The Story Of Dusk

Qianru contemplated Jinse"s word. "If the present is for Jun, why I am the one who have to receive it?" Qianru really didn"t understand what the Emperor wanted this time. "The war even not started yet."

"Probably… this as encourage for Prince Xiao Jun?" Jinse tried to make a guess.

Qianru tilted her head and looked at her young maidservant, Jinse was really innocent. Encouragement would be the last thing that the Emperor would give to Xiao Jun, if anything Qianru doubted the Emperor really wanted to see Xiao Jun comeback alive.

Ignoring Jinse"s random guess, Qianru get off from the bed and walked toward the bathroom.

In azura, she couldn"t turn down the invitation from the Empress moreover if the invitation came from the Emperor, she didn"t have another choice except to enter the palace.

The last place that she wanted to visit.

Qianru didn"t really understand why the palace people were so eager to bother her, she didn"t involve herself in the political neither she helped Xiao Jun with anything. But, the Emperor and the Empress, seemingly, didn"t like to let her off easily.

Xiao Jun had gone for more than two months, in fact, sometime she still missed him. The old habit really died hard.

Being with him and thought about him had became a habit for her and this kind of habit needed to get rid real soon, but Qianru didn"t know what she should do.

It was easier to ignore him when he was around, but the moment he wasn"t there, she thought about him, often.

So stupid and Qianru cursed herself for doing so.

However, she wasn"t so desperate until she wrote something to him neither she let Jinse to do so. She didn"t want to stay at the same spot as now she had stood her ground.

Before the appointed time, Qianru had arrived at the palace along with Jinse, Liu Wei and the other five guards on their horses.

Liu Wei insisted to bring those guards every time they went out of the mansion as per Xiao Jun"s instruction and Qianru wasn"t in the mood to argue about it, so she let him did whatever it was.

Qianru"s carriage was stopped at the entrance gate and after the guards saw her and recognized her ident.i.ty, they let her in.

The palace was somehow familiar and unfamiliar place for Qianru as she had spent almost all her childhood inside the palace to play with Xiao Jun and Xiao Tianyao, she had also met Xiao Zi for a few times when he had not yet become the Emperor.

Qianru knew every corners of this place especially the Crown Prince"s courtyard, where Xiao Jun had lived for years there before they dethroned him.

Those were bittersweet memories and with that, Xiao Jun"s face flew from the back of her head as if she was looking at the younger version of Xiao Jun when she walked through the corridor.

There was a yard with big pond, where the three of them always spent their time together, playing and fighting.

Qianru smiled when the memories of her childhood played before her eyes. Such a peaceful day that they had…

"Princess Xiao? Is there something funny?" Jinse asked, she was looking toward Qianru"s line of sight and only saw a pond, but there was nothing unusual with that.

"Nothing." Qianru shook her head and regained her composure as she continued to walk.

When they arrived at the dining room, there was only the Emperor there with his guard and beautiful servants who served him.

Many delicious food and delicacies were available on the big round table.

"Your majesty." Qianru greeted the Emperor with Jinse followed suit behind her.

Xiao Zi gave her a bright smile that made Qianru felt sick to look at it.

"Sit." He said curtly.

This was their first time met with each other after such a long time, because when Qianru entered the palace because of the Empress"s invitation, they didn"t meet even once.

Qianru sat down on the chair crossed the Emperor"s seat while Jinse was standing behind her, the young maidservant also curious about what kind of present that the Emperor wanted to give to her mistress.

From the way Qianru reacted about it, Jinse knew it wouldn"t be something good.

"It must be hard on you to live in the Rockstone Kingdom. You make me worry when I heard Jun had brought you along with him." Xiao Zi tried to engage her with trivial matter.

Qianru was trying hard to not scoff in front of his face because of his hypocrite concern. "The Emperor is so kind, Qianru is fine because Prince Xiao Jun protected me well." She said in lovely tone while lowering her eyes.

Xiao Zi nodded his head in satisfaction. "Good, good if you are alright." He gestured to all the guards and the servants to leave.

Seeing that silent order, all of them went away, leaving the dining room one by one. There was only Jinse, who was standing behind Qianru, seemingly didn"t want to leave her mistress.

"You can ask your maidservant to leave as well." Xiao Zi poured some wine into her cup while nodding at Jinse.

"Jinse, you can leave." Qianru knew there was no point to go against him. At the very least he wouldn"t do something so reckless toward her though Xiao Jun wasn"t there, she was still his wife and a daughter of one of the most influences minister in the palace.

Jinse looked at Qianru hesitantly before she bent her knees and left the dining room slowly.

"You have such a loyal maidservant, I guess she is afraid to leave you alone with me." Xiao Zi gestured for Qianru to take the wine as he gulped down his own. "I have known you for long time, you almost like a niece for me as I don"t have one. I am happy for your union with Jun, after all, you have known him since you were little."

Qianru gave Xiao Zi her best smile as she drunk the wine in one gulp. "Qianru is glad to hear that." She replied with courtesy.

