Chapter 7
Princess
“My lady, you have to endure so much in here. Xue Wu’s heart aches for you.” Xue Wu can’t help but said as she help fix Xia Hou Shang Yue’s clothes. Her mistress was the precious princess of Mu Kingdom. The Mu Kingdom’s Emperor and Empress treats her with so much love that it was odd she becomes the kind person she is today instead of a proud, arrogant princess. She has good reputations in both the royal family and the common people.
Xia Hou Shang Yue is sitting on the edge of her bed, observing Xue Wu’s busy figure. She did not reprimand Xue Wu for what she said, she just sat there with gloom in her face, opening her mouth only after a long time.
“Xue Wu, you must know, I must never commit any mistake here. If I did any mistake, it will be used as an excuse for Mu Kingdom and Yue Kingdom to go to war. I cannot stand by the sideline, watching the people of both countries going to war, let alone watch imperial father and imperial mother suffer from harm.”
When she said those words, her eyes carry some sort of affirmation, there isn’t any hesitation. In Xia Hou Shang Yue’s heart, her family and the people she loves are more important than anything. She would never let her loved ones fall into any sort of harm.
“But mistress must also think about herself! The emperor already took Yan Ruyu as a consort, who knows, he probably will take more in a couple more days. I really don’t understand why mistress told the empress dowager that the emperor already consulted you. Even said so many good things about the emperor in front of her. Are other people’s happiness more important than yours?”
Happiness? Xia Hou Shang Yue bitterly smiles. She never expected happiness after marrying into Yue Kingdom, much less expects Bai Yu Chen to be the one to give her one.
Just, after she married into Yue Kingdom, all the wars has been ceased. Imperial Father is healthy and safe, the common people can work and live in peace. Since that is the case, she can endure all sorts of grievance.
“Xue Wu, the word ‘happiness’ does not exist in the imperial family.”
That particular word contributed to a lot of grievance in Xia Hou Shang Yue’s heart. Outsiders see her as the beloved princess of Mu Kingdom, they were right, she indeed received exceptional amount of love, but she also received exceptional amount of desolateness. That was how she learned to survive in the imperial palace.
This 16 years, the outer glory could not make up to the emptiness she feels inside. Her head and heart are always filled with how to survive in the palace, she never had the chance to live properly.
Moreover, she had been given responsibilities and missions from her imperial father. She is Mu Kingdom’s Princess Yue Feng, she must always think on the behalf of her kingdom’s common people. And for that, she would have to sacrifice her own happiness.
“My lady, King Jin…..”
“Xue Wu, I am tired. You should also rest early.” Xia Hou Shang Yue cuts Xue Wu’s sentence with a simple smile. Xue Wu sighs, before helplessly retreating and leaves the room.
“Gong Sun Jin….”
As she lay on the bed, she looks at the red bed-curtain and softly mumbles that name. She laughs bitterly. She close her eyes and try to get rid of any thoughts regarding Gong Sun Jin. Even though she can’t sleep, she forces herself to.
The next day, Xia Hou Shang Yue has just come back from Ci Ning Palace when she spots a young lady in purple dress sitting in Feng Qi Palace’s hall. She appears to be around 15-16 years old. She looks gorgeous, but her expression did not look too happy.
“So you are the Mu Kingdom’s princess?”
The girl’s voice did not seems pleased. Xia Hou Shang Yue calmly nods her head. She merely sits on the side-seat while ordering Xue Wu to bring two cups of tea.
“You should be Princess Xun Ran. Drink some tea.”
Bai Yu Chen has an extremely loved younger sister, Yue Kingdom’s Princess Xun Ran, Bai Chu Xun. Xia Hou Shang Yue can guess she was Princess Xun Ran from the way she dresses and the air she possesses.
“Hmph, at least you have eyes!” Her tone was proud, in this entire Yue Kingdom, everybody knows her imperial brother loves her the most. Bai Chu Xun eyes Xia Hou Shang Yue haughtily. She is beautiful, but other than that, she is nothing special. Bai Chu Xun really does not know what went through her imperial grandmother’s mind when she made imperial brother marry Mu Kingdom’s Princess Yue Feng and made her the empress.
“Princess is joking. Even though I am slow-witted, I could still tell princess’ position. Who doesn’t know that Princess Xun Ran is the only one in the back palace who receives this amount of doting.”
Xia Hou Shang Yue’s words are foolproof. Bai Chu Xun plans to be sarcastic but upon one look on Xia Hou Shang Yue’s light smile, the words could not get out of her mouth.
Looking at a beauty who has such a stunning smile, no person can speak evil words. Moreover, she is just a princess. She has no right to get sarcastic with the empress of Yue Kingdom.
“The empress is joking. In this back palace, if we were to speak about favor, it must be about the empress’ favor. I am just a princess, sooner or later, I will have to leave the back palace.”
As she said these sentences, Bai Chu Xun’s heart turns bitter. It’s the truth, she is just a princess. This woman in front of him is her imperial brother’s empress. There is also that newly appointed n.o.ble Consort Yu. In the back palace of the Yue Kingdom, she is just a princess whom, sooner or later will leave the imperial palace for marriage arrangement.
As she think about that, a cold smile forms on Bai Chu Xun’s face. She looks at Xia Hou Shang Yue for a while, silently. This woman is not favored.
Even though she has a high position, the one her imperial brother loves is Yan Ruyu. She is just like herself, a woman whose life was determined by fate.
But she hates women whose fate are similar to hers!
“I wonder why princess comes to my palace today?”
Xia Hou Shang Yue can see hostility in Bai Chu Xun’s eyes. She has no idea what she did to warrant that. One is the empress and the other is a princess, they have nothing to do with each other at all. Then why does Bai Chu Xun possess such resentment?
She pretend to see nothing, simply sipping her tea. Perhaps she thinks too much. Ever since she entered the back palace, other than the empress dowager who treats her sincerely, everybody else are respectful in front while gossiping about her behind her back.
“I wasn’t around during imperial brother’s wedding day. Now that I came back, I want to give imperial sister-in-law my greeting, don’t tell me imperial sister-in-law does not welcome me?” Bai Chu Xun gives her a delighted and sincere smile.
“Princess is too serious, how can I not welcome princess? There’s no need for formality and greetings, if princess does not mind, coming over here to chat is enough for me.” Xia Hou Shang Yue softly says, she does not need greetings and compliments. She only needs a person she can speak with. If Bai Chu Xun does not possess any ill-intention to her, Xia Hou Shang Yue thinks Bai Chu Xun who can give such an unrestrained smile could be her friend in the future.
“Really? Then imperial sister-in-law should stop calling me princess, calling me Chu Xun will do!”