nod in response. His eyes swept the hall from one end to another. Then he pointed at a girl, "Your Majesty, may I request Princess Hui Guo's assistance to perform a melody together?"

Yun Shang raised her head in surprise. She saw a mischievous glint in Prince Jing's eyes.

All guests turned their eyes to Yun Shang. Emperor Ning said with a smile, "As promised, I would grant your request. But as far as I know, Shang'er knows nothing about music. So, are you still sure that Shang'er should join you?"

Prince Jing turned around to look at Yun Shang, "It must be her. She must play alongside me."

It must be her? Yun Shang sank into a trance. She remembered the name of the melody in her plan, and felt as if her heart was about to jump out of her throat. What did Prince Jing mean when he said those words?

"So, Shang'er, are you willing to play together with your uncle?" Emperor Ning turned to Yun Shang and asked.

Yun Shang stayed silent for a while before uttering a gentle "Yes."

Prince Jing always carried his xiao with him. It was a beautiful one as green as an emerald. And the guqin* was in the Hall, as Lady Lan had played it a moment before. Yun Shang stood up, walked toward the guqin, and sat down before it.

(*TN: guqin is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family. It has been played since ancient times, and has traditionally been favored by scholars and literati as an instrument of great subtlety and refinement.)

As soon as Yun Shang sat down, the xiao sounded.

The melody, however, surprised everyone in the Hall. Popularly known as Courting A Phoenix, it was a melody usually played when a man expressed his love towards his lover.

Yun Shang's hands began to pluck the cords of the guqin when the melody from the xiao was getting weak. The sound of the guqin flew as smooth and fluent as a merry creek, and meshed perfectly with that of the xiao.

Qin Meng walked to the middle of the Hall, bent a little, and began to dance. She showed her charm and grace with every movement of her body. She looked like a phoenix about to fly. Her carmine dress shimmered as she danced to the music.

As the melody and the dancing were intoxicating, all guests were holding their breath even after the performance had finished.

"I am so fortunate to have Prince Jing and Princess Hui Guo play for me. Thank you very much." Qin Meng swept a graceful courtesy towards Prince Jing and Yun Shang.

Regaining his composure, Emperor Ning applauded heartily, "Wonderful!" Nobody could figure out whether he applauded for the dancing or the music.

Emperor Ning glanced at Prince Jing, and noticed that he had set his eyes on Yun Shang. Emperor Ning frowned. He wondered if there was something between Prince Jing and Shang'er...

Now, almost all the guests were racking their brains to figure out what had Prince Jing meant when he said, it must be her. After all, Courting A Phoenix was a melody used for winning the heart of lovers. And Prince Jing said it must be her when he selected Yun Shang.

same thing, none of them dared

as good as her. But what surprised me most is that Princess Hui Guo played the guqin so well. It is said that Prince Jing is a master performer of the xiao. But Princess Hui Guo's show of the guqin just now was no inferior to his. The sounds of the guqin and xiao were

Shang'er has learned quite a lot at Ning'guo Temple. I should extend my gratitude to Master Wu Na." Emperor Ning thought

the game as no one else could present us with a better performance. Fortunately, I have prepared some special dishes for today's banquet. So, Your Majesty,

nodded, "All right. Today's banquet is prepared by you. So, it's

the middle of the plate was a bowl painted with cute babies, and the bowl was filled with gruel boiled with slongan, lotus seed, and peanuts*. Lady Shu said with a smile, "Your Majesty, today's banquet is being held to celebrate the pregnancy of the Empress and Lady Jin. So, I have prepared this gruel boiled with slongan, lotus seed, and peanuts. I'm hoping that the Empress and Lady

China, gruel boiled with slongan, lotus seed, and peanuts is a sign of blessing for women

heartily at those words, "Good. It seems Lady Shu has made elaborate preparations for the party. Both of you

at a maid. Before long, the gruel had been placed on the tables. Then another group of maids entered.

