Chapter 533
Xie Xuanchen set off with the army. After they left, Youzhou seemed to suddenly become much quieter. Xie Changan was already 4 years old, which was the most troublesome time for kids. After his father left, no one could teach him how to use the sword and he didn’t dare to touch his mother for fear of accidentally hurting her. Since he was bored, the child insisted on pestering Mu Mingtang to tell him stories.
Mu Mingtang was troubled by her overly energetic son, but Xie Xuanchen always felt that Xie Changan was well-behaved and obedient. Compared to his father when he was a child, this one was practically a harmless baby. Now that Xie Xuanchen was gone, no one could control the young Prince. Only in front of Mu Mingtang could Xie Changan remain calm for a moment.
Mu Mingtang couldn’t resist saying no to her son, so she could only tell him stories as he wished, “Today, I will tell you the story of the stars.”
When Xie Changan heard the word ‘stars’, he immediately lost interest, “The stars don’t move, so what’s the use of listening to them?”
“Why would it be useless?” Mu Mingtang tapped her son’s forehead reproachfully, holding him and looking up at the sky, “Do you remember the first sentence of the Thousand-Character Essay? The skies are a dark cyan and the earth is yellow-greyed while the universe reels in a state of boundless chaos. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west while the moon, ever so round, is missing. With that, the stars in the sky orderly filled out the boundless heavens.”
Mu Mingtang said, pointing to the brightest star in the sky, “Have you seen the brightest star, the North Star? Now your father is also under this star. When you look at the stars, you will see your father.”
Xie Changan seemed to understand, “Then if I speak to the stars, can my father hear me?”
Mu Mingtang nodded and hugged her son tightly, “Yes. Why don’t you try talking to him?”
When Mu Mingtang pointed out the stars to his son, thousands of miles away in the Lin An Palace, the pale stars shone through the door and windows. There were no lights inside, almost like it was a land of ghosts and shadows.
A palace servant stumbled in and yelled, “Your Royal Highness, King Qiyang has crossed the river!”
Jiang Mingwei’s palace was in a mess and there was not an Empress-like stature to be seen. She fell down among a pile of curtains. When she heard the palace servant’s words, she slowly raised her head, “He has already crossed the river?”
“That’s right! Your Royal Highness, His Majesty has escaped from the palace with the n.o.ble Consorts. Your Royal Highness should run away too!”
Jiang Mingwei was stunned when she heard this before she laughed, “He ran away. I was still able to stay in the palace, but he had already run away with Wan Yanduo…”
Jiang Mingwei smiled and shed tears. Her life was so sad— no one favoured her in her life and her husband was merely amorous. On the eve of the city’s fall, her husband abandoned her and ran away with his beloved consort.
The man who led the troops to attack the city was the boy she had admired when she was younger.
Jiang Mingwei stood up staggeringly. She stood at the window and saw that the stars outside were dim, except for the North Star, which was bright and compelling.
“Thank you, Xuanchen,” Jiang Mingwei said the name slowly and suddenly smiled bitterly, “Xiao Siyi called out Mu Mingtang’s name before he died. I didn’t expect the same thing to happen to me on my deathbed. Let’s never meet again.”
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