"But, I am sad when I heard about your miscarriage." Xiao Zi glanced at Qianru"s reaction after she heard his words.

Qianru almost lost her grip on the gla.s.s that she was holding, her shock expression would be something that Xiao Zi had expected and Qianru was too late to hide it.

"So, it is true…" Xiao Zi dragged his words and stared at Qianru. "You must be wonder how I know about that information."

Qianru didn"t reply to his statement as she leaned her back against the chair and locked their eyes. Xiao Zi was hard to predict ever since the first time they both met years ago.

"Not only that, I heard it will be hard for you to give Xiao Jun an heir." Xiao Zi paused as he gauged Qianru"s expression. "If that is the case, you are no longer suitable for the position of Jun"s wife." He said that lightly.

"Not suitable?" Qianru raised her eyes incredulously. "What your majesty mean by not suitable?" She asked in mocking tone.

"Pardon my bluntness." Xiao Zi said while smiling, there was no trace that he was regretting whatever he wanted to say later and Qianru only could pretend that wasn"t mean anything for her. "I always think about you as my own niece, as I have also seen how much you have grown in this palace."

Xiao Jun continued his meaningless words about how much he treasured both Xiao Jun and Qianru and how he regretted that Qianru couldn"t give Xiao Jun an heir.

Qianru was listening to all of that garbage like words for more than ten minutes with calm expression that Xiao Zi started to realize.

Initially, he thought Qianru would cry or lost her composure, if that was the case, he would love to torture her feeling even further as Xiao Jun was so hard to be controlled.

However, it turned out Qianru didn"t even flinch or bat her eyes when his conversation had reached the true intention of this invitation.

"… in that case, as his Imperial uncle, it will be so unfortunate for Xiao Jun if he couldn"t continue his bloodline…" Xiao Zi said wisely as his eyes never left Qianru"s face.

From the beginning of the conversation, the moment Xiao Zi had mentioned about her miscarriage and her inability to conceive again, Qianru had guessed where this conversation would be ended and Xiao Zi really didn"t disappoint her.

"I would like to introduce you to someone…" Xiao Zi gave Qianru a bright smile as if he bestowed a crown of the Empress to her and he expected Qianru would be as excited as he was. "Bai Yuyan." He said a woman name delightfully.

Because she was being called, of course a beautiful woman in her blue dress walked elegantly inside the dining room and bent her knees to greet Xiao Zi and Qianru.

Qianru sneered upon seeing the innocent smile on the woman named Bai Yuyan"s lips. She didn"t know that her luck was actually so good.

She just said to Xiao Jun that he could take a concubine, but actually the Emperor himself who bestowed a woman for him. Such a lucky coincidence.

Even now, Qianru still amazed by the information that The Emperor had received about her miscarriage and her inability to conceive.

What a good spy that the Emperor have… Qianru thought.

If she was people from out of the palace, probably she wouldn"t believe that such a secret could be slipped to the Emperor"s ears, but she had been living in the palace for such a long time, so something like that was very possible to happen.

"Bai Yuyan is the long relatives of the Empress…" Xiao Zi introduced the woman in blue dress while looking at her beauty intensely. "She is younger than you so I hope both of you can get along well."

Bai Yuyan looked at Qianru and smiled sheepishly at her. "Sister I hope you can guide me in the future."

Guide you? Guide you where? To my husband"s bed? Qianru thought agitatedly. She had not said a word and this woman had called her sister? From where that affectionate name came from?

"Pardon Qianru"s stupidity your majesty." Qianru looked at Xiao Zi with warm smile as if Bai Yuyand didn"t say anything earlier. "But, Qianru still doesn"t understand with Your Majesty"s intention. Qianru had been invited to receive a present on behalf of my husband, Prince Xiao Jun, but why suddenly I have a sister that I have never seen before?"

Qianru choice of words sounded casual, but for Xiao Zi he could hear the complain in her sentences. Qianru didn"t like Bai Yuyan called her a sister.

"Because both of you will be sister in the future." But, that was what Xiao Zi had been waiting for. "With this, I bestow Bai Yuyan as Xiao Jun"s concubine to continue the bloodline of Xiao"s family."

Qianru raised her eyebrows, she didn"t know whether she had to laugh or cry.

It would be fine if Bai Yuyan was a woman, who Xiao Jun chose for himself and he was really in love with her, but the fact, Bai Yuyan was a woman from Xiao Zi"s side.

Not to mention a person, even if Xiao Zi was given a merely stone by the Emperor, he would be suspicious. And now, the Emperor ignorantly bestowed his cousin a concubine? Qianru really wanted to see how Xiao Jun"s reaction when he knew that he would have someone been waiting for him.

Qianru really wanted to write a letter to Xiao Jun and waited for his reaction.

It would be fun….

"Your majesty, if Prince Xiao Jun takes a concubine, isn"t that mean he broke the law of our Country, which not allowed a status of concubine for any woman?" Qianru was sipping her wine gracefully.

