【9】
I sighed. I should just not bother Prince Wumin’s rest. I turned around and left the lodge. Right when I left the lodge, I just happened to see the Grand Adviser come over. Seeing that I had just come out from Prince Wumin’s lodge, he stared blankly, and then asked: “How is Princess Changyi’s condition?”
“She’s currently resting, it’s nothing serious.” I said.
The Grand Adviser nodded: “Your Majesty, you have to prepare for the late Emperor’s funeral and your ascension to the throne.”
“Oh….” I thought about the chattering princesses and had an awful headache. As I followed the Grand Adviser there, I steadied my face and pretended to be depressed. Prince Wumin’s temper is weird anyway, so if they see that I don’t look so good, they wouldn’t dare to bother me.
Of course, there was always an exception.
Before I even had time to react, a person flew in front of me, seized my shoulders, and violently shook me: “Big Brother Qing! How could you do this?! Why did you kill my father, why?!”
I was rocked into my head spun, and knew that the girl in front of me who was shouting herself hoa.r.s.e was Princess Shengan. Her tears danced, and her face was like a steam bun that had been stepped on for who knows how many times, which then was thrown in the water, and soaked for a very long time. Her hands grabbed onto me with a strange strength, and didn’t let me go.
I stuttered: “Shengan, calm down, calm down…”
Princess Shengan held on even tighter while bawling: “How do you expect me to be calm?! Why did you let that woman kill my father?!”
My headache became even more fierce. Even though I felt that she really was pitiful, I still threw off her hand: “Shengan, don’t make trouble without reason. It is the King of Xiuyi’s heart was unlawful, which ended up in Princess Changyi rescuing me…”
Princess Shengan wept so hard that she was trembling all over. She slowly released her hand, retreated a few steps back, and said: “That’s impossible, Father definitely said that he won’t harm you because of me. He would a.s.sist your rule…”
“Err,” I was a bit stumped, then I consoled her, “This means that, whatever a man says is not always trustworthy, this includes your father…”
Once I said that, it seems as if the atmosphere had immediately gone cold. Shengan looked at me with wide eyes, then wildly fled while crying.
Secretly breathing a sigh of relief, I coughed and said: “Let’s first go to see our royal father…”
After the other princesses saw the unforeseen event just a moment ago, they all were quiet out of fear. Seeing that I said that, they all immediately nodded and then smoothly continued on the journey, past the mishap.
Even if it went on without a hitch, the royal family’s courtesies and etiquette were too complicated, too many, and too confusing. There were all kinds being practiced, and by the time we had temporarily settled the late Emperor into a coffin, it was already very deep into the night. But I still could not leave yet. There needs to be one person who had to quietly sit and meditate for a whole night in the a.s.sembly hall so that the late Emperor could rest in peace —— with the late Emperor’s coffin on the side.
I was relatively scared of ghosts, spirits, and those kinds of things, so when I found out that I had to do that, I was really shocked. When my royal father died, due to the internal and external turmoil, the ceremony was quite simple, and the crown prince only had to stand guard for a few hours before coming out. I totally did not expect… that I had to spend the night!
Thus, I took advantage of the evening dinner time to tell Prince Wumin about this, tactfully expressing my wish of needing someone to keep me company.
When Prince Wumin heard that, he said faintly: “My royal father is keeping you company.”
“…Fooey!” I glared at him, “In short, you have to keep me company. If you don’t agree, I’ll go find a man…”
“…”
In the end, Prince Wumin compromised, and also stealthily entered the a.s.sembly hall not long after I did. We sat crossed-legged, face to face —— according to the customs, we should be kneeling, but neither Prince Wumin nor I had any intention of kneeling.
Just like this, I idly spoke about Princess Shengan’s matter. When he heard it, he indifferently said: “It doesn’t matter, she’s going to become a commoner later on, so there’s no need to see her.”
“You’re going to demote her into a commoner?” I was a bit shocked.
Prince Wumin glanced at me, and unexpected looked at me with a puzzled expression: “Then what, leave her at your side at all times and let her cry until she actually does something?”
“You’re right.” I said helplessly.
Prince Wumin said: “At that time, I originally planned…”
Before he had finished speaking, he immediately shut his mouth.
However, I was well aware of his intention: “You also planned to kill her, right?”
Prince Wumin laughed at me, and the candlelight from the white candle on the side flickered and swayed, casting a monstrous overcast expression on his face. Even if it was my face, looking at it now, it would still make one feel the terror of something sinister.
“No, I planed to eliminate the King of Xiuyi’s entire clan through nine generations.”
“…”
“But at the moment, North Chang Country is watching us as if we are prey, yet we’re going to East Yuan Country, and are even going to personally go there to boost the soldier’s morale…” He counted with his fingers, “if you end up with a tyrant’s reputation, then that’s not too good.”
I was a bit dumbfounded and felt an indescribable chill course through my body as I said: “Err, Prince Wumin, I want to tell you something.”
“Mn?” He withdrew his weird expression and looked at me without any signs of scheming.
I said: “In the future, for these kinds of matters, just keep it in your heart, don’t tell me these…”
He raised his brows: “Why?”
“The more I know, the more dangerous it is…” I replied honestly, “I would rather not know anything…”
Prince Wumin laughed: “You already know too much, there’s no point in worrying about it if you already know so much already, what are you scared of?”
“…”
I was really scared, really…
Seeing that his mood was still good even though his father’s coffin was right next to him…. I couldn’t help but say: “Since that’s the case, I have something to ask you.”
Prince Wumin nodded: “What?”
I said: “Actually, I, er, also looked at your body.”
Prince Wumin laughed weirdly: “I knew you couldn’t bear the temptation, no problem, I won’t blame you.”
“…” I blushed and said, “No, no… I only looked at your back. The scar on your back, how did they happen?”
Prince Wumin actually replied as if he didn’t care about it: “Oh, I was a naughty child.”
“How is that possible,” He was clearly being contemptuous about my ability to think. I said: “The scars on your back are from the ‘Bone Revealing Whipping’, and the scars on her ears are a result of ‘Shearing Ears’, even I know those stuff! In fact, who knows what else happened to your body…”
Prince Wumin narrowed his eyes: “You’re a princess, so how could you know this?”
“I was a naughty child…” I answered as I shrunk.
“…”
Prince Wumin and I just sat there like that. He didn’t speak, and I didn’t dare to speak. It was a long while until he slowly answered: “It’s best if you don’t ask. If you know about it, then you will really need die.”
I nodded in pleasant surprise: “Looks like you don’t want to kill me at the moment.”
Prince Wumin laughed warmly: “Mn, I only want to eliminate you.”
“…is there a difference?”
“A literal difference.” He lazily answered, then leaned back on the pillar behind him.
“…”
I wanted to cry but had no tears: “Don’t be too arrogant, I’ll go find a man now…”
Prince Wumin opened his eyes: “I don’t even need to find one, there’s a man in front of me.”
“…”
How did I forget, women were always the one at a disadvantage. Prince Wumin used my body to hop over to where I was. Then I’ll…
Seeing my aggravated expression, Prince Wumin started laughing: “Rest a.s.sured, I have no interest in making love to my own body.”