2 year after the wedding
The evening was overcast with dark cloud engulfing the sky. Cold wind kept on blowing mercilessly making the owner of vendors along the street to closed down their shop in fear of incoming thunder storm.
While the street was deserted by most of the capital's residence, a rocky carriage slowly strutted in the middle of the it.
The carriage was heading toward the Guo's family residence which was located at the end of the street. No one in the street gave any attention toward the carriage. None of them had any idea that the empire's prince consort was sitting inside of the carriage!
In the carriage, a grim looking Xiao Song was sitting expressionlessly on the seat. Two years of living in the palace had hardened the once naive gentleman into becoming a taciturn person. This gentleman who once, speak with a soft tome and rarely showing his disinterest toward other people had slowly transformed into a quite , perceptive young man.
He, who once, a believer of kindness within every souls, had abandoned his optimist outlook in life. Life in palace had drained the positivity out of his body. He is now was nothing more but a shell of his past self.
He reached out to lift the curtain of the carriage's window. He took this chance to peek at the street.
Recognizing the familiar street, he began to reminisce the life that he left behind once he decided to marry the current empress - a hasty decision that he made , purely out of his love toward his wife.
He could still see the image of him snatching a hairband from his younger brother's hand on this exact street many years ago. He longed for the time where he was free with nothing to worry about other than helping Lu Zheng experimenting with new drugs at his work place in Zhan family's mansion.
He yearn for the simpler time where his biggest problem was going to the capital to seek aids from the emperor. If he could turn back time, would he still choose this route?
Xiao Song shook his head trying to throw the thought away from his head. The old Xiao Song would be highly disappoint with his current self.
All These what ifs questions reminded him of the conversation that he had with the late emperor when they first met.
* "People changed. I was no longer the idealistic 18 year old crown prince. The 20 year old me was also different from my 58 year old current self. Things happen along the way and I turned out into this repugnant state. It was not my choice to end up disappointing a lot of people. Especially your father"*
This words were coming back to haunt him more than ever for the past few months. Xiao Song had no intention to seek for political power when he first married the Empress. Xiao Song believed that his marriage was purely based on love. He stupidly ignored the fact that the no marriage in the palace had ever taken place without being tainted with political agenda.
Few months after Xiao Song married Princess Liu Shi, everything was progress fairly well for both of them. In fact, it was too smooth to be true. Xiao Song was summoned to accompany the emperor for tea drinking session so many time , he was dubbed as the emperor's favourite companion defeating even his favourite concubine's position. The emperor enjoyed his companion as Xiao Song ' reminded him of his best friend, the duke of Shen.
His close relationship turned into a bridge that mended the relationship between the emperor and Princess Liu Shi. As someone who had been neglected by his father for her entire childhood, Princess Liu Shi already stood out as a smart and brilliant princess even before Xiao Song appeared in her life.
However, her relationship with the emperor were steadily improved after they were reconnected through Xiao Song as their favourite mutual. Xiao Song was initially prided himself as the person who ameliorated the father and daughter relationship. Little did he knew, he was just a stepping stone that was place to make the process appeared to be more natural.
Living in the palace, there was never a dull moment. Having someone from inner place throwing tantrum was daily occasion. Having officials fighting in the royal court was something to be expected. Servants went around secretly helping their lords and mistresses to spread gossip and slandering one another.
Nevertheless, amid of these occasional chaos, the palace was struck with a grim news that brought dark and gloomy atmosphere clouding the inner palace.
The youngest prince was found drowning in the garden's pond. The news incapacitated the emperor's spirit making him retreat further into deep state of depression.
Meanwhile, with his closest and only rival dead and buried, the power-hungry crown prince was delighted and intently anticipating the time where he was about to inherit the throne.
With the youngest prince dead at a tender age of six, he no longer had to worry about fighting the throne as his father had no other son or younger male family member .
He began to celebrating his imminent success by drowning in more booze than women. He went and visited to every single brothel in the capital spending his spare time before ascending to the throne.
He was at the state of ecstatic until one day, the emperor coming out of his safe haven with a new decree in his hand. He announced changes in condition of the throne inheritance system. After the amendment, the existing princess in the palace were also eligible to ascend the throne. The crown prince went livid as soon as he heard the news.
