Chapter 19
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-insert witty remark because trying to post this has left me drained-
Dear all,
I read through everyone's comments in my e-mail and its been painful because I want to reply and cocktease all. Sadly, LJ is being harmed by mean people who clearly have nothing better to do - ça me fait chier! I haven't been able to click into my own posts after they are upped or reply to any comments. Thank you to the LJers who have tried endlessly to leave me some love. I finished translating this chapter pretty much after chapter 18 as a surprise, didn't go as smoothly as I planned when it came to posting! I was chuckling at the predictions...but happy to see that no one foresaw the following!
<3 Sooky
P.S: Thank you for the song recommends! I have a playlist made with your love.
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Notes:
Fruits and seedlings: In ancient Chinese culture, people tend to talk about babies and children in context of seedlings and fruit. So the Prince is frequently called a fruit in this chapter…lol
Second Spring: In Chinese, the youth and love are considered one’s Spring-time. Hence, having a second Spring means to enjoy a second round of love.
Clarification of An Xun's status: Please note that An Xun is married to the Third Princess of Fan Jia, although he is entitled "King", it's just a name given to him as he is Royalty and is in the running for the throne. So this means that he is currently not the King of Fan Jia and is third in line for accession. The Chinese word for King (Wang) is also the same word for Imperial/Royal.
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At the entrance of the torch illuminated corridor, a sole figure adorned with simple silk robes was kneeling. Facing the eerie lit long stretch of corridor in front of them, the person had their head lowered keeping silence even with the uninvited guests.
The rows of torches lighting the path crackled, the flames danced and flickered. Those who were familiar with the face could barely identify the person by her profile, and one could immediately notice that she was beautiful.
The unexpected road block was the woman who rarely ventured out of her chambers, the Queen of Xi Rei.
These four grown men had been startled, each crying out alarm when they had first caught sight of her, and now after catching their breaths they exchanged looks.
King Rong approached quietly, kneeling behind the Queen and whispered: “Your Highness, the son in law of Fan Jia’s King has arrived. An Xun has personally returned to Xi Rei offering a gift to give our King, a rare medicine.”
Where the party had paused was narrow although Rong Wang’s voice was soft, there was a slight echo that returned from the distance. Even with the flames flickering down this passage, it felt as if the other end was going to swallow you with darkness.
The Queen provided no immediate answer, her head still slightly tilted downwards as if she was occupied in her own little world. After a while she finally responded however there was no change in her expression.
“I know.”
After providing a short sentence she returned to her taciturn behavior. Not a sound as she continued to kneel in the corridor, her presence was sealing off the path. She lifted her head up focusing her eyes at a pinpoint towards the end of the dark tunnel.
Everyone was growing uncomfortable and as the Queen was stalling their visit, and making it impossible to bypass her. The awkward silence was piercing and no one wanted to overstep their authority. As long as the Queen remained in her position, she was cordoning the path to see the King of Xi Rei.
At this point, Feng Ming did play with the idea that this sudden road block could possibly be part of Rong Tian’s master plan by employing the Queen in this emergency to stall for more time. What would happen if An Xun gets impatient and charges through? Doesn’t that mean this plan was flawed? The scenario that ended badly in his mind made him shudder, he flashed his eyes across to see how An Xun was reacting to the barricade.
Surprisingly, An Xun appeared to be calm and without any intention of marching his way through the Queen’s vigil. On the contrary, his face had paled like a ghost, and his hands were balling up. If you looked closely, beneath the thick layers of clothing you could see that he was trembling slightly. It was obvious that the sight of the Queen had a very big impact on him.
How peculiar, don’t tell me that there’s hostility between the Queen and An Xun…
No one knew how to react to the Queen’s antics and suddenly she finally spoke breaking the tension with a forlorn voice. “Since long ago the King has been ill and I am his Queen, thus by status it is my duty to oversee the prayer rituals. I’ve persistently recited prayers to the heavens at a boundary a hundred paces from where he is now resting. This is a matter of the King’s life and death, if there is any Intruders the spiritual powers would weaken. At this moment no one is permitted to disturb the King until I am completed with my prayers and receive a mandate from the heavens.”
