Chapter 272
Chapter 272
When Yang Hui woke that night, she felt inexplicably reassured.
Cold sweat still soaked her clothes, but she was no longer as frightened as usual.
Strangely, for a long time afterward, she slept soundly each night and had no more nightmares.
The days passed, and soon it was time to give birth.
To welcome his first child, Prince Wu took the rare step of putting aside military affairs. He sought out no concubine either, instead spending the entire day in Ning’an Courtyard.
At dusk, when an infant’s cry rang out, Prince Wu rushed into the main room.
From then on, the mansion had a delicate, beautiful eldest legitimate daughter.
Prince Wu named her Zhao Wan himself. After news reached the capital, the emperor soon issued a decree granting her the title Princess Fenghua.
Zhao Wan’s birth also brought her parents closer for a time.
Prince Wu would have gladly visited Ning’an Courtyard three times a day just to see her. He even wanted to stay the night.
He only gave up the idea because his snoring might disturb his daughter.
But those days did not last long either. Soon, another new woman entered the inner household.
Prince Wu again began lingering day and night in a concubine’s courtyard, rarely finding time to visit Ning’an Courtyard.
His daily visits became visits every other day, then once every three to five days.
Unable to see her father, Zhao Wan cried incessantly. Even then, Prince Wu, absorbed in his pleasures, only blamed his wife for failing to care for their daughter properly.
On the night of her deepest despair, Yang Hui dreamed again.
Once more, she found herself in that chamber, and the voice sounded again.
“I can give you a way to keep the princess always in His Highness’s thoughts, so that he will cherish her forever.”
Those words tempted Yang Hui once more.
“What way?”
“Brew some wine according to the recipe I give you and have His Highness drink it.”
Prince Wu rarely drank. Yang Hui did not think it would work.
But the voice said, “This is no ordinary wine. It is medicinal wine, made from common medicinal ingredients. I will simply add one extra thing to it.”
Yang Hui asked, “What will you add? Could it harm His Highness?”
The voice answered, “Of course not. But remember to cut off a lock of the princess’s hair and steep it with the ingredients when you make the wine.”
Upon waking, Yang Hui immediately ordered her servants to prepare the medicinal ingredients and worked through the night, brewing wine by the method given in her dream.
It needed only seven days before it was ready.
She thought of an explanation and had the servants deliver it to Prince Wu.
After drinking it, Prince Wu did indeed come to Ning’an Courtyard that very evening. Not only did he praise the wine, but he personally soothed Zhao Wan to sleep before he would leave.
Knowing that the medicinal wine worked, Yang Hui continued brewing it.
Prince Wu became thoroughly addicted. A day without drinking it left him uneasy, and so did a day without seeing his daughter.
Zhao Wan grew up cherished beyond measure. When she was five, word came from the capital that the empress dowager wished to see her granddaughter. She personally sent people to bring the girl to the palace for a stay.
During that period, unable to see his daughter, Prince Wu actually fell ill. Even after recovering, his health was much worse.
Within two years, he retired from the Golden Plume Army to recuperate at home.
By then, Zhao Wan was seven.
That same year, having left the army, Prince Wu acquired a beautiful concubine surnamed Du and doted on her greatly.
Within a few months, Lady Du became pregnant.
When Yang Hui heard the news, she felt an inexplicable fear.
Though Prince Wu still treasured Zhao Wan, he also longed eagerly for a son.
He often took his seven-year-old daughter to Zhenxia Courtyard, asking her to talk more to the child in the womb.
Zhao Wan resented this too. After visiting Lady Du, she would go to her mother and complain tearfully.
Hearing her daughter cry made Yang Hui even more anxious. She would not allow anyone to take a share of the love that belonged to her daughter.
She began longing desperately to enter the dream, wanting the voice there to help her.
Yet the more she longed for it, the less she could dream of it.
Until one night, a shadow suddenly appeared beside her bed. “You wanted to find me?”
Yang Hui recognized it as the voice from her dreams.
She said, “I want you to help me.”
The shadow laughed coldly. “Helping you is not impossible. But there will be a price.”
Throwing caution aside, Yang Hui replied, “Any price!”
The shadow continued, “I want this body of yours for my use.”
Yang Hui immediately nodded. “As long as you let my Wan’er grow up safely, free from harm, and remain His Highness’s most beloved child forever, I agree!”
The shadow was equally prompt. “Then everything shall be as you wish.”
As the words faded, the shadow passed through Yang Hui’s body. She rolled off the bed and fell to the floor, convulsing violently.
After that, she could no longer move her legs and had to remain in a wheelchair.
She thought this was the price she had to pay.
But events proved otherwise.
From then on, her daughter often could not see her and would speak to another version of her in Ning’an Courtyard.
She herself was plainly there. She could hear, see, and even touch, yet seemed cut off from everyone.
The day of Lady Du’s delivery soon arrived.
But that night, no news of a birth came. Instead, they learned that she had disappeared.
A pregnant woman on the verge of giving birth had simply vanished.
When Yang Hui heard the news, she did not know what to feel. She had already grown used to remaining in the mansion like an outsider.
She had also grown used to another version of herself frequently appearing in Ning’an Courtyard.
Whenever that “Yang Hui” appeared, she was automatically isolated, as though trapped in an Illusionary Realm.
But she did not mind, because Zhao Wan was indeed growing up safely, surrounded by everyone’s love.
Prince Wu, however, was aging rapidly. Though not yet forty, he looked fifty.
He still drank the wine personally brewed by his wife every day. It seemed to possess a kind of magic, always reminding him of his proud, vigorous days on the battlefield.
One concubine after another became pregnant, yet not one gave birth safely. They either died suddenly during pregnancy or just as delivery approached.
So many such incidents occurred that all sorts of rumors spread, including tales of a haunting. Even Prince Wu, who had never believed in such things, wavered once.
But the occultist he invited still disappointed him. The man declared that the mansion was cursed because of its history and urged him to move out at once.