What had she done to deserve this? Sunyoung thinks to herself as she kneels beside her lover in front of the Crown Princess’ wrath. Earlier today she and Jinki had been called in for questioning on their love affair that the two of them thought they could keep under wraps.

Qian watched, horrified, as one of her closest confidantes was taken into custody. Sunyoung had been kneeling all afternoon as she underwent brutal questioning by the Crown Princess, feeling stabbing betrayal from the silent Qian who hadn’t said anything in her defense since the interrogation began.

“Tell us exactly what you saw.” Yoona commands, lifting her chin at the handmaid who was kneeling before her. Sooyoung watches as the girl cowers in fear at the feet of the Crown Princess. Sooyoung looks to her left and sees Sohee wince at the scene before her.

“She was sitting by the carp pond in the moonlight when that man went over and kissed her hair and wrapped his arm around her waist.” The girl says, voice trembling as she points at Jinki. Jinki’s face goes pale and he gulps silently, his blood running cold.

“It’s true, your majesty, she wasn’t the only one who had seen them together.” Jinri says, speaking up from beside Sunyoung’s empty seat. Everyone turns to look at her, including Soojung who looks at her with wide eyes.

“Is that so?” Yoona asks. Jinri had not been told of their plans but her sudden outburst clicked all the pieces of her plan together.

“My eunuch reported it to me.” Jinri says, nodding vehemently, “He saw them entering her palace. He was kneeling by her on the ground. She seemed really shy and their hands were interlocked, when they noticed his presence, they pulled away from each other quickly.”

“Why would she pull away so quickly if she didn’t have something to hide?” Soojung asks Yoona, smirking. Sunyoung feels a cold sweat form on her brow as her arms tremble from bowing in front of Yoona.

“Your Royal Highness, I suggest you punish this infidel piece of trash.” Yoona says, narrowing her eyes at Qian. Qian raises her chin and takes a deep breath to ensure her voice does not betray any of the fear in her heart.

“These are only accusations based on accounts; perhaps there is a reasonable explanation of all of this.”  Qian says.

“Your majesty, I agree.” Joohyun says from her seat, she’d taken the entire situation with stride and saw through the Crown Princess’ plot almost immediately. Yoona turns to glare at the concubine but Joohyun is unfazed. “Sunyoung is one of the most loyal concubines in this palace; she only has the best intentions.” Joohyun says levelly. Sunyoung looks up at Joohyun with tear stricken eyes and sends Joohyun a quick thank you with her gaze. Joohyun nods back almost imperceptibly.

“Without substantial proof, I believe this is a matter that will need to be investigated further, we cannot issue punishments so rashly dear Crown Princess, you know that.” Qian says airily and Yoona clenches her teeth in anger.

“I do believe there is proof.” Sunyoung’s hand maid speaks up and Sunyoung turns to look back at her with horror. Her most trusted servant was betraying her now.

“I believe that Sunyoung is with child.” The hand maiden says without emotion and Sunyoung winces at her bold accusation.

“Someone call in the Imperial Physician.” Soojung says and Yoona raises her chin to observe the trembling Sunyoung.

“What do you make of this situation, Sooyoung?” Yoona asks, looking at Sooyoung. If she could bring down Sooyoung, she’d kill two birds with one stone. Eradicate the problem at the root and it won’t grow into a pest.

“Your majesty, I believe that Sunyoung will get what she deserves.” Sooyoung says neutrally and Yoona studies her face.

“Very well, we’ll see what she deserves then, won’t we?” Yoona says and then looks at Sohee who had been sitting with a pained expression on her face. Yoona clenches her teeth. Sohee was clearly sympathizing with Sunyoung which in Yoona’s mind meant she was siding with Qian. Yoona made a note to deal with Sohee later.

Zhou Mi, the Imperial Physician strode into the palace and bowed before the Empress and the Crown Princess. “Long live your majesties.” He says, touching his head to the floor.

“Please rise.” Qian says and Zhou Mi stands up. “We need you to diagnose if Sunyoung is with child or not.” Zhou Mi, if shocked, did not betray it upon his face. He places a small cloth on Sunyoung’s wrist and feels for her pulse. After a few moments of excruciating silence, he removes the cloth and bows before Qian again.

“Your Majesty, she is in deep pregnancy.” Zhou Mi says and Sunyoung gasps, falling backwards. How could that be possible? Jinki was a Eunuch! What sort of implication would be placed upon them?

“Your Majesty, how is that possible? Even if I were involved with Sunyoung, which I am not, I am a eunuch and unable to reproduce.” Jinki protests, voice shaking, vocalizing Sunyoung’s thoughts exactly.

