Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I returned to the Liu clan estate to pay my respects to my uncles and elders.

“Tan Sanque raised his banner in the name of rescuing the throne, yet now he faces south and calls himself king. He uses my dignity as princess to command the lords. He is nothing but a traitor to Han. We are all imperial kinsmen gathered here-are we really going to sit by and watch a dynasty change hands?”

“The Late Emperor had no sons. The bloodline has been severed.”

“Am I not still alive and well?”

Everyone looked left and right, terrified.

“But, Princess… Princess, you are a woman…”

I flung my wine cup down in fury.

“You would rather have a man surnamed Tan than a woman surnamed Liu?”

“Today he takes a Jiangdong beauty into his harem. Tomorrow, he will take beauties from Guandong and Longxi as well.”

“Four hundred years of Han rule, and when it comes to you, you won’t even be able to remain imperial relatives. Is that what you want to see?”

After discussing it among themselves for a while, they prostrated on the floor. “What wise plan does the clan head have?”

“Disperse. Return to your fiefs. Stockpile grain and muster soldiers.”

“And you, clan head…?”

“I have my own way to escape.”

Recently, Tan Sanque had been planning to go hunting. Song Baoping and I were both supposed to go.

The day before yesterday, I received a piece of news: Song Baoping was pregnant.

Tan Sanque had deliberately hidden it from me.

I rode straight to Song Baoping’s quarters. She was embroidering, and when she saw me, she shot to her feet.

Her face had already healed beautifully.

“Guards, protect His Majesty’s consort,” she said, her voice full and steady.

The imperial guards rushed out and surrounded her completely.

“I am already with child. The imperial physician says it will be a boy.” She proudly stroked her belly, then her face. “Thanks to His Majesty’s wound ointment, my face didn’t leave even the slightest scar. You are aging, fading, and childless. Liu Ninghuan, what do you have to fight me with? Even if you wanted to harm my child, you would never get the chance. His Majesty protects me very closely!”

“I only came to remind you of one thing. It would be better not to give birth to this child. Before the age of five, he is doomed to die young.” I lifted the corners of my lips. “A child dying before his mother’s eyes-that kind of pain is not something you can bear.”

Her beautiful eyes widened. “You are cursing His Majesty’s child to death!”

Not just the child.

He had to die too.

A family, after all, should be kept neat and complete.

Because I had deliberately provoked her, Tan Sanque indeed threw me into the cold palace.

“You have gone mad! I am twenty-eight this year. It took me so long to finally have this one child, and you actually want to harm him!”

“Ning Huan, for the sake of our old affection, I have tolerated you for a long time. But you truly are jealous by nature, ugly in both face and heart.”

“You need not attend the spring hunt this time. Stay in the cold palace and properly reflect on your disloyalty and lack of filial piety! When you have thought it through, you will kowtow to Madam Song and apologize!”

In the cold palace, the moonlight was lonely and cold.

I took out my armor and sharpened my blade.

At midnight, I saw a slender figure sneak in and place a pot of wine and four small dishes before my window.

On top of them lay a branch of apricot blossoms still wet with dew.

I called out to him. “Who are you?”

The young man knelt, his face flushed. “Greetings, Princess. I am Wei Feng, Commander of Imperial Guards.”

“Raise your head.”

He lifted his head but lowered his eyes, not daring to look at me.

I, however, was struck with shock.

That face was clearly the young man from my dream-the one who had collected my corpse.

But in the dream, he had not been dressed as a mere guard. He had been the Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies.

If that dream had been a prophecy…

Then this young guard would one day be the great marshal who brought peace to the realm.

I picked up the apricot blossom branch and toyed with it.

“Oh-I remember now. Every few days, flowers appear before my window. Wei Feng, why do you send me flowers?”

Wei Feng cupped his hands and bowed deeply.

“I am originally from Xuzhou. When I was young, Xuzhou was massacred, and I lost both my parents, leaving me alone and helpless. Fortunately, the Princess passed through, drove out the bandits, and led one hundred thousand refugees across the river.”

“At the time, I was on a small boat beside yours and was blessed to behold Your Highness’s heavenly countenance. I will never forget such a great kindness for as long as I live.”

I remembered protecting the people as they crossed the river back then. It had indeed been an exceptionally beautiful battle. I could not help smiling.

“Wei Feng, today I want to leave this cold palace and go outside the city for a look. Do you dare come with me?”

For the first time, Wei Feng looked directly at me. His eyes seemed to reflect a sky full of stars. “This subject is willing to brave boiling water and raging fire for you, and would die ten thousand deaths without regret!”

That night, I took Wei Feng and the Eighteen Cavalry of Yanyun and escaped that cold city.

On the plain at the foot of the mountain, all was song and dance, as if the world were at peace. Tan Sanque had Song Baoping in his arms and was drinking in pleasure.

I drew my sword and pointed down the mountain. “Wei Feng! His Majesty is getting on in years and can no longer swing a blade. I see you have quite the talent of a commander. Would you like to lead my troops and fight a few battles for practice?”

Wei Feng’s face flushed crimson. “Huh? I…”

“Boys must be brave!”

Wei Feng cupped his fist. “This subject is willing to do everything within my power.”

Three months later.

This shy eighteen-year-old youth had taken more than seventy cities in succession without a single defeat.

I straightened my robes and crown, entered Jingzhou as its ruler, and took the post of Governor of Jingzhou.

Tan Sanque went mad. He sent eighteen gold-sealed summons in a row, urging me to return.

Heh.

I simply would not.

Xu Liang came to Xiangyang City as an envoy.

“When His Majesty returned and couldn’t find the Princess, he was horrified. He turned the imperial capital upside down and even believed for a time that Madam Song had secretly murdered you.”

“Later, when he learned that you had taken control of Jingzhou, he shouted in court, asking who Wei Feng was. Hah! A wet-behind-the-ears brat dares to take command?”

“Madam Song openly said in the great hall that the Princess was rebelling and ought to be beheaded. His Majesty flew into a rage and slapped her, causing her to miscarry.”

“Hahahahahahahahaha!” Xu Liang and I burst into laughter at the same time, then happily clinked cups.

“What bullshit does Tan Sanque want you to spew this time?”

Xu Liang stroked his beard. “Naturally, he wants me to persuade you to hurry back. He says the Princess is merely a woman, yet shows her face in public and fails to observe feminine virtue.”

“A skeleton already rotting in its grave.” I shook my head. “Xu Liang, since you have come, don’t go back. Managing internal affairs alone is truly exhausting. Wei Feng expands our territory too quickly. I can’t gather grain and provisions fast enough.”

“That was exactly my intention.”

Not only had I escaped, I even poached the Chancellor to escape with me. Tan Sanque, are you angry?

Tan Sanque was indeed very angry.

Upon receiving Xu Liang’s letter of resignation, he spat blood on the spot.

But very soon, he brought five hundred thousand soldiers and seven thousand warships to come find me.