It was high noon when everything in the Imperial City came to a halt. The tolling of the bell announcing the death of someone of the Imperial family was heard coming from the Imperial Palace.
In the Imperial City, hundreds of thousands of people. Both rich and poor, commoners and nobles froze in shock and instinctively began counting off the number of times the bell tolled.
A few days ago, news of the Queen's illness had already begun spreading throughout the Imperial City. Just about everyone who heard the tolling of the bell coming from the Imperial Palace wondered if it was the Queen departing.
The Prime minister of the Left and the Prime minister of the right had just left the Imperial Palace when the bell began tolling. They froze and gaped at each other in shock before they turned around and bolted back to the Imperial Palace.
In the meeting hall of the Manor of Elder Lai, many high ranking ministers retired elders, and officials were in a meeting discussing the next step to take regarding the slave situation when the bell from the Imperial Palace began to toll.
Strangely not one of the men gathered in Elder Lai's meeting hall was shocked to hear the bell toll. They were a bit surprised but not shocked. The high ranking minister that was speaking halted mid-sentence as everyone exchange strange looks with each other and silently began to count the tolling of the bell.
Every high ranking minister found it extremely suspicious that Queen contracted a deadly illness just days after challenging the Emperor and summoning the Lord of Liu Residence to the Imperial Palace.
Hundreds of rumors regarding the Lord of Liu Residence swiftly took flight in the Imperial City and spread outward. In every major and minor city all over the Tolling Lands, Lord Liu of Liu Residence became known to every slave owner. Every moment of every day, his name continued to spread.
However, after the rumor of the Queen being on her death bed, strange looks would cross the faces of many upon the mention of Lord Liu of Liu Residence's name. Many were now thoroughly convinced that Lord Liu was of the Imperial family. There was just no other explanation for the reason why the Queen mysteriously became ill after going to find trouble with Lord Liu.
Many watched the Liu Residence waiting to see what would happen next. It had already been a week since Lord Liu 'drowned in his bathing pool'. However, other than the Heir of Wang Royal Manor and the servants of Liu Residence going in and out of the residence, there was no other activity of note.
Suddenly the bell announcing the death of an Imperial family member began to ring from the Imperial Palace. Who else could it be other than the Queen. Many couldn't help but wonder who was responsible for the Queen's early departure.
Was it the Emperor? Did he punish the Queen for challenging him? Everyone of note had already noticed that the Emperor of old was gone. The Emperor had changed.
Could it have been Wang Fèn Yǒng? Lord Liu was his friend, and the Queen dared to find trouble with his friend. The cold-blooded Heir of Wang Royal Manor had killed people for less. He never discriminate in killing people either. He killed many from commoners to nobles and got away with it every time.
Is it possible that the Lord Liu of Liu Residence was behind Queen's untimely departure? It's had become obvious to everyone that Lord Liu was not an ordinary person. Maybe he somehow found a way to scheme the Queen to death.
Just about everyone questioned the Queen's mysterious illness and death. Many were convinced that there was someone in the shadows regarding this matter. Although everyone thought many weird scenarios and wondered who could be behind the Queen's death, not one person dared to call for an investigation. It was obvious to all, that the person behind the Queen's death was not an ordinary person.
The Queen was not exactly a saint, so no one felt the need to put their head at risk and dig themselves an early grave by trying to investigate. Who told her to go start a war that she had absolutely no chance of winning?
After the bell went silent, Elder Lai looked at the men seated in the meeting hall of his manor and said, "Let's us make our way to the Palace. The Queen has died."
Elder Cai silent shook his head and released a big sigh as he rose to his feet. Elder Ou, who had sat beside him look over to Elder Cai, "What's is it, Elder Cai?"
Elder Cai glance over at Elder Ou shook his head once more, and replied with a heavy voice full of meaning, "It's nothing Elder Ou, I'm just pondering on the peculiarities of life is all."
"Um," Elder Ou nodded with a dour expression on his face, "It these peculiarities that seemed to have been chasing me over the past few weeks."
The two elders continued to ponder the peculiarities of life as they join everyone in making their way to the Imperial Palace.
Throughout the Imperial City, many had faced the Imperial Palace. Commoner and nobles alike, they ceremoniously paid their last respects to the Queen as she departed.
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Liu Tián Qǔ was scared. She felt a strong fear that was overwhelming. It was impossibly greater than the all-consuming soul capturing fear she felt when the Knell Stones tried to suck her soul into it.
Liu Tián Qǔ felt as if she was in a void, that was not quite a void. Thankfully, the weird void was safety. Liu Tián Qǔ felt that if she could manage to stay in the void, she would be fine.
Moreover, Liu Tián Qǔ couldn't feel her body. There seemed to be a strange veneer between her body and her soul, causing a disconnection. It was like she was in her body but at the same time detached and disconnected from it.