“Alright, Jinki, I believe you.” Yoona says and the couple looks up at her in shock. Yoona smiles evily, “I’ll believe you if you’re willing to stab her with your sword. If you are really as unaffiliated as you say, this should be of no trouble to you, yes?” Yoona says and Jinki’s eyes widen.

“Yoona-ah, murder is a serious deal in the palace; let us wait for the Emperor to deal with this.” Qian begs Yoona.

“No, we ought not to trouble the busy Emperor with menial matters of the Back Palace. Besides Qian-jie, have you forgotten who has governing power over the six palaces?” Yoona says autonomously and Qian sits back in her chair.

“As… you wish.” Qian says tiredly and lifts a hand to her face to dispel the migraine that refused to go away.

“Go on Jinki, if you have no love for each other, she is just a servant after all.” Yoona hisses at Jinki and his hand shakes as he draws his sword from its sheath.

“Your majesty, I cannot kill a person!” Jinki protests holding his sword limply in his hand. Yoona looks at him with a cold stare.

“This is proof that you love her and that you’re involved with each other?” Yoona asks, thinking that she’d won this battle. Jinki would be thrown in the dungeon and Sunyoung would be sent to a distant palace and be forced to work as a lowly kitchen servant for the rest of her life. Most importantly though, Qian would lose a confidante and with it, she’d lose some of her power.

“Just do it!” Sunyoung yells at Jinki in desperation. Each tear struck Jinki’s heart like a thunderbolt and he felt his morale waver for a second. If only he’d been more careful, she would be safe and they wouldn’t be in this situation. This was his fault; he ought to bear the consequences, not his sweet Sunyoung.

He raises his blade, prepared to stab himself. He looks at Sunyoung with a pained expression and her eyes widen before she runs at full speed towards Jinki’s sword. She feels it bury deeply into her chest as she clings tightly to Jinki’s shaking frame. The concubines in the room gasp and Yoona feels faint. No. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

“I love you.” She whispers into his ear as she crumples to the ground, gasping in pain. She feels the wound with her finger, looking briefly at the blood that had seeped through her shirt and stained the ground.

Those days they’d spent together, they were the happiest of her life.  Looking into the eyes of her lover, Sunyoung was able to bear the pain. She feels her breathing become weaker and closes her eyes, feeling her heart weaken.

“No! Sunyoung, you can’t die!” Jinki yells, falling to the ground beside her, cradling her body with his strong arms. His beautiful Sunyoung was bleeding to death before his eyes. His sobs rack his body and he takes deep breaths to keep from disintegrating into a hysterical mess.

“I… regret… nothing.” She says, looking up at him, touching his face gently before her arm falls limp and the light fades from her eyes. Jinki clenches his teeth and clutches Sunyoung’s body to his chest as he rocks back and forth.

Something catches Zhou Mi’s eye and he speaks up, “Your majesty, do you see the blood on Jinki’s blade?” Zhou Mi says, “Her blood has a brownish tinge to it and is rusting the blade immediately. This is common with the spice Sweet Rumwood, which will give false indicators of pregnancy.”

“Sabotage! Sunyoung was sabotaged!” Joohyun shrieks, breaking her calm external mask. It was a hard toll, watching the life leave her friend’s eyes right before her.

“Your majesty! You must avenge her death and bring her justice!” Jinki begs Qian who had not yet recovered from shock. Qian opens to respond but is interrupted by the messenger outside who announces Luhan’s arrival.

“The Emperor arrives!” The Eunuch outside the door calls and Luhan strides in, Jia Heng following closely behind. The concubines in the room stand up and bow before Luhan. Qian gets up from her chair shakily and bows before Luhan. Yoona’s eyes widen upon Luhan’s presence and bows before him hurriedly.

Luhan sees Qian shaking and goes over to help her up, something in her eyes tugging at his heartstrings. He helps her into her seat and Yoona fumes silently from her kneeling position. Luhan catches sight of Sooyoung and his attention is drawn away from Qian quickly.

“Ah, Sooyoung-ah, how have you been?” Luhan asks, smiling at her kindly. Sooyoung feels sick to her stomach just looking at him and she casts her eyes downward.

“I have been okay.” She says distantly and Luhan frowns slightly before turning his attention to the situation before him.

“What happened here?” He asks, voice rising in rage. Although he was never involved with Sunyoung, he knew her to be a sweet girl and Jinki was one of his most trusted Eunuchs, why was he on the ground now, clutching the limp form of Sunyoung?

“Your majesty, this is the remnants of the investigation our Crown Princess launched in the afternoon on the supposed scandal between Lee Jinki and Park Sunyoung.” Joohyun says softly and Luhan turns to look at her, eyebrows furrowing.

