Black-hearted
Chapter Fourteen
I focused intently, my eyes wide open, staring at the flower in Lan Feiyu's hand, waiting for her to perform some amazing magic trick.
However, Lan Feiyu carefully plucked the petals right in front of me—only then did I realize that although the flower looked big, it actually only had two large petals, revealing a light green, hairy center. Lan Feiyu carefully peeled away a layer of the center, leaving only an oval heart ball slightly larger than a thumbnail on the stem. It was completely black, without any other color.
"This is 'black-hearted'?" I exclaimed in surprise. Such a beautiful and dazzling flower, yet it has a heart that is quite unpleasant in both shape and color.
But upon further reflection, I must once again speak up for Hua. Heaven and earth give birth to all things, and all things have their own spirit. Only humans are so bored as to want to remove someone's glamorous attire for no reason and then relentlessly give them such a derogatory and unpleasant name.
Lan Feiyu seemed to have read my mind. She smiled slightly, pinched the flower's heart between two fingers, and placed it in her palm. She said mysteriously, "It's called 'Black Heart' not just because its heart is black, but for other reasons as well."
I quickly asked, "What's the reason?"
She didn't answer, but instead threw the black flower core into her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and swallowed it.
I stared in disbelief. Lan Feiyu then followed suit, plucked the heart of another flower, placed it in my hand, and urged, "You'll see once you try."
Since she had already demonstrated by eating it, it shouldn't be poisonous. However, I still felt somewhat reluctant to eat such a dark, gooey thing.
At Lan Feiyu's repeated urging, I cautiously placed it on the tip of my tongue.
Hmm, it doesn't taste strange.
Lan Feiyu smiled and said, "You have to chew it."
As instructed, I rolled the "black heart" into one side of my mouth and slowly bit into it.
In an instant, a unique sweet, sour, and astringent flavor spread. Caught off guard by this taste, I was so choked by the rush of saliva that I almost coughed up the "black heart".
Hidden within this unassuming, even slightly grotesque, flower heart is an incredibly delicious sap. I almost couldn't bear to swallow it, so I swirled it between my teeth several times to make sure I had extracted every last drop of sap before finally swallowing it.
"Delicious!" I exclaimed sincerely.
Don't be fooled by the fact that it's only a little bigger than a fingernail; the only advantage is that it has no seed, making it even more delicious than the lychees I tasted in the Eastern Chu royal palace.
Moreover, lychees were scarce. I was only able to eat them thanks to my uncle, and I only managed to eat three before my mother scared me away with a look. Unlike now, when I am surrounded by flowers all over the mountains, I can enjoy the pleasure of eating as many as I want.
I lay down on my side, stretched my hand forward, and plucked a flower. I imitated Lan Feiyu by making the flower's center, put it in my mouth, and mumbled as I chewed, "This flower should be eaten. Using it as an ornament is such a waste."
Lan Feiyu moved closer to me, hugging her knees and resting her head on her arms. Her beautiful eyes stared at me without blinking. I assumed she was going to laugh at my rudeness again, but she said something that surprised me: "Xi'er, what you said in the room just now, did it have any deeper meaning?"
"A deeper meaning?" I was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized and nodded. There was no one who could hide in this open space, right?
Even though I thought so, I couldn't help but look up at the tree. Hmm, there was no one there. I cleared my throat and said, "Of course there is. I just want to know, you are the legitimate daughter of the old king, and you are so capable, serving as the head of both the medical clinic and the traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Bozhou City. You are compassionate towards the common people, have a gentle personality, and are also beautiful. Who is more qualified than you to be the king of Bozhou?"
When I spoke those words, I didn't think about them much, but they truly came from the bottom of my heart.
As soon as I finished speaking, Lan Feiyu's eyes remained fixed on me. I felt inexplicably dizzy. She seemed to be sometimes near and sometimes far in front of me, and her voice sounded erratic. I rubbed my eyes and felt a little clearer, but it was fleeting, and my vision was immediately clouded over again.
"Do you really think so?" It seemed to be Lan Feiyu's voice, but it didn't seem so. Was her voice really that cold and hard?
"Yes, I thought so before I met you. But my older brother said that if Lan Feiyu makes any rash moves, she'll probably end up like her father and brothers." I remembered the slightly cold smile on my older brother's face when he said that, and I smiled slightly and imitated him.
"Xi'er, what exactly are you doing in Bozhou? You are the cousin of King Xinan, with such a status, why do you insist on saying you're just here to see the elephants? Xi'er, Xi'er, we have sworn to be sisters who will live and die together, just tell me, did the Emperor send you and your brother to find..." Lan Feiyu's voice changed again, soft and sweet, like... the taste of "black heart".
I watched Lan Feiyu's mouth move, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. It was as if I was in the midst of a howling wind, with only the wailing of ghosts and wolves in my ears. After a long pause, I laughed and said, "I came here specifically to see the elephants! I also promised the young lady that I would see the baby elephant for her, and if possible, I would even pick up a real ivory for her to take home!"
