Inside the chamber of the Crown Princess Lei Nian Zhen
As Lei Nian Zhen's sipping her tea, Lady Min, her personal maid, returned to her chamber with a terrible news.
"That foolish maid and his unattractive Concubine are grating on my nerves!"
"M-milady, L-lady Min, I have some terrible news for you as well."
"And what kind of news is that, Lady Min?" Lei Nian Zhen asked with her voice annoyed.
"Y-your Lady Min overheard one of the palace maids say that Z-zhu Mio Shin, the Crown Prince, had a younger twin"
"A younger twin?! A boy or a girl?! How come I didn't know?"
"L-l-lady Min thinks he's a boy Milady, because the Crown Prince's Strategist is his younger twin"
"*smirk* Now I know what to do, Lady Min, let's go!"
"*gasp!* Milady, where are we going?"
"I'd like to meet his younger twin, since I'm sure he'll be able to help me gain the attention and favor of his older twin, Mio Shin *smirk*, and his younger twin will be my bridge to win over Concubine Mu Zhongwei"
"I-i-i got it, Milady"
"Then what are you waiting for?! Let's go"
"Y-yes Milady"
Inside the chamber of Princess Meihua
"I have awful news for you, M-milady."
"Wan Ming, what exactly do you mean?"
"M-milady, Crown Princess Lei Nian Zhen was already aware that the Crown Prince has a younger twin."
Princess Zhu Meihua exclaimed, "What?! S-since when?"
"J-just earlier Milady, Wan Ming observed them coming towards the Crown Prince's barracks and overheard them discussing about you as his younger twin, but they mistook you for a boy because you're the Crown Prince's Strategist."
"I see, I believe they're trying to use me to catch my brother's attention and win over Mu Zhongwei. Huh! As if she can win over her *smirk*."
"Wh-why does Wan Ming believe Princess Meihua knew Concubine Mu Zhongwei's true identity?"
"*smirk* You'll know it soon, Wan Ming, just go with the flow for now. Besides, I think my brother has already fallen in love with Mu Zhongwei, not just because she looks like her first love, Lei Xharmynt, but because he loves her for who she is and what she is *smiles*."
"Err... M-milady, what exactly do you mean?"
"Aiyaah! Wan Ming, you're so silly!"
"F-forgive this personal maid of yours for b-being silly all the time Your Highness, W-wan Ming knows she doesn't deserve to serve the princess of Zhu, but because of her two eunuchs twins w-who serve the Crown Prince, the Princess accept her as her maid as well i-in order to not vanish her inside the Palace, t-thank you for those times Your Highness Meihua."
"Eh? Eh? What are you doing, Aiyaah! *sigh* Okay, okay.. my fault, I got it.. I got it forgive your Master for not being careful with her words this time.. I love you for who you are Wan Ming, and I didn't accept you as my personal maid just because your twins became a special two eunuchs of the Crown Prince, but I chose you because you deserve to stay here, you deserve not to be vanished here okay?"
"*sniff* *sniff* Thank you Y-your Highness Meihua th-thank you for every---thing *blackout*"
"Wan Ming! Help! Help!" Princess Meihua snatched her up immediately when she passed out with blood streaming down her nose.
*******
"W-what happened to her, Imperial Physician Rui?" Princess Zhu Meihua immediately asked the Imperial Physician who check the pulse and health of Wan Ming, her personal maid who passed out after they had a conversation earlier.
"Your Highness Meihua, I found a poison inside her body and this poison comes from the West, luckily your maid is safe now and this is her medicine that she needs to be taken" Imperial Physician Rui gave her a box that contains a medicine that can help Wan Ming to be fully cured
"Thank you so much, Imperial Physician Rui"
"Anything for you, Your Highness Meihua"
Imperial Physician Rui bids Princess Meihua farewell and left the Princess's Chamber a few minutes later. Wan Ming wakes up an hour later, but her body is still weak from the poison she was exposed to earlier.
