The Imperial City.
Crown Prince Taizong's coronation ceremony.
The 37th year of the Akishino Dynasty: First day of Emperor Taizong of Akishino's reign, first son of Great Emperor Sogo of Akishino.
~~~
Shufeng and Jian left the inner palace grounds, then made their way to the northwest corner tower.
At the foot of the tower, a raised voice halted them. The next moment moved very quickly with Jian springing forward, his blade slicing the guard's throat with precision.
An eunuch passing by was filled with terror at the sight of blood spurting out. He didn't expect that the second prince would be so bold as to dare to attempt the assassination of the Emperor on this day!
The palace was so heavily guarded. Did he have a death wish?
The eunuch quickly turned heel and fled, all the while screaming in a shrill.
The imperial guards immediately alerted by his screams ran over, closing in on Jian and Shufeng.
"Capture the assassin! Prince Shufeng has come to assassinate the Emperor!"
And with a loud cry, three guards rushed towards the pair.
Reluctantly, Shufeng drove his sword into one of the guard's chest, pulled it out and blood gushed all over his face.
At the same time Jian repelled a side attack. He heard the sound of the flesh ripping apart... like a wild dog tore at the meat.
The sharp edge of a sword swung from behind at the prince.
In one smooth motion, Jian grabbed his collar and pulled him away, almost tearing the fabric, and countered with his sword.
The guard blocked it. Jian counter-attacked.
Next, they jumped over his dead body and retreated.
"I told you it was madness to come here!" chided Jian as they fled towards their escape route.
More imperial guards rallied and were hot on their heels.
***
Empress Yū Miko slammed her teacup on the table. Closing her eyes, forehead resting on her palms, she took numerous deep breaths.
"Is it… one, two or three times that you failed to capture the traitors? I have lost count! Can you explain how did it happen this time?"
Her face seemed as if she could faint from anger.
The chief of the Imperial Guard wanted to find a hole to hide in it. He swept a shaky hand across his clammy forehead. With tremors in the voice he explained: "Their accomplice was waiting with horses and we were on foot… But we are still searching for them. The Second Prince seemed fatally wounded, they could not have gone too far."
She clenched the fabric of her dress within her fists. Shufeng was as slippery as an eel and so brazen!
"Let spread the message that anyone helping the Second Prince commits an act of treason. Death by a thousand cuts will be the execution of choice for those who rebel against the new Emperor…"
The Imperial Guard trembled to think that she would prescribe this method of torture, last used thirteen years ago, and frowned upon for his cruelty.
Since it was last inflicted many scholars, included the prominent scholars of the White Mountain clan, had attempted to officially abolish this method of execution.
"… And anyone giving informations of the traitor's whereabouts will be generously rewarded."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Should I inform the Emperor—"
She raised her hand to hush him.
She would tell her son once the festivities ended. She would not let Shufeng ruining her son's glorious day!
"You must report directly and only to me as soon as you have located him."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Leave!"
He kept his head bowed, the while he scurried backward to get out of the room as rapidly as possible in fear of having his head chopped off if the Empress's mood were to worsened.
Immediately after, Empress Yū Miko ordered every servant away and into the courtyard.
Alone in her bedchambers, her whole body fell limply on the ground and she bellowed out all the rage stored up in her heart.
She continued like this for several minutes.
.
.
Hidden in a cavern, the moon and the sun rose several times before Shufeng jolted awake. Drenched in sweat, bloodshot pallid eyes and his weakened body throbbed with pain; he wouldn't be able to bear further attacks.
When he opened his mouth, the dryness of his throat made it difficult for him to speak.
"Where am I?"
"Your Highness!" Li Ji's voice resonated with heavy sorrow and anxiety. "It's fortunate that you are alive."
Not only he had once more escaped from the imperial guards by the skin of his teeth; but also Emika had plunged the dagger into his chest with such ferocity that it had punctured his lung, causing him to hover near death's door for two weeks.
He had not yet fully recovered, but, regardless of the threat to his health, he had stubbornly refused to listen to her and decided to infiltrate the palace.
Li Ji examined his pulse condition, and confirmed that he needed more rounds of acupuncture for the pulse was still shallow and irregular.
