Chapter 5
Perhaps I had knelt too long. When I rose, I felt dizzy, and a flash of light passed before my eyes, so bright I could scarcely open them.
I remembered seeing the same glare when I first came in, standing in this very spot.
I secretly raised my eyes and saw the enormous pearl encircled by nine dragons hanging above the luminous stairs.
As I stared at the dragon pearl, the glare grew stronger. Then I noticed that the pearl was slowly working loose!
Perhaps its movement was catching the candlelight and causing those flashes!
And directly beneath it stood the crown prince, exchanging pleasantries with Father!
In an instant, my whole body went cold. I could no longer hear anything. A terrible thought flashed through my mind…
The loosening beam… the crown prince beneath the pearl…
The pearl… the crown prince!
“No!” Forgetting every rule of etiquette, I cried out, rushed past Mother and Father, and threw myself toward the crown prince.
The flashes overhead came faster. Even the beam supporting the pearl began to creak and give way. With all my strength, I bounded up the luminous steps and shoved the crown prince hard.
At that very moment, the pearl and beam came crashing down. A single great clang filled the hall.
The crown prince staggered backward. I fell to the floor, unable to get clear in time, and the falling pearl smashed into my left leg.
Agony shot through it. I tried to get back onto my knees and speak, but beads of sweat poured from my forehead and blurred my vision.
The hall was in uproar. Someone shouted, “Protect His Majesty!” Then came the sound of swords.
The cries of women and children mingled with the emperor’s furious voice. I tried to crawl somewhere safe, but I had no strength at all.
Then I lost consciousness completely.
When I woke, half a month had passed.
Everyone in the capital said how fortunate the Duke of Su was. His legitimate daughter had been made a princess and would soon be a prince’s consort. Even his concubine-born daughter had become the crown prince’s savior.
Not one person lamented that the beam had broken that daughter’s leg, leaving her with a permanent limp.
The palace sent imperial physicians to treat me in rotation. Even Father came to see me every few days.
When he saw that I was finally awake, his relief was plain.
Putting on the face of a loving father, he smiled and asked whether I was thirsty or hungry. Then he summoned the servants in front of me and ordered sternly,
“Take good care of the fourth young miss. If anything happens to her, none of you will escape punishment.”
Then he turned back to me. “I expect someone from the palace will visit in a few days. You know what to say when they do?”
I nodded. “Sisi knows.”
Father stroked his beard and nodded in satisfaction. Only then did he leave.
He appeared to be solicitous in every way, yet from beginning to end, he never once asked whether I was in pain.
I wanted to tell him that Sisi hurt, that the pain kept her awake at night. But as I watched his retreating back, I could no longer say a word.
In that moment, the fatherly love I had once yearned for so desperately dissolved silently behind him.
Even my pampered eldest sister had not escaped being sacrificed by Father. What chance did an insignificant concubine’s daughter like me have?
I wanted to cry, but I could not. If the important people from the palace saw me, they might think I had not saved the crown prince willingly.
Even when my left leg spasmed with pain, I shed not a tear. The imperial physicians themselves called me strong-willed.
On the fifth day after I woke, the crown prince came to our residence in person. I struggled to rise from my bed and greet him, but he stopped me.
When he learned that my condition was stable and I was recovering, a trace of a smile finally appeared on his handsome face.
“That you survived is a blessing to us both.”
Before I could answer, Father broke in. “Your Highness is too kind. To be of service to the heir to the throne is a blessing my daughter could not earn in ten lifetimes.”
The crown prince said nothing to him. He only looked at me. “Does it hurt?”
I stared in surprise. “What?”
“I asked whether your leg still hurts.”
“It is the greatest honor of Sisi’s life to serve Your Highness. It doesn’t hurt.”
“You are flesh and blood. How could it not hurt?” He sighed. “You suffered because of me.”
In truth, I was glad I had noticed the loosening pearl in time. Otherwise, it would have struck the crown prince.
Then the whole household of the Duke of Su would have had to die with him.
Guilt lingered in the crown prince’s eyes. Before leaving, he removed the jade pendant hanging at his waist. “Rest well. If you need anything, send someone to the Eastern Palace with this jade to find me.”
I did not refuse. I accepted the pendant with both hands.
One ruined leg in exchange for the safety of the entire household and a future for myself. However I reckoned it, that was no loss.