1.8

 

Two days later Master Xu Yuan finally arrived at the palace.

 

When Liu Yue came into the Morning Assembly, he felt the skin on his arms immediately stand up. As soon as the crowd of ministers parted he realized the reason.

 

There was a magical array painted on the ground. Around it was standing three men dressed in black and one man in white. Liu Yue recognized the one in white as Master Xu Yuan as he was also described as being “dressed in white” in the movie. The Master Xu Yuan in real life was not as handsome as the actor who had portrayed him. Or perhaps he could have been alright but he had a pair of very thick forbidding eyebrows. But there was a strong aura about him and the black clothed Celestial Masters next to him were speaking and bobbing their heads in a respectful manner.

 

Liu Yue went to stand at his usual place and looked around. The Grand Assembly Hall was more crowded than usual today. That was because other than all the important ministers, there was also the Emperor’s entire household and a range of other notable personages from the Palace. Since it could be reasonably believed that the person who wanted to assassinate the Second Prince came from within the Palace, then obviously everyone had to be present for the spell to have the maximum effect. 

 

Liu Yue saw his fifth brother whom he hadn’t seen before. The young thirteen year old boy was standing with a maid, scowling at everything. He looked very much like the Empress.

 

The night before the Empress had come to see him but he had pretended to be ill and refused to draw the curtains around his bed. He was known to have a spoiled personality so this wasn’t out of the realm of his behaviour, but he was aware that she had already become suspicious of him due to his changes. No doubt she wanted to get rid of him as soon as she could legitimately promote the fifth prince to become heir… which was to murder his four older brothers.

 

The Emperor finally made his appearance, supported by the Empress and Consort Ming. As usual his face was half covered by the jewelled veil hanging from his crown. At his appearance everyone in the Morning Assembly knelt.

 

The Prime Chancellor introduced Master Xu Yuan as he had ostensibly been the one involved in contacting him. The Prime Chancellor was also in cahoots with the Empress as he was her second cousin. That was the balance at court. The Empress held the political power whereas Consort Ming and the Second Prince’s family held the military power. 

 

“Master Xu Yuan,” The Emperor’s voice trembled and he seemed out of breath even though he was sitting down. “We have been afflicted with strange happenings at court. Several missing maids. One was found several months ago with her heart removed.”

 

There were alarmed whispers at that since until now it was only a rumor. It was the Empress’ only slip up, since then when she murdered someone she was careful to dispose of their body in a way that wouldn’t be discovered. 

 

“And just recently someone cursed a sword during an important ceremony and the Second Prince was nearly killed. We have our own court masters of course but they have not been able to discover anything. If you can help us discover who is behind it then I will award you ten thousand pieces of gold.”

 

The whispers became more loud and amazed. This was a princely sum! Clearly the Emperor wanted to get to the root of the problem. Hearing it, the Empress narrowed her eyes.

 

Kneeling, Master Xu Yuan pressed his forehead to the ground. “This humble servant will do all that is within his power to serve the Great Chang. May I take a look at the sword?” He lifted up his hands.

 

The sword was brought to him. Without looking at it Liu Yue knew it was a fake.

 

“Father,” It was the Second Prince speaking. “Father, to avoid any tricks, shall we first determine this is the same sword that the maid Song LingLing used on the night of the attack?”

 

“Second Prince!” The Empress said sharply. “This sword has been kept in the vaults underneath the palace under heavy guard. Are you saying you do not trust the Emperor’s own guards?”

 

“Great Empress,” It was Consort Ming speaking. “The long night can breed nightmares. What is the harm in making sure? This way everyone present can have no doubt about the result.”

 

The Empress pressed her lips together, looking displeased. But Liu Yue knew she was only acting.

 

“What method do you propose to make sure?” She asked.

 

“Father, your son has a confession to make.”

 

The Second Prince then confessed he was behind the rescue of Song LingLing from jail. The Emperor shook, appearing angry, but Consort Ming quickly spoke up on his behalf.

 

The Second Prince also knelt down. “Father, I only did it to ensure that the perpetrator does not silence her and that she lives to see this day. If Master Xu Yuan determines that she is the one behind the murders then I will gladly see her back to the prison and what is more, I am willing to accept all punishment for my actions.”

 

This sharpened the Empress’ eyes! She had been looking for a way to reduce the Second Prince’s power and what better way than to break an arm or leg and make sure he is no longer able to fight! Since she had already rigged the fake sword to point at Song LingLing, she quickly dropped all her objections and joined Consort Ming in persuading the Emperor to move on.

 

Under their persuasion, the weak Emperor relented. 

 

“If the servant called Song LingLing is present that the method is quite simple.” Master Xuyuan said. “In the report about the incident, it is stated that the sword cut the servant girl’s hand. Blood will leave a residue of power on the surface of the metal. I will simply perform a recall spell and the sword will show its connection to the maid. This will confirm that it is the same sword that the maid used. But I will need the maid to offer up quite a large amount of blood.”

 

The other Celestial Masters were nodding and agreeing. This was really a very basic spell and logical so they didn’t have any objection.

 

The Emperor gave permission and Song LingLing was escorted forwarded by the burly guards. As she walked past him, she looked at Wei YunXiao. Her expression was calm and resolute as was his. Looking at them, Liu Yue sighed. Clearly two people cut from the same cloth.

 

As she was brought into the array, Master Xu Yuan reached out his hand. Song LingLing stretched out her arm and he cut her deeply and suddenly. Red blushed gushed out. Several concubines screamed and one fainted. Even some of the men went quite green. 

 

Master Xu Yan spoke an incantation. Under the watchful eyes of the other Celestial Masters he didn’t do any wrong moves. The blood from the cup began to swirl and move. Song LingLing’s face spasmed and her eyes opened wide. She clutched the wound on her arm and bit her lip so hard she drew blood. It was easy to tell that she was in terrible pain. But she was not the iron-willed female protagonist for nothing. She didn’t let out a single noise.

 

Master Xu Yuan poured the cup over the blade of the sword and waited. But suddenly to everyone’s shock the blood repelled from the sword. It flew from it and back into the cup! 

 

Master Xu Yuan frowned. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he tried one more time. The sword didn’t budge.

 

“What is happening?” The Emperor asked. “Why is it flying back into the cup?”

 

Master Xu Yuan was forced to respond, in a slightly shaken tone, “It seems that this sword… does not have a blood connection with the maid.”

 

“That is because it is not the sword.” The Second Prince spoke. Dramatically he reached under his clothes and lifted out an identical sword. He knelt again.

 

“What… how?!” The Emperor was flabbergasted.

 

“You must forgive your son again, Emperor. I knew it was likely that someone on the inside was behind his curse. Hence when I rescued Song LingLing, I also stole the sword and replaced it with a replica.”

 

This was the Second Prince’s genius plan. If only he had known the Empress had been one step ahead of him and had realized the replica. She decided to go along with it and use the replica to form a blood connection with Song LingLing using Dong Ru, throwing the Grand Assembly into chaos as to which one was real and which was fake. Or at least that’s what would have happened if not for Liu Yue. He grinned to himself.

 

On the dais the Empress stood up in a rage, her plan thwarted. However she didn’t give up. Furious and frightened she began accusing the Second Prince, trying to use her words to turn the crowd against him. “Kidnapping the maid and stealing the sword! It’s not anyone else, you’re the one that’s the most suspicious here!” 

 

Consort Ming immediately stood up too and began defending her son. As they yelled at each other, the court ministers were split between the two factions. 

 

Liu Yue waited for the right moment and then stepped forward. “Father, may I speak?”

 

Seeing the Crown Prince who usually had no opinion whatsoever about anything suddenly speak up in this crucial time made surprised everyone into silence, even the Empress.

 

“Father surely the most important thing is that we discover the truth. Clearly the sword before was fake, that means Second Brother is not incorrect in taking extra precautions. If the Second Prince says his sword is the genuine one then why not test it?”

 

“My son you are too naive!” The Empress broke in. “He has the maid and the sword! Who knows what kind of agreement they have!”

 

“Then use me.”

 

The court was thrown into silence again. Pale with shock, the Second Prince turned to stare at him. Wei YunXiao had detected this flaw in his plan ever since the Second Prince told him. With the Empress and the Prime Chancellor’s political prowess, they would be able to muddy any result Master Xu Yuan came up with under the original plan. They would push people to believe the Second Prince had somehow manipulated the result. It seemed a shame but the plot appeared to want to go back to its original one. In the original plot the fake sword was recognized as the real one and the Second Prince’s plan failed. Song LingLing  was arrested and on the day of her execution the Second Prince lead a rebellion ito the Palace, exposed the truth of the Crown Prince’s cat demon nature in front of the gathered crowd and successfully defeated her. 

 

But that was later. In this part of the plot the elements were set up for his failure. 

 

Thankfully Wei YunXiao was here. He had done an unexpected thing at the banquet that he hoped was enough to save them today.

 

“I also cut my hand on the sword at the banquet. Even if the maid and the Second Prince are in cahoots, surely no one would believe that the two of us are? Hence test the swords connection with me instead.”

The Empress stared at him furiously. But before she could speak the Emperor said faintly, “Yue’er the process appears very painful. Can you tolerate it?”

 

“Yes father. Your son is willing to sacrifice to find the truth.”

 

“Good… good.” The Emperor nodded. “My son you have grown up at last. Your father is very happy.”

 

Under the eyes of all, Liu Yue walked into the array. Song LingLing was lead out by the guards and as she passed him she looked at him with a frown on her pretty face. She was brought back to the side of the Second Prince but he wasn’t looking at her at all. Instead he was staring fixedly at the tall, slim figure dressed in red standing in the middle of the array. His face appeared calm but as Song LingLing looked at his hand she saw it was clutching his robe so tightly the fingers were white.

 

Finally we meet… Wei YunXiao stared at Master Xu Yuan. My only hope to prevent myself from turning into a demon. Or as long as he could help him prevent him from having to kill anyone. He had considered the options and thought about what would happen if Master Xu Yuan told him his only choice was to go back and become a cat.

 

I guess I’m okay with that. If I cultivate for a thousand years using the correct method then I can become an immortal can’t I? That’s not too bad.

 

But anyway that was for later. Right now Liu Yue merely nodded at the sorcerer who was staring at him with a pale face. But everyone’s eyes were upon them. Master Xu Yuan had no choice but to stretch out his hand.

 

In response Liu Yue rolled back his billowing sleeve. As the red cloth was pulled away and a slender milky white arm was revealed. His long curled fingers were refined and beautiful.

 

“Your Highness… forgive me.” The Celestial Master said as he brought the knife down. Liu Yue felt sharp pain and the next moment blood rolled from his wrist into the cup. 

 

The Morning Assembly was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop as everyone stared transfixed by the Crown Prince’s red blood dripping down his white arm.

 

After he had gathered enough Master Xu Yuan began the incantations again. At that moment Liu Yue realized the pain that Song LingLing had been feeling. As the blood in the cup began to swirl he felt his own blood turn to fire. It was as though he was burning up from within. The experience was excruciating.

 

His entire body tensed but he stubbornly willed himself to stay still. I can’t lose… to the female lead. Without even knowing why he suddenly looked around at Wei YunXiao. The Second Prince was staring at him with a transfixed expression. His eyes were no longer expressionless. In fact they were filled with passion. Staring at them Liu Yue felt like he was drowning…

 

The crowd let out a collective yell, recalling his attention. The blood on the sword was mingling, it was swirling around the blade in a harmonious pattern.

 

“It’s the sword! It’s the sword!” They were saying excitedly.

 

Master Xu Yuan was forced to admit it.

 

“Stop the spell.” The Second Prince broke in. “Since it’s been confirmed, stop the spell!”

 

Liu Yue felt the blood in his body return to normal. He was so relieved he almost stumbled. He bowed shakily to the Emperor and retreated back to his spot. Suddenly he felt a presence behind him, a familiar smell of jasmine. Then he felt Wei YunXiao’s hand clutch his shoulder. 

 

Relieved, Wei YunXiao loosened his tense stance slightly, leaning on his brother’s shoulder.

 

“Thank you,” The Second Prince whispered at him. “Now leave the rest to me.”