Rising Phoenix

“This is the Queen’s messenger, captured at the border of Yu Zhou City.” Kereyid explained. “His skulking caught the suspicion of my men and his arrest revealed the letter.”

“Queen!” The man called out in pained regret as he kowtowed to Feng Zhiwei. “The subordinate has failed! I accept all punishments!”

A small, cold smile touched the corner of Feng Zhiwei’s lips as she watched the show unfold, unmoved.

Kereyid toyed with the envelope, his long lashed eyes glancing over the Queen. His smile was also cold as he spoke: “Queen, what do you say of this. The King’s only brother is still in his swaddling clothes and his firstborn is still in Narta’s womb. No one in the direct line can inherit the crown. Were you thinking of taking up the duties of Dowager Queen Mudan and rule as regent, so at the right moment you can throw all of Hu Zhuo into the hands of the Imperial Court?”

The patriarchs turned pale and grave.

If the female wolf of prophecy was an Imperial Court saboteur, and assassin and a spy sent to destroy the freedom of the steppes, then she definitely had motive.

All of the Living Buddha’s warnings were proving true.

“No.” Liu Mudan cut in, stepping forward and speaking dazedly: “Zhiwei has explained this to me. She said we should prepare for the possibility of bad weather in winter, and since we have enough grain stockpiled here, it is better to temporarily hold the extra grain at Yu Zhou City to protect it. She never planned for her guards to take the grain for themselves.”

“Dowager Queen, you’ve been tricked.” A man laughed coldly, tossing the letter to her. “It is only spring, who can say what will happen in winter? Who would ever say that our grain stockpile is enough? This woman has a vicious heart and a cunning mind, and she has taken advantage of the Dowager Queen’s kindness.”

Liu Mudan opened her mouth but could not speak. She could not say that the weather had only been an excuse so that they could threaten Gadd when he refused to surrender his twenty thousand men. The two queens had formed this secret plan to usurp the military power of Golden Lion, and explaining would not fix anything.

Liu Mudan could only frown and read the letter.

Feng Zhiwei glanced over at the letter, her eyes flashing. It was the message she had prepared and the messenger guard was her man, the Dijing accent not easily faked by the steppe tongue.

But the contents of the letter had been quietly altered.

Who knew where Kereyid had found such an expert capable of erasing and adding characters to the letter. With a few words taken away here and a few added there, the entire tone of the letter shifted.

Her continued silence seemed to only deepen her guilt, and Liu Mudan turned and reached for Feng Zhiwei’s sleeve. “Zhiwei, you…”

But just as the Dowager Queen was moving, a figure behind Feng Zhiwei shifted forward and pushed her. As the young Queen leaned forward, Liu Mudan’s hand missed Feng Zhiwei’s sleeve and grasped onto her waistband, and as the two moved, the waistband ripped.

A misty cloud erupted from the ripped waistband and Kereyid’s face instantly fell. The young patriarch cried out in warning, stepping backwards and pulling people away from Feng Zhiwei. As the misty cloud fell to the ground, it turned the tips of the green grass yellow.

“Poison!”

“No wonder they found nothing in her quarters, she was hiding the poison on herself all along!”

“Guards!” Blue Bird and White Deer shouted, gesturing towards Feng Zhiwei.

The King’s Army swarmed forward, surrounding Feng Zhiwei. Blades were unsheathed and arrows knocked, and the King’s Army pointed blades both without and within, pushing the onlookers away.