"Thank goodness you're awake now, Wan Ming; here, take this medicine from Imperial Physician Rui."
Wan Ming has no recollection of what happened to her; all she recalls is feeling dizzy and then passing out at the hands of her Master. After she awoke, she was taken aback by the things she heard from her Master. Wan Ming, who has a horrified expression on her face, manages to inquire of her Master about what happened to her and why the Imperial Physician prescribed medicine for her.
"*sigh* I'm not sure what happened either; after you passed out, I immediately shouted for help, and luckily your twin Eunuch Jin happened to pass by and heard my shout; when he entered my chamber, I immediately ordered him to call and bring the Imperial Physician to check your pulse and health; after Imperial Physician Rui finished his duty, he said that he discovered a poison inside your body and that you survived it; however, what bothers me is the poison itself; how could a poisoned from the West arise here so suddenly? Not unless someone from the West brought it here and gave it to you on purpose."
"Y-your Highness, Wan Ming knows only two people who arrived from the West, and y-you already knew them."
"*gasp!* Aiyaah! How could I forget about the Crown Princess and her maid! They're from the West! But.. t-there's another person from the West besides them!"
"*gasp!* W-what do you mean there's another person from the West? Your Highness, are there any secrets about her that Wan Ming isn't aware of?"
"That's not what I'm talking about, Wan Ming; I'm referring about Lei Xharmynt, my twin brother's first love."
"*gasp!* But, Your Highness, Lei Xharmynt was already declared dead, right? D-don't tell me her ghost is here? *goosebumps*"
"Aiyaah! Why are you acting so dumb again, Wan Ming! What I mean is that Lei Xharmynt is still alive, and she even lives in the same chamber with my twin brother."
"*gasp!* Y-you mean the Concubine Mu Zhongwei he met last time on the battlefield and his childhood beloved Lei Xharmynt are the same person?!"
"Ssshhh... lower your voice, they might have heard us, and yes, Mu Zhongwei, his Concubine, and Lei Xharmynt, his childhood lover, are one. Her father protected her by ordering General Yu Feiwu to get her safe outside the Cold Palace once the fire started, and he even ordered the General's trusted assistant to secretly place a fake corpse outside the Cold Palace where she lived before because he overheard his first wife and first daughter Lei Nian Zhen, discussing their intentions to assassinate Lei Xharmynt inside the Cold Palace, and since that was also the time when the selected Crown Princess of East, Lei Nian Zhen, was revealed."
"*gasp!* Lei Nian Zhen is so nasty that she lacks all sense of morality!"
"She is! And I believe she is the reason for your poisoned earlier; I don't believe it was Lei Xharmynt who did it; I mean Concubine Mu Zhongwei; and I also want you to keep this revelation a secret, okay? I told her I wouldn't divulge her true name to anybody, but look what I've done? *sigh*"
"I understand, Your Highness, but h-how come her face isn't the same as Lei Xharmynt's? And d-don't tell me that your twin isn't aware of this secret as well?"
"About that, she wears a fake mask to hide her real face, but based on the way she acts, you can tell she is Lei Xharmynt and not just a resemblance of her; and sadly, but yes, my twin is unaware of this secret because she wants to protect him secretly, and she also doesn't want to reveal to Lei Nian Zhen that she is still alive because that would put my twin and us in danger. And, regardless of what occurs in the near future, we must ensure that Lei Nian Zhen does not rise to the throne as our future empress, or else it will be our end, and she will bring bad luck and ruin our country."
"A-all right, Wan Ming gets it now."
"It's me, General Xu, Your Highness Meihua."
"*gasp!* G-general Xu, please come in."
"What should we do now, Your Highness? Her Highness, Crown Princess Nian Zhen insisted on meeting you."
"*sigh* Tell her that I will meet her tomorrow at the Imperial Garden and also informed my twin about this things. You can now leave"
"I got it, thank you Your Highness"
ns 15.158.61.51da2