He tried to sit up however he was completely unable to move his limbs as though he was paralysed.
"Your Highness, do not worry. I gave you a strong medicinal decoction to keep you in a state of deep unconsciousness. This is a temporary side effect and the numbness in your body will slowly fade away."
Li Ji further explained: "I used rounds of acupuncture to access the Yin meridians of your lungs, pericardium and heart, and released any blockages to help circulate the flow of Wei Qi energy in your body. It is your defensive Qi. I needed your mind and body to be totally at rest for the treatment to work and for your blood to regenerate."
Li Ji grabbed his waist, stretched her other hand and gently took hold of his shoulder. "Your Highness, you have been sleeping for three days. You might feel a bit lightheaded." Then Li Ji slowly helped him lifting up his long torso into a sitting position.
He flexed his eyebrows. "Three days?"
"Your chest wound relapsed and haemorrhaged. It was necessary."
Thinking of it, because he possessed a strong body constitution, she was able to use such a potent medicine to save his life. If it were anyone else, their body would have broken down under the strain of such decoction and they would have not woken up.
He swept his eyes over his clothes... they weren't his... the kind of clothes he was wearing were similar to those of... his eyes widened out and he suddenly froze, speechless.
He immediately understood why Li Ji intentionally kept on looking away.
She felt his piercing eyes drilling into her face.
"Your clothes needed to be washed and mended..." she stated, her line of sight stopping at the clothes drying off next to a small fire, "... so Jian stole these at a brothel..."
She bit her lips, suppressing a giggle.
Shufeng gently pinched her chin and lifted her face, forcing her to look at his ridiculous appearance.
"How could Jian humiliate me like this?" grumbled the prince with wrinkled eyebrows, his gaze staring at her then at the woman's clothes he was wearing.
"He didn't mean to, Your Highness," she mumbled with a cough.
"He is angry with me and is intentionally making fun of me as a kind of payback, is he not?"
She secretly gave a simpering smile, then replied with waving her hands. "Your Highness, Jian wouldn't dare. He is just ignorant about clothing."
Still pinching her chin, Shufeng leaned over closer to her face and frowned unhappily, "Do you think this is funny and that I deserve this little prank of his?"
Her eyes directly meeting his dark orbs, Li Ji shook her head uneasily. "No, Your Highness, I wouldn't dare to."
Letting go of her chin, he stared at her incredulously.
And with a straight humourless face Li Ji tied the thin ribbons fastening his collar, "I believe Jian risked his life for those new clothes."
He rolled his eyes as he reclined his back against the rocky wall.
Jian's voice suddenly echoed from behind them, "These aren't just any woman clothes, they are good quality woman's clothes!"
Shufeng clearly heard Li Ji sniggered.
Then Jian appeared in front of them, holding in one hand his sword dripping with blood, and in the other hand a beheaded pheasant.
After respectfully bowing to the prince he added: "I risked my life to get you those warm clothes." Jian choked on his words, and as a result Li Ji's laughter couldn't be contained anymore.
The prince glanced from her back to Jian. "Do you still have any respect for your prince?"
A displeased sigh escaped Shufeng's lips but those lips slowly and unwillingly curved into a smile. It flashed by so fast they could not see it. For a second, Shufeng forgot his predicament and his sense of humour resurfaced—it was actually funny except that he was at the receiving end of the joke.
The two culprits stared at each other. Feelings of guilt over what he had done washed over Jian as he stared down at the prince's pink overgarment adorned with pretty fastening ribbons.
"Your Highness," his face turned shameful as he put down his sword and the pheasant. "I was resentful and perplexed by your actions, but still I shouldn't have acted inappropriately. Just tell us," challenged Jian, settling at the side of the pelt Shufeng was sitting on. "Why endangering yours and our lives because of Emika? Why did you act so recklessly and impulsively? Do you think death is a joke?"
"Jian?" The Prince's voice came out like a grunt.
"We have suffered immensely because of her, and still she comes first. Do you consider us of less value?"
"Didn't you promise to protect me, and also to treat me as your sister, Your Highness?" Li Ji murmured like a thing that grieves.
As their words sliced trough his heart, Shufeng knew he had let his emotions for Emika ruled over him, turning him into an irrational and irresponsible person like a shadow wandering back and forth in a pitch black tunnel and unable to see his own shape.
