63 The emperor has his say (2/2)

The empress dowager frowned and thought for a bit.

”If they could do the job then yes.”

The young man seemed to sigh.

”Even if they're wearing glasses?” he asked with a red face.

”Definitely,” the empress dowager smiled.

”How...how many would you need, your great...er...majesty?” a middle aged man had shaken off his fear and walked over to the youth and now stood beside him.The two of them looked somewhat bedraggled perhaps from the earlier fight.

”Between two hundred to three hundred people or more than that even.”

The number seemed to stagger her listeners.

”As many of you know by now, the emperor has put his ministers under house arrest and has let go of all his palace servants. The government is now at a stand still and will not move or accomplish anything until people are put in places and make everything run.So, he is basically asking your help to restore order to his kingdom.”

There were whispering and silent murmurings.

”The pay will not be high,” the empress dowager added after a while, ”but reasonable and those that will be accepted will be given his or her own lodgings inside the palace rent free. We're still working on putting kitchens in the houses. Also, there's a bonus at the end of the year and a pay increase if you do a really good job.”

The silence became deafening.

”The interview will be at what time again, your high....er ....your ladyship?”

”I will be at the palace gates waiting to interview applicants at eight tomorrow morning.”

The murmurings slightly increased in decibel.

”Is there anything else?” the empress dowager asked, smiling at the young man.

”Just...just one more, your ladyship,” the boy said.”If somebody is hired but he has a mother who needs his care can he...can he bring her along with him to the palace?”

The empress dowager's austere expression lightened a bit.

”If that happens, then some kind of arrangement will be made. We'll see.”

The boy sighed.

”Thank...thank you, your majesty,” he said.

The crowd watched silently as the empress dowager walked to her carriage and disappeared inside.After a while, it pulled away and about a hundred palace guards riding high on their horses followed after it.The carriage turned towards the street that intersected with the famous government building. The crowd only dispersed when the carriage and the guards made a turn and disappeared from their sight.

As expected, the house of the powerful Duke of Zeyin was on lockdown.The entire compound was quiet, the gates closed.

The carriage stopped at the gates. The empress dowager jumped down and marched straight to the closed doors. She didn't knock. She retreated a little farther away then pulled out her long tube once again, steadied it on one shoulder, and fired.The explosion blasted the doors wide open. It also killed and injured the hundred or so guards standing behind it.

The palace guards were astounded at the speed of the attack. They could only scramble down their horses and ran after the empress dowager who marched through the carnage without hesitation.Yi Hai and the rest were shocked at the sight of the devastation. Bodies were ripped apart, heads rolling where the blast hit them and blood...they were everywhere, even on the leaves of flowers meticulously planted in the middle of the courtyard.

The empress dowager continued her march until she came across the entrance to the house. She climbed the steps and went inside.

Five people awaited her in the main room: the duke, his wife, his daughter the imperial consort, her thirteen year old son, and another young man who resembled the duke, presumably the duke's son and heir.

”This duke greets her majesty, the empress dowager,” the duke, Zhe Fu Yan, said, cupping his hands and bowing his head. The rest of the group did the same.

The empress dowager moved forward, the hem of her dress making a soft swishing sound on the floor.She stopped when she was about a few feet away, sword in hand and an inscrutable expression on her face.

”I won't even ask why all of you did it. I will only say, you're all going to die before this day is over,” the empress dowager's voice was hard as steel.

The imperial consort started to cry, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Her son went to her side, cradling her sobbing body in his young arms. He threw the empress dowager a look of such ugly and vicious hatred Yi Hai, who saw it, flinched.

But then again, the empress dowager surprised everybody. She draw out her small toy, aimed it at the boy and fired. The noise was so loud it literally made everybody jump. There were gasps, screams and much scrambling and yelling.

When everything quieted down, the body of Gu Fang's thirteen year old son lay dead on the floor, blood gushing stickily from the hole on his head.The royal consort screamed a horrible scream and attacked the empress dowager, who extended a leg and kicked her brutally with it.The body of the royal consort crumpled against the wall, motionless but still alive.

”I'll kill you! I will fucking kill you!” the duke was beyond himself with rage, but was restrained by two guards and Yi Hai. The empress dowager gave a scornful laugh, aimed her toy and the next blast hit the duke's wife straight on her forehead. The duke's duchess died with her face still frozen in an ugly sneer.

