Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The moment Little Seven had quietly followed the butler to enter the residence, Meng Fuyao was grandly and lavishly welcomed into the Regent King’s residence as the next empress-to-be, with “Chun Mei” as her maid. She strolled into the red door and thought about the days she tried to get through the door; she had even betrayed Tie Cheng for it. The way the world worked was certainly funny, with a trip to the place, she was now the next empress, and the Regent King’s residence was now her maiden’s house.
Her gaze landed on a marking near the red door. ‘Tie Cheng has already safely made his way out, seemingly with someone’s help? Did Wuji’s invisible guards finally reach?’
The official politely led her to the third inner court, Residence Harmony, which was her temporary residence, close to the little princess’ place.
She did not know that in front of her, an innocent young man that had been searching for her for the past two months, was standing at the intersection point.
Some meetings were unknown to the people involved; only fate knew.
Meng Fuyao’s residence was very near to the little princess’ residence. Naturally, the Regent King had already enjoined his daughter to “spend more effort” on this Xuanyuan empress-to-be. With all matters excluding ones regarding her Brother Yue, she very obediently heeded her father’s words. And so, she invited Meng Fuyao over for a tea session. Actually, this rabbit-like princess could not be said to be a social butterfly; blanking out as she sipped her tea and answering wrongly to questions about a completely different topic. Anyways, this rabbit princess was now thinner than before. Brother Yue wasn’t coming back, and the “Magical Rabbit” had vanished into thin air. She had sent people to search but could not find any trace of it. Heartbroken, the princess had spent days with tears in her eyes.
Meng Fuyao looked at her teary eyes and thought, ‘Even Lin Dai Yu 1 would have to admit defeat seeing her.’ Looking at the exquisite lifestyle, this delicate, fragile girl lived, she had that one moment when her heart softened. But then, there was no construction without destruction. To crumble the beautiful, rosy world that her father had built for her might not necessarily be a bad thing. After all, she had to face them eventually.
Meng Fuyao stayed in the princess’ room for approximately two hours, talking about everything under the sun. She also brought up another country’s ancedote: The story of the descendants of a certain royalty being hunted down by a powerful official. The two had a battle of wits and power, but in the end, both sides suffered great losses.
The little princess listened attentively, and as expected, she very quickly related to the story. Placing both hands on her chest, she sighed. “Thankfully, not all stories have this ending.”
“If not this ending, what else could it be?” Meng Fuyao laughed menacingly. “The two hold such deep grudge against each other without a desire to compromise. Not just them, even today, which fight for power would end up in a happy ending? It is merely killing each other off.”
“But why must they kill each other?” asked the innocent, confused princess. “They could still come together to find a peaceful solution.”
“Princess, you certainly are benevolent.” Meng Fuyao inched closer as the fresh baby scent wafted up to her nose, lamenting the injustice in life.
‘Why do some people get to huddle up in their tiny little soap bubble without it bursting and them crashing down? No, this can’t do.’ Evil Meng would burst it for her.
“But a peaceful solution is impossible. There is no such idiot in the world that would take a step in the face of their enemies. You have to understand that once you take a step back, what you give up is the life of the entire family. Whoever is in this situation will not do that.”
After sowing the seeds of ‘poison’, Evil Meng smiled and turned to leave. “Then, princess, I shall take my leave.”
The princess sunk into her last, poisonous sentence as she replied, bewildered, “Ah? Okay.”
Meng Fuyao did not ask her to send her off either—this poor girl could probably think of only one thing at once a time. Then, she shall let this girl focus on tasting the poisonous apple Evil Meng had just given to her.
That night, Meng Fuyao sat down at her Residence Harmony and smiled slyly at Shadow Blade behind the closed doors. At the same time, it was time for the Regent King’s daily routine to visit his daughter. He sat beside his daughter as they chatted for a long time.
Xuanyuan Cheng sat on his daughter’s bed as he lovingly yet resignedly caressed her hair. This child was born prematurely, resulting in her weak constitution; even her personality was timid and weak. Even though he had begged his senior Moon Soul to teach her personally and trained her since young, she was still as timid though she had finally learned some martial arts. Sometimes, when he looked at his daughter, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of karma his past life had accumulated to have no sons in this life and have his only daughter to be this weak.
If this was not the case, he would have long usurped the throne. To him, ‘bestowed names cannot become emperor’ were mere excuses used by the officials in the court. In the battle for power, one’s ability was God. If one day he really decided to usurp the throne, he wouldn’t allow for those old officials to say a single word. The only reason why they were still alive was just because he was too lazy to deal with them.
What was the use of the throne? He had no heir.
It was easy for him to take the throne, but after his inevitable death, he would leave this child on the throne with no support to face the obstacles and the underhanded schemes of the imperial family. What then, would the tragic ending look like?
One could see the fear in Xuanyuan Cheng’s eyes as he gazed at Xuanyuan Yun. A sigh could not help but escape from his mouth.
