Chen Li's view continued.

We did not have to wait long to find out who carried out the assassination plot. The person showed themselves up not long afterwards.

As they did not expect anyone to be alive, they self-incriminated by saying, "You are alive?!"

"Yes, why would we not be?" I replied, "Were you expecting someone to die?"

"Ah... no... it's just the house is haunted, I just thought..." he blustered.

"How is today any different to the other weeks you visited? So, tell the truth, who set you up for this?" Taiji asked him causing him to hang his head in shame, he did not answer though so Taiji snapped to one of the guards with him, "Take him away, put him in jail and question him till he is prepared to answer."

I felt sorry for the man then, torture was their favourite form of getting people to talk.

Taiji did not give up on trying to win Xinye over while Xin was away. Eventually Xinye asked me, with Fergus interpreting, "Why is Taiji always flirting with me? I have no need of another man, the general is enough trouble, you know."

"He wants to take you off the general," I responded.

"But why? Doesn't Taiji have enough women to serve him? Why must he take me the only woman the General seems to be interested in?" Xinye was frustrated by Taiji's insensitivity.

"Does this mean you accept Xin?" I asked hopefully, knowing Xin would be pleased to hear of her interest in him.

"No," she shook her head in denial, "I need to know my husband is not here, even then I have no idea on how this stands morally."

"Mum, if the general wants you and Dad is not here, you should marry him to be safe," Fergus said, "Being here with no-one to protect you is dangerous."

She nodded thoughtfully, "I understand and act as you say."

"The sooner you marry Xin the better off you will be," I commented, "Especially from Taiji."

"Taiji? Oh, I still do not get why he wants me," she commented.

"Perhaps it's to have something he cannot have?" I suggest, "Though I do not know if he will force you or not."

"If he forces me, he would be like King David I guess," she said thoughtfully.

"King David? Who is that? and what is this story?" I was intrigued.

"King David was the second king of Israel, a small country in the Middle East," she explained, "He was in his palace in war time, and he looked out the window to see a beautiful woman bathing. He fell in love with her instantly. So, he went to his officials to find out who that woman was and found it was Bathsheba, Uriah's wife. Uriah was one of his famed 30 general's I suppose, an asset to him, but Uriah was away at war.

"Call her to the palace," David ordered, and so it was done. When he saw her, he could not control himself and took her then. Sometime later Bathsheba was found to be pregnant to him so she sent word to the palace.

Uriah was recalled from war, the purpose was to cover up David's sin, but Uriah was a righteous man and refused to sleep with his wife while his men were at war. Because of this David was angry and sent him to where the fighting was the heaviest, and Uriah was killed.

Upon hearing of his death, David married Bathsheba so she would not be stoned to death for adultery. Even though it was David's fault she was in such a state.

God sent his prophet Nathaniel to David and told a story of a rich man who had many sheep, but a banquet was to be held and he took a poor man's only sheep and killed it. David was angry at the rich man and said he must die, who was he and he was shocked to hear he was the rich man. David realised his sin and prostrated himself in apology to their God.

Nathaniel said, God has forgiven you, but the child must die. So, when the child was born it was very sick. David put on sack cloth and ashes and humbled himself towards God to spare his child. The child was not spared though, and when he died his officials were hesitant to tell him, seeing how he was as alive.

David asked, "Is the child dead?"

"Yes, your majesty," his officials said, afraid of how he would react.

They were surprised to see that David got up, got dressed and went about his business.

"Why are you not in morning like you were when he was alive?" they asked him.

"While he was alive, there was a chance God might spare his life with my abject apology, but now he is dead there is no point asking God to spare him," David reasoned.

David comforted Bathsheba then," and she fell silent, followed by Fergus shortly afterward, as he finished translating what she was saying.

"I see," I nodded, "I think I will tell Taiji of this story, it's a good story."

She nodded, "I think I will lie down now." and got up to go to her room. Fergus looked after her worriedly.

"Your mum will be fine, Fergus," I comforted him.

"Maybe, I just don't want her to die alone," he said, I did not understand his comment though. Xinye was consistent in her day and abilities.

"She won't," I comforted him before leaving him to retire to my room for the night.

3 weeks had gone by, and in that time Emperor Nuraci died on the 30th September 1626, and there was a power scuffle amongst the Princes, when it was all over Taiji was crowned Emperor. It was the worst time for Xin to be gone for Taiji, but he managed anyway with his other loyal troops. When Xin returned in the middle of the night. When he came, he was covered in blood and holding his side. "Get Xinye," he ordered me, so I did.