"I am the Emperor of this country, so I am the law." Xiao Zi said arrogantly. "Before, every young woman who will enter the Imperial family would be checked, so we could prevent something like this. But, because Xiao Jun was insisted to not follow the rule, this unfortunate thing happened."

Yes, before Qianru married with Xiao Jun, she should have gone through body check up, from her healthiness to her fertility.

But, if she had done so, people would know she had lost her virginity before the married and it would put her into ashamed, that was why Xiao Jun insisted to not do that to her.

Xiao Jun"s decision at that time made quite uproar around the palace people, but he didn"t budge. Qianru was really grateful to him for doing that…

Now, she missed him…. a little.

"Qianru understand." She agreed to make the conversation short and Xiao Zi couldn"t disadvantage her further. "Now, what your majesty want Qianru do?"

"I want you to bring Yuyan back with you and teach her to be a good housewife, so when Xiao Jun returned from war I could throw a wedding ceremony as celebration." Xiao Zi was really confidence that Azura would win the war.

"Qianru understand." Qianru lowered her head to hide her burning eyes. This woman would up to no good.

She thought by living in the mansion by her own she could find some peace, but now there would be another task that she needed to do and she hoped this Bai Yuyan wouldn"t give her unnecessary headache.

With the matter that she would marry into Xiao"s mansion or not, that was up to Xiao Jun, moreover, Qianru had said that she didn"t want to care anything about him again, right?

"Thank you sister." Bai Yuyan replied with small smiled that Qianru reciprocated casually.

The rest of the conversation was about Bai Yuyan and her education background along with her honorable family, actually Qianru"s family wasn"t in lower status than her, but because she was coming from the Empress"s inner family, it boosted her status as well.

The foods was so delicious, but seemingly it was only the Emperor and Bai Yuyan who could enjoy them, while Qianru had lost her appet.i.te.

She cursed Xiao Zi because he had brought up the issue before they were eating, because now she couldn"t enjoy it even a bit.

After a few more conversation and another dessert, finally Xiao Zi allowed Qianru to return with Bai Yuyan.

She would live in the Xiao"s mansion started from now.

What a bothersome.

The moment Qianru walked out of the dining room, Jinse immediately approached her with her worried face, but she couldn"t ask anything when she saw there was someone else near them.

Her big round"s eyes were looking at Bai Yuyan suspiciously and the knitted on her brows deepened when Bai Yuyan followed them to the yard where their carriage had been waiting for them, with Liu Wei was standing while holding the carriage door for Qianru.

The expression on Liu Wei"s face was not better than Jinse, he raised his brows toward Jinse, asked her silently about the woman beside their mistress, but Jinse shook her head slowly as she also didn"t know who she was.

During the short walked from the dining room to the yard, Bai Yuyan"s didn"t avert her eyes from Qianru"s feature, this woman was indeed a beauty. It was a regretful thing that she couldn"t bear a child.

"You can get in first." Qianru gestured to Bai Yuyan so she could get inside the carriage before her.

"Princess Xiao, she is…" Liu Wei was hesitated to let her in, he had never seen this woman around the palace before.

"This is Miss Bai Yuyan. She is bestowed by the Emperor to be Prince Xiao Jun"s concubine." Qianru explained it succinctly.

However, her words didn"t fail to surprise Jinse, Liu Wei and the other guards who were there, they tilted their head abruptly to look at the woman beside Qianru.

It was human nature to compare each other, so they also did the same. Bai Yuyan was indeed beautiful, but Qianru"s beauty was something that couldn"t be compared to her.

If Bai Yuyan was a star in the night sky, then Qianru was the whole vast sky, such beauty wasn"t something that one could find easily.

Bai Yuyan looked younger, but Qianru was a graceful and mature woman.

"Sister can get in first…" Bai Yuyan said while smiling, however that kind of smile didn"t reach her eyes.

Qianru sighed and didn"t want to bother with this trivial matter as she walked forward and was about to get in the carriage when she felt her dressed was being stepped in.

Qianru was surprised as she had raised her leg to step on the stair, the next thing that happened was, she lost her balance.

If it wasn"t for Liu Wei quick response, Qianru would have fall on the ground with dirt. However, Liu Wei reacted in time and held her arms to steady her.

"Princess Xiao are you alright?" Liu Wei asked while holding her arm.

"My lady!" Jinse screeched and ran forward. "Are you hurt?" She took Qianru"s arms from Liu Wei and checked on her.

"Sister, I am sorry, I didn"t know that I had stepped on your dress… I am really sorry." From the side, Bai Yuyan also joined the commotion.

Qianru looked back at her dress and saw the edge of her dress was printed with dirt, because of Bai Yuyan"s shoes and then she raised her head and looked at the woman.

"I am alright." Qianru smiled brightly at her.

"I am glad that sister is alright." Bai Yuyan also smiled back at her.

Though she was apologizing, but Qianru knew it better to believe this woman. This kind of person was someone that she resented the most.