Chapter 23 Once Upon a Time
Memories from many years ago suddenly flooded Shen Zhilan's mind.
At that time, Ling Wei had not yet gone to the Northern Border. She was still young and had not participated in politics, but she was a well-known princess in the capital who could cause trouble. Every few days, impeachment memorials from censors would fly to the emperor.
One afternoon, in the side hall of Crown Princess Linghua's East Palace, Shen Zhilan was on her mother's orders to deliver an ancient painting that the Shen family had recently acquired to the Crown Princess.
Linghua leaned against the soft couch by the window, savoring the experience. They had known each other since childhood. Linghua was a few years older than him and had always treated him with kindness, like an older sister and a friend. There was a tacit understanding between them that did not need to be spoken, but it had nothing to do with romance.
The door was suddenly pushed open with a bang, and the young Ling Wei rushed in. She was wearing a scarlet riding outfit with a leather belt around her waist. She had probably just come by fast walking or riding a horse. Fine beads of sweat were on her forehead, and a few strands of black hair clung to her porcelain-white cheeks.
Those peach blossom eyes were exceptionally bright at this moment because of their emotions, with a natural hint of red at the corners. Even when they weren't smiling, they seemed to be full of affection, yet their eyes revealed arrogance and frustration.
Shen Zhilan bowed to her, but she didn't look at him. She walked straight to the table, picked up the teapot, and took several big gulps. When she put the teapot down, her lips were still wet with water, glistening in the sunlight.
"What's wrong?" Ling Hua looked away from the painting, her tone devoid of reproach. "Today at court, Vice Minister Chen tearfully complained that you beat her young master in the street."
Ling Wei sat down heavily on the chair next to her, turned her face away, and remained silent.
“She was crying her eyes out,” Ling Hua said slowly as she rolled up the scroll, “saying how gentle and polite her son was, how he was unjustly humiliated, and begging her mother to punish him severely.”
Ling Wei snorted through her nose, remaining silent.
“Imperial Censor Liu also echoed this, saying that you bullied a weak man, which is unbecoming of a princess.” Ling Hua raised her eyes and looked at her sister’s tense profile. “Minister Zhang didn’t say anything, he just sighed.”
Ling Wei turned around abruptly, her eyes burning with anger: "They only said I hit someone?"
“Otherwise what?” Ling Hua gently placed the rolled-up scroll on the table. “Since you don’t explain the reason, they will naturally only hear one side of the story.”
Ling Wei's lips moved as if she wanted to argue, but in the end she just bluntly said, "He deserves to be beaten."
Upon hearing this, Ling Hua not only did not press for the reason, but also nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, he deserves to be hit."
Shen Zhilan, who was standing nearby at the time, was slightly moved upon hearing this. The Crown Princess was fair in her dealings and very strict with herself. How could she be so indulgent towards her younger sister? She didn't even bother to investigate the reasons before agreeing that she deserved to be beaten?
Ling Wei seemed surprised by her older sister's reaction, her eyes widening as she looked at Ling Hua.
Ling Hua lowered her eyelashes and drank her tea, as if her previous comment was just a casual agreement. Then she suddenly smiled, a smile with a kind of teasing that only sisters could understand: "Next time you take action, remember to put it in a sack, so that people will have something to say about you in the street."
Ling Wei was stunned for a moment, then the corners of her mouth curved upwards, and most of the pent-up anger dissipated.
"knew."
Ling Hua then put down his teacup and beckoned to her, "Your hair is all messed up, come here."
Ling Wei moved over and let Ling Hua help her re-tie her hair, so that Shen Zhilan could finally take a closer look at this legendary fifth princess.
Up close, her beauty is even more striking. What's most special are her eyes, with slightly upturned corners and pure black pupils. She always looks at people with a nonchalant air, but now, due to emotional fluctuations, they are shimmering like a starlit, cold pool.
Ling Wei didn't stay long. After fixing her hair, she casually took two pastries from Ling Hua's plate and left like a gust of wind, just as she had come.
The side hall returned to silence. Ling Hua unfolded the ancient painting again, but her gaze seemed not to fall on it.
After a long pause, she suddenly said gently, "Do you feel that I've spoiled her too much?"
Shen Zhilan shook his head slightly. He had known Ling Hua for many years and knew that her actions always had a deeper meaning, so he frankly said, "It's just a bit unexpected. Your Highness is usually so prudent, but today..."
But he was clearly on Ling Wei's side, even implying that she did a good job.
Ling Hua smiled, her gaze fixed on the direction Ling Wei had left in, as if she could see through the palace gates and into the distance that tall, thorny figure receding into the distance.
"Xiao Wu is the toughest yet softest of us sisters."
Shen Zhilan listened quietly.
“If she’s willing to give her reasons, then they are valid and she has nothing to fear from refutation.” Ling Hua withdrew her gaze, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the smooth scroll. “If she refuses to speak…”
A faint, confident smile curved her lips. "That must be because some truths are more hurtful than fists."
These words, though spoken lightly, carried a heavy weight in Shen Zhilan's ears.
He suddenly remembered that he and Ling Wei had actually met only a very few times.
At palace banquets and in the imperial garden, she was always the center of attention, whether laughing or joking, like a bright and scorching fire, attracting everyone's attention and bearing all the criticism. He, on the other hand, always stood quietly in the shadows, watching that fire burn, feeling both vivid and distant.
The topic was quickly moved on. Linghua discussed painting with him for a while, and then sent him back.
A long time passed, so long that Shen Zhilan almost forgot about it, before she suddenly heard that the young master of the Chen family, whom Ling Wei had beaten up that day, was outwardly a gentle and refined young gentleman, but inwardly a homosexual who took pleasure in trampling on other people's true feelings.
He was adept at using his talent and good looks to attract men from humble backgrounds but with simple minds. After winning their hearts, he would humiliate and abandon them at will, even bragging about his private affairs as gossip, driving them to the brink of suicide.
When the truth was revealed, it was much later. By then, Ling Wei had already gone to the northern border, and the men who had been victimized had already left the capital, a place of trouble, with the insistence and help of their families, and started new lives.
Ling Wei never offered a single explanation to anyone from beginning to end.
She would rather bear the infamy of being "tyrannical and domineering" and "bullying weak men," be attacked by court officials, and be reprimanded by her mother than utter a single word.
When Shen Zhilan recalled Ling Hua's words, she realized that she was afraid that the victims, who were already suffering, would be pushed to the forefront and suffer more criticism and condemnation because of her status as a princess.
This was one of the few impressions Shen Zhilan had of Ling Wei. The rest of the rumors about this Fifth Prince were nothing more than "reckless and dissolute," "impulsive," and "only knowing how to enjoy himself."
In everyone's account, she is completely unrelated to words like "profound," "thoughtful," and "benevolent."
But Crown Princess Linghua, the one who understood her best, said that she was both the toughest and the softest.
Now, the person who understood her best is gone.
She seems to have sealed away the last bit of vibrant strength and softness within herself, transforming into the indifferent and apathetic person she is now.
The jolting motion on horseback jolted Shen Zhilan out of her long reverie.
He turned his head to look at Ling Wei's profile. She was looking ahead, as if her earlier words "we can't delay" were just casual remarks.
But Shen Zhilan suddenly felt as if she had... passed through the dust of time and touched the lingering warmth of that fire from back then.
It's very faint, but it definitely exists.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com