Xinye took one look at him and moved him to the bathroom, taking off his clothes to inspect the wound. She had sent Fergus and I to get water to clean Xin up with.

We returned to hear Xinye say, "I am sorry Xin, this is beyond my help. It is too deep and your muscles have been cut. I know of only one person who might be able to deal with this." She looked at me then, "Can the imperial physicians sew this up?"

"No," I shook my head, "People who are cut like this more often than not die."

"So, I have to gamble on the help then," Xinye had tears in her eyes, "God, please let Dr Hack still be able to perform operations. Fergus, go to that man at the apothecary's and say this to him, 'Dr Hack, Karen Chen is requesting your help. It is an emergency and only he can help as the wound is too deep for a mere ex registered nurse. It needs a surgeon.'"

Fergus nodded and ran to wherever it was she was talking about; I did not understand what she had said but Xin did. "Who is Karen Chen and who is Dr Hack? and what is a surgeon?" he asked.

"Karen is my English name, and we say our family name last not first there. Dr Hack is like an apothecary that specialises in operations, but he retired 10 years ago because of his age. He is our only hope though." she explained.

Xinye cleaned the wound as best she could and then moved Xin to the table in his office. I thought she should have put him in a bed, but she said, "No, Dr Hack will need to be able to move around the table freely to operate and someone needs to be on the opposite side to him."

Fergus arrived a short time afterwards with the elderly gentleman and a young apothecary I had seen around the town.

It seemed like greetings were exchanged before Xin was given something that put him to sleep. It was probably just as well as there was no-one in the room strong enough to hold him. The elderly man sat him up then and put something in his back before lying him back down.

The man then instructed the young apothecary on what to do. As they talked and gestured, the massive wound, which had cut down to his intestines, was closed. A small bamboo tube was put into the wound as it closed and it was attached to a sealed empty wine skin.

"What is that for?" I ask.

"To drain the wound," Xinye answered, "It could fester if it isn't drained, but in saying that the drain will have to be pulled out for the same reason. About how long do you think Dr Hack?"

"About 3 days," he replied, "Take it out the 4th day."

Xinye nodded, "And the dressings?"

"Hong will come and do them," Dr Hack said, "I know you can do them, but the medicine is different here, it is better to leave it to Hong."

We nodded, figuring that the young man with him must have been Hong. Thankfully Fergus, being young and not so observant clarified for us, "Who is Hong?"

"Hong is my assistant," Dr Hack said, "Hong, meet Karen, Fergus and... I am sorry what is your name?" looking at me.

"Chen Li," I supplied, with a nod, "This is Fang Xin." indicating the man unconscious on the table.

"We should move him to a more comfortable place," Xinye said.

"Fine, do that," Dr Hack said, "Fergus and Hong please move Fang Xin to a bed."

"He can use our bed, Fergus," Xinye instructed, Fergus nodded and Hong and he moved Xin to the bed.

Xin was placed so that Xinye could look after him and Fergus could still sleep on the bed. I would not have thought to lie him like he was laid, but it made sense, how else would he be looked after and people still be able to sleep. Though the bed was clearly crowded. I thought it would be ok for a night, so I would get bedding tomorrow for Fergus. He could sleep in my room on separate bedding while Xin was injured.

I suspected though; Xin would want this permanently at some point.

The next day I left with Taiji. Taiji had decided to deal with the people who had injured his General himself.

"Why are you doing this, my prince?" I asked.

"I need to deal with the people who disrespected my General myself," he said, "It will stand me in good stead later when the scuffle for the throne becomes more apparent."

I just nodded as I did not understand until he showed me. We all travelled swiftly by horseback to the area where Xin had been stationed. Upon our arrival we were welcomed warmly by the lord of the area, a known second prince supporter, "We welcome your 4th prince, if there is anything we can do please let us know. But if I may ask, why are you here?"

"I am here to investigate who attacked my general so viciously when he was sent here to help with the distribution of goods to help the flood victims by order of the emperor and not me. Now I know that you don't support my claim, but surely as a representative of the emperor you should not have been offended?"

It appeared to me the official greeting us went white, "I am sorry 4th prince, I know nothing about your general's injury. As far as I knew he was still investigating the dock warehouses. Please stay here tonight and I will escort you personally, myself, tomorrow."

Taiji looked at him steadily and the man began to sweat and squirm, "Thank you for your suggestion, but I think that I will stay with the army my father sent here." Upon seeing the official about to object he continued, "There's no need for you to come, just point the way to the army's encampment."

"But..."

"Don't say anything!" Taiji ordered, "Just point!"

