Chapter 39: Extra Story One – If There Is a Next Life
They say that during the late emperor's reign, the lives of princes in the palace were often short-lived—seven out of ten would not escape the fate of an early death.
Fortunately, she was a princess.
Fortunately, her favorite brother was the Crown Prince.
Her mother, the imperial consort, had only her as a daughter and was the most trusted among the late emperor's many concubines, even by the empress. When the Crown Prince was still a prince, he lived with her in their mother's palace. Back then, her brother was frail, consuming more medicine than food. Whenever their mother coaxed him to take his medicine, she would crouch by his bed and play with his sleeve.
Winding it around her fingers, she would give it a gentle tug, causing him to spill the dark brown medicine onto the embroidered quilt, earning them both their mother's scolding laughter. Only then would a hint of a smile appear in his eyes, as beautiful as ink.
After the late emperor passed away, the prince became the Crown Prince, and she never saw her brother again.
Only once did she hear her mother mention how the Crown Prince had stood at the palace gates for an entire day and night, holding a bowl of medicine, unable and unwilling to move. Terrified, she sneaked to the palace gates and caught sight of that solitary figure in white, cradling the priceless medicine bowl.
That night, there was no moon.
The Crown Prince was seven years old; she was six.
Even many years later, the memory of that night remained as vivid as yesterday. From that moment on, Princess Xinghua grew up.
Her greatest concern every day was always her Crown Prince brother. Had he been scolded by the Empress Dowager? Had he received praise from his tutor? Was he eating well? Was he sleeping peacefully? These were the tidbits she learned by bribing the Empress Dowager's attendants with jewelry—only they knew the Crown Prince's daily life, down to his every word and action.
Later, she learned that the Crown Prince had taken a Crown Princess.
Someone brought a portrait—an ordinary woman, save for the gentle smile in her eyes, a touch of innocence, a hint of stubbornness. These were qualities she no longer possessed, having gradually lost them after that night at the palace gates when she was six.
From then on, she was no longer the only woman her brother recognized, no longer the sister he had once relied on.
Perhaps the Crown Prince had even forgotten he had such a sister.
Since he became Crown Prince, the only time she got close to him was on the night their mother passed away. Dazed with grief, she thought she heard someone call out, "His Highness the Crown Prince."
She turned and saw the pale-faced man with ink-dark eyes, wrapped in a heavy fox-fur cloak, standing outside the palace gates. He said nothing, only silently gazed at the palace where he had once laughed and played with her in their youth. Looking at him, she recalled countless childhood memories—reading by the lotus pond with her brother on sunny days, watching the rain together when it poured…
Layer upon layer, the warmth of the past seeped into her heart.
Though the Crown Prince left without a word, she knew his sorrow mirrored her own.
From that moment on, Princess Xinghua had only one family left—her Crown Prince brother.
The Empress Dowager saw the Crown Prince as a thorn in her side. For years, she confined him to the Eastern Palace. Even when rumors spread of an affair between the Crown Princess and the Prince of Nan Chen… she privately told her close ministers that the Prince of Nan Chen had been undefeated on the battlefield since his youth and was not to be crossed. If he desired beauty, then beauty he should have—if only to secure peace for the rest of her days.Hearing these words, she was so startled that her brush slipped from her fingers: "What did the Crown Prince say?" The maid beside her paled slightly, picked up the brush, and shook her head gently: "The Crown Prince did not utter a word, as if he hadn't heard."
As if he hadn't heard... as if he hadn't heard...
Everyone knew that her brother, a puppet on the throne for decades, had always been a mute.
But how could she let anyone take away his beloved?
She lay awake all night, pondering countless schemes. In the end, she steeled her heart—even at the cost of her own life, she would take the Empress Dowager's life, ensuring the Crown Prince could ascend the throne and reclaim both his empire and the woman he loved.
Fate is fickle. The Empress Dowager died suddenly.
The Crown Prince sealed off the imperial city, forbidding any public announcement. The first decree written in the Empress Dowager's hand summoned the Crown Princess to the palace for their wedding. On the same day, a secret edict called the Qinghe Cui clan to the palace.
That day, she heard that the Cui clan knelt outside the Eastern Palace for two full hours. Only at midnight were they led in by eunuchs for an audience.
What was said? She did not know, but she lay sleepless the entire night.
The next day, the Crown Prince summoned her to the Eastern Palace.
The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace—no one outside the palace had ever seen him. And she, as a princess, had never had the chance to meet him either. That day, the snow lay half a foot deep. Though palace servants had cleared a path, her shoes were still soaked. Her heart pounded like a drum as she stepped into the palace, bowing respectfully.
The man on the couch, exhausted from his all-night discussion with the Cui clan, looked increasingly pale in the morning light—so pale it was almost frightening.
Someone brought medicine. He took it, coughing lightly amidst the rising steam. "Xing'er."
The vast Eastern Palace was utterly silent, save for his voice.
This was the name he had called her in childhood. Xing'er. Whenever he spoke these two words, his voice was tender beyond measure. Only he ever called her that. She hadn't heard it in ten years.
She approached, leaning against the couch, nestling close to him.
The Crown Prince before her took a small sip of the medicine, as if reluctant to drink it, yet forcing himself to continue. Sip by sip, he drank slowly. "I have set a wedding date for you."
Something shattered silently in her heart. She gave a soft murmur of acknowledgment.
The Crown Prince spoke leisurely of her impending marriage to the lands south of the river, a place famed for its breathtaking landscapes. She listened, saying little. If her distant marriage could secure her brother's empire, she would gladly don her bridal robes and wed for the sake of the one she loved.
That day, she stayed by his side from dawn till dusk, as intimate as in their childhood.
Snow reflected off red plum blossoms as she accompanied him, admiring both snow and flower alike.
"Withered willows and lotus, yet the plum remains unchanged," he mused, gazing at the snow, his expression unreadable. "I wonder if you'll still see snow-reflected plums after your marriage."
She married in haste. Not long after, news came that the Prince of Southern Chen had rebelled and was sentenced by the Crown Prince to the bone-flaying punishment.
Soon after, the Empress Dowager's sudden death was announced. The Crown Prince ascended the throne, becoming Emperor Dongling.
That night, her new husband remarked with a sigh that with the Prince of Southern Chen's death, the empire would surely descend into chaos. At least she was safely wed far away. The rumors among the common folk—of the Crown Princess and the Prince of Southern Chen's scandalous affair—had even reached the people south of the river. Her husband had once joked that the rebellion might have been a charade orchestrated by Emperor Dongling in a fit of jealous rage.
She said nothing.
Whether it was true or not, it was now fact.
Three years into Emperor Dongling's reign, he died suddenly, leaving no heir. The empire fell into chaos.As Princess Xinghua, she was spared from the territorial disputes due to her distant marriage.
(End of Chapter)
OpenNovel