Without turning back she ordered her son, “An He, you are the King’s flesh and blood, kneel beside me and start praying to the heavens for your father’s recovery.”
Feng Ming didn’t believe in such things, but he had no alternative. This was the Queen’s personal order, there was no way out. It was best he assume the exterior of a filial son, answer to his mother’s beckoning and kneel obediently beside her without a word.
He thought inside, ‘how long are we supposed to pray? Until we receive a divine answer? What was this mandate from the heavens? What if they had to be on their knees for another three to five days just to get a response, would it be a bad sign?
The Queen gently reasoned, “An Xun, you are also of Royal blood quickly kneel and pray for your Royal brother’s health.”
Feng Ming lowered his face from out of view, trying to hide the shock horror when he heard the Queen’s second command. The woman was audacious, even ordering An Xun as if he was her subordinate. True enough, his uncle was lesser of rank but none the less he had return to Xi Rei carrying another Royal title to his name. He was certainly no ordinary man. If the Queen could control him with her words along, why would there be a need for Rong Tian to intervene? Wouldn’t it be better if she’d directly tell him to beat it!
“An Xun will follow your wish.” To everyone’s surprise An Xun submitted to the Queen and immediately went down on his knees next to Feng Ming. Feng Ming swallowed the knot that had developed in his throat. The two mean were side by side, aligned behind the woman.
The Prince’s guesses were proven wrong, nothing was turning out like he had anticipated and he didn’t like the situation which was growing ominous with each second. He bit down on his tongue fretting about his current predicament. Nervously he flashed his eyes sideways in an attempt SOS signal Rong Tian. The plight was short lived he was abruptly shaken by the Queen’s calm voice. She had not once turned to face the men, “Only the people of Royal blood are able to pray, others withdraw.”
“Yes, your Highness.” King Rong replied promptly, he had anticipated the Queen’s next move. Complying with her command he offered her a respectful bow.
Feng Ming knew that now he was in for it, this was an emergency. Knowing that his own thread of hope was departing he was even more desperate with his voiceless pleas. His frantic eyes caught hold of the older man, who paid no heed and only offered the younger man a faint smile.
The other person remaining was An Xun’s personal guard, who was awaiting his master’s orders.
An Xun followed suit, nodding. “Leave us and wait outside for me. Without my order, do not enter.”
With this Rong Tian and the guard disappeared from sight.
Once the men left quiet washed over the corridor.
Feng Ming kept his head lowered slightly and he was nearly motionless. His eyes darted around, from the Queen’s back and then sideways to the man who had easily obeyed her orders.
He thought inside, given the scenario it couldn’t be that the three of us would talk? But at this very moment the atmosphere was strange, and he didn’t dare to take the initiative to ask questions to get the ball rolling. They weren’t exactly best friends he could casually talk to. Feng Ming sighed inwardly, cursing his string of bad luck and decided it was best to keep his mouth corked and ignore the pain that was shooting up from his cramped legs.
The three unlikely candidates remained kneeling for a good hour, and the Prince cursed even more when his calf muscles gave up on him to the powers of paralysis. Inside he had conjured new words and nasty names he could use to scold the King. He had practice them numerous times inside his head. With his squinted eyes he checked on the other two but they remained solid as a clay figurine, unbending to the pains of the body.
Breaking the silence, the Queen suddenly inserted “An Xun is your purpose here to claim the throne?”
Feng Ming nearly reeled backwards as he had never expected that the Queen was capable of speaking so directly, her tone was serious and she meant business, he was amazed by the fact that she exposed An Xun’s motives by hitting the nail on the head.
His Uncle hesitated for a moment before collecting his words, “There is the throne, yet there are other things.”