The official raised his hand and pointed in the direction they were camping, to me it looked like his hand was shaking in fear. If his hand is shaking in fear, why is he afraid? I guess we will find out shortly.

We rode in the direction we were indicated and we did not see anyone. When we got to the river, we stopped for a while thinking about what to do.

"Either that official was lying to us, or our men are in hiding. Either way it's not good for this man." Taiji proclaimed.

Not long afterwards a man dressed in black stepped out of the shadows, "My prince," he bowed.

"Ma! What are you doing here?" Taiji exclaimed.

"Since General Fang got injured, our troop got decimated. Those of us that are still alive are in hiding. I suggest that you follow me if you want to know more. It's not safe out in the open like this. I have brought more men so that your legion can be brought back safely in groups of 5." And with that, 50 men materialized out of nowhere.

Taiji nodded, and gave the order to disperse into groups of 5. Each group disappeared into the night until it was just Taiji, 3 others and I. We then followed the man who met us. Initially, he took us to a set of stables where we stabled our horses, then we were on foot. I noted that all the horses that we brought with us had been stabled here.

We left the stables, and we were followed for a bit but eventually we shook the tail and then we were able to go to where the men actually were. It turned out to be the other side of town in one of the troops family manors. The man wasn't high enough up to be a threat to the official of the area, so that official did not know that this particular family was supporting Prince Hong Taiji.

When we arrived there, we were briefed on the situation by the man whose house we were staying at now.

"Prince Hong," he explained, "When we first arrived, we were treated well but something seemed off about the situation. We were given the run around on how the emergency relief food and blankets were being distributed. On paper it had been, but riots had broken out in the few areas that the relief had made it too. When General Fang started investigating, he found that the officers distributing the relief had been taking their cut and hording the goods rather than helping those that needed it. It was then we ended up in a fight for our lives against the local authorities. General Fang got injured and the rest of us had to go into hiding."

"I see," nodded Taiji thoughtfully, not mentioning at all he was now emperor.

"Is General Fang alive?" the man asked, concern showing on his features, "We did not think he would live, but he insisted that we put him on a horse so he could ride to Xinye. He kept repeating 'Xinye will save me'. Did she?"

"When we left General Fang was still alive, Xinye knew someone who saved him," Taiji replied.

"Praise be to Buddha," the man said, earning a scowl from Taiji, but he did not say anything.

"Show me tomorrow the proof of corruption," Taiji instructed, "Tonight get some sleep, though alternate the guards on duty. Put two inside as well in case the outside guards are shot without giving warning."

"Yes Prince," the man nodded and he left the room, leaving Taiji alone with me.

"Li, undress me," Taiji ordered.

I complied but I could not help but blush at the process.

"Why are you blushing? You're a man too, aren't you?" he asked.

I had to lie, "Y-yes."

Taiji looked at me then, and leant forward to look into my eyes, "You know Li, you look as pretty as a girl. I would be totally into you if you were a girl. Sleep next to me tonight. Also, don't mention yet that I am the emperor, I wish to see how people are."

I coughed my distress while nodding, swallowing rapidly as this flustered me. What am I going to do if he finds out I am truly a girl? I have no choice though. I will just have to sleep dressed and hope he does not make me undress. Thankfully he did not object and left me to sleep as I wanted.

In the morning, I woke up to Taiji's arms wrapped tightly around me, spooning me. I wriggled out and got up, Taiji stirred a little objecting to me leaving, but did not wake up. I sighed in relief and hurried off to do my morning absolutions before everyone else woke up. The last thing I needed now was someone to find out I was really a woman.

I then hurried off to help the cooks with breakfast for the men. It was not long afterwards we all sat down and ate. Taiji instructing us on what was to happen for the day.

The man who met us took us to the sites that had the stored food and blankets, and indeed each place was stuffed full of goods meant for the people. Taiji got me to ask the guards on duty whose warehouses they were by pretending to be a lost courier of the goods. We then knew which officials to target.

The next step was to visit them officially and have someone sneak in at the same time to search for contraband ledgers while they were distracted by our visit. A whipbird's whistle was to be used, although the creatures were becoming hard to find now as people had killed them off as the call was too useful to plotters like us.

The call came though that the documents had been thoroughly searched for, as yet we still did not know if we had been lucky or not, for now we had to make it look like we had nothing to do with the call, and this meant sitting though the prepared banquet for another couple of hours. I just devoted myself wholly to serving Taiji, and so I was able to curb my curiosity.

