Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I drifted into a heavy, drug-induced sleep.

I dreamed of my Imperial Father and Imperial Consort Mother.

In the dream, my Imperial Father was sending me away for a political marriage. My Imperial Consort Mother knelt on the ground, kowtowing until her forehead bled, pleading that I was still young and not clever enough-that if I went, I would only find death.

My Little Aunt also begged my Imperial Father, saying she was willing to go in my place.

But my Imperial Father said that Northern Qi demanded a legitimate princess of the blood; he did not dare disobey.

And so, little as I was, I was sent off with the wedding procession.

My Imperial Consort Mother and Little Aunt chased after us, weeping, until they collapsed to the ground.

I drifted further and further away from them, further and further…

When I woke up, neither my Imperial Consort Mother nor my Little Aunt was by my side.

The room was empty, and I felt a twinge of fear.

I walked into the outer parlor and saw He Lanzheng from a distance. He was sitting in a chair with his back to me.

Just as I was about to ask what he was doing there, I saw my Little Aunt.

She was sitting on He Lanzheng’s lap, her robes disheveled and loose. She swayed unsteadily, like an iris trembling in the wind.

“Your Highness,” she sobbed, her voice thick with tears. “I beg of you, keep me by your side. I am willing to serve you as a slave or a maid, but I do not want to enter the palace.”

“If you truly want me to enter the palace, then you must be the one to become Emperor, Prince.”

He Lanzheng gritted his teeth. “Do not even think of driving a wedge between me and my Imperial Elder Brother.”

At that, my Little Aunt began to cry even harder.

I thought to myself, *It’s over, it’s all over.* He Lanzheng hated it when people cried.

When I first arrived at the Prince’s Manor, I cried all the time, and he had threatened to throw me out to the wolves several times.

Just as I was about to go over and plead with He Lanzheng on her behalf, a maid suddenly appeared, covered my mouth, and carried me away.

I cried, saying that my Little Aunt might be fed to the wolves and that I had to save her.

But the maids only said that my Little Aunt was currently the one feeding the wolf and told me to go back to sleep.

I cried myself to sleep.

By the time I woke up again, it was dawn.

My Little Aunt was sitting before the mirror, doing her hair.

I threw myself into her arms. She was still alive; that was all that mattered.

She felt my forehead and asked if I had slept well.

I told her I had a dream.

She smiled and asked what I dreamed about, and I told her I dreamed of my Imperial Consort Mother.

I said it was the first time I had dreamed of her since coming to Northern Qi.

She froze, and her smile vanished.

“It’s because the road is so very long,” she told me softly. “That’s why it took your Imperial Consort Mother a little longer to reach you.”

But she was crying.

I asked her why she was weeping.

She wiped away her tears and said it was nothing-just the wind in her eyes.