Feng Ming’s eyes widened completely gob smacked, he had not expected the man to be so straight forwards, with no sense of need to cover up his intensions to steal the throne.
Hmph! Clearly he doesn’t treat the Prince as a threat. He is trampling all over me!
Thinking about being looked down on, Feng Ming shot a piercing look at An Xun.
“You still want something else? So many years have gone, and you refuse to give up?” The Queen prompted, her voice remained unwavering.
An Xun was stifled, his body language was agitated, with his hands clenched he replied, “…during that time…that time he stole you, if it wasn’t for him…we’d…we’d…” By now both his hands were shaking uncontrollably, he started to lean forwards towards the Queen. He stopped halfway, barely able to contain himself, as his body wanted to throw his arms around her.
Feng Ming watched the scene unroll in front of his wide eyes, he was a complete bystander. His mind was hitting the red abort button!
Calm down heart! I can’t believe the Queen and my Royal Uncle were an old flame, this is insane!
Even ancient people were capable of being so romantic. From what he manage to gather, it seems that An Xun received the shorter end of the stick, Feng Ming couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy.
Then his thoughts trailed to other aspects of the story, parts where he had to deal with. The Queen was his mother by name, now given the likelihood that An Xun would force himself on her, would he be responsible for protecting her? If he intercepted their attempt to reignite an old flame, then won’t he be stripping away their opportunity to enjoy a second Spring*? Even if he was to defend her, An Xun was well schooled in martial arts and he’d be immediately exposed as a counterfeit Prince. If he didn’t protect her from his uncle’s assault then wouldn’t he be…
All these possibilities were making a big mess in his mind, then the Queen continued “Do you mean you intend to seize everything that was taken from you?”
“Correct!” His uncle answered with no hesitation.
The Queen trembled then she finally whipped around to face her two relatives, proudly stating “I am already the Queen of Xi Rei, I’m not that naive Mu Lan that you once knew! Don’t set out in vain! Stop deluding yourself!”
“As long as I ascend the throne, I will be King and you will be my Queen.” An Xun begged.
“An Xun, this is madness!”
“No, I have not gone mad. Do you know how many years, the hardships I have struggled through, just to reach this day?” He pleaded love sick.
Feng Ming watched on as the two high ranked individuals took turns on the stage. This was one crazy classical romance. These star crossed lovers continued to exchange their lines and the Prince could only pivot his head from left to right, right to left. Their voices and composure were thrown out of the window, both man and woman had forgotten their identities. The words that were spat across made the corridor feel like a battlefield, such dialogue was uncalled for.
An Xun spat, “In order to escape from my Royal Brother’s scrutiny, I married into the Royal family of Fan Jia. Taking one of their princess’s as my bride, however my heart has never left your side. Mu Lan, my brother is already dead, as long as I claim the throne and overtake Xi Rei. The Queen would be allowed to remain. We can finally be together. Don’t you want this?”
The ardent voice of her old lover reminded her of the innocent love they once shared. Her face was tormented with sorrow.
“Do I want this? I am the Queen, it is my responsibility to protect the King’s bloodline, so Xi Rei can rise above the other countries.“ She turned to stare down the depth of the cold corridor, before bitterly enquiring, “An Xun I ask of you, once you are King, what will become of this mother and child? What of Xi Rei’s future?”
“As long as you become my Queen, I would have the love for my country as a true King would. I will forgive the past and rule the land fairly.”
“You have not given me a full reply, what is my son’s fate.”
An Xun quickly shot a quick glance over Feng Ming, who had been a fly on the wall. There was nothing but viciousness in the man’s eyes. The Prince released a muffle gasps.
“He is my brother’s flesh and blood.” His voice was hoarse and disgusted.
The Queen replied with the same tenacity of displeasure. “That child is also my flesh and blood.”
“Mu Lan…” An Xun continued, as if Feng Ming did not exist, he softly coaxed “Our future will give us the opportunity to bring fruits to our love, have our own offspring.”
