"Your Highness, it is an insult to turn down a royal gift, thank you." She bowed her head. "However, you will not frighten me out of my resolution to stay. Where you go, I shall follow."
Still reliving in her mind the atrocious story about the rebellious maids, her furiously beating heart managed nonetheless to gradually calm down. Although her face was still pale, there was no longer any signs of fright in her demilune eyes. Just strong determination and revitalised courage.
Her loyal love for her master far surpassed her fear of death.
"Your Highness, I am now an orphan and you are my only family." She turned towards Jian tugging at his sleeve, "And you too, you are to me as close as a brother. How can I also leave you?"
Her doe-eyes glistening heavily with unshed tears pleaded with them. Her eyes were elongated like half moons and framed by long eyelashes brushing her cheeks every time she blinked back a teardrop.
Their colour reminded Shufeng of autumn and the roasted chestnuts dipped in sweet syrup. And he saw a flurry of images swirling within those eyes—the beautiful moments with his mother peeling the chestnuts and feeding him their sweet tender flesh, a young Li Ji stealing the uneaten ones, Jian sweeping the paulownia leaves in the courtyard—and his wistful heart yearned for the happiness of his childhood.
Then the images faded away, and his frustration was building up as she spoke. How could I protect Li Ji, he thundered, hidden in this rocky crevice and as weak and defenceless as a wounded rabbit?
"Your Highness, you are the rightful heir to the throne, and I know I am a mere maidservant, but I will support you come what may. You will take back what is yours and divulge the truth!" she paused with sadness. "Furthermore, I made a vow to your mother that I would devote my life to care for you."
"The last time we had this discussion I thought that I had made myself sufficiently clear." He frowned, rolling his eyes at himself. "An Imperial decree should not bind you to me."
"It never was just a royal order. It was a solemn promise made to the woman who always treated me like a daughter. I will be forever grateful for I had feelings of motherly love. When Consort Soyong passed away, I have grieved her like I imagined I would grieve my own mother had she not died giving birth to me. Since I had made a promise to her, I intend to keep it, regardless of the outcome.
"Also, it was my wish to care for my childhood friend. I never knew my mother so I cannot feel the same pain you feel. But this hole in my heart of not knowing my mother's love hurt nonetheless. And the closest to understanding your pain was to experience the death of your mother. Hence, how could I abandon the little boy with a dark and cold and lonely heart? My Prince, when you search the sky, can you find its beginning and its end? Such is my devotion to you."
In this moment, his heart was deeply moved as Shufeng listened to this thin and stubborn girl speaking very earnestly. And Li Ji knew it by the way he looked at her with those eyes. The irises glistening as the soft wash of the Milky Way.
He was at a loss for words. He only knew that there was indeed absolute loyalty in this world. Li Ji was a woman of indomitable spirit. Delicate yet hardy enough to face adversities, just like the plum tree defying the cold and the snow to burst into a riot of blossoms in winter.
Shufeng reached forward and the hand swallowing up her bony shoulder felt uneasy, afraid to hurt her by his touch. How could he have not noticed how frail she had become?
Food was scarce but Jian hunting skills allowed them to eat at least once a day. They had lost some weight, even so she seemed to be the most hunger stricken.
The plump cheeks had turned to angular cheekbones, and the dainty fingers into a skeleton hand. 'Could it be...' His heart was in shock and his eyes watered. 'Could it be that she had been starving herself to feed him her share of food?'
Li Ji continued: "Your Highness, I have faith that you will save us and render us justice."
'But you might die of starvation before I save you…' At that, he firmly made up his mind to send her away.
Once she saw the struggle spiking in his eyes, she immediately guessed that his decision had not changed.
"You can't force me to leave. Are you going to bind my arms and legs and drag me to that island, Your Highness?"
Next, Jian who had just finished wiping the blood off his sword, pointed the extremity of the blade in her direction.
Her gaze locked with the sharp blade. "You wouldn't dare taking me by force?!"
Jian lunged forward, slicing the air with an horizontal cut and shrugged.
She frowned at him and twitched her nose.
All of a sudden, Shufeng felt like his chest was clawed with prongs. He bit his bottom lip in an attempt to tame the pain. Also, the sword wound across his shoulder started to bleed again after Emika dug her merciless fingers deep into his flesh.
Jian and Li Ji immediately went to his help. While Li Ji covered him with the blanket, Jian had brought water to his cracked lips.
Li Ji quietly whispered to Jian: "The numbing medicine seems to have worn off."
Shufeng rose his hand slowly and gave her a reassuring pat on the arm. "The pain is slight."
She peered at the expression on his face, assessing him in silence—liar.
She obviously could not abandon him now! It was bold and shameful, but she could use his poor health to her advantage.
"You are alive because of my healing skills. If you send me away, you will certainly die."
Jian's hand drew to a jerky halt, spilling the water he was feeding to Shufeng. He spun around in alarm only to come face-to-face with Li Ji. She swivelled her eyes round, those eyes shouting at him it was a fib.
When Shufeng's gaze set upon her the way it did, it was quite clear that she had been seen through. "Was that another bad joke?"
She let out a faint laugh as she looked away. The guilty expression lighted up on her face was similar to one of a child caught red-handed stealing biscuits.
"But the part about my healing skills saving your life is true," she said in a low whisper.
"And I will be eternally indebted to you. In fact, I promise you that when I claim the throne, my first decree as the Emperor will be to grant you, Li Ji Tao, everything that you ever wanted."
His words made her look back at his face. "What I want, you can give it to me now. It is to stay by your side. I too, have the right to fight and bring to justice those who framed and killed my family. I will make all of them experience the suffering of my vengeance!