I swore though that Taiji had looked at me curiously a few times in that feast, it was like he was looking at me as a woman and not the man Chen Li I had concocted. When he was dared to kiss me, he did not hold back. I felt myself blush at his actions, and everyone laughed at me. Taiji laughed and said something acidic as if to dismiss the whole thing, but even so I felt his eyes resting on me more than once. I could not help but wonder Does Taiji suspect I really am a girl? What would he do if he knew? Would I even be safe? Everyone knows Taiji just takes women he likes for his own. Yes, I have to marry him, but I still do not know if I want too. Given, he is really talented in war and politics..."

The thought petered out then as I had started thinking on religion, Taiji is not religious at all, I wonder what he will decide for the country - will he promote Buddahism or no gods.

Over the next few days, the men, whenever they were idle, would talk amongst themselves about the women they had, or wanted to have. The single men would rib the married men who clearly doted on their wives, in turn they were ribbed back, saying things like "You wish you were married!"

"All I want is a girl worth waiting for."

"Wang Li is a pretty girl, why don't you court her."

"No there's a reason why she is a kisaeng, Wang Mulan would be a better choice."

"True," they all nodded in agreement, "Hey, did you know Hong Taiji is rumoured to be engaged again."

"What! He has all the luck, he already had 2 wives, you mean he is getting a third?"

"I wonder what she would be like?"

I must have looked concerned, as they were talking about me, as they then said, "Don't worry Chen Li, Taiji would never tire of you!" followed by raucous laughter. What were they implying by that? I wondered.

Taiji came out at that point and called me over, "Chen Li, come here!"

"See Chen Li," they teased, "His highness wants you." and made kissing faces and hugged themselves, "Oh Chen Li, I don't know what I would do without you!" they said in a falsetto voice. I rolled my eyes, Taiji did not have a falsetto voice, so I don't know what they were on about by using that voice to represent him. His voice had a deep sexy timbre about it.

"What was that about?" Taiji asked me when I got to him.

"Nothing," I said, "What do you need me for?"

"We have all the evidence we need now. My plan is to attack them tonight while they are all at the banquet being held for us. It's a bit crude, but I feel we can do it."

"I don't think I will be of use," I murmured.

"You will be," Taiji comforted me, "I need you to sneak out and let the men in."

We went to the banquet then, we were instructed not to imbibe too much alcohol, preferably just pretend to imbibe it if anything. We were to wait until the officials were somewhat inebriated to hopefully reduce the number of casualties that would inevitably occur as it was unlikely, they would come quietly.

We were about halfway through the banquet when Taiji indicated for me to go, and by then the officials were already quite drunk. I slipped out and opened the gate to the minister's manor, our men poured in and immediately tied up any of the guards on duty before going to the banquet hall.

A group of them came in and stood quietly pointing their swords at the minister.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" the minister boomed.

"Minister Yang," Taiji said swirling his drink, "You are under arrest for the embezzlement of government resources that were meant for the people and encouraging corruptness underneath you."

"That's not true," Minister Yang spluttered his objections.

"It isn't?" Taiji asked, "Funny that, your ledgers say differently."

"I was under orders to do this though," Minister Yang defended himself.

"Oh?" Taiji paused dramatically, looking directly at the minister, "and who pray tell instructed you to steal from the state?"

"It was the prince Dorgon," Minister Yang said.

"Prince Dorgon?" Taiji snorted, "Now I know you are having me on, he is barely out of diapers."

"It's true, let me write to the Lady Abahai," Minister Yang said.

"Fine, do as you wish, but you are returning to the capital with us," Taiji decided and loaded all the officials into a prisoner wagon and set out almost immediately.

"What is the hurry Taiji?" I asked him.

"We have been away 2 weeks already and it will take a week to get home with these people," He said, "I want to know how my general is doing, and grieve my father. I also want to see my wives, I am going insane around you, Li."

I blush as I knew what he meant, he was 17 years older than me and I was still quite young, but as I said, I was arranged to marry him. I wondered how I was going to extract myself from the palace.

We travelled back slowly, like Taiji predicted, through rain, hail and shine. When it rained, it was difficult pushing on through the mud, but push on we did. Each step heading towards the queen that wanted things her way.

Upon returning Taiji had a proper ascension to the throne ceremony to consolidate his power leaving in place the majority of ministers his father had appointed, and the next thing he knew was Lady Abahai had committed suicide by poisoning herself. Dorgon met with Taiji and after a candid discussion they swapped banners. Taiji's white for Dorgon's yellow. It made sense for his brother to do this as they had lost credibility with the two scandals and Taiji was now Emperor.

A/N If you enjoyed this chapter please take the time to vote by pressing the star. If you see any errors please let me know as this is unedited .