Xuanyuan Yun looked at her father, meekly. She wasn’t dumb, so naturally, she knew why her father had sighed. In her heart, she too wished that she was more bold and courageous so that her father would not have to worry for her. However, her grandfather had always warned her, “Xun Er, you don’t have to be strong. The Xuanyuan family has the blood of an ancient god in their veins, and they have the rightful inheritance to the throne. It will not end well for those who steal unrightfully. With you being weak, your father will always be hesitant and not choose to make the grave mistake. Otherwise, do you really want to be enemies with Ah Yue for the rest of your life?”
To be enemies with Brother Yue for the rest of her life… she would rather die.
“Father, why isn’t Brother Yue willing to come back?” she asked that same question for the millionth time.
Xuanyuan Cheng looked at his incompetent daughter as a hint of dismay appeared in his eyes. Recently, he had been feeling frustrated and looking his daughter absorbed in the idea of her Brother Yue’s return, coupled with his gut feeling, he couldn’t help but want to give this daughter he had spoilt a wakeup call. “You really wish for him to come back earlier, and then, kill your father?”
“Ah—” Xuanyuan Yun did not know how to answer.
“You beg me to convince him to come back but do you really not know that he and I are at daggers drawn? The grudge between us is deeply embedded into our very soul, what methods do you have for us to bury the hatchet? Return his position? You marrying him?”
Xuanyuan Yun opened her mouth and stared at Xuanyuan Cheng, shocked.
“Putting aside whether he will marry you. Your idea alone is childish to the point it’s ridiculous! Return his title as a Lord? Do you think that Ah Yue will be satisfied with a mere lord position? “What about the revenge for Wen Yi’s family? Don’t you dare forget that his father died in my hands! He was initially the heir to the throne!”
“Father…” Xuanyuan Yun paused for a second, taken aback. Suddenly, she turned around and glared at him. “You didn’t convince him to come back at all, did you?”
Xuanyuan Cheng remained silent. After a while, he stood up and said, “Rest well and take care of yourself. Don’t worry too much about these. Some things are not as simple as you think.”
“You have not answered my question!” Xuanyuan Yun suddenly jumped down from her bed and kneeled down on the cold jade floor. She grabbed the Regent King’s sleeve and looked right into his eyes. “You did not convince him to come back… I even told you his identity and location… what… what have you done to him?”
Her skinny body bent over like a crescent moon. Her straightened neck was paler than the moon; it was so thin too, as though a gentle grasp could shatter it. Those long eyelashes fluttered, framing the graceful gaze of hers. But right now, in those eyes, tears of fear swirled, blurring the vision of the ever noble father.
Xuanyuan Cheng back-faced her, standing straight. The sentence ‘things I have to do’ almost rushed out of his mouth, but he swallowed back in. Eventually, what came out was a sorrowful, restrained sigh. He turned back and carried his daughter back onto her bed. “Be good, nothing, I didn’t manage to find him.”
“You did something to him!” Despite his lies, she understood. When her father asked her to ‘be good’, the majority of the time was because he needed to lie to her. One could see the green veins on her pale hands as she held tightly onto his sleeves as tears streamed down her face. “You lied to me, you lied to me, you lied to me! You liar!” she yelled.
She had been ill for a couple of days, and her voice was now raspy and hoarse. Her husky screams, packed full of anguish and disappointment, tore through the hearts of those who heard, shattering the peaceful atmosphere in this luxurious place that knew nothing of the pain and sorrows of the world. At that moment, the silk bed canopy rose with the breeze and gently covered the little princess’ frail shoulders.
Xuanyuan Cheng’s steady hands begun to tremble – but only in that second – and then, he calmly and slowly pried away, Xuanyuan Yun’s hands and stood up.
Once again, back-facing Xuanyuan Yun, he coldly told her, “Yun Er, you are my daughter, the descendant of royalty. In the past, there were some things that you refused to understand, and so, I shielded you from the painful things. But now, I feel that I have harmed you. Why shouldn’t you know? You not understanding anything is my greatest wrongdoing to you.”
“I don’t care about knowing anything…” Xuanyuan Yun stared at him with her watery eyes. “You are lying again, you are lying again. Grandfather was right. You lied to the world. Before Mother died, you held her hand and promised her that you would never marry again, but within a year after her death, you took in three concubines… you lied to Mother, and now you are lying to me… You harmed my Brother Yue… You have made me unable to face him even in death…”
“Yun Er!” hollered Xuanyuan Cheng.
Xuanyuan Yun trembled as she quickly shut up. It was one of the first time seeing her ever gentle father shaking in anger, fury written all over his face. She opened her mouth in fear, and then remembered that in her emotional state, she had said extremely unpleasant words that hit hard on her father’s sore spot. Seeing that her father had raised his hand, filled with rage, she could not help but retreat in terror and crouch in the corner of the bed.
Xuanyuan Cheng had his hand in the air but seeing his daughter’s fearful gaze, his heart ached. That gaze resembled the one who had passed, pure and clear like water, without a hint of contamination. It was the kind of clarity that aroused one’s desire to protect with everything he could… his queen, the only person he had ever loved. Before she passed, he held her hand and swore that he would not marry others, he promised that he would love their child with his everything… But he had already broken the very first promise.