That was not what scared her. What frightened her was that it felt as if she was on the edge of a cliff, hanging on by the tips of her fingers.
Liu Tián Qǔ felt an unceasing powerful suction force. It was exactly the same as the yanking sensation she had felt from the Knell Stones. It was trying to pull her from the void and from her body. No matter how hard she tried, Liu Tián Qǔ couldn't seem to wake up, and staying inside of her body was extraordinarily hard.
She was using every ounce of her concentration to stay in her body. The most bizarre thing was that although she couldn't feel her body, she could feel emotions. What she felt at the moment was a deep soul binding fear and an overwhelming sense of tiredness. Liu Tián Qǔ's spirit felt very tired. She desperately wanted to allow her spirit to rest, but she didn't dare. She was afraid that one moment of inattention would cause her to get sucked from her body.
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Liu Tián Qǔ had a deep fear that if she got sucked out of her body, she would never see Wang Fèn Yǒng again. Not only did she love him, but strangely through him, she felt a connection to her past life and her family she left behind.
Liu Tián Qǔ also felt that she would lose that last sense of connection to her past life, which was inexplicable weird because the past was already gone. However, she was unwilling to lose Wang Fèn Yǒng, she was refused to let him go.
In the perfectly imperfect Wang Fèn Yǒng, Liu Tián Qǔ found something she couldn't find in her past life, and after waiting a whole lifetime to find it. How could she allow it to slip through her fingers?
Liu Tián Qǔ could not perceive the passing of time. Each second felt like a year. Liu Tián Qǔ started feeling deep regret. She wished she never taken the Black Blossom. It was beginning to become obvious to her that something went wrong.
Why couldn't she be like every other gender bender and bind her chest when it started to grow. She already had the Armband of the Guardian Warriors. Why did she have to be greedy and want more strength? She had no plans to concur with the whole world. So why did she feel she had to have a lot of strength? Ah?!
Liu Tián Qǔ didn't know what death felt like because when she woke up, she was already in the body of her predecessor.
That is also why Liu Tián Qǔ was so terrified. She felt as if she was in the realm between life and death. What if Meng Po popped into her void with a bowl of soup and forced it down her throat? What was she going to do then? Ah!?
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Lady Wǔ Gāng Huā's heart hurt for her eldest son. Wang Fèn Yǒng was not a person who spoke much to began with. With the situation of Liu Tián Qǔ, he'd gotten even quieter. Both of her children had practically moved into Liu Garden Residence.
When Wang Jǐng Jiè heard about Liu Tián Qǔ's situation, he packed his clothes and ran away from home once again. He didn't care about being punished. He just wanted to be by his friend's side.
Wang Fèn Yǒng had taken over the running of Liu Residence. Wang Fèn Yǒng wanted that when Liu Tián Qǔ woke up, she would find everything in order and running smoothly. The Heir of Wang Royal Manor and the second Young Master of Wand Royal Manor closely guarded Liu Tián Qǔ.
Several days after Liu Tián Qǔ fell unconscious, the Queen mysteriously took to her bed gravely ill. She died days later. Although none of the Imperial family members could prove it, the Emperor, Grand Prince and Lady Wǔ Gāng Huā felt that Wang Fèn Yǒng was behind the Queen's death.
Weeks later, behind closed doors, the Emperor asked Wang Fèn Yǒng if he was responsible for the Queen's death. Wang Fèn Yǒng was so furious he didn't bother to deny it.
He looked at the Emperor with freezing ice-cold eyes and said in a voice leaking, killing intent, "Yes, I am. Because you couldn't control the women in your harem, my woman is now lying on the brink of death. If my woman is lying on the brink of death, why should I allow the person who pushed her to that end to walk around carefree?"
The Emperor sat in his seat, looking at Wang Fèn Yǒng in silence for several minutes before saying, "I already had plans in motion to take care of her..."
"When?" Wang Fèn Yǒng cut the Emperor off by asking. The ice-cold aura around him was so severe it seemed to cause the temperature in the room to drop. The rage in his eyes was unhidden. It pierced the heart of the Emperor, causing the Emperor to rub his chest to relieve the phantom pain in his heart.
"Imperial Uncle, I love you, dearly. I would do anything you tell me to do with no hesitation. I would die for you, and you know this. There is no need for me to say this because you know me. Since you know me so well, you should have never allowed your Queen to endanger the life of my woman and think I would allow her to live."
The Emperor shook his head and replied sincerely in a soft voice, "I didn't expect her to go after Liu Tián Qǔ. When I found out that she did, I knew that Liu Tián Qǔ was capable enough to handle the situation. I also knew that Liu Tián Qǔ would show me some face and handle the matter carefully. However, I didn't think things would go this far."
