90
"Unhand me! I am the Empress you dare to touch me?" Empress Park wriggled off the hands of the guards who arrested her. "Your Majesty! You are wondering why I became like this? Because you are biased! You did not treat us, your women fairly! You are hiding under Han Kana's skirt! How funny that the great ruler of Great Siam is a henpecked*!" She laugh loudly like a crazy woman.
"Presumptuous!" Kana slapped her hard left and right, making Empress Park dizzy.
"It's because you and your father's ambitions and hunger for power! I only played your game and act the script you produced! How dare you accuse our ruler of being hen pecked?! How about you who stab him at the back by sleeping with another man? Shameless!" Kana slap her again until he felt his palm going numb.
"Hit me more until I die in your hands! You're truly a vicious and sinister person! This child I carried is His Majesty's!" Empress Park cried out loud.
Left Prime Minister Park did not say anything but he just look away.
Second Prince Haii is the same, they know that their end has been decided and they cannot do anything about it.
Betraying the ruler means losing one's life.
Emperor Sunwoo let out a dry laugh.
"You know what's the difference between you and Han Kana? It's million Li** apart, Han Kana is a person who aims to help me rule this empire, she wanted me to have a prosperous and fruitful reign! But what about you and your family? You are all power hungry! Let's seat aside the fact that you bedded another man, You colluded to kill This Emperor twice! How am I supposed to keep a woman like you beside me? Keeping a snake means dying one day! This Emperor is young and didn't reign long yet so you need to be gone."
Empress Park totally lost her sanity. Her last glimpse of hope using the baby she's carrying vanish through the thin air.
Kana stood beside her and pulled her chin closer ,"I didn't remember that we had an enmity before but it was you who started this war, remember back when we did not even join the Consort Selection yet you sent a servant to ruin my face using a white powder, then when we are competing, you finished all the ingredients, and rice was only left for me, when you imitate my talent on playing the Flute because you want to stand out, You made my mother a laughing stock in the whole capital because you accused her of being unfair on my father's concubine, when you tried to drugged me and helped Second Prince Haii to ruin me that night, if not for my precautions and the loyalty of my people I am the one standing on your place now. Did you recall that all?!"
Kana heaves in anger, she shove Empress Park away. "Take her away, make sure she won't kill herself, arrange everything for her punishment tomorrow."
Kana walk to the throne where the Emperor still seated, as they saw all the involved in tonight's coup has been arrested.
Kana felt the sudden surge of headache and dizziness.
Emperor Sunwoo notice it and he scooped him up and carried him away.
"Sheen, prepare dinner on Phoenix Palace, my Empress is tired."
Sheen felt her heart fluttered after hearing the Emperor addressed her master as His Empress.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
***
Somewhere in the Second Prince Manor.
Former Consort Mia already know what happened yet she didn't know what to do.
She's about to call someone when two black figures entered her chambers.
"Who are you?! Why are you here?!" she shouted in fear.
"I'm here to send you off so you can prepare a place in hell for your families." A familiar voice rang in her ear.
Consort Mia lost her wits! Though the voice sounds familiar, he can't see his face covered with the veil attached to a bamboo hat.
Impossible! The Former Emperor is alive!
"Your... Y-your Majesty!"
"Don't call me that, I am just a normal citizen now, I'm not here to bring you some news despite that I know you are already aware what happened to your claimed son, dirty lover and your biological daughter who came from Buddha knows who was that man." Former Emperor Jong snorted.
Consort Mia didn't manage to answer him because she's shaking in fear.
"As a former member of my harem, allow this old man to send you off, drink this." Former Emperor Jong handed her a little porcelain bottle.
Consort Mia gulped, she knew that it is a poison.
"You're still hesitating? Do you want Empress Han Kana to send you off? Trust me he's more brutal than I am."
After hearing the name, Consort Mia grabbed the bottle and drank it.
Former Emperor Jong laugh loudly, "You are really desperate, you will be alive until 3 days from now. You need to watch them lost their lives, one by one. Good bye!" Former Emperor Jong jump off the window.
"Xiumin, watch her every move, don't let her to die just yet."
Former Emperor Jong laugh happily, seeing the woman he hated and threatened her made him felt ecstatic.
***
RUI PALACE
"What?!" Imperial Concubine Lili almost fell down on her seat when she heard what happened in the Heavenly hall.
Yun'er reported on her in details and with actions hence she is more terrified, Yun'er snuck out and watch them clashed then reported it all to her master.
"They will be executed 3 days from now? Send a letter to the Third Prince, inform him about the execution."
Yun'er nodded. "Yes!"
***
SUBURBS OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL
"Your Highness, letter from Rui Palace."
Third Prince Tong sneered as he accepted and open the letter, he read the content and his eyes glimmers.
"Call the troops, tell them to march to the Capital, they need to reach within 3 days, we will attack. Second Prince failed by using underhanded tactics then we will face the Emperor head on."
The subordinate nodded, "Yes."
***
PHOENIX PALACE
After their dinner, Kana sat with the Emperor in the garden.
"I thought about you while on the way back, I was worried that you will over exert your strength and affect you and aour baby's health." Emperor Sunwoo pulled him into a tight hug.
"I know my limits, I would never take risk that will affect our child."
They stared at each other lovingly, their faces came closer but they were interrupted by Yoongi, clearing his throat.
"Your Majesty, Master. Pardon for the sudden disturbance but I have something to report."
Kana straightened his body, "Speak."
"Imperial Concubine Lili sent a letter to the third prince informing him for the execution of the second prince 3 days from now. I'm thinking that they will attack on that day while we are down guard. The military are still on the borders, having them march back her will take a month or more, Third Prince has been recruiting secret soldiers ever since he became the feudal lord of Liaoyang."Yoongi said while kneeling on one knee.
Kana smirk, he held the Emperor's hand and said to Yoongi, "Very well, Call Lady Pleng for me. Take her here and let her see her son wreck havoc."
***
Footnotes :
* Henpecked : afraid of the wife. Wife slave.
** Li : The li (里, lǐ) is a traditional Chinese unit of distance, which has varied considerably over time but now has a standardized length of 500 meters or half a kilometer (c. 1640 feet). A modern li consists of 1, 500 Chinese "feet" or chi and, in the past, was often translated as a "mile.