AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“But why, when another man’s sons would be closer to the throne than his?”
The Crown Prince gave another humorless smile. “My mother is fragile and no longer young. My youngest brother’s birth almost killed her. Bohai assured my father in private that she would likely never carry another child to term, despite her hope for a girl. And here I am, still the Crown Prince.”
But if fate comes to pass—if Lihua dies and I become the Empress—I might give the Emperor a son.The thought made Xifeng feel unsteady on her feet—that with one move, she might secure her position and displace three royal princes. But somehow, as she watched him fix his eyes dreamily on the forest beyond the wall, she didn’t think the Crown Prince would mind. She could never tie herself to a man with so little drive, so little ambition.
“Sometimes I have these strange dreams... dreams in which I never take the throne after all. In which I’m not destined to rule,” the prince murmured. “For me, they are not nightmares but fantasies.” His words raised the hairs on her neck. He glanced at her ruefully. “My mother mustn’t know any of this.”
“I will not say anything, Your Highness.” Xifeng felt a twinge of sympathy for the Empress. No wonder she longed for a girl; a princess would stay with her in the city of women instead of fighting in wars far away or becoming wrapped up in kingly duties.
“I know she’s lonely. The Emperor dotes on her, but he’s often... distracted.” The prince peered at a woman in the gardens below: Lady Meng, who had left her sewing and was walking in odd, looping circles. She looked up at them, clearly keeping watch. “I suppose we should be thankful he only has two favored concubines and not two dozen, as my father had.”
Here is my opportunity,Xifeng thought. “I hope I won’t offend you, Your Highness, but you and your mother have done so much for me, and I feel compelled to speak frankly. I’ve noticed one of the concubines taking a great deal of liberty with your mother.” The Crown Prince’s eyes turned back to her, at once keen, alert. “I’ve come to love and respect the Empress. I have no mother of my own,” she added softly, “and I look upon Her Majesty as someone from whom I may seek advice and affection. She saved me from the whip, after all.”
“I assume you speak of Lady Sun,” the prince said sharply.
Xifeng related the whipping incident to him, sparing no detail in the way Lady Sun had addressed Her Majesty. “But it doesn’t matter what she’s done to me. I care about her impudence to your mother... and dare I say, downright hatred. She considers herself quite the Empress already.” She watched the prince from the corner of her eye.
A nerve twitched in his jaw. “My stepfather will never put my mother aside.”
“Of course not, Your Highness. But I worry Lady Sun may be desperate enough to bring about other circumstances.” She lowered her voice and the prince bent his ear closer—once the little fisherman, nowthe fish on the end of her line. “Her attendants bring ingredients from Bohai’s cupboards every week. She collects them in great amounts.”
Satisfaction rippled through her as his eyes widened. He could check this fact if he wished; he would learn it was true, though he didn’t need to know the ingredients were for Lady Sun’s beauty rituals. He would hear the story of Kang’s senseless punishment, and connect that incident with Lady Sun to the black spice stolen from Bohai. Xifeng hadn’t told a single lie. All she had to do was plant the seed and let him grow it in the manner he wished.
“Xifeng, I charge you with the care of my mother,” the prince said grimly. “I can’t always be here. Be my eyes and ears while I think of what to do. Send a eunuch if you need me.”
“Gladly, Your Highness.” She saw Lady Meng still watching them with an unblinking stare; perhaps they had been talking for too long. “I must return. I am forever grateful to you and pray for your health.”
The Crown Prince inclined his head. “Until the festival, then. Goodbye.”
Xifeng crossed the walkway in the opposite direction, unwilling to return to her sewing and the ladies’ chatter. She ducked into an alcove outside the eunuchs’ quarters to wait for Kang, burning to read Wei’s message.
The familiar, untidy scrawl brought tears to her eyes. He had written only a few lines:
I love you and I think of you every day. I wish I could run away with you again.
There was no promise to meet, no hint at a reunion. Just simple words from a heart she didn’t deserve. He didn’t expect to see her again.
“Xifeng? Are you all right?” Kang appeared on the walkway as she wiped her face, and the kind sympathy in his eyes made her tears flow faster. Xifeng clung to his hand, longing to pour her heart out about her destiny and what it might cost her. But not even Wei had understood. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—risk the only friendship she had at court.
“Someone cares for me and I can’t return his feelings. He needs a better woman who isn’t a coward and can love him as he deserves.” She tucked the scroll into her robes, against her aching heart. “My Guma told me he wasn’t for me. I’ve never been able to forget that.”
“You can’t blame yourself if it’s what she taught you.” The eunuch wiped her tears with a large, gentle hand. “She wanted only the best for you. We must listen to those who raised us. Duty to our elders is the greatest responsibility we have.”
An overwhelming sense of relief flooded her. “You understand, then. He didn’t know how I could keep Guma’s teachings in my heart and still care for him, too.”
Kang tilted his head like a benevolent bird. “This is the soldier friend, Wei, you speak of? What if the two of you were to meet?”
A sensation like feathers fluttered in her chest. “That’s impossible. I can’t be alone with a man. Madam Hong would throw me out on my ear, and the Empress... she’s given me a home and protected me from Lady Sun. She cares about me.” Her Majesty’s words ran through her mind like cool water:If you were my child, I wouldn’t let that woman within an inch of you.
“I know she’s easy to love,” Kang said slowly, “but have a care, my darling. She’s not like us. She doesn’t have to keep her promises, and she likes to make daughters of all the maidens. It doesn’t last, and it isn’t real.”
“You’re implying the Empress has false feelings?”
He patted her hand. “I just don’t want you to be hurt if she gives birth to a true daughter. Anyway,” he added, before she could question him further, “I have a plot boiling in this head of mine. I fear I’m something of a romantic. I want to help you and Wei meet.”
“Stop it,” Xifeng told him, though she couldn’t help the urgent longing to see Wei. He, too, was part of her destiny, after all—that faithful, dependable boy who had always been her moral compass, who had always only seen the good in her. If anyone could keep the creature’s dark whisperings at bay, it would be him... But she pushed the hope from her heart. “I’d never forgive myself if you were whipped again for my sake.”
“You needn’t fear on my behalf, and I won’t make you do anything you don’t wish to. But there are ways.” He rubbed his palms together in delight, and Xifeng found it difficult to maintain her scowl. “And if the Crown Prince is sympathetic, as you say, we can use that to our advantage.”
