Phoenix Rising

042

Zi-ning lifted the curtain of her carriage and peered outside. She could already see Ryoko mountain coming into view, with the solemn stone walls of the temple perched halfway up the slope. In front of the temple stood a large statue of the Guanyin buddha, meditating peacefully atop her lotus bed.

It had been a long time since she had come to Ryoko Temple. As the largest temple close to the capital, Ryoko was the temple of choice for members of the royal family when they wished to pray to the gods. When she had been the eighth prince's consort in her previous life, she had also made many trips to the temple, accompanying the queen and the king's consorts as they went about their prayer rituals.

But this particular trip was destined to be a troublesome one.

From the moment she received the invitation from Consort Song, Zi-ning already knew that she was walking into a wolf's lair. She had never had much interaction with the consort, so the only reason why she would be invited was because of the princess's impending engagement to Situ Zhiren.

No matter, whatever the consort and princess had in mind, they would be sorely disappointed. She was not about to let them dictate her life, the way it had been dictated previously.

"Ahri, I apologise in advance," she said, lowering the curtain and turning towards her new maidservant.

The girl merely looked at her and blinked, as if to ask "why?". Ahri was a girl of few words. When spoken to, her replies were either stiff nods and shakes of the head, or one word answers. Perhaps it was the discipline that Du Zhenghuan had instilled in all of his Shadows.

"This trip will not be smooth-sailing, I'm afraid," Zi-ning continued. "I may need your assistance when the time comes."

"Why? What's going to happen, Miss?" Hana, who was also accompanying her for the journey, asked.

"I don't know," she replied with a smile.

It was the truth. She did not know what trap lay ahead, but she knew there would be one, if not more.

Other than Consort Song and the princess, there was also Meiyan and Lady Min lurking in the background. The day after the invitation arrived at the Han manor, Lady Min had proposed to bring both Meiyan and Meisi to Ryoko temple to pray, citing the need to ward away the troubles that Meiyan had been facing in recent days. A few gentle tears from Meiyan had convinced the old madam to agree. At the end of the day, Meiyan was still her granddaughter, and had been the most precious granddaughter of the family for many years.

Zi-ning didn't believe in coincidences, especially not when it came to Lady Min and Han Meiyan. Their hatred of her ran deep, but what they didn't know was that hers was even deeper.

#

"Ah, Zi-ning, I'm so glad you could join us," Consort Song said when she saw Zi-ning enter the temple's main prayer hall. The consort had been in the middle of a conversation with the head abbot of the temple, Abbot Wulin. Beside her, Princess Xuan had been idly looking around, but her gaze immediately narrowed upon Zi-ning the moment the latter stepped in.

"Your Highness, Your Grace, Abbot," Zi-ning greeted. "I apologise for my tardiness. We took a wrong turn along the way and had to do a detour."

"How dare you arrive later than us?" Princess Xuan snapped, her pink lips set in a pout of displeasure. "Clearly someone thinks she is of great importance, with all the attention that she's been receiving."

Zi-ning fell to her knees, pressing her forehead against the wooden floor. "I did not mean to offend you, Your Highness. Please forgive me," she said. Even while she was apologising, her voice remained calm and unafraid.