Three days later

Concubine Rong was resting on her bed when Xiao Er hastily barged into her room with a piece of paper in her hand.

" My Lady, Eunuch Wang send us a letter" the young maid then, proceed to hand the letter to her mistress. Judging from her mistress' face expression, it must be a good news.

"Xiao Er, we are going to make a move tonight!" Concubine Rong exclaimed excitedly.

"What? Tonight? My Lady isn't too soon?"

"No. Nothing is too soon for a risky plan like this. The more spontaneous the plan is, the better the outcome would be." she disagree.

"But My Lady....."

"Come. Hurry up. Help me to get dress! We need to move now!" Xiao Er had no choice but to listen to her mistress' command. But deep down inside, she felt uneasy about the whole plan. Her instinct was never wrong and she was genuinely scared of the unknown that would unfold this night.

                                                                  *************

Standing outside of the prison building, the place appeared to be empty without even the guards at their stations . Concubine Rong and Xiao Er both were donning a black robe to blend it with the dark environment. Both of them managed to easily sneaked into the prison building without any difficulty.

"My Lady. Don't you think this is too smooth. Not even a guard was standing on their usual post" Xiao Er tried to reason with the concubine. Her mistress was a smart woman. However, Xiao Er was afraid that her excitement to rescue her brother might have blinded her good judgment.

"Eunuch Wang may plan ahead for everything. We just need to believe in him"

"My Lady is being too optimist about this…" Xiao Er mumbled under her breath.

" What did you say?"

"Nothing. Let's go My Lady before someone sees us" She hastily ushered her mistress into the building.

Once they have entered the place, Eunuch Wang was standing at the narrow corridor. He was holding a set of keys on his right hand while hiding his other hand was holding a lantern.

"My Lady" he bowed his head to greet the concubine.

"We've got no time for proprietary. Now, show me where he was locked!" she instructed.

After walking and climbing the stairs for a few minutes, they have finally arrived at the upper level right wing area. Concubine Rong's heart was thumping loudly as they were standing in front of the door that separated the corridor and the cells. Waiting for the eunuch to unlock the key seemed to be a herculean task for her.

It has been three years! She had not seen her beloved brother for three years! She closed her eyes in effort of trying to calm her nerve. Concubine Rong began to imagine the evnt that would unfold as soon as she had gotten to meet her brother. The first thing she would do is apologize to her brother. To admit that she was wrong for fallen for a complete stranger. If It was not for her stupid infatuation toward the emperor, he would not ended up locked in this horrible place!

The sound of door creaking brought her back to the reality. Concubine Rong felt the urge to run ahead of the eunuch if it was not for her protruding tummy getting in the way. All three of them stepped into the isolated section with curious look on their face. The place must be the darkest section in the building. They could barely see anything without the lantern in Eunuch Wang's hand.

The section was actually spacious with numerous cells divided by iron bar. However, most of them were empty without a single soul resided within it. After walking past the fourth cells,Eunuch Wang finally located the cell's which Gao Wang was placed. It was the only cells with a prisoner in it.

Concubine Rang immediately went straight to cells. It was a devastating moment for Concubine Rong to see her brother looking so frail in the yellowish tattered clothes. He was sleeping on a mat with shackles restraining both his legs and hands. He looked a lot thinner than when she last saw him almost three years ago. Why did the emperor treated her brother like this? Concubine Rong could not think of any wrongdoings her brother had ever committed that could justify his imprisonment. She determined to get her brother out of the prison cell even if it means that she was risking her head by doing so!

The sound of clothes rustling had woken Gao Wang from his deep slumber. He slowly opened his exhausted eye,s trying to find the sources of the noise.

His delirious eyes fell onto Concubine Rong's face. He stared at her face for a while before his lips broke into a weak smile.

"Your Majesty?"

Xiao Er's head whipped around to see whether there was someone else in the cells other than them. Strangely, no one was there.

"Are you coming to take me Your Majesty?" his voice sounds so frail it broke Concubine Rong's heart into pieces.

"Brother, wake up . This is me! I'm coming to get you out of here"

His eyes suddenly widened as he heard the word 'brother'. It seemed as if the word magically wipe away all his incoherent thoughts. The light of realization shone through his eyes.

"Chu Min? Is that you?" the man was struggling to lift up his upper body. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you out of this place brother"

"How did you get here?"

"I bribed this eunuch. It was a long story. We need to get out of this place, fas….."

"No!" he interrupted.

"What do you mean by 'no' ? we have to get.."

"No this isn't right Chu Min! This is a trap!"

"This is not trap! I have planned for this a long time a go! We must go now!"

"No. Chu Min, listen to me. This wing is the strictest part in this building. It has been like that since many years ago. There is no way you can save me just by bribing a eunuch!" Eunuch Wang frowned as he listen to the prisoner knocking sense into the concubine. How did this - supposedly - peasant from another kingdom knew about the intricate rule of royal prison department?

