Chapter 15
Edward Quan ·
10
Overnight, the court changed completely.
The Third Prince was confined.
The Li family fell.
Those who had kicked the Shens while they were down now kept their heads low, living in fear.
Carriages once again streamed to the General’s gates.
Officials who had avoided us brought costly gifts and fought to be admitted.
Even seeing a steward would do.
I saw none of them.
I took only Shen Yi and entered the palace to request an audience.
In the imperial study, ambergris was as rich and mellow as ever.
The emperor granted me a seat.
His eyes held scrutiny and a barely perceptible approval.
“In his letter, your father praised you to the skies.”
He spoke slowly.
“Said having you was the greatest blessing of his life.”
“Said you in the capital were more useful than a hundred thousand of his soldiers.”
I immediately rose to give thanks.
“I don’t deserve it.”
“Everything rests on Your Majesty’s wisdom and judgment.”
“Enough flattery.”
He laughed, his tone softening.
“I know.”
“You have endured much lately.”
“To ease my sovereign’s burdens.”
“And my father’s.”
“Those are my duties. I cannot call them hardship.”
He watched me in silence for a long time.
Then changed the subject.
“I’ve heard about you and Jingyan too.”
My heart tightened slightly.
I lowered my eyes.
“I’ve been inconsiderate and troubled you.”
“He’s the inconsiderate one.”
The emperor sighed.
“I entrusted him to you, hoping you would support him.”
“Not so he could take your protection for granted.”
“This has taught him a lesson.”
He rose and went to the window, looking at the palace wall.
“Jingyan isn’t bad by nature.”
“His mother spoiled him too much.”
“His supposed responsibilities blinded him.”
“He lost sight of what matters.”
“I kept him here, gave him an idle princely title, because I didn’t want him involved in court struggles.”
“Unfortunately.”
“A tree may wish for stillness, but the wind won’t cease.”
He turned to me again.
His gaze was fathomless.
“Qingning.”
“I know you have suffered.”
“I know about the divorce agreement.”
“Today, I offer you a choice.”
“You may divorce.”
“I will give you a princess’s residence.”
“Lands and income.”
“A lifetime of honor and prosperity.”
“No one will dare bully you.”
“Or…”
He paused.
“You may give him another chance.”
“I will send him to his fief.”
“A poor, desolate place.”
“Let him taste ordinary suffering.”
“Learn responsibility.”
“Learn to cherish what he has.”
“The choice is entirely yours.”
I knelt for a long time without speaking.
He had given me two paths.
One was absolute freedom.
Fish in a boundless sea.
Birds in an open sky.
The other was an unknown trial.
Betting the rest of my life on a man’s change of heart.
Countless images came to me.
At the banquet, shielding Liu Ruyue.
In the study, angrily challenging me over the Lius.
The shock and pain when I offered the divorce agreement.
And his exhausted back outside the imperial study, kneeling a day and night for Father.
He had made a mistake. A grave one.
Yet when the real storm came, he instinctively stood in front of me.
Did he love me?
Perhaps.
His love had been bound by too many things, distorted beyond recognition.
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