Chapter 5 (1/2)

Chapter Five

Ling Fei thought about the last meal she shared with her mother.

‘Mother you should eat,’ Ling Fei said.

Ling Fei picked up the best vegetables and put it into her mother’s bowl.

That night Jiang Thi couldn’t sleep. The following morning she was awoken by the sounds of firecrackers. She carefully got out of bed to not disturb her daughter then she dressed and walked into the kitchen to prepare morning dishes.

Ling Fei didn’t sleep deeply either and she woke up early too. She dressed and wore a pair of old embroidered shoes.

Ling Fei knew there was something worrying her mother because they didn’t keep secrets from each other. She walked into the kitchen and looked anxiously at her mother who was busy cooking.

‘Mother…’ Ling Fei called.

‘Yes?’ Jiang Thi asked.

Jiang Thi was startled by her daughter’s voice and her right hand dropped a white radish on the floor.

‘Ling Fei, why did you wake up early today?’ Jiang Thi asked.

Ling Fei picked up the white radish, she put it on the table and held her mother’s hand.

‘Mother come with me,’ Ling Fei said.

‘What is it?’ Jiang Thi asked.

Ling Fei dragged her mother to their chamber.

Ling Fei sat next to her mother on the bed and her matured eyes looked into her mother’s eyes.

‘Mother what happened?’ Ling Fei asked. ‘Mother you don’t need to hide it from me anymore. Whenever there’s something worrying you, you can’t sleep at night.’

‘It appears left and right can’t be hidden,’ Jiang Thi said.

‘Mother if you don’t tell me then how can I tell others?’ Ling Fei teased. ‘Mother you can tell me and I’ll listen attentively.’

Jiang Thi reluctantly told her daughter everything about receiving the empress dowager’s request and her worries about her daughter’s future.

Jiang Thi didn’t care if her daughter was betrothed to Na Lam years ago. ‘I don’t want you to enter the palace. I know the little emperor is temperamental. If he sees anyone as an eyesore he’ll want to behead them. The court officials are scared to lose their lives each day. I don’t want you to risk your life. I lost your father, I can’t lose you too. I declined the empress dowager’s request.’

Ling Fei had forgotten about her past meeting with Na Lam.

‘Mother, I and Elder Qin perform in the streets and have heard rumors about the little emperor,’ Ling Fei said. ‘I think he needs someone to guide him and who he’ll listen to. If he continues being a bad emperor then sooner or later the kingdom will be destroyed in his hand. I think the empress dowager came to see us as a last resort.’

‘You talk like your father,’ Jiang Thi said. ‘He is a man of princ.i.p.als. He was loyal to kingdom. But what happened in the end? He sacrificed his life and you and I are left to struggle to stay alive.’

Jiang Thi clutched her handkerchief in her shaky hand.

Ling Fei hugged her fragile mother. ‘Mother, our hard life is in the past. I won’t let that person hurt us anymore.’

‘I don’t want your life to be in danger,’ Jiang Thi said. ‘Let’s leave the imperial city and not come back here anymore.’

‘Mother, running away isn’t a solution,’ Ling Fei said. ‘I’ve practiced Kung Fu each day for many years because I want to avenge father’s death. Now the opportunity has arrived. As long as I enter the palace I can see that person and find out how father died that year.’

‘Ling Fei!’ Jiang Thi said. ‘A thousand times you can’t do something that foolis.h.!.+’

Jiang Thi’s heart almost stopped beating. She thought her daughter practiced Kung Fu to support their family. She didn’t think her daughter wanted to avenge her husband’s death.

‘Mother seeing your white frightened face I know you believed me,’ Ling Fei said. ‘Mother, I was only jesting.’

‘Only jesting?’ Jiang Thi asked suspiciously.

‘Of course,’ Ling Fei said. ‘Killing an imperial family member is a crime punished by death. I still have mother so I wouldn’t risk my life.’

Jiang Thi was rea.s.sured by her daughter’s words and her heart began to beat steadily.

‘You scared me to death,’ Jiang Thi said.

‘But if the empress dowager comes here to ask us for help then we can’t decline her request,’ Ling Fei said. ‘Why don’t I go to the palace and talk to the empress dowager. If I can’t help her then I’ll have a reason to decline.’

‘That’s a good suggestion,’ Jiang Thi said. ‘Ling Fei, stay here and sleep. I’ll go back to the kitchen to cook.’

Ling Fei smiled with her mother until her mother left the chamber… she couldn’t live under the same sky as her father’s killer. She was determined to seize the opportunity to give back justice to her father.

Shen Huang didn’t notice the coldness in Ling Fei’s eyes.

‘Lady Ling, are you hungry?’ Shen Huang asked. ‘I’ll go prepare your morning meal.’

‘Shen Huang I want to see the empress dowager,’ Ling Fei said.

Ling Fei was too young when her father died and she couldn’t remember everything that happened many years ago.

‘I’ll go see Que Cong Cong,’ Shen Huang said. ‘He’s the empress dowager’s personal eunuch. I’ll pa.s.s on Lady Ling’s message that you want to the empress dowager.’