Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Emperor did not leave until after dinner at Huaqing Hall. The Noble Consort was overjoyed and rewarded me with a great many gifts.

She also ordered me to serve as the Fourth Prince’s personal attendant from then on.

The Noble Consort rarely came to see the Fourth Prince. The eunuchs and palace maids all said she was cold by nature and disliked children.

Only I knew that it was not that the Noble Consort disliked children. This child simply was not hers.

…

I had once lived in an isolated village east of the capital.

My parents loved each other, and our family lived in harmony.

Then, one day a year ago, a group of black-clad men stormed into the village, going from house to house as they burned, killed, and looted.

My parents hid me inside a rice jar. Before they could find places to hide themselves, the men broke down our door.

They killed my parents, then found the infant boy hidden in our cellar.

“We found him!”

The leader of the black-clad men breathed a sigh of relief. “Take him back to the palace. This should be enough to satisfy Her Ladyship the Noble Consort.”

Huddled inside the rice jar, I clamped both hands over my mouth.

Through the narrow crack, I saw my parents lying motionless on the floor, their bodies drenched in blood.

Mother’s eyes were still turned toward me…

“Should we keep searching?”

“No. Set the place on fire.”

The black-clad men torched the village, and the flames burned for three days and three nights.

When I climbed out of the rice jar, I nearly died in the inferno.

By the time the fire died out, the entire village was gone.

I was the only one left.

After many twists and turns, I made my way to the capital. People laughed and celebrated along both sides of its bustling streets.

They said Her Ladyship the Noble Consort had given birth to a prince, and His Majesty was so delighted that he had suspended taxes for a year.

Her Ladyship the Noble Consort…

All at once, I understood.

The highborn Noble Consort had stolen the infant boy and passed him off as a prince she had given birth to.

Then, to silence every witness, she had slaughtered an entire village and burned it to the ground.

But the Noble Consort did not know that ours was no ordinary village.

It was called Half-Ghost Village.

Once the villagers turned fifty, they began to grow younger.

Those fortunate enough to live long lives could regress all the way to infancy, then begin growing up again.

Years ago, the Emperor of the Previous Dynasty discovered the village’s strange secret.

Frightened by it, he sent men to hunt down and kill the villagers wherever they could be found, then drove the survivors into an isolated, barren land.

Had no one disturbed us, we would have lived there for generations to come…

The infant boy the Noble Consort’s men had taken away was my Great-grandfather.

The Noble Consort had accompanied the Emperor to admire the flowers in the Imperial Garden.

After sending away the eunuchs and palace maids of Huaqing Palace, I went alone to the side hall.

A tiny infant’s hand curled around the edge of the jade bed draped in golden silk.

“You’re here.”

The childish voice of an infant sounded indescribably eerie.

I knelt beside the bed and bowed my head to the floor. “Your great-granddaughter Qingzhi greets you, Great-grandfather.”

“Where are your parents?”

“I have buried them.”

Silence fell over the hall.

Father had once told me that he was Great-grandfather’s favorite grandson and that Great-grandfather had raised him with his own hands.

Father was always urging me to spend more time with Great-grandfather.

But I had never dared.

By the time I was old enough to remember, Great-grandfather had already reverse-aged into a ten-year-old boy.

He might have looked young, but his gaze was dark and menacing. Whenever he stared at you without moving, a chill would crawl over your entire body.

I had been afraid of him.

But things were different now.

He was my only family left in this world. I had to rely on him, and I had to protect him.

“Qingzhi,” Great-grandfather called softly, his voice hollow and distant.

I bowed my head to the floor. “What are your orders, Great-grandfather?”

“Do you want revenge?”

“I do.”

…

Great-grandfather wanted revenge as well.

But the time had not yet come. He was now a prince who could neither walk nor speak, and he was far too vulnerable.

So we had to wait.

We had to wait for time to pass.