The death of lady Xuanhua shook the palace. Nobody anticipated the demise of Emperor Li's favourite consort. Her body was found in the forest. Puncture marks covered her skin, with dry crimson blood splattered over the ground and smeared all over her body. The arrow that was retrieved by the authorities was immediately sent for inspection and identification. It was a normal arrow, available at almost as weaponry store in town. Rumours was spreading like wildfire among the palace maids and eunuchs. Was it Lord Luhan again? Or the Queen? Both were fierce territorial markers, who arm themselves with heaps of supporters in order to rule the court. In order to control the palace and steady their power in the country. Emperor Li wept dearly at the funeral of Lady Xuanhua. Her palace maids clinged onto the possessions of Lady Xuanhua. All but one girl. She knelt in front of lady Xuanhua's beautiful corpse, her face deadpanned. Her expression was unreadable, but she remembers what Xuanhua told her to do before her seemingly untimely death. "If I die, you are not allowed to cry at my funeral. Carry on what I meant to do in the palace." "And remember." "Trust no one within these four walls" "Even your family." The girl trains her eyes on the ground. Her black grape-like pupils dilates, as adrenaline fills her blood. "Sister, I will not fail you." -- -- -- Luhan lays comfortably on his couch. He yawned and made a long noise at the back of his throat. Xuanhua's dead, he thought. So there will just be another to take her place, then. Exhausted, he waved at the guards to leave his quarters and drifted off to sleep. -- -- -- "How could you be such a careless twit? Had Jianli not use a common arrow and buried soil to cover his tracks. We would have been found out!" Queen Yu'er hissed vehemently at Lady Dan, the head of the culinary department. Lady Dan replied calmly," your highness, Jianli is the most capable and intelligent assassin in the underworld. I trust him with all my life to carry out the mission well. Your highness, he thought of the authorities, hence his action to cover his tracks. Does that not reflect his abilities well enough?" Lady Dan looks straight into the eyes of the Queen and reminds her with a smile. "The strongest has fallen. There is no need to worry." The queen replies worriedly,"I'm afraid that a stronger Phoenix will entire the palace." "One the mother of land will not be able to defeat." -- -- -- After bidding the Queen goodbye, Dan fengxi hurried away from Jingling pplace block. Upon reaching her quarters, she whips out a brush, some ink and a piece of paper. She writes. But stops midway. Pain erupts in her lower abdomen. She gazes downwards, slowly, fearing for the worst. An arrow lodged itself neatly in her stomach area. Fresh blood was flowing from her wound. As she tries to scream for help, another hand, holding a chloroform stained cloth cups . She struggles against her attackers strong gasp. But the hand stayed over . The chloroform stench was putrid and acrid, filling her nostrils and diffusing into her lungs quickly. Lady Dan Fengxi. The great lady who moved into the palace and blossomed into one the most powerful women in court. Dead. From asphyxiation and gas poisoning.