"But this man is not a mere eunuch. He is also the acting head of the prison department" she tried to explain.

"This wing is directly under the emperor's command. Not even the real leader would have the key to this place. This is a trap. Get out of here! Go! Leave me here!" He shouted at them.

Their argument was however cut short when they heard sounds of feet closing by. A moment later, a group of royal guards barging through the door. The Elder Eunuch strutted from behind followed by the emperor.

Xiao Er was expecting the emperor to appear visibly angry at at them. She was, however, surprised to see the emperor's face shown the impression of disappointment instead of wrath.

"Concubine Rong" the Elder Eunuch began to speak. "How dare you!!" his voice roared like a thunder in the cramped space. "Do you know this is equal to treachery? Do you know what are the consequences of trying to sneak a convict out of the prison? Death!!"

"My brother is not a convict" She muttered under her breath. It sounded almost monotone. Her face was hidden as she was looking down with bangs covering almost half of her upper face.

" What did you say?" the Elder Eunuch was in disbelief.

"I said…" Concubine Rong lifted her head and reveal a wide and wicked grin. "…that my brother is not a convict! None of you lowlifes had the right to put him in this filthy place." Her voice was low yet sharp. It sounded malicious and menacing at the same time. This was not a low ranking concubine pleading for mercy, but a woman demanding for answer for injustice committed against her brother.

Xiao Er felt a sharp chill down her spine. The woman who was standing in front of her did not look like her mistress. She exude a different aura that made her felt different. Even though her mistress had recently undergone mood swings where her personality swiftly changed from time to time, but she had never seen her mistress behaving like this. It was almost as if she was the most powerful person in this building!

Not only Xiao Er, but almost everyone in this place felt the same. None of the guards who was wielding a sword in their hand dared to strike her for being impertinent toward the emperor. The Elder Eunuch's face went very pale. He took several steps back as if the words uttered by the concubine had physical effect on him. For a moment, there was a deafening silent lingering the cell. It was almost painful for anyone in the place to react after listening to her words.

" Aahahahahahahahah!!!" the sounds of laughter, coming from the emperor himself was the last thing anyone would expect in this kind of situation. The laughter coupled with a few round of claps was a juxtaposition against the dreadful situation.

" Welcome back, Liu Shi"  He displayed a triumphant smile on his face.

"You piece of shit!!" Gao Wang suddenly yelled at the emperor from his cell. He was still lying on the floor. A guard then went into the cell and slap him on the face to keep him quite.

Seeing her brother was treated harshly by the guard, Concubine Rong wanted to barged into the cells. However, Xiao Er's tight grip hindered her from doing so. Amidst the chaos, the emperor nonchalantly turned around and went straight to the main door before stopping midway.

"Someone! Put Eunuch Wang in the lower level cell" He instructed. Two palace guards immediately seized both of Eunuch Wang's arms before dragging him down the stairs. The sounds of Eunuch Wang's voice pleading for mercy was definitely chilling and traumatizing for Xiao Er. She was expecting for her, too, to be dragged down the cell just like the eunuch.

"You" the emperor pointed at another guard who was standing closest to the concubine. "Escorted Concubine Rong and her maid out of this building. Someone will take over the job at the front gate. Leave them with that person" he instructed before exiting the door. The guard immediately ushered the concubine and Xiao Er away from the fateful prison cell.

It was a surreal experience for Xiao Er. She was glad that she was not condemn to heavier sentence like the young eunuch. Yet. She was not sure about the future, but her connection with the mistress had definitely save her from receiving harsher punishment. The most puzzling thing was, why did the emperor let her Mistress to get away just like that? They had committed a grave mistake. Why didn't the emperor punished them? Was it because the mistress was pregnant? Who was Liu Shi? And more importantly, how did he knew about their plan?!

A silhouette of a woman's body,  greeted their sight at the building's front gate. She had her back facing the three of them. As they were closing by, the woman turned toward their direction.

"Sister Meng!" Xiao Er was surprised to see Sister Meng standing at the front gate. She rarely ventured out of the kitchen. Why would she'd be here tonight?

" What are you doing here Sister Meng?"

" Xiao Er" Concubine Rong interrupted. " Aren't you curious about how did the emperor knew about the plan?" She'd never take her eyes off Sister Meng's face while asking the question to Xiao Er. Realization hit Xiao Er like a thunder. Her face immediately went white upon realizing that Sister Meng was the one who betrayed them.

"Why? Why did you do this?" Xiao Er's voice was laden with pain.

"My apology Xiao Er. I can offer no explanation to you." Sister Meng uttered the word as if they were nothing to her."Tonight is cold let's go back to the mansion"

The three women embarked on a silent journey back to the mansion. That night, Xiao Er was separated from her mistress. Concubine Rong was put under Sister Meng's watchful eyes as Xiao Er had to sleep at the maids' quarter for the first time in her life.