Chapter 1 Xiao Cong

I remember when Xiao Shuhua was eight years old, she was still tugging at her mother's sleeve, crying and asking for purple pearls to make her headdress.

But when she was eight years old, she talked to me about the future of Xianbaozhai.

She was like a fairy herb that grew tenaciously from a crack in a rock, her flower buds swaying in the wind and radiating moonlight, making it hard not to notice her.

When I first saw her, I thought:

She should be transplanted into my garden.

*

She would chase puppies and ducklings in the snow, laughing and singing, "The puppy draws plum blossoms..."

She is eager to learn and very bold.

While Xiao Shuhua was still afraid of the horse, she slowly released her grip on my hand as she rode on, and said with a smile:

"Your Highness, let Aqu try it herself. If it drops Aqu, Your Highness will help Aqu punish it."

The following spring, she rode her horse across the green grass, her laughter like silver bells, warming hearts more than the March sun.

She said, "People should have their own work to do, and the joy of realizing one's own value is irreplaceable."

She also said, "If a poor person suddenly becomes rich, they will bring disaster upon themselves if they cannot handle the good fortune."

So she kept it a secret from her family that she was a rich woman, encouraged them to open a steamed bun shop, and quietly improved their quality of life behind the scenes.

She always has her own ideas and will put them into practice.

I admire the confident and hopeful light in her eyes when she mentions Xianbaozhai.

I envy her unhindered closeness to Wu Liu, even though Wu Liu has a physical disability.

I want to tell her that Wu Liu gave her to me.

She should treat me better than Wu Liu.

But she is still young, and she and Wu Liu have a bond of mutual support. Forcing her apart might break her.

Therefore, I could only try to get Wu Liu away quietly while simultaneously trying to please her and being nice to her.

She feels very uncomfortable when she wakes up in my arms.

When I held her hand and she wrote, her handwriting was worse than her own.

She would avoid my gaze from falling on her face.

Hmm, I also noticed that she stared at me blankly at times.

She probably liked my face, which I somewhat disliked.

My father always says I don't look like him and I'm not dignified at all.

During festivals, I used to stand far away on a high platform, watching the clamor of the masses.

Later, seeing her staring longingly at the crowd below the platform, I really didn't want to hear her sighing in front of me when no one was around, so I took her to play in the human world.

Was she not from the human world? Why is she so curious about everything? She's even curious about what clothes other people wear.

I asked, "You hadn't noticed this before?"

She replied, "I never had the mind to pay attention to these things before. It was only thanks to His Highness's protection that I was able to live a normal life for a couple of days."

She gave me a sugar figurine, saying that eating something sweet would make me feel good.

She's so stingy! I gave her so many nice things, and her wallet is so full, but she only bought me sugar figurines!

I returned the sugar figurine to her, and then there was no room for regret.

She said, "Thank you for the reward, Your Highness."

He licked the sugar figurine clean.

I:"……"

*

I can't tell whether the trigger that caused our relationship to deteriorate was my attempt to clip her wings or the appearance of the Lin family.

She rejected me like never before.

A rebellious sparrow in the palm of your hand can only be worn down and made obedient.

I let her struggle in the inescapable cage.

I ignored her cries of despair.

I want her to willingly become my possession.

Nine months is neither a long nor a short time.

When she cried and said, "Ah Qu, be good, okay?"

I stared at her aggrieved expression, momentarily frozen in place.

The result was what I wanted, but I always felt that things shouldn't end so simply.

They forced her to learn embroidery and used the embroidery she presented to test her skills.

He forced her to accept all his arrangements and taught her how to be a proper pet or a caged bird.

Seeing her obediently waiting for me to come home every day, calling me "Your Highness" in a soft and sweet voice, life seems to have taken on a different flavor.

*

How could a clever pet not understand hierarchy and social status?

She just doesn't want to accept reality.

She beat up Lin Shi.

When the news reached my ears, I remained silent as expected.

Nine months was definitely not enough to smooth out all the rough edges of her.

After dealing with the fight between the two, I took her with me at all times.

I need to warn her with a bloody example.

He used both soft and hard tactics to completely win her over.

After I showed her how I handled my younger brother's situation, she became noticeably more obedient.

I don't have time to waste in the inner quarters all day, so both Madam Lin and she are well aware of this, and the best outcome is for them to get along well without offending each other.

Whoever breaks the deadlock will not have a good outcome.

She was still young, and my feelings for her were merely possessive of an object, not an uncontrollable lust.