Since he was tortured by millions unanswered questions, he needed to go to the palace to see Emika and beg her to explain the reasons for siding with his brother, for wanting to kill him, and for not loving him anymore—if she ever did love him.
Sure enough, his actions were most foolish! But—
"Have you ever been in love?"
Jian secretly glanced at Li Ji before lowering his head. Meanwhile, Li Ji looked at Shufeng blankly. Her face grew sulky.
"With love, drinking water is enough; without love, food doesn't even satisfy. Have you ever experienced this feeling? Have you?!"
Li Ji was thirty and she had not fallen in love yet. She felt this void in her heart, but it wasn't like she didn't want to love someone. She simply wasn't given the chance. How would it have been possible for her to find a soulmate since her life's purpose revolved around the Second Prince like the moon to the earth.
"So how could you possibly understand me? There were days throughout my boyhood years I would have no emotion, only an urge to sleep and never wake up; then all at once I'd be shaking with a grief that bled from my heart and my bones. Days became weeks and months then years, and in every single moment of every single day I asked myself why I must still live. My life was always in the darkness and it always rained.
"But Emika was so bright and cheerful just like the sun. Days became weeks and months then years, and in every single hour of every single day thinking of her, being with her, waiting for her, hearing her voice, feeling her touch; I wanting nothing more than to keep on breathing life."
Li Ji kneeled closer to Shufeng. A stern and sorrowful tone entered her voice as she replied: "Your Highness, the young girl you adored has grown up into a different person. The Emika in your heart is not the same one anymore. This woman plotted in having Jian murdered! She deceived you and tried to extract informations about our allies to have them all executed! She even attempted to kill you!"
The woman's face suddenly became reckless, tears began to spill from her eyes. "What more proofs do you need that this thing you call love is but an obsession that reduces you to madness and digs you a grave? This kind of love is not love."
Shufeng stuttered something inaudible. Li Ji could feel his eyes set on her. She breathed out, deciding it was best to be honest.
"Emika wants nothing to do with you, but still your devotion to her doesn't waver. She wasn't coerced into betraying us—all of her actions were of her own volition and for her own interests. She doesn't love you. She never did! Can't you understand that? Why can't you forget this demoness who caused the deaths of our loved ones? She only deserves to die horribly!"
The words had tumbled out of her in a full spate—her blood boiled with rage and her eyes stung with tears every time she thought of that demoness!
"We can't always think of ourselves in this world. Your Highness must keep his head sharp. You need to be unshaken by your selfish needs, dreams or expectations." Jian's tone was reticent, nonetheless dry.
But it seemed, however, that this was the wrong thing to say.
A quick look of sort flashed across Shufeng's face. His expression suddenly became forbidding and his voice now bore a most hostile tone. "Whatever happened regarding that woman is a matter concerning nobody else but me. I will deal with it."
"His Highness is trying to deceive himself by risking everything for a woman that doesn't want him." Emphasised Jian with vehemence. "Now is not the time to focus on romantic follies. We need you alive."
"My Prince, our opinion isn't prominent in any of your decisions of late. Did we become unimportant to you somehow?" asked Li Ji with a complete absence of warmth in her voice. "Because that seemed to be the reason you exhausted your ability to empathise with us, acting like someone who seek only its own advantage."
Shufeng tilted his head, looking offended. Their blunt effrontery was too much to take. Certain subjects, certain pains—especially those that belonged to a spurned lover and an orphan condemned to death—were better left untouched.
With difficulty Shufeng inhaled then suddenly yelled at them, surprised that he was even able to do so despite the heavy pain that was pushing down on his wounded lung.
"Quiet! The both of you! Enough!"
Shufeng had pushed Li Ji away from him, but unintentionally capable of using too much force. The exhausted woman lost her balance and she fell down sideways onto the dusty ground. She stared at him looking tremendously shocked, and Shufeng felt as if he could almost hear her heart crying out with despair.
Shufeng fell quiet for a moment, his eyes sweeping over the two of them before they rove around the cave with a trembling frown. He had never felt such shame and self-loathing: What kind of selfish monster have I become in the name of one woman?