When bodies of the Huang concubines surfaced on the waters of the Qiantang River and evidence delivered to their families' doors, the Emperor and the Rui Prime Minister were overjoyed. These are the daughters of the loyalists who willingly sacrificed themselves to seduce the Huang general and create chaos within the Huang household. More importantly their main mission was to gain evidence to implicate Huang Yu Li in crimes that would allow the Emperor to execute the Huang family.
Unfortunately, their early demise cut short these schemes, but now that the evidence has been tied to Yu Li's favoured personal aid, Shu Mei. Using this vicious woman, the Prime Minister can mount a case against Yu Li. Since Yu Li's appearance as a genius youth and the numerous merits he had accumulated, this is the first opportunity for the Emperor to implicate Huang Yu Li and strip his powers.
At this point, just as Shu Mei is being escorted into the imperial city, she had no idea that she has become the leverage that will be used to take down Yu Li. Instead, she is thoroughly enjoying the food and scenery afforded to her throughout the trip.
Within a day of Shu Mei's departure, Yu Li brutally suppressed the dissenting factions in Wulin, executing the resistance under his sword without battling an eyelid. He had immediately issued an order for his north-western troops to mobilise and march towards the imperial city while instructing Lu Tai and his secret service units to go out in full force to find the missing heir by arresting and interrogating all males between eighteen and twenty-one.
In Hangzhou and its surrounding regions, no males have been spared except for Song Wei Li who have secretly followed Shu Mei's entourage into the imperial city. The disappearance of Song Wei Li was kept quiet by Old Madame Song and they sent a servant posing as him for the interrogation. In the Song Manor, the Old Madame Song and her third son, Song Xitian dismissed the servants around her rooms and engaged in a whispered conversation.
"Mother, it would seem that the wheels have started to move, what should we do?" asked Song Xitian.
"We must stay calm and wait for instructions. Wei Li should be on his way to join your brothers in the imperial city, I am sure he will send a message once he arrives. The Huang child have gone all out, it seems that he would have mobilised his troops already," said Old Madame Song.
"Mother, Wei Li's scheme has been effective to give the Prime Minister evidence against Huang Yu Li, this kid is clever, using the Old hag against her own family. But I didn't think that this would push the events along so fast! That girl must be very important to the Huang bastard," said Song Xitian.
"The girl is a casualty, it is unfortunate, but she must be held hostage until they can corner the Huang child, I think she is his weakness. Let's see how it unfolds, but the important thing here is whether you found the Imperial Heir?" asked Old Madame Song.
"The secret service assassins have killed five out of the eight fake identities we have used to misdirect, there are three left. I have checked on the village that we have left the true heir, but the family have all gone. Don't worry mother, once I send out the signal the couple will bring the heir out of hiding, they are very trustworthy people," said Song Xitian confidently, but Old Madame Song could tell that there was a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
"What is the matter? Why are you uncertain?" asked Old Madame Song, nothing escapes her sharp eyes.
"Truth be told the couple have stopped reporting a few years ago, they are hiding so deep that I can't get into contact with them. There is a chance that they love the child too much to let it get involved in the politics of the empire. Mother, it would be bad if that was the case..." said Song Xitian as he guiltily evades this mother's eyes.
She raised her hands and gave him a strong slap on his cheek and angrily pointed her finger at him. Song Xitian knelt on the ground in front of her and bowed a few times, hitting his forehead against the tiled floor with uncontrolled force.
The Old Madame Song is visibly shaken in anger as she sat down and took up a cup of tea to drink, but her hands were shaking so much that the warm tea spilt over her hands. Frustrated she slammed down the teacup and looked at the blood trickling down her son's head. Her heart began to soften, and she sighed.
"Stop hurting yourself, it only hurts me in the end. I am your mother, I held you inside for ten months and tore myself to birth you. Look here, the blood that is trickling down your forehead is the blood that I gave to you. Stop it."