Not only the crown prince, even the officials vehemently opposing the new amendment. Nonetheless, the ailing emperor was adamant with his move and refused to changed it back. To make matter worst, the dissatisfied crown prince launched a rebellious attack to forcefully dethrone his father.
The uprising was, however, easily tackled by the emperor as he had predicted the move from his own son. In other words, he was the one who forcefully made the crown prince to resort to this means in order get rid of him.
Some even speculate it was a retaliation from the emperor himself as he believed that the Crown Prince was behind the late youngest prince's death. Seeing how resolute the emperor with this changes, the empire's politic went into chaos for a few moment after the failed uprising.
The ministers were divided and hastily form into new factions. Several of the princesses name was chosen as the suitable candidates for the throne. However, out of them all, Princess Liu Shi came out as the strongest candidate.
One of the reason was due to her close relationship with the emperor prior to the changes in the inheritance law. Speculation regarding the emperor was prone to make her as the next ruler arose amidst the political fight among the ministers.
Other than that, she was also naturally, a brilliant princess who at the very young age , shown an incredible academic achievements.
On top of that, her status as married woman putting her on higher pedestal than the other princesses. Marriage indicated that her life was already at stable phase. Not to mention, the husband was the distant relative of the current royal family. He was also tied by marriage to the affluent finance minister's family. It was also worth to note that he was the emperor's favourite son-in-law. All of this factors, contributed to Princess Liu Shi to be leading the competition.
A few moths after that, the emperor passed away peacefully in his sleep.
Princess Liu Shi ascended the throne and became the first female ruler for the empire.
Initially, everyone was relief to think that they had a new respectable ruler and anticipating a great future under her reign.
Unfortunately, the fate had always find its way to play around with the people of Tang empire. The Empress was an excellent ruler albeit rendered as crazy and bloodthirsty for making several controversial decision in later part of her reigning years. It all started when the empress decided to purged the current inner palace.
Despite of any reasoning behind the action, it was a shocking decision nonetheless especially when the empress was not stopping there. She went for a crazy blood hunting decimating family of affluent social hierarchy. Her sovereignty was of a iron claw one, all the ministers were in fear of their life toward her.
Not only the officials in the royal court, even Xiao Song began to detect an abrupt changes within the empress after she ascended the throne.
Gone now her cheerful and warm persona. She began to treat him coldly and distancing herself from him. Often time, she would citing her workload as an excuse to not spending time together with him.
She was no longer displaying her bright smile to him either. Her soft laughter was replaced with stern order suited someone with the highest power in the country.
The most infuriating thing for Xiao Song was when he was put under heavy scrutiny of Gao Wang, the empress' loyal bodyguard.
Gao Wang was his wife's bodyguard who had been together with the empress since she was young. Together with another maid named Meng, the three of them were inseparable. Their bond seemed to be extended beyond servant-master relationship. Xiao Song always found them deep in thorough discussion. It was as if they had a huge secret that they don't want anyone else know.
As much as he was embarrassed to admit it, but Xiao Song sense uneasiness whenever he saw Gao Wang with the empress in which unfortunately occurred almost all the time. And he knew that the feelings was mutual. The bodyguard had always look at him with subtle contempt. Xiao Song however, tolerated his behaviour knowing how loyal and important he was to his wife.
Nonetheless, his disdain toward the guard multiplied when his relationship with his wife deteriorate over time. Even though he knew that Gao Wang was not the cause of their relationship turned cold, but he could not help but pinning most of his anger toward him.
The last straw happened two months ago, when he saw Gao Wang was practicing sword fighting with his subordinate at the palace's yard. Xiao Wang was just walking by when he decided to greet the soldiers without any other intention. The impertinent guard, however, called out after him inviting him for a mock sword duel.
Xiao Song did not think anything unusual out of it other than harmless invitation. He had already expected that he gonna lost the mock battle anyway. But the moment the guard whisper the word "pathetic" into his ear while he was pretending to help Xiao Song back to his feet, all hell break loose.
It was his first time punching someone who was not ready to be attacked. It was the first time he lost his composure in front of mere servants.
Gossips were spreading fast about the empress' husband violating her most loyal servant.