“An investigation? Why wasn’t I informed?” Luhan asks and Jia Heng raises his eyebrows at Yoona who clenches her teeth tightly.

“The Crown Princess did not want to trouble you, knowing you were busy with political matters.” Jinri says to Luhan and Luhan frowns deeply.

“So your solution was to kill someone?” Luhan bursts out in rage. Yoona falls to her knees and bows her head to the floor.

“This time, Yoona, you’ve taken it much too far.” Luhan growls at her and Yoona flinches at his tone. “From this point on, you are released from your duties of managing the six palaces. Qian, you are given that right until Yoona has learned her lesson.”

“Yes your majesty.” Qian says bowing deeply before Luhan. She is too afraid to even register that she’s won. Luhan turns his attention back to the trembling Crown Princes on the floor before him.

“All of you stand witness to this.” Luhan announces and every head in the room turns towards his direction. He takes a step in front of Yoona and crosses his hands behind his back. “From this moment forth, Im Yoona the Crown Princess will not be allowed to step one foot outside her palace until I deem she has learned her lesson.”

“Yes your highness.” The concubines say and bow before Luhan who looks around with a steely gaze. Yoona collapses upon hearing her incarceration and crawls before Luhan.

“Please, no! I beg of you! Your highness!” She cries at Luhan’s feet but he shakes her off roughly and leaves as quickly as he came. Two guards come and grab her by her arms, taking her off to her palace in a fit of screams and cries for mercy to the Emperor. The room is silent once Yoona is gone and Qian clears .

“I suppose that is enough commotion for tonight, you must all be tired. Please, return to your palaces.” Qian says quietly and the concubines stand to bow to her.

“Long live your majesty.” They say before they file out of the room silently. Qian stands to return to her palace and she is joined by Joohyun. She staggers a little on her steps, a pounding headache taking over her head as she leans on Joohyun for support.

“I want you to keep an eye on Sooyoung.” Qian whispers to Joohyun as Joohyun assists Qian back to her palace. “I find Luhan’s attraction to her unnerving and I don’t think she is one to be trusted.” Qian says and Joohyun nods.

“What happened to Sunyoung today…” Joohyun says and then trails off. Qian holds up a hand and replies, “Was completely out of control. We’ve lost a great ally and an even better friend. This was Yoona’s idea of evening up the odds.”

Joohyun replies, “We must prepare for complete retaliation then.” Joohyun sets her chin determinedly, “For Sunyoung, we must do her justice.”

“Peace, Joohyun. It is not yet the time but I assure you when it is right, we will make the Crown Princess pay.” Qian promises her and Joohyun nods, guarding the promise in her heart. Qian enters her palace and Joohyun bows, bidding her farewell.

Joohyun could clearly see Qian’s cowardice and for the first time, her trust for Qian was broken. She  felt a bitter feeling in her heart as she realized that their friendship had been soured by Qian’s lack of action upon Sunyoung’s behalf. Joohyun swore that she would take revenge for Sunyoung, even if it was the last thing she did.

Qian steps one foot into her palace, collapsing in the nearest chair. She sends out all of her servants to leave her in peace. Then, in the safety of her palace, the strong, ever righteous Empress breaks down into tears and weeps, for the loss of her friend and in relief that she had dodged yet another bullet.

The Jade Palace. Six Palaces.

Yoona sits in her seat watching her servants sweep her courtyard with bamboo brooms. She sighs and looks down at the faded jade pendant in her clutches, feeling her fingers slip over the smooth stone. It wasn’t supposed to turn out that way, Sunyoung was supposed to give up her feelings and then the couple would be happily banished. Sunyoung wasn’t supposed to die. That wasn’t Yoona’s plan at all.

The whole incident reminded Yoona too much of… no. Yoona forced herself to repress the memories threatening to resurge and paralyze her. SHE had it coming for her, being a commoner; Yoona did Luhan a favour by eliminating HER.

She secured Luhan’s position as Emperor; Luhan should thank her for that. Yet all these years, she couldn’t help but feel empty on her actions. She couldn’t help but feel guilty knowing that the death of her best friend was also her fault. As much as she told herself what she did was right, the guilt gnawed at her insides and the pendant in her hand proved otherwise.

“Yoona, come here my girl.” Her father called to her fondly. Yoona scampered over to her father and bowed before him, grinning mischievously.

“What is it father?” Yoona asked, face sparking with delight. She had just turned a ripe eighteen years of age and her father had lavished her in expensive gifts and introduced her to wealthy suitors. She didn’t want any of those though, she wanted the palace and she craved power.