“If you can talk with such confidence, does that mean you came prepared? It is only natural that the Crowned Prince would fight you for the throne, but…” Then the light was extinguished in the Queens eyes, as if she just decided it was too much for her and she wanted to give up. She paused for a long while before finally confessing, “To tell you the truth, the King has passed away years ago.”
She had revealed Xi Rei’s biggest secret, and it had escaped from her lips so easily. She showed no remorse for her actions. The news stunned An Xun, his eyes fixated on her in disbelief. Even Feng Ming was shell shocked. She just exposed the only thing that was keeping Xi Rei safe, how were they going to deal with the aftermath?
It didn’t take look for An Xun to snap out of his surprise, he nodded and claimed, “I had expected that, however I had no evidence over the years, otherwise, we did not need to be separated for so many years.”
“You must understand that I had worked extremely hard to hide this secret over the years. I did not want you to discover the truth, I did not want you to come back for the throne, I didn’t want Xi Rei to be covered in blood…”then she finally admitted, “I did not want to see my son or the love of my life die in this feud!”
“This is brother’s fruit and not mine!”
“I’ve had enough, I am tired of this. As Xi Rei’s Queen, I can’t allow the end of our dynasty. Only the Royals can settle the matters of the throne. From the two of you, I will pick the one that will become the King.” The Queen’s tired eyes looked back and forth from Feng Ming to An Xun.
They both held their breath, waiting for her crucial decision.
Then the Queen asked his Uncle, “I have been informed that in the mountain passes of Xi Rei, you have several bases. There are men there under orders, that if you were to come to harm they shall poison the drinking wells throughout the country. You have also prepared foreign alliances to attack Xi Rei, to ensure that the Crowned Prince will never rule. Explain yourself!”
After those revealing words, the Crowned Prince gaped at An Xun, the man’s beauty was misleading because his heart was rotten to the core.
A smile eased on An Xun’s lips, he remained quiet as if it was to confirm the Queen’s sources.
“It appears that if I was to lay a finger on you, Xi Rei will be facing a catastrophe. In such a time of crisis, I have to sacrifice my own son, for the sake of preserving the peace of my country.”
The Queens eyes set upon Feng Ming, making him shudder.
Feng Ming felt as if he was a juicy frog that a venomous snake had spotted and he broke out in a cold sweat.
Her eyes bore holes into him before she managed to approve of her choice, “As the Crowned Prince, to sacrifice yourself for your country is your duty. As your mother, I am very proud of you.” Then she shifted her attention to An Xun. “I will help you become the new King. However if you act now, this will easily stir criticism in the court. The Prince is due to ascend the throne in March next year, at this time you can officially challenge him.”
A chaotic storm was thundering and striking lightning bolts overhead, Feng Ming froze.
The development was strange, he had no idea what was happening and everything was playing out like a long nightmare.
An Xun had expected the Queen would compromise to his favor, his face was beaming with a wicked smile.
“However, by next March the Prince would have the chance to claim the throne. If I keep him around, it would be too much of a risk.”
Hearing this, she stayed speechless and then released a sigh.
“You are forcing me…to…” she bit her lip, “well, for the sake of Xi Rei I am willing to do anything. Go on, make your move. I will announce that the Prince has fallen ill and share the same symptoms as the King. Once March arrives, I will formally declare that the Prince had passed away. You will be appointed the new King. However, before anything else you must withdraw any spies and underlings you have stationed across our land. A black list of names shall be publicized and these men must ally themselves with Xi Rei. This plan will ultimately serve to avoid any disasters in Xi Rei.”
“Withdraw my spies?” he raised an eyebrow.
The Queen looked at Feng Ming as she said “I am already willing to sacrifice my son, he is in your hands now. Once the Crowned Prince is gone, there is no one that can compete for the throne. You are the only one left standing, who else can I trust? Why would there be a need for spies? The future of Xi Rei will be finally settled.”