"Miss? Are you the eldest princess of Eastern Chu?"
At this moment, my head started to ache, and my chest felt tight in waves. I mumbled "Yes" as I struggled to my feet, panting as I leaned against a tree trunk. When I looked towards the river, I was immediately stunned: the guards who had been drinking and resting by the river were now lying sprawled on the ground, their condition unclear.
I hurried toward them, but as soon as I lifted my foot, my knees buckled and I fell forward, crashing into the flowerbed.
The pain brought me to my senses a little more. I struggled to get up, but my limbs were trembling. I grabbed a "black heart" branch with one hand and tried my best to pull it up by the roots. Unexpectedly, there were hard thorns at the end of the branch. When I grabbed it at the bottom, the pain made me immediately pull my hand back, and a bloody mark was still left on my palm.
The emptiness is more serious than the pain.
When I heard Lan Feiyu's voice behind me, I felt completely empty, without a trace of anything left.
"Xi'er! Are you hurt?"
She came over and helped me up. I had no strength left. I wanted to shake her off, but I knew that being stubborn would be futile. I could only follow her movements and slowly get up.
But what if my eyes feel hot?
I covered my mouth with my other free hand, desperately telling myself: Cover it! Go back! Don't cry!
"Honestly, what's the rush?" Lan Feiyu sighed softly. "Let's go back to the shade. You'll get dizzy if you stay in the sun too long."
She's clearly lying through her teeth. I'm dizzy and disoriented, but it's definitely not because of the sun. I just don't dare to speak right now, afraid that if I open my mouth I'll burst out "Wow!"
I've never suffered such a loss in my life—or rather, I've never even met someone like Lan Feiyu.
How could she, after setting such a huge trap for me, still act as if nothing had happened, approaching me casually and carefully helping me back to the tree?
Yesterday's sworn brotherhood, the vow to live and die together, was like a pipe dream.
The bright sun still didn't warm me up. I glanced at the back of my hand and realized that I was actually drenched in sweat, but I just felt cold, bone-chillingly cold.
I looked past Lan Feiyu toward the riverbank. She immediately understood what I was thinking, chuckled softly, and whispered, "Don't worry, they're not dead, they were just drugged."
Seeing that the doubt in my eyes had not disappeared, she continued to explain, "Of course it's not good to put drugs in the river, but the water bags I used to fill them with water were prepared by me."
I understood what he said, but I was still a step away from fully grasping its meaning. I was dizzy and confused, and all I could hear was a buzzing sound, as if someone had stirred up two hornet's nests near me.
“Xi’er,” Lan Feiyu sat down beside me again, lifted my sleeve, and her fingers gently stroked my still clearly visible wound, which was covered in blood, as soft as a spring breeze. “Tell me again, what exactly did you come here for?”
I laughed: "Look at the elephant. Why don't you believe me?"
“I can’t believe you.” Lan Feiyu stood up. “If you can say those things, how can I believe you? Xi’er, don’t blame me for being heartless. I’m surrounded by wolves. My father and brother died suddenly and mysteriously. If I were as reckless and careless as them, I wouldn’t have survived either.”
"Why..." I wanted to ask her why she didn't speak frankly to me when we were alone. Although I am not very capable, I have an older brother who is backed by the entire Eastern Chu. If I could get the full support of Eastern Chu, then neither of her two sworn brothers, whether it is Prince Xiong Amuyue or Prince Luo Xian Asa, could become obstacles to her ascending to the throne.
Lan Feiyu once again understood the unspoken meaning in my words. She looked down at me with an arrogance and coldness I had never seen before: "Xi'er, don't you understand? Dongchu is also an enemy! We, Bozhou, don't need a court that calls us 'barbarians,' we don't need to pay tribute to anyone, and we don't need to send our king's son to your capital—"
A tear I had been holding back for so long finally slipped out. I sniffed, looked up at her, and asked, "So all that talk about sworn sisterhood and blood oaths was just a lie to fool me?"
Lan Feiyu did not answer immediately. She looked into the distance. I followed her gaze and looked back the way we came. I saw two riders galloping towards us in the distance. Judging from their eyes, they must be Lan Feiyu's accomplices.
She didn't look at me, and said coldly, "Who told you to be so naive, Xi'er?"
I didn't say anything, clutching a handful of soil tightly in my hand. As soon as she finished speaking, I suddenly jumped up and knocked Lan Feiyu down in the waist. Caught off guard, she tumbled into the flower bushes with me. I barely managed to control myself, and on all fours, I leaped up like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, aiming for her face and throwing the soil in my hand into her eyes.
While Lan Feiyu was covering her eyes, I rolled around in the flower field again like a winter melon. Although the posture was not elegant, I had already used up all my strength. I rolled and rolled along the lower part of the riverbank until I reached the river.
I stood up and looked back. Lan Feiyu had already gotten up, and the two riders were much closer than before. They were about to reach me, so I could no longer hesitate. I took off my outer robe, gritted my teeth, and jumped into the river.
The river water was icy cold, and I couldn't help but shiver several times.
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