“I want you to kill that wench, Kwon Yuri.” Her father said to her, clenching his fists angrily. Yoona was startled by his sudden request. The smile faded slowly from her face and quickly twisted into a frown.

“What?” Yoona asked, confused, not sure that she had heard her father right.

“I said kill that strumpet that is tampering with the mind of Luhan. He will never marry the princess Qian if he is not cut off from her.” He replied, his eyes flashing dangerously. Yoona gulped at his cold, steely gaze.

“Father, I can-” Yoona started but her father interrupted her with one hand.

“Do it and I will promise you the power to rule over the palace someday.” Her father said to her and Yoona turned towards her father in interest.

“What?” Yoona asked for clarification.

“I have always trusted you the most and you have never failed to please me. I expect this time you will not disappoint me.” Her father said and Yoona gulped nervously.

Yoona looked up at her father with a determined expression, “Your wish… is my command, father.” She said before bowing quickly and walking out of the room.

How foolish was she back then? To kill her best friend Kwon Yuri, the daughter of a merchant whom she had grown up with? Yet, there was nothing Yoona desired more than power. If she was able to eliminate Kwon Yuri, the Song nation would be united with Tang and she will have done her father a great favour.

“Yoong, what did you want to show me?” Yuri asked playfully as she walked down to the pond where Yoona was waiting with a great feast. Yuri sat down in one of the chairs beside her stiff friend who seemed a little off.

“Oh, Yuri, you’re here. Come, have something to eat.” Yoona said gesturing to the table in front of her. Yuri frowned at Yoona’s forced smile and sat back in her chair.

“What’s this really all about Yoona?” Yuri asked and Yoona shook her head.

“No discussion until we finish eating.” Yoona said and to that she poured herself and Yuri both a cup of wine. Yoona downed a glass and Yuri did the same. Yuri picked up her chopsticks and ate together with Yoona.

“Thank you for the wonderful meal, Yoona, but will you tell me what this is really about?” Yuri asked, frowning at her friend’s strange behaviour.

“Nothing, come on, is it wrong for me to want to treat my friend to a wonderful lunch?” Yoona asked, smiling stiffly at Yuri.

“No, but it is weird if your friend, who has never asked you to eat lunch with them without a reason asks you to eat lunch for no reason.” Yuri responded, crossing her arms over her chest. “Now are you going to tell me or what?”

Yoona revealed a small package of powder and Yuri’s eyes widened at the sight of it. Yoona dropped her voice down to a whisper, “Yuri, there’s something I need you to do for me.”

“Yoong, what have you done?” Yuri whispered. “I can’t kill anyone for you.”

“That’s not it exactly.” Yoona said with a pained expression. Yuri’s face slowly morphs from one of confusion to one of hurt and understanding.

“Yoona, how could you?” Yuri asked dully, in shock at her friend’s harsh betrayal.

“Look, Yuri, it’s just a sleeping powder.  I just need you to disappear for a while.” Yoona said to her and Yuri’s eyes hardened.

“Why? So Luhan can marry the princess? Is that it?” Yuri asked and Yoona looked away, not meeting Yuri’s eyes. Yuri’s shoulders drop in defeat and she looks at Yoona solemnly.

“I’ll wake you up in three days and then I can sneak you out of the country, no one will even know.” Yoona pleads and Yuri closes her eyes, a tear running down her face.

“Please, Yoona, there’s no such thing as a sleeping powder that makes you appear dead for three days.” Yuri said as she grabbed the powder from Yoona quickly, mixing it in her wine and taking it in one gulp.

“Yuri!” Yoona screamed, at Yuri’s rash actions and Yoona felt herself tear up as Yuri started coughing up blood.

“Good bye Yoona, take care. Tell Luhan I love him.” Yuri choked out as she walked out by the water and jumped into the pond, landing surrounded by lotus flowers. Yoona stood up and walked quickly where she emptied the contents of her stomach into the nearest pot before going to report to her father.

“She’s dead.” Yoona said in a monotonous voice to her father who smiled.

“Good.” Her father said approvingly before dismissing her. Yoona heard her brother scream and a plop as he jumped in the water to save his dead lover. “I’m sorry Luhan.” Yoona whispered to herself as she walked back to her Jade palace, hiding the pendant she took from Yuri before she died.

Yoona buries her face in her hands as the memories surge up like a fresh water spring and tears prick the back of her eyes. Was it worth it? Killing her best friend, hurting her brother for her father’s approval? Yoona looks out and she sees that her servants are still sweeping the courtyard. This would be hard, being stuck in her palace; all Yoona had was time and time to think upon her actions.

My apologies for the late update, I've been really busy lately and exam season is coming up soon so the next few chapters will probably be sporadic.