Chapter 3

Chapter 3

An epidemic broke out in Tanzhou. His Majesty, grieving the loss of his beloved son, changed the era name to Antai.

I held myself together until my parents’ funeral rites were over. Then illness came crashing down on me like a mountain. The Emperor even granted special permission for my maternal grandfather, an imperial physician still in service, to come to Tanzhou to treat me.

I kept having nightmares, thinking over and over: If not for that prophecy, would Father and Mother never have come to Tanzhou because of me? Would they not have died in this epidemic? Was I the one who killed them?

After a few rounds of medicine, my dreams became hollow and empty.

While I was somewhat better, our party hurriedly set out to bring me back to the capital.

After eight years away, the imperial city was exactly as I remembered it. Imperial Grandfather had aged somewhat; much more silver had appeared at his temples, in his beard, and in his hair.

I knelt and performed the full kowtow. He pulled me up, his lips trembling as though he wanted to say something. His beard quivered for a long while, and before any words came, two streams of tears fell first.

When he cried, I cried too. He said, “Good child, you have suffered.” I lowered my head as tears poured down my face.

For the time being, I lived in the palace. My maternal grandfather said I was worn down by grief, fear, and overthinking, that worry had injured both mind and body. Each day, I took more medicine than food.

His Majesty specially conferred upon me the title of Princess Roujia, allowed me to inherit my father’s fief, granted me the stipend of a prince of the blood, and even carved out two additional pieces of the Second Prince’s fief for me.

The Advisory Court erupted into chaos, arguing that I was the destined regicide, so how could I possibly be granted such an honor?

When I had recovered a little, Imperial Grandfather took me to the Grand Princess’s residence.

The Grand Princess was Imperial Grandfather’s elder full-blooded sister. In her youth, she had once taken command on the battlefield. Later, she fell from a horse and injured her waist. When her father asked what reward she wanted, she asked for the residence closest to the palace and the freedom to choose her own marriage. Yet to this day, she had never wed.

I had only seen her once when I was small. In my memory, she was a woman of unsurpassed grace and beauty; I could not imagine her in armor, bearing weapons. Back then, she had pinched my cheek and asked her younger brother with a smile, “So this is the little granddaughter the prophecy says will kill you?”

She was two years older than His Majesty and was now sixty-four, but time had still been rather kind to her. If one did not know her age, no one would guess she was past fifty.

She did not rise to pay her respects, and Imperial Grandfather did not mind. He simply nodded as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “Imperial Sister.”

She was holding a small mirror, checking whether any new white hairs had appeared.

“Imperial Sister, I want to leave Lingyi here for you to raise.”

We all understood what he meant. After all, that prophecy hung over me; it was not appropriate for me to live in the palace for long.

The Grand Princess set down that impossibly bright little mirror. “If it were that simple, would you have come in person?”

Imperial Grandfather smiled. I did not understand, but he patted my shoulder. “This child will be personally instructed by the National Preceptor. But she is a girl, after all, so it would be inconvenient for her to live in Tianxuan Pavilion.”

I froze. The Grand Princess was surprised as well, and she seemed so angry she almost laughed. “You did that on purpose?”

“I only want to secure a good future for this child.”

Raised by the Grand Princess, taught by the National Preceptor. With such a background, it was an excellent hand that anyone with the slightest bit of sense would be unable to ruin.

It was just that the Grand Princess seemed to have some old grievance with the National Preceptor. She lowered her eyes, as though recalling something from their youth.

“If Imperial Sister is unwilling, I have other ways. There is no need to force yourself.”

She smiled, as though entirely at ease, but there was still a haze in her eyes. She said, “It’s nothing. Let him come here to teach. I will arrange a place for him.”