81 The Aftermath (1/2)

The surrender of the enemy forces was accomplished in silence. Seeing their commander dead, Laniang's will to continue fighting evaporated like smoke. Ju Xing was dead and with his death, the reason for the rebellion didn't exist anymore. What glorious schemes he had for taking the throne vanished with him. What was left was for the vanquished to continue living and endure their punishment, perhaps banishment if the emperor was magnanimous enough to let them go.

This one night of terror had changed Yuqui forever. It was not only the physical damage that the rebellion wrought but the scars it left on its people. Of the nearly twenty thousand men and women who signed up to defend the palace gates, more than half died. The devastation was so sweeping that at first, even An Ning didn't know what to do. The capital was in ruins and the number of sick and injured continued to grow.

Adding to An Ning's worries was Gu Sheng, who hovered between life and death, the burns on his back so severe that he alternated between waking in pain to hallucinating in even more pain. The imperial doctors summoned to treat him could only look at her with fear, fear that she would kill them if they failed to heal him, and fear that if they didn't heal him and he dies then she would still kill them anyway.

Yi Hai, who defended the palace against the enemy's attack despite his own injuries, took one look at Gu Sheng on the bed and paled. His eyes flew to An Ning's, a horrified question in them. What happens if the emperor dies? Who will take over? What happens to Yuqui?

”He's not going to die,” An Ning said tersely, reading the fear and panic in his eyes. ”Shut up with your worries and let me think, will you? I wonder if it still works. There's no other way but to try and find out, right?”

Yi Hai's eyes widened in even more shock when An Ning took out a knife and cut her hand. The blood flowed, some of it dripping on the floor.

”What are you doing?” Yi Hai yelled in panic.

”I said, shut up!” An Ning said, frowning. ”I'm trying to save him.”

An Ning put her injured hand directly over Gu Sheng's back and allowed the blood to drop on his burned skin. The injured skin immediately sizzled as it came into contact with the blood. There was smoke and the smell of burning flesh then as they watched, the strips of blood soaked through the injured skin, scouring the dead flesh then creating new layers of skin which appeared healthy and pink.

An Ning tenderly rolled Gu Sheng over to his now healed back and fed him the rest of the blood. She watched as his complexion transformed from deathly pale to a healthy pallor. Even his breathing has gentled, the frown of pain on his brow smoothened out. She ruffled the hair on his forehead then bent down to kiss his cheek. He's going to be alright now, she thought. And that thing with her blood still works. It seemed even reincarnation had not taken away her potency as an Amazon princess.

An Ning stood up then stopped when she met Yi Hai's incredulous stare.

”What the hell are you, lady? Are you a witch?”

”And what if I am? What are you going to do about it?”

”What did you just do to him?”

”Saved his life, obviously. Is that a crime?”

”Your...your blood,” Yi Hai stammered. ”I've never seen anything like that before. It's as if...as if, he was already dead and you brought him back to life.”

”You're exaggerating.”

”I know what I saw!”

”Then forget about it. It's not like it's important. So I can heal people with my blood. Big deal.”

”Are you trying to kid me now?”

”What I'm trying to tell you is that I'm a freak. Special yet still a freak. It's too complicated to explain. Just believe me when I say I'm not a witch, a demon or a succubus. I'm just a girl whose blood is a little special. Okay?”

Yi Hai frowned, staring at her like he had never seen her before.

”You're very beautiful, do you know that?” he asked, speaking as if he was forced to.

An Ning's brows lifted in surprise but she didn't speak.

”Very beautiful but it's as if even if I tried to, I still wouldn't get you, not in a hundred years.”

”What are you trying to say?”

”Nothing. Just thinking out loud.” Yi Hai's eyes drifted to Gu Sheng. ”Is he going to be alright now?”

”Yes. He's fully recovered.”

”That's something to be thankful then,” he said, before walking out.

She stared at him frowning.

The following days were busy for An Ning and Gu Sheng. Besides the restoration and the day-to-day concerns of daily life, there were the prisoners to be dealt with, about ten thousand of them who survived the siege of Yuqui. Since the kingdom lacked a proper court of ministers, An Ning instead created her own council of ministers, inviting representatives from the academe and civilian life to thrash matters about the prisoners' sentencing. Death or banishment? With the former the obvious choice of nearly everyone who have seen the devastation of the aftermath of the unwarranted attack.

”It's easy for the emperor and I to decide what to do with them. Just a simple signature on a piece of paper and they're either dead or banished. But some things do have to be taken into consideration. First, I don't think we want a massacre on our hands if we execute all of them. It's going to be a ghastly sight and I think we've had enough violence to last us a lifetime so that's not actually an option. As for banishment...we could do that, sure. But where do we banish them? Let them leave here and assume they'll go somewhere far away? One thing for sure, we can't let them stay in prison for too long. The cost alone will kill us. So, any ideas?”

An Ning looked at them as they in turn looked at her totally confused. When the imperial summons arrived, they naturally assumed that they did something wrong. People in power usually do that. They play nice, promising you things and when they get what they want, they turn around and accuse you of a crime. They never thought the empress dowager or the emperor were like that kind of people but you never really know about these types. Most of them couldn't even be trusted to tell the truth to save their own skin so what do they know?

But to sit here and listen to the empress actually make sense? And what was she saying? She was actually asking for their opinion? The people inside the chamber looked at each other in surprise and wonder.

Looking at them, the emperor frowned.

”What's wrong? Is there a problem?”

Ling Wan, who was seated in front, stood up. He cleared his throat before saying nervously, ”Everything is fine, your majesty. We were just surprised at what her grace said, that's all.”

Kang Jun, who was standing next to the emperor, leaned down and whispered something to him.

”Ling Wan, is it? And why were you surprised at what her grace said? What part of it did you find surprising?”

Ling Wan swallowed the fear in his throat.

”I...we...that is...we thought...”

Gu Sheng frowned.

”Come on, speak up. You thought what?”

An Ning suddenly laughed.

”I think he and everybody else were expecting to be executed or something when we called them here for an audience.Isn't that right, Ling Wan?”

”No! No, your grace. That is...,” Ling Wan was so nervous he was sweating like a pig.

”Why would you think that?” Gu Sheng was a little unhappy. ”Even my late father wasn't that unreasonable.”

”Your majesty....” Ling Wan was terrified.

”It's my fault for not clarifying things,” An Ning said, smiling easily. ”I assumed everyone was on the same page as I am when I sent out the letter. I'm sorry. It's my fault.”

Gu Sheng glanced at her.