And once again, everyone went down to their knees, bowing to the Emperor as he walked past them. Samaya had to turn around a bit and kowtow as the Emperor passed by. She wondered absently if she would have chronic back pain before she reached her forties from all the bowing. There was the sound of shuffling before the Emperor spoke.

“Do not strain yourself, my Empress.” The Emperor’s voice echoed in the silent room. “Please sit.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” the Empress replied.

Another sound of shuffling as the Emperor sat down before he commanded, “Arise!”

And everyone rose in unison.

Samaya lifted her head slightly and found the Emperor sitting beside his wife, staring down at her with the same unreadable expression he usually sported.

Samaya averted her eyes. It would not do to be caught staring up at the Emperor and ruin the whole damn plan before even it started.

“Beloved wife.” The man was clearly addressing the Empress. “Would you tell Us what happened? We have only heard that some disturbance occurred in Lady Qing’s courtyard and now you have called for trial.”

The Empress let out an audible sigh. “It was much more than just a disturbance. Your Majesty.” She then proceeded to lay out the story that the Attendant had said. Though, in her defence, she did not present it as the truth, but rather as Attendant Yu’s side of the story. She also mentioned that Samaya had not admitted any guilt.

“I see.” The Emperor then once again looked down at the two women kneeling in front of him. “Lift your head, Lady Qing.”

Finally! Thank Fuck!

She lifted her head and looked up at the man, resisting the urge to crack her stiff neck.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” He asked.

The man’s eyes seemed to bore into her soul. She could feel the pressure on her, the commanding presence of a man with the ultimate authority, the unblinking stare of the man who could easily have her beheaded and have her head on a pike. If Samaya had been a weaker person, she would have been trembling by now,

But her mentor had trained her better. She had gone through the interrogation of the Sicilian Mafia damnit.

She raised her head high. “The same that I have told the Empress. I have done nothing wrong.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “You do not consider torturing someone wrong?”

“Not if I have a good reason for it,” she said. “Aren’t prisoners down in the Black Dungeons tortured?”

“Those are criminals, Lady Qing.” The man’s tone seemed to be chiding on the surface, but Samaya could tell he was suppressing a lot of his emotions right now. “Attendant Yu is hardly a criminal.”

Samaya scoffed. “Your Majesty, is harming a Prince … no, harming any person … not a crime?”

“Discipline,” the man replied immediately, “is not a crime. Yes, discipline might sometimes be harsh and leave behind some marks, but they are for a child’s own good. Attendant Yu had permission to discipline the Prince from the Empress.”

Samaya could not help the derisive laugh that left her. “Ah. I see, I see. Then, she must have gotten permission from the Empress to strike my son again and again until his blood dripped down to the floor and splattered on his clothes.”

There was silence once again.

The Emperor, the Empress and the Imperial children were considered to have sacred, royal bodies. While discipline and some injuries were part of life, someone hurting an Imperial Prince again and again, when the Prince has already bled, was an offense worthy of heavy flogging or even execution.

“What?” The Emperor’s question was a barely held back growl.

From the corner of his eyes, she could see the woman trembling.

“Your Majesty, this slave never intended to harm the Prince! I would never dare. I was only trying to teach-”

“Teach what?” Samaya interrupted. “How to strike on one place again and again with such precision that what should have been such red marks turned into cuts? Or how to bandage your own wounds, wash and dry your own bloody clothes while hiding them from your own mother? The mother from whom he had never kept a secret before?”

Her voice, which had been soft but firm at the beginning, had raised to the point of yelling angrily at the woman.

“Calm down, Lady Qing!” The Emperor snapped from the dais and Samaya came back to herself, panting softly as she tried to calm herself.

“Is this true, Senior Palace Attendant Yu?”

The woman frantically shook her head. “It is not! Your Majesty, I may have been overly harsh at times, but it was only because the Prince refused to learn properly! He had no sense of Imperial duties and etiquette and was so inattentive and unfocused in his lessons that I had to take such a step!”

Samaya let out a disbelieving scoff. “Now, you are blaming my son?”

Even though she had known that the bitch would pull this card, it still infuriated her.

The woman banged her head onto the floor once. “It is the truth! Please be the judge, Your Majesty!”

The Empress looked between the two, before turning to Samaya. “Lady Qing, I understand your anger at seeing your child hurt. But discipline can be harsh at times. Do you have proof that Attendant Yu had malicious intentions?”

She frowned and looked at the Emperor, raising an eyebrow in askance. “Do you require proof as well, Your Majesty?” She asked, wondering if the man would feel any emotion at the news of his son being hurt.

“An Emperor cannot punish someone without evidence.”

Samaya scoffed. That was answer enough for her.

“Very well,” she said. “Could you send someone outside? My son, Eunuch Liu, and the Chen brothers should be here by now.”

“Chen brothers?” The man asked. “What did you call them for?”

“What else, Your Majesty? Evidence.”

The man paused for a moment before gesturing at Eunuch Li, who bowed and quickly scurried out of the Hall.

It took a few minutes but soon the group was making their way into the Hall.

Samaya looked back and saw Manu, who had anxious eyes roaming all over the place. As soon as he saw Samaya, his glassy eyes got wide and he forgot everything, running towards her.

“Mama!”

She quickly opened her arms, ignoring everyone and everything as she took the boy into her embrace and let him bury his face into the crook of her neck, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

“I was … I was so worried, mama. They were saying you were sent for trial and you might be punished and that I might not be able to see you…”

Samaya sent a dirty look towards the Chen brothers, Ah-Liu and Lian knew better than to speak of such things in front of Manu, especially when it concerned Samaya. She preferred to speak to her son herself.

“I am fine, honey. Completely fine. Nothing will happen to me.”

“Promise?” He whispered.