"You thought of how Liu Tián Qǔ would respond, but you forgot about me, Imperial Uncle? Never would I allow a woman of mine to bring danger to a woman of yours. Whether your woman could handle the situation or not is irrelevant. Honestly, Imperial Uncle, for the first time in my life, I feel disappointed in you. Your judgment this time was lacking. You have known of the deeds of the Queen for a long time now. The Queen was a malignant tumor that should have been extracted long ago. In this matter, you've been too lenient." Wang Fèn Yǒng respond in unhidden tightly contained fury.
When the Emperor didn't refute what he said, Wang Fèn Yǒng continued on to say, "Liu Tián Qǔ is the only person in this world outside of my family that touched me, and I didn't feel that compulsive instinctive desire to kill her. From the very moment I met her I instinctive gravitated towards her and didn't know why. She kept pulling at my heart and wouldn't let go." Wang Fèn Yǒng pause and looked away as he swallowed the painful lump that had begun rising in his throat.
After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Wang Fèn Yǒng once more looked at his Imperial Uncle with suspiciously bright eyes, "You already know I am not the easiest person to be around much less love. However, Liu Tián Qǔ understands me on a level so deep you wouldn't understand even if I tried to explain it to you. Most importantly, she accepts me just how I am with all my flaws. She never tried to change me or convince me to be anyone other than who I am. Where am I going to find another person like her?" The Emperor was surprised to see such emotion in Wang Fèn Yǒng, never had he seen it before. The suspiciously bright eyes of Wang Fèn Yǒng shook him to his core.
"Wang Fèn Yǒng I sorry, it's my fault for not containing the Queen better. I apologize." It wasn't the Emperor apologizing to a subject. It was the Imperial Uncle who highly favored and love this cold silent nephew of his that never expressed his emotions. To see these emotions in Wang Fèn Yǒng told the Emperor just how much his nephew cared about Liu Tián Qǔ. To know that he help bring pain to his favorite silent nephew troubled the Emperor's heart deeply.
The Emperor looked at Wang Fèn Yǒng and asked, "How is she? She is still unconscious?"
Wang Fèn Yǒng silently nodded before looking away from his Imperial uncle. The men sat in silence for several minutes before Wang Fèn Yǒng reached into his robes.
Wang Fèn Yǒng pulled out the letter that Liu Tián Qǔ left for the Emperor. He looked at the sealed letter in his hand for a moment before passing the letter to the Emperor.
The Emperor looked down at the letter that Wang Fèn Yǒng held out to him for a moment before he reached over to accept it, "This is..."
"A letter left by Liu Tián Qǔ." Wang Fèn Yǒng said in a flat voice and an expressionless face.
The Emperor eye's snapped up from the letter to meet Wang Fèn Yǒng's gaze. Before he quickly opened the letter.
Wang Fèn Yǒng watched with great satisfaction as a host of expressions flew across the Emperor's face.
There was disbelief and shock. The Emperor's face turned red with anger, then white with rage. Suddenly his face was cover in bitterness, and indecision and then turned as dark as the bottom of a burnt pot.
The Emperor looked up at Wang Fèn Yǒng and asked with a deep scowl on his face, "Are you aware of the contents of this letter?
"No, but if it's something that displeases you. Then it's enough."
"Humph, I must be the only Emperor in history to suffer such contempt and disgrace." The Emperor handed the letter to Wang Fèn Yǒng the scowl on his face had grown bigger.
A ghost of a smile flashed across Wang Fèn Yǒng's face as he read the letter before passing it back to his Imperial Uncle.
In the letter, Liu Tián Qǔ wrote:
Playing possum
Cost: Liu's Garrison City and the Imperial Skills, Crafts, and Intellectual Attainment Universities.
Although Liu Tián Qǔ's letter was short, the wise Emperor Immediately understood Liu Tián Qǔ's meaning.
In the meaning behind the words in the letter, Liu Tián Qǔ conveyed to the Emperor that she was willing to give him face.
However, since the first condition of the agreement of the negotiation for the Knell Stones was broken. The face that she gave him would not be free. The cost of that face was the permission to build a Garrison City and the sponsorship of the Universities she was planning to build.
Over the past few weeks, many meetings regarding the ideology of the Universities and the Binding of the Slaves were held amongst the nobles, ministers, elders, and officials. So, of course, the Emperor had already been informed of these matters. The Emperor didn't mind sponsoring the Universities because the Universities aligned with his goals.
However, the garrison was a different matter. With a heavy dark scowl, the Emperor asked Wang Fèn Yǒng, "What is this about a Garrison City?"
With a raised eyebrow, Wang Fèn Yǒng asked, "First, I'm hearing of it."
The Emperor fell into deep thought with a face that was black with displeasure. Occasionally he would look over and glower at Wang Fèn Yǒng as if everything was his fault.