Chapter 2
Chapter 2
That day, heavy snow fell.
Early in the morning, a palace maid brought me a fox-fur cloak, saying it was a gift from the Empress Dowager and that I must not catch cold.
Past the winding path, the Buddhist Hall lay just ahead.
But kneeling before the Buddhist Hall was a young man. He was not dressed warmly, and snow had already covered his shoulders.
I looked at him a moment longer. As if sensing it, the young man raised his eyes toward me.
He was truly beautiful, with deep-set brows and eyes like cold stars.
The palace maid leaned close and whispered in my ear, “My lady, you mustn’t get involved with the Fifth Prince. He was born under an ill-fated sign, and his future is bleak.”
So it was him.
The Fifth Prince, Gu Jiuyuan.
I had heard that on the day he was born, the heavens changed strangely, and a long white rainbow pierced through the sun.
White Rainbow Piercing the Sun meant the imperial fate would be seized away. It was an omen of misfortune.
For that reason, His Majesty disliked this son. For years, he had neither asked after him nor cared for him, all but abandoning him.
I withdrew my gaze, held my umbrella, and continued on my way.
Having been granted another life, I could not afford the slightest misstep.
Gu Jiuyuan was pitiful, but it was not my place to pity him.
Yet as I brushed past him, the wind carried over an achingly familiar scent.
I stopped in disbelief.
The cold wind stirred the front of his robe. Expressionless, the young man met my eyes.
As if possessed, I reached out to him. “You…”
He frowned slightly and turned his head, avoiding my hand. Wariness and confusion hid in his eyes.
I stood still for a long while. Then, as if waking from a dream, I said softly, “I’m sorry.”
The snow continued to fall. I forced myself to keep walking.
The palace maid asked in confusion, “My lady, what happened just now? Could you and the Fifth Prince be old acquaintances?”
Gu Jiuyuan and I, in my past life and this one combined, had met only twice.
Once was just now.
The other was before I died.
At that time, blood was pouring from all seven of my orifices, and he held me in his arms.
I heard his choked breathing and smelled the cold scent of cedar on his clothes.
With my dying breaths, I begged him to collect my body.
His tears fell, landing between my brows, becoming the new cinnabar mole I bore in this life.
That night, he said hoarsely that he had come too late.
I thought he was a friend from my past.
Only now did I realize that back then, I had not known him at all.
Song Ruoci and Gu Jiuyuan had had no connection in their previous life.
Inside the Buddhist Hall, the charcoal fire burned bright.
The Empress Dowager knelt on a prayer cushion, calm and focused.
I knelt beside her and chanted the Buddhist scripture.
“Ever cultivate the wisdom of the Buddha, possess great divine powers, skillfully know the gateways to all dharmas, be upright and without deceit, firm in resolve and thought. Such Bodhisattva beings fill that land…”
An hour earlier, a palace maid had secretly told me that Gu Jiuyuan’s mother consort was close to dying of illness, and he had come to beg for a physician on her behalf.
But the Empress Dowager did not wish to concern herself with him.
The Empress Dowager had six grandsons and eleven granddaughters.
If one counted the children of the princes outside the palace as well, there were likely dozens of children who called her grandmother.
Among them, there was no shortage of those born clever and adorable, those who knew how to read her moods.
Gu Jiuyuan, on the other hand, was cold and stubborn by nature, and he carried the ominous sign of White Rainbow Piercing the Sun. He had never once won the Empress Dowager’s favor.
It was only natural that the Empress Dowager did not want to help him.
But I wanted to help him.
Because in my previous life, I had promised that if there were another life, I would repay him.
Here in the Buddhist Hall, before the Bodhisattva, I did not want to become someone who broke her word.
Outside the door, the snow fell harder and harder.
The north wind howled, rattling the window lattices with a clatter.
Beyond the window, the figure who had been kneeling without rising seemed to be losing strength. His body swayed once.
My chanting faltered despite myself.
As if sensing it, the Empress Dowager looked over at me. “Are you tired? Rest for a while.”
She slowly rose, and I hurried to support her.
The Empress Dowager reached out and stroked my cheek. “During the winter hunt, the emperor brought down a deer and sent it to me. It has been hard on you, keeping me company in eating vegetarian food for so long. Go back early today. I will have the imperial kitchen roast venison for you.”
I looked out the window and finally could not help speaking. “The Fifth Prince has been kneeling outside for nearly half the day.”
The Empress Dowager gave an unconcerned glance and summoned Aunt Lanting.
“Tell him to go back.”
Aunt Lanting and I went out together.
The wind and snow were so fierce that I could hardly open my eyes.
Gu Jiuyuan was still kneeling in the snow, his entire body rigid, already turned into a snowman.
Aunt Lanting said with formal precision, “The Empress Dowager asks the Fifth Prince to return.”
He did not get up. In a hoarse voice, he repeated the same words. “My mother consort is gravely ill and may not survive the day. I beg the Empress Dowager to take pity on her and summon an imperial physician.”
Aunt Lanting still said, “Please return, Fifth Prince.”
Gu Jiuyuan lowered his head deeply. A flicker of despair seemed to pass over his face as he asked, word by word,
“My mother consort has always been kind. The greatest mistake of her life was giving birth to me. If I die, can she be saved?”
The young man owned nothing. Wanting to save his mother, the most valuable thing he could offer was, astonishingly, his own life.
Snow filled the sky, and all was silent. Utterly silent.
Aunt Lanting was quiet for a long time, pity in her eyes.
After a long while, she said softly, “Fifth Prince, that is not how accounts are settled in the palace.”