At this moment, Xiao Song retreat to his cocoon of safety away from other people to clear his mind off. While he was it, he reevaluating the event that had been going for the past three years.
Yes, indeed. Xiao Song had doubts over his wife feeling toward him when they first gotten married a few years ago. Unlike the time where they actively exchanging ideas through letters and pigeon, he realized they had never have a deep and thorough conversation after they were legally married.
Moreover, the empress had always avoided conversation regarding her deepest feeling to him even after when they were alone in their private residence.
Out of his love to her, he blindly brushed all of them off thinking that she was to shy to have a conversation about feelings and emotion. They were already married anyway. So does he thought.
Nevertheless, after he isolated himself away from her and managed to ponder about their situation, he realized that he might have been taken advantage by his own wife.
Looking back, Xiao Song realized that Liu Shi actually relied on him to forge good relationship with the late emperor.
Part of the reasons she was regarded as the strongest candidate for the throne was because of the affluent finance minister backing up both of them and leading the biggest faction showing support toward princess Liu Shi.
It was all coming back to him like a pieces of puzzle being put together and forming a crystal clear picture. In other words, he was nothing for her but a stepping stone to get the throne.
Xiao Song began to suspect that the downfall of the crown prince was also crafted by his wife. Hence, he went around investigating every event that was connected to the incident.
The assistant of the old nurse maid of the late youngest prince, confided to him that the guard, Gao Wang, was seen at the location where the prince's body was recovered after he went missing while playing in the garden.
He also found out that soldiers who had made up of half of the late crown prince's rebellion army defected right before they launched the attack hence making their lost to be inevitable even without any resistance from the late Emperor .
Rumors had it that they were paid to disguise as willing soldiers and were instructed to defected as soon as they entered the palace by by their real master.
His investigation brought him deep into the royal family's political play. He had traced unfamiliar death among the royal family members that dated almost a decade ago. Started with one of the late emperor's favorite concubine's suicide to the numbers of princes death due to what supposed to be a life long disease.
Each one of them were marked with an eerie similarity. There would be sighting of either of his wife's two servants roaming suspiciously near the victim whenever untoward incident took place.
Xiao Song stopped investigating for a while as he was overwhelm by stomach-churning feeling while learning all about this new information.
He kept on denying the evidence that he himself had uncovered. There was no way his soft and gentle wife would be capable of scheming something that as horrible as this! Liu Shi is too kind to do all this. Was she being lead by that man?! that guard? Or that young maid?
Xiao Song refused to accept the hypothesis, he'd decided to destroy all of the evidences that he had painstakingly uncovered for the past few weeks.
He was standing in front of the burner, ready to threw everything into the fiery pit before his clear conscious mind warning him no to do it. Xiao Song then, determined to keep the evidence a while longer while he proceed to investigate onto how big his wife had play her role in these events.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Gao Wang was already suspicious of Xiao Song's erratic movement while he went around investigating the past. To his astonishment, he loyal bodyguard left his original post by the empress' side in order to watch over Xiao Song's every move.
From then on, he knew that his instinct for the past few months was right all along. He was nothing but a stepping stone for his wife's grand scheming. His bloodthirsty wife went rampage trying to avenge her mother's unjust death by decimating a lot of nobles who had been in power while the late emperor was still alive. In fact, she had been doing this since she was a mere child!
This revelation shattered his heart into pieces. To think that the soft and gentle persona was only a facade that she wears to gain his attention and he gullible enough to think that they shared mutual feelings.
Xiao Song feared that his life might be in danger. Mourning on a relationship built on fake feelings need to be put aside! He needs to find a way to get away from this political turmoil.
The lady of luck was looking down at him when his sister-in-law's father appeared and offered him a way out of this misery. He forge a sappy story to let Xiao Song to be allowed to leave the palace in order to visit Xiao Zhan in the Guo's family house.
Now that Xiao Song was out of the palace, he was not unsure about what the future hold for him. He knew that the old man's offer was not without any repayment from his side. He was nervously fidgeting on the carriage seat waiting for his fate to unfold in front of him.
The carriage's movement slowing down. The sound of horse neighing signaling that he had arrived at the destination. Putting on a calm mask, Xiao Song alighted the carriage and step into finance minister's mansion.