"I did not, survive the massacre at the palace, escape from prison, cheat death at the Chunyan River and evade capture in the city; to run away now!"
The two men were dismayed and strongly disagreeing with her decision. Nevertheless, her stubbornness was as strong as an ox and they could not fight it. A suffocating unease might be twisting their heart, however their eyes glowed brightly in admiration in front of such bravery.
Jian sheathed his sword back into his scabbard then winked at her. In unison they bowed and made an oath to their Prince:
"Where you go, we shall follow."
Shufeng smiled but his heart did not seem to be rejoicing for the smile did not reach his eyes. He stared at the two innocents souls bound to him by the chains of impressive loyalty and he anguished that he couldn't break those chains.
Both their family were among the ones who had died wrongly for being unwittingly involved in the Imperial House's power struggle. How could he protect them from facing a similar fate while being this weak and defenseles? It killed Shufeng to sit on the side and watch.
'How much more blood must I douse myself with in order to claim the throne?' He thought about the infamous massacre at the palace which he had been powerless to prevent. In his sleep, the faceless ghosts of the dead came to haunt him. 'How much more blood... the blood of my companions?... I can't even fathom... How to go on from here?'
"Jian, how long will it take to reach the camp?" Inquired Shufeng.
"About a three day-trek. But with your injuries… probably about five." Jian regretted to have freed the horses, but they would have drawn undue attention to them.
Shufeng massaged his temples and closed his eyes for a moment. This damn headache!
"Your Highness, you are not quite fit to go to Yunyang mountains." Objected Li Ji. She turned to Jian, "He needs more time to heal and I also need to get more medicinal herbs."
Li Ji's eyes bore tragically the hopelessness of their situation. With such an amount of blood loss and over a rough terrain, even if the prince was highly athletic and of a strong constitution, he would faint numerous times. And without medicinal remedies, it would really be an enduring feat that might cause irreparable damages to his health. There was no other choice but to--
Shufeng shook his head. "It is too dangerous to chance another trip to the town of Tianji." He kept on massaging his temples and black dots swam within his eyeballs.
Jian scratched the nape of his neck. "It is true that on my way back I saw more soldiers being dispatched."
"But it was two days ago," insisted Li Ji. "Perhaps they have moved on to another town?"
"Or they are still searching the area," said Shufeng. "Besides, do you even know if they have what you are looking for?"
"Yes, we do!" cried immediately Li Ji as she got on her feet. "When Jian got us clothing and blankets, he noticed an apothecary shop. Right, Jian?"
Jian nodded. "My footfalls are as light as a feather and with the night as camouflage I can make another trip to Tianji."
Shufeng closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Still, this is a gamble. You cannot take the risk."
"Why?" Li Ji shouted, looking at Shufeng as though he'd lost his mind.
"I said no."
"But we can do it!"
"Do as I say," Shufeng commanded.
Then Jian said in a low voice. "Your Highness, your safety is always my priority, just as your health is always Li Ji's priority."
"Jian, I know you are capable," answered back Shufeng. "But I cannot allow you to taunt Fate into going to the same town a second time."
"But Your Highness does not believe in Fate," Li Ji completed the remark with a heavy sigh.
"Li Ji Tao! If anything happens to Jian, it will be the end for us. I am not strong enough to protect us, to protect YOU. I cannot put Jian in danger." Shufeng angrily clutched the hilt of his sword, looking away from them.
Jian stepped closer. "Your Highness, what if I scout round the area first. I should be back by tomorrow morning with a report. We'll know then if it is safe or not to go back."
Shufeng was still looking unconvinced in his silence. But Jian, taking it he had agreed to his plan, asked Li Ji: "How can I recognise the medicinal herbs you need?"
Shufeng said nothing but kept staring at them. He looked calm yet decidedly displeased.
She twiddled her fingers and spoke through her teeth. "You can't, it takes years of experience. I need to go with you."
Finally, looking sternly at both Li Ji and Jian and with a tone that required no further discussion, Shufeng commanded: "Li Ji, you will have to do your best until we reach the camp. Nobody leaves!"
"Is it a request from my friend or an order from the Prince?" asked Jian.
"It is the Prince's order!" He paused. "Frankly, we cannot risk losing you. Not while my body is weak and I am sitting on the side."
Taizong's successful campaign into vilifying the Second Prince—a narrative of murder and frame up, treason and patricide—and making General Yun Hishoku a martyr, had gained him the full support of the three armies.
It was only natural that many of Prince Shufeng's followers would switch alliances to save their family from execution.
The populace who was mourning both the Great Emperor Akishino, and their hero, General Yun Hishoku, was burning with hatred and vengefulness towards the second prince.
They wanted his head on a spear!
The search for the prince had spread from the Imperial Capital to all the cities and villages of the Empire.
And the threat of death by a thousand cuts was a powerful way to turn the last remnant of the Second prince's allies into Emperor Taizong's supporters.
There was nowhere to hide an not one soul brave enough to help.
Their only hope was the rebels in Yunyang Mountains. "Uncle's men are few in numbers but they will support you," asserted Jian. "I have sent my messenger owl to their camp and I am awaiting words."
"Very well." As soon the words were uttered than his tongue felt suddenly heavy, along with his limbs. A throbbing pain pierced right through his burnt chest. He coughed and a red line of blood was running down from the corner of his mouth.
"Shufeng!" Li Ji gasped.
Second Prince's eyes landed on a terrified Li Ji. It was the last image he saw before his vision started to blur and turned into a black void.
He felt his consciousness falling into the abyss, once more.