As she concluded her plans, she reached within the folds of her white robe and produced a small bottle in the palm of her hand.
The long forgotten bystander shuddered, just listening to the cold twisted conversation that played out before him had his heart pouncing and his body urging him to run.
As An Xun and the Queen continued their devious conversation the Prince had started to inch backwards along the side of the wall for the exit. When he was finally near safety, he whisked around and found his only exit had been blocked by a wooden door and unknowingly to him, had been barricaded from the outside. The door did not budge as he pushed against it in frustration. This could have been the Queens doing it was possible that she had this all planned out, she certainly wanted to get rid of someone. When he turned his attention back to the estranged lovers he noticed that An Xun was now holding the vial that previously sat in the Queen’s palm. His uncle was heading towards him now, step by step. With nowhere to run, Feng Ming was frightened stiff, and the word ‘Poison’ quickly spouted in his mind.
Why? Why do they want to kill me?
Feng Ming felt An Xun’s sinister eyes set on him the once handsome face was now contorted with a unfriendly sneer. The Queen remained indifferent, expressionless like a mannequin watching on.
That’s right! A spark lit up, the Queen is willing to have me killed, so that An Xun would abandon his plan to force his way onto the throne. Once she obtains a blacklist Rong Tian would be able to deal with An Xun at a later date. When March comes, her true son would finally be able to ascend the throne with no opposition. I am just a mere pawn this perfect opportunity to eradicate enemies against her son.
Such a complicated plan, who was the mastermind? Was it the Regent King? Did Rong Tian sacrifice me just to secure a safe passage to the throne?
Just the thought of this betrayal weakened Feng Ming at his knees, his body felt powerless and he stumbled backwards against a corner. His eyes searching erratically for help as An Xun closed in their proximity. In his moment of peril, the different faces of Rong Tian he had encountered surfaced in his vision, as if they were little mirages hurtling in a cycle in front of him. The furious, the terrible, the smiling the gentle, the coy and ambiguous…and even the moment they shared with the short lived ‘Spring of March’ … where was he now?
Snapping back to reality, he retraced the scene that was played out in front of him. Everything had had happened toppled the mountains and overturned the seas. There was no logic, it was insane!
He wanted to wildly scream, ‘This is impossible! This isn’t right!’
A sharp pain hit his heart, his throat tightened as if a vacuum had been installed in place. His teeth trembled but he couldn’t manage a word.
An Xun stood overbearingly over him, although his Uncle appeared weak Fan Jia’s King was well learned in martial arts so he didn’t even see Feng Ming as a challenge. A hand reached over to lift up his chin roughly. Blood thirsty eyes pinned him to the spot, “Drink this now, you will die immediately, there will be no pain.”
Feng Ming pursed his lips until they were firmly closed, his large eyes looked on with despair, and finally he muttered “Rong Tian…” sadly his plea was too soft, an An Xun did not care to listen to a dying man’s words.
“Don’t strain yourself with any last words, as I have already selected the perfect departing lines for you.” An Xun advised, “‘The Heavens have not granted me the gift of a long life on earth, for the sake of Xi Rei the throne should be entrusted to my Royal Uncle in order to maintain Xi Rei’s prosperity’.”
With that said, his hands easily pried Feng Ming’s jaw open as the younger man was unable to put up any resistance. He tipped the volume of the bottle down the Prince’s throat.
Feng Ming gagged as the cold substance entered his mouth and slipped down his throat unhindered, the taste was sweet but Feng Ming’s mind was filled with bitterness. He was holding onto the last strand of hope that his lover would break through the door, save him and hold him in his arms and tell him that this was all a ploy to lure out their enemy.
The toxic liquid began to sear his windpipe, his stomach churned and he bellowed over collapsing into a heap, his vision was clouded with flickering white spots. Letting go of that hope he allowed himself to sink into the pit of darkness, a familiar place called death.