Shu looked at Prince Jing with a smile in her eyes. Then she turned around to look at Emperor Ning, "There will be more dishes served later. I hope Your Majesty

special dishes, everyone should try both. You cannot disappoint Lady Shu." Then he raised the wine cup on the table, "I'm very happy today, because both Lady Jin and the

Emperor's words, and downed their wine

and whispered something in Qian Yin's ear. With a nod,

in the Hall. Seeing the Emperor indulging himself in drinking, all the guests started to enjoy the fun and proposed toasts to each other. In an instant, Jinxiu Palace became a sea

looked at the Emperor, and found that he was chatting with Prince Jing. It seemed both men were in a

and walked toward Lady Shu. He held her hands in his, "I'm very happy today as the Empress is also pregnant. She must get ample rest for her pregnancy. It would not do to have her worry about trivial

and noise in Jinxiu Palace quenched at once. The Empress was drinking the gruel. She was so startled at the Emperor's words that she inquired, "What did

the imperial household. As you are pregnant, you'd best not bother yourself with trivial things in the imperial

"Your Majesty is quite right. My body is getting more and more heavy as time goes by. It is true that I will feel more and more stressed when managing the imperial household. So, I'm very glad

of the Hall in a hurry, and said, "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will try my best to manage

leave the Imperial City, Lady Shu was awarded with this fantastic opportunity to run the whole imperial household. This would make it easier for him to do something in the imperial household if he

those in power and spit at those out of power. Maybe,

were walking towards Lady Shu in a calm manner. Yun Shang grinned at them, and downed her cup of wine in a gulp. Catching Qian Yin standing at the entrance, Yun Shang pondered as she looked around the Hall to make sure she was not being watched. Then she and Qin Yi

have ordered a maid to put the medicine you gave me into Lady Jin's food. The maid said she had watched

and the Princess nodded at her as a response. Then they walked out of Jinxiu Palace. "That's good. Though I have provided mother with some medicine to protect her unborn baby, I'm still worried. Today, Lady Shu poisoned in a way so secret that it was hard to notice.

found Prince Jing standing right behind her. She gazed at his face and heard Qian Yin and Qin Yi giggle. But just

have told Lady Shu that Lady Jin is pregnant and cannot be poisoned. She planned to poison the

at Prince Jing's words that she had

poisoned in a secret way, but you still tasted

There was a grin on her lips. "Lady Shu is quite skillful in this. No wonder she has never failed before. His Majesty is already in his forties, but still has no son. When the silk ball was passed to me, I smelt the faint fragrance of saffron crocus, though there was a heavy odor of incense to cover it. Besides, there was angelica in the gruel, and motherwort in the mandarin fish, both of which are herbs helpful for activating and nourishing the blood. But

of the Imperial City, you will have less threats in the Palace. But you should also be on alert, as

Anyway, I should thank you for your kindness. As for Hua Jing, I swear I will end her life with my

investigations. It seems that there is no rooted hatred between you and Hua Jing. Then why do

between her and me? I can

Jing shook his head, "You look terrifying when you are angry." Then he paused and sighed, "I will leave tomorrow.

heard, "This is the first time that I am reluctant to go to the battlefield. All right. It's getting cold. You'd better

walked off leaving a stunned Yun Shang behind.

darkness, Yun Shang finally came to realize that there was one more question that she needed him to answer. She wanted to ask him why he had said those words during the banquet in Jinxiu Palace. What had he meant by

Qian Yin kept peeking at the Princess. Whenever Yun Shang looked at them, the maids

started when we began walking back. So,

Yin were at ease in spite of Yun Shang's anger. Qin Yi said with a smile, "Prince Jing is a little bit cold, but he is a good man. Though he is no longer young, he still lives alone as a bachelor. He doesn't marry, nor finds for himself a concubine. Last time when I went to his mansion with Your Imperial Highness, I noticed that there wasn't a single maid in his mansion. If such a man falls in love with somebody, there is no