Lessons for Lady Sin

CHAPTER 02 - Immortality

CHAPTER 02 | IMMORTALITY

Firmly holding an intricately-designed imperial ceremonial sword, which she took without permission from Prince Li Jian Yu, she leaped gracefully and deflected the countless arrows that chased her. Her newly-cleaned red silken battle dress swayed with her every movement, her waist-length silver hair gleaming under the rays of sunlight that passed through the opened windows. She was both swift and dextrous, this time neither exhausted nor paralyzed unlike the previous night.

Her escape plan was made simpler, thanks to the visit of the Sage of Mountain Tai and the vitality potion he brought with him. Earlier that morning, Xin pretended to be asleep when she overheard the conversation between Prince Li and Chancellor Gong Zai by the bedchamber's door. For whatever reason the Prince was taking the vitality potion for, she did not have to know. It had nothing to do with her and with her escape from the enemy's fortress. No matter what, she had to get hold of the potion that could temporarily restore her strength. No matter what, she had to get out of there and return to the Red Palace in the soonest time possible.

Not by arrows. Not by swords or spears with which the soldiers of the House of Li attacked her. Not with their mediocre kung fu. Not with any type of poison. She won't be stopped, not even by Death. Yang Xin Qian decided that she would not die today – and she would not die in seven days.

"The sword of Prince Li is in her hands! Block the exits and do not let her escape!" the Lord Chancellor commanded the soldiers. "And you, over there, attend to the Prince and check his condition!"

"H…HELP!"

"Sage!"

"Be still where you are and make no movement," Xin warned. She grabbed the Sage as hostage, letting the edge of her sword touch the old man's neck. "Otherwise, his head will bounce and roll on the ground you're stepping on."

"You wouldn't dare kill the only man who has the cure to the poison!" Gong Zai said. "Let him go!"

Xin's fierce eyes narrowed, "He just said it, didn't he? The poison has no known antidote. Therefore, he has no further use to me."

"STOP!" Gong Zai shouted as Xin readied her sword to mercilessly behead the Sage.

"You've come this way to serve the House of Li? I thought you are a man of the mountains, serving no master but the Spirit of Tai?" Xin said to the Sage. "If it is your protection they promised in return, I think they just failed – and you just made a bad deal."

"You also failed, didn't you Lady Sin?" the Sage snickered. "Now that the Empress you've been protecting for fifteen years is dying beyond cure, your unbeatable kung fu, your prowess in the sword and your valiant actions are all meaningless. If you cannot stop the Empress' death, what's the point of your existence now?"

"Silence! You are in no position to criticize or even heed my actions!" Xin let icy fury spill through her as she made the sword's edge slide against the old man's neck, leaving a shallow cut.

"Lady Sin, do not harm the Sage! The people of Chang'an greatly depend on his knowledge for curing illnesses! Leave freely if you must, but promise never to go back. The House of Li will siege the crown peacefully in seven days. We pray that this need not entail another bloody war," Gong Zai negotiated. "Please, Lady Sin, let the Sage live!"

"Why are you doing this?" Xin questioned Gong Zai's suspicious proposition for a truce. "Your vision for the empire is clearly far too idealistic, Lord Chancellor of the House of Li."

"I do not wish for more unnecessary deaths than this Empire already brought."

"So you just gave the Empress a slow death?"