As she grew older year by year, as the taste of her kisses on my cheek grew sweeter and sweeter, and as the measurements of her body size became more and more obvious when the nanny handed them to me.

I started to worry that when she grows up and becomes more sensible, she will resent me for breaking her wings.

I think I should be nicer to her.

I began to show her respect and hung up the curtain that had been torn down to separate men and women.

I want her to stop kissing my cheeks and stop trying to please me like this. I will treat her well too.

But when she came closer, her eyelids were half-closed, and she looked so obedient.

Several times I wanted to speak, but the words got stuck in my throat.

I found that I couldn't resist the kisses on her cheek, and even when she didn't kiss me for a while, I missed those kisses, and I missed them until she turned 18.

I like to play with her fingers; it's the closest I get to her.

*

The women who grace my bed are either the delicate flowers I have personally nurtured or my lawfully wedded wife of noble birth.

I kept my distance from the maids who served me in the main room.

My mother thought that it was because she had seduced me that she had removed the maidservant from my side.

Without her waiting for me in the courtyard, it seems it doesn't matter whether I go back to this courtyard or not.

How boring.

My attention is entirely focused on handling political affairs.

I am actively expanding the military.

Having absolute military power independent of the royal palace was my first step in breaking free from the constraints of my father and mother.

One day, when I am in complete control of the Prince of Yan's mansion, no one will be able to take her away from me at any time.

Before the New Year, I was going to take her out of my mother's courtyard, but my mother demanded that I exchange her for a handkerchief from a maidservant.

I left quietly, knowing that my mother wouldn't hurt her.

Her mother did not hurt her, but she did not know how she fell into the water on New Year's Eve.

The maid's official response was: "It was too dark, and there were too many people coming and going. I don't know how the Third Miss was pushed into the water."

The Empress Dowager did not consider this a big deal and did not even inquire about it.

When I received the news, she had already been burning up for two days.

On the way back to the yard, I carried her in my arms. She nestled quietly in my arms and spoke to me with a tearful voice, sounding aggrieved.

"Aqu misses home."

The last time she wanted to go home was when she was eleven years old, when I forcibly broke her wings.

She was fourteen years old that year.

She's been by my side for over three years, and I've spoiled and indulged her.

She left me four months ago and has been bullied like this.

For the first time, I clearly understood what it felt like to feel sorry for a girl.

I've gotten used to hiding my emotions, just so I can appear as dignified as my father said.

Matters concerning the inner quarters cannot be bypassed by my mother, and I demand an explanation from her.

My mother said I've gone mad.

They said I'm not young anymore and should get married as soon as possible, start a family, and stabilize my mindset.

I put down my teacup and said that I was too busy with military affairs to settle down and that I would postpone my marriage to the Lin family for another year.

That year, I had 150,000 personal guards.

Within six years at Xianbaozhai, I gained the confidence to stand tall in front of my father and mother.

The mother was helpless, the father ignored these trivial matters, and Lady Lin dared not object.

*

Zhao Lianqing was famous in the imperial examinations. When she asked me to arrange for Zhao Lianqing to become an official in Zhuzhou, I looked at her for a long time.

She obediently sat on my lap and gave me a bunch of reasons.

She was no longer a skinny little girl; her figure was more curvaceous than that of other girls her age.

I leaned back in my chair and silently recited the Heart Sutra, counting down the days until her coming-of-age ceremony.

He wouldn't listen to a single word of her reasons.

I naturally assumed that once she bloomed, I should pick her.

I analyzed her situation and calculated that the chances of her successfully leaving me were almost zero.

I extended a finger, pinched the fabric of her dress on her shoulder, and pulled her aside, granting her request.

She embroidered a sachet with twin lotus blossoms in return for me.

Our names were embroidered inside the sachet.

See, she clearly knows the role she plays in my life.

But on the day she came of age, freed from the constraints of age, when I properly approached her and drew near to her, she dodged!

Her naturally charming eyes were filled with panic.

I cornered her and kissed her, leaving her nowhere to hide.

Her eyes were red at the corners, and she looked at me in shock, her lips glistening with moisture from the kiss.

She probably doesn't realize how alluring she is.

I know.

She grew tall and slender, with a graceful figure. After her eyebrows and eyes matured, she sat there with a smile.

Even without saying a word, she exudes an irresistible allure that no man can resist.

Besides, she also has a clever mind.

I'm waiting for her to come of age.