”That's two,” the empress dowager said. ”Shall we play the game of eeny meeny miny mo? You tell me, duke.”

”Stop...please stop..” the duke said, crying as he looked at the dead bodies of his wife and grandson.

”Your grace...your grace...” the duke's son sobbed and genuflected in front of the empress dowager. ”Have pity. Have pity. Please, your grace. Please.”

”I remember you,” the empress dowager said softly, looking at the young man, ”you were the one who wanted to **** me. Humiliate the emperor so your kind would laugh at him, mock him. The emperor marrying your leavings, eh? Your leavings?” the empress dowager snorted. ”You're not even half the man he was.”

The young man paled, his eyes darting to his father who shook his head. Shut up, if you value your life, the look said.

The empress dowager lazily brandished her sword then before any of them could move, the sword slashed at the young man's clothes down to his inner clothing, baring his white naked body to their astonished eyes.

”You want to **** someone, huh? Since I'm feeling magnanimous, I'll grant you your wish. Yi Hai, get his sister in here.”

”No! No!” the duke cried, his face paling. He tried lunging at the empress dowager but was restrained from moving by the two guards.

The royal consort, Shu Se, was awake and mad as hell.

”You fucking whore! I'm going to get you for this! I'm going to kill you!” Shu Se screamed, the veins on her neck almost popping out in her anger.

”You should have made sure I was dead when that eunuch gave me the poison,” the empress dowager scoffed. ”Now, get in here. I want to fulfill one of your brother's wishes before I kill him.”

Shu Se started to fight against her captor, fear starting to chase across her pale face.

”What are you going to do? I'm warning you...”

”You knew your brother wanted to **** me before the wedding, right? He would have succeeded if the emperor didn't find me that sooner. Did you know, he wanted to kill you then and there but I told him wait until the wedding was over. I didn't know you would be crazy enough to kill him on our honeymoon.”

”He deserved it!” Shu Se was foaming in the mouth angry this time. ”He deserved to die! I begged...I begged him to choose me as his empress...I even threatened him but he laughed at me.He said I was too stupid to...”

”Blah....blah...blah...” the empress dowager rudely interrupted. ”You talk like a fucking soap opera character. The emperor betrayed you. He didn't love you. He used you. And you didn't? Don't make me laugh. You and your father and the rest of your fucking family used him then laughed at him behind his back. You even plotted against him. If it were me, I would have sent you to hell the moment I learned you were fucking your own father.”

The silence that followed was deadlier this time. The duke's face lost all color. Shu Se opened her mouth but no words came out.

”That's a filthy lie!” the duke's son, Zhe Bai Lian, screamed, his eyes seeking his father's. But the duke, still blindsided by what the empress dowager said so casually, didn't see the begging look his son threw at him.

”Look at your sister. I didn't believe it myself until I figured out the reason why she lives outside the harem and had her own little house.The duke would visit her there each week when she's supposedly sick and they would close the doors and allow no one inside. The emperor told me she tried to play the virgin with him on their first night. Of course he played along since he found it very amusing. Imagine, a supposedly closeted young woman allowing dear old dad to penetrate her little honey hole. That dead boy is not really Gu Fang's son, is he?”

”What are you talking about?” Shu Se was close to fainting but was still defiant.”Of course he was Gu Fang's son.”

”No matter. It's not important anyway since Gu Fang didn't believe it either,” the empress dowager shrugged. ”But we're digressing, let's fulfill your dear brother's dream, shall we?”

Before they could say anything, the dress covering Shu Se's body was ripped to shreds by the merciless sword. Then the empress dowager blew something powdery against Zhe Bai Lian's face which made him sneeze. He sneezed and continued sneezing until his eyes turned red and his face acquired a canine cast.

They watched as his red eyes rolled around his head then unerringly focused on his sister, who backed away frightened. Zhe Bai Lian leapt and grappled his sister to the ground, his hard naked body's intention obvious to everyone watching.

The duke screamed and tried to get away from the two guards restraining him. The empress dowager, however, was faster.She clamped a pair of handcuffs around his hands then forced him on his knees just as Zhe Bai Lian finally fulfilled his wish and successfully raped his own sister in front of his shattered father.