Song Xitian stopped and looked at his mother tearfully. He felt the crushing weight of the empire on his shoulders and the guilt that he has effectively lost the Imperial Heir. He is denying there is an alternative scenario, that the heir could have been killed long ago.
"Mother, they are safer in hiding while Yu Li goes on his rampage, but the Emperor is getting so weak, my brothers said that he might not be able to hold on any longer. What should we do?" he asked.
Old Madame Song stayed silent her mind racing and remembering the moment when her eldest son had returned from the imperial city with the secret Imperial Decree to prepare to hide the Imperial Heir when it was born. When she was called into the birth chamber of the Imperial Noble Consort, she was disguised as a midwife and surrounded by trusty female guards.
She saw the beautiful Imperial Noble Consort twisting in silent pain, unable to speak during the spasm of regular contractions and twisting her pale delicate face in painful contortion. The Consort had grabbed her hands entrusting her with the life of the child and the fate of the empire before fainting back into the whirlwind of labour pains.
Old Madame Song's heart had ached for the little seventeen-year-old girl in front of her, walking the line between life and death and yet only had the fate of the empire on her mind. She had nodded her head and vowed that she would protect the child and return it safely to the throne, if not then the whole Song family would be executed for their incompetence.
She had looked around at the other eight women, who were also disguised as midwives and holding babies in their arms. Old Madame Song recognised the resolute and determined expressions on their faces, they were willing to sacrifice for their Emperor. They were each tasked to raise the babies well, educated and trained but only Old Madame Song knew what the Heir looked like and the symbol that was burned on the baby.
That night nine women holding crying babies and protected by guards fled the palace in nine different directions, the intention was to scatter them across the empire. But Old Madame Song knew that this was not enough to guarantee the Imperial Heir's safety, no, she must bury the baby's identity in more layers.
On her journey back, she detoured around until she met a couple who had recently just buried their new-born baby. Old Madame Song followed her gut instinct and left the baby with this honest couple and sent people to watch over it from afar. But at one stage the Murong clan had people monitor the Song family, that they were forced to retreat as far away from the baby as possible. For years, the Song family lost contact with the couple but for yearly codes left in a prearranged place to confirm their safety. But who knew, her useless son has truly lost contact with the couple!
"Only the rightful heir can have any hope to rectify this issue, call them out of hiding, we are running out of time and the Emperor cannot hold on much longer. Once the Emperor is gone, all is lost without the Imperial Heir," said Old Madame Song softly as tears gather in her eyes.
"Mother, I have tried, but there is only silence. According to our protocols, the next signal will be obvious, the Huang bastard will target the Imperial Heir's location," said Song Xitian, his face furrowed with worry.
"I don't know what we can do. You just have to try your best to recover the Heir, if this fails we can only be prepared to be buried with the Emperor and Imperial Noble Consort," said Old Madame Song sadly as she wiped away her tears. The old woman is telling herself to steady up and keep the hope alive, there is no alternative, they had thrown their fate along with the empire, once the keystone is lost then everything else crumbles.
"Can we substitute the Heir? We can choose a righteous and good person to become the symbol of hope for the empire. Didn't we train Wei Li for this, he will lay out his life to fight for the Zhou and Rui clan, we will have the people's good will to fight against the Murong clan and the Huang bastard," asked Song Xitian in desperation.
Old Madame Song kicked her son hard and seeing him fall on the ground like an useless slug she cursed herself for birthing such an idiot. Hatred and disappointment flooded her face sending Song Xitian into a spiral of shame.
"Then you are no different from that wicked Murong clan! You fool! It must be the rightful Imperial Heir, the only one remaining who carries the Zhou clan's bloodline, the one with the identification stamp and the only one who can activate the blood oath that can control the original clans. You are such a fool, I almost wished I drowned you at birth then to have you live to this age and say such a stupid thing!" she said through clenched teeth.