The Soothsayer

Arranged Protest

"Here, the clothes you asked for." Lan'er said as she handed a set of white clothing to Chen Xi.

"Help me out of this."

Chen Xi had changed out of her coronation gown and into a white sleek dress.

"You look so pretty!" Lan'er shouted, scanning Chen Xi.

Chen Xi smiled and asked: "So I don't look pretty all the other times?"

"No no no no" Lan'er said, shaking her head quickly.

"Princess, looks good in everything." Lan'er continued.

"I was just joking with you. Let's go out." Chen Xi said as she touched Lan'er's nose.

The city was different from the last time Chen Xi had visited. Stalls were empty and there was no one in sight. Chen Xi stood in the middle of the road and looked around.

"Princess, over there!" Lan'er shouted as she pointed in a direction to the left.

"Why are all the people over there?" Chen Xi asked.

"Don't know, let's go over there to see." Lan'er said as she pulled Chen Xi to the crowd.

AS they got closer to the crowd, they could hear the crowd screaming: "WE DON'T WANT HER AS EMPRESS!" "SHE IS USELESS" "A PRETTY FACE TO ONLY SEDUCE THE EMPEROR!"

"Princess, let's get out of here." Lan'er said as she grabbed Chen Xi's arm and started to walk away.

Chen Xi looked at the crowd then back at Lan'er who was pulling her away. She shook off Lan'er's hand and walked into the crowd.

"Princess!" Lan'er yelled as she tried to follow Chen Xi but soon got lost in the massive crowd.

"The Empress is only pretty, we don't want someone from the Xi Empire to be our Empress!" a lady beside Chen Xi shouted.

Chen Xi looked at the lady beside her and the lady made eye contact with her.

"Are you here too to get rid of the Empress? Here." the lady said as she handed a piece of paper to Chen Xi.

Chen Xi looked at the paper the woman was holding and started to look around her.

"You don't belong here." "Filthy woman" "I can't believe the Emperor chose her" voices around Chen Xi whispered.

Chen Xi looked around her, the whole world was spinning and the lady next to her had disappeared but the voices hadn't. Soon guards dispersed the crowd and all that was left was Chen Xi laying on the floor.

"Young Lady, are you okay?" an old woman asked.

"I will end." Chen Xi whispered to the old woman.

"What did you say?"

"I will end, the heir will die." Chen Xi said again.

"Princess!" Lan'er shouted as she ran towards Chen Xi.

"What a strange lady you serve." the old woman said as she walked away.

"Princess, princess." Lan'er said as she shook Chen Xi.

"The heir will die." Chen Xi said.

"There's no heir in the Long Empire." Lan'er said as a guard approached.

"Empress, you better go rest." General Wang said.

"Why are you here?" Lan'er asked.

"Under the Emperor's orders, I am here to escort the Empress back to her chambers."

"Can you help me carry her back?" Lan'er asked.

General Wang shook his head no and said: "I don't want to ruin her chastity"

Lan'er stared at General Wang and said: "Then tell the Emperor: Don't bother to come and care about the Empress."

Lan'er brought Chen Xi back to the Peony Palace and put her to sleep. After General Wang finished his mission, he walked back to the Dragon Palace and updated the events to the Emperor.

"The heir will die?" the Emperor asked.

"Yes, that is exactly what she said." General Wang replied.

"We have no heir so she is probably talking about her brother."

"Can I go start the operation?" General Wang asked.

"No, don't start. We have to be patient and wait for a perfect timing to kill them all off and expand our Empire."

"Yes. I will follow your orders."

"Good job today, I saw how hopeless she was in the crowd. I can't wait to have her all in my palm." the Emperor said as he smiled cheekly.

"Thank you." General Wang said as he exited.

"Oh my dear Empress, your time is slowly running out. Your Father's birthday is less than two months away, how will you deal with that now?" the Emperor said as he watched General Wang walk away.