I like her.

*

I had been planning this for a long time, wanting to take her as my concubine on the day she came of age.

But when I pressed her down on the bed, her cries were broken and fragmented.

Apart from the time when I broke her wings, I have never made her cry so bitterly every year since!

The time she called me by my name and insulted me, I was only angry for one night.

My upbringing wouldn't allow me to act like a beast without her consent.

I let go of her, helped her up, and fastened her belt.

My precious daughter should have a bright smile.

I bent my knees, not wanting her to see my embarrassment.

I maintain my dignity.

I want to ask her why?

Isn't it only right that she blossoms for me?

She ran away.

He didn't even look back.

As I watched her departing figure, I felt as if I were seeing the moment she resolutely left the city the following April.

Her silent rejection at this moment tells me that she is unwilling to accept it; her sharp edges are just a disguise.

But when I held her in my arms and kissed her afterwards, she was so well-behaved.

I don't believe I'm the only one whose heart flutters.

But the truth was a slap in the face.

She left me resolutely, leaving me with a heartbreaking letter.

*

"...Aqu repaid His Highness's protection with the widespread success of Xianbaozhai, so the two are even..."

"...A-Qu's life should be decided by A-Qu herself..."

"...Your Highness desires to enjoy the pleasures of having multiple wives; this is utterly shameless..."

I don't understand why taking wives and concubines is associated with utter shamelessness.

Clutching the letter, I gave one order: "Find the person immediately, alive or dead."

I took a deep breath. Compared to my anger at her defection, I was more worried about her being in danger.

It's like a plump rabbit getting caught in a pack of wolves; the men outside will hurt her.

My heart was clenched painfully. Ever since my father said I was too good-looking and not dignified enough, I have learned to control my emotions.

I've done a great job all these years.

At this moment, I can no longer restrain myself.

I deeply regret letting her have her way in everything.

I should have left two people to protect her.

One day, two days, ten days...

There has been no word from them.

Even though the Lin family gave me my eldest son, I couldn't be happy.

My heart feels empty; every day is filled with nothing but worry.

When I realized I was going in the wrong direction, I finally lost control of my emotions and killed someone myself.

They finally caught up with the news, but the message was lost in the river outside the Yan region.

Her traces have been deliberately erased.

Those who are not in high positions of power cannot do so.

My worst fears have come true.

I stood by the window in my study all night.

The following day, in addition to changing the plan and continuing to look for people, I accelerated the process of consolidating military and political power in Yan and expanding my influence beyond Yan.

Power is a man's best armor and weapon.

*

When I learned that my precious child had fallen into Zhou Jin's hands, I knew that this power struggle had taken on a different flavor and was no longer pure.

And they can only win, they cannot lose.

The loser doesn't even have the right to stand in front of her.

My path was more difficult than Zhou Jin's.

The Zhou family's three hundred years of accumulated wealth all fell on him.

What I faced was division and suspicion among the Xiao clan members.

To counter the Zhou family and preserve the Xiao family's rule, the capital and Yan regions must be united.

I cannot submit to anyone.

I cannot afford to fall out with Zhou Jin when I am not strong enough.

But this thief persisted in pursuing her relentlessly.

So, time and time again, he racked his brains to reunite her, only to have to let her go again and again.

I always felt that on the day the great undertaking was accomplished, I would have a chance to hold on to it.

When I heard her say, "Your heart is with the Xiao family's empire, and you can't possibly stop for me," I chose to remain silent.

Without power, I wouldn't even have the chance to speak to her right now.

This distorted power game has a sour taste.

*

She said, "If one of you is destined to die, I choose him to live."

She said, "I am fortunate to have a man who is willing to give up his state for me."

She chose him.

Heartbreaking, reluctant to part.

Realizing that the affection I felt deep in my heart was about to be stripped from my very bones, I nearly lost my life.

I gazed at her for a long time.

As I draped the cloak over her shoulders and walked away, my steps were so heavy I could barely move.

I locked myself in the cabin and reflected on where I hadn't done well enough.

Later, when the Southern Zhou Dynasty used female officials to balance the power of powerful families in the harem, I vaguely knew where I had lost.

What caused our relationship to deteriorate was that I never had the awareness that she was the only one in my life.

Fate plays tricks on us; we were destined to meet but not to be together.

*

In the fifteenth year of Taining, I met six-year-old Sui Sui, the beloved princess of the Southern Zhou Dynasty, and her daughter, Zhou Sui.