She turned her face to press a soft kiss on his head. “Promise, baby.”

The moment between mother and child was broken by a scolding voice.

“Attendant Yu is right!” The Imperial Consort’s voice grated on her ears. “Look at the child, Your Majesty. He knows nothing of the Imperial etiquette. Even if he has only been here for a few weeks, it has been two weeks since the Attendant was assigned as his instructor! He must have learned by now that one must greet the Emperor and Empress first! And yet he does not even acknowledge the Imperial presence and runs to his mother, which is also against etiquette! What wrong did Attendant Yu do, if she disciplined the Prince a bit more to help him learn?”

Samaya looked back, first at the Imperial Consort, then at the Emperor and the Empress. “A child has just learned that his mother might be punished and he might be separated from her and ran to her for comfort and safety when he saw her. Is a child seeking comfort against etiquette? Is comforting and protecting your own child less important than etiquette? What use is etiquette if one must live their life miserably, in pain, without safety or comfort?”

“Those are the words of an ignorant commoner, Lady Qing! This just goes to show-”

“If protecting my son from those who would harm him and comforting him when he needs it makes me an ignorant commoner, then I am better off as one!”

“Does that mean you would torment and abuse someone innocent just in the name of protecting your child?”

Samaya held her child close and looked straight into the eyes of the Imperial Consort.

“For my child? I would burn the world and scatter its ashes.”

Silence reigned once again as her words settled in among the crowd. Some gasped, some put their hands over their mouth, and some murmured amongst themselves.

“Enough! Silence!”

The Emperor finally had enough. He looked between Samaya and the Imperial Consort. “You can argue about etiquette later. That is not why we are here. Lady Qing,” he glanced at his newest concubine, “where is this evidence you speak of?”

Samaya sighed softly. “I have a few. But please, let me speak to my son first. He has little idea of what is happening here.”

The Emperor nodded in agreement. Samaya then gently pulled back from Manu and held his hands.

“Sweetie,” she said softly. “You have been hurting all these days, haven’t you? Attendant Yu was hurting you, right?”

Manu immediately tensed, and then he quickly shook his head. “What? N-no, she … she wasn’t.”

Lies. Samaya could see it in his wide, round eyes. The child thought he could hide it from her … no, he did hide it from her. That was his biggest regret.

“It’s okay.” She said softly. “You don’t have to lie. She can’t do anything to you here.”

But he shook his head. “I am not lying. Really, mama! She was not hurt … hurting me. I … I just got some things wrong and … and …”

Samaya frowned. How deep did that wicked bitch burrow herself in her child’s brain? He was refusing to admit he was hurt. She could force him to pull up his sleeves and undo his bandages. But that would be far less credible than Manu showing it himself. And she did not want to traumatize her son even more by forcing him.

“See, Your Majesty?” Attendant Yu suddenly spoke after her long silence. “Even the Prince admits it. He was disciplined because he was wrong!”

Samaya looked at the woman. She was still bowing, her head to the ground, her chin tucked into her neck. From her spot, Samaya could see the smirk curling her lips.

This bitch. She had anticipated this. She knew that Manu would not speak against her, because he would be too afraid to. What had the fucker done to her precious child? Her brave child, who never stood down from any fight? Her strong Manu, who would come home full of bruises and still grin at her?

Samaya clenched her teeth. She was going to kill this bitch.

She glanced at the Emperor. The man was staring at her as if gauging what she would do now.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to Manu once again. Her hands went up to gently grasp his arms and she smiled at him, reassuringly. She then smoothly switched to English.

“Manu, you don’t have to be afraid. You can tell me what happened.”

Manu blinked at her in surprise. He seemed to take a moment to remember the conversation they had in the palanquin while travelling to the Capital. But then, he frowned and ducked his head.

The boy shook his head again but Samaya squeezed his arms. “It’s alright, baby. No one will understand us. You are safe. Tell me, sweetie.”

He ducked his head. “But … but mama … they will hurt you…”

She frowned. Did the Attendant threaten her to get Manu to comply?

“Who will hurt me?”

“If … if I don’t do well, if I can’t take the punishments and learn properly … you will be punished for being the mother of such a useless prince. They might send you to the Cold Palace or even exile you!”

“Who are they?”

“Everyone,” he sniffled. “Father, Imperial Mother, Imperial Grandmother and the courtiers…”

She let out a sigh. So that was why Manu did not tell her. He was trying to protect her. Oh, her brave little child.

“My brave, silly son.” Her hands travelled up to cup his cheeks. “I am so proud of you.”

“Mama?” He whispered, his voice cracking.

She smiled softly at him to show him she was not angry. “Have you ever seen someone other than your Uncle and his strongest soldiers be able to hurt your mother?”

Manu frowned in thought before shaking his head.

“Do you think that this woman or anyone here will be able to hurt me?”

He bit his lip and frowned. “The Emperor might…”

She chuckled. “He won’t.”

Manu’s lips were trembling as he asked, “How… how do you know?”

“I just do. Has Mama ever been wrong?”

Manu paused for a second before he shook his head.

“Do you trust Mama?”

Manu nodded immediately.

A reassuring smile curled her lips. She let go of his cheeks and grasped his shoulders “Then trust me now. Tell everyone what happened. Show them your wounds. Let them know how much that woman hurt you. Being silent only gives them more power, sweetie. If you don’t tell them today, they will keep threatening me and hurting you.”

Manu seemed to hesitate for another long moment. But Samaya did not break eye contact, letting him know that she was not worried in the slightest.

A determined glint seemed to appear in his eyes and he nodded. Samaya smiled and let him go.

“Do it,” she switched back to the native language, ignoring everyone’s curious gazes.

Manu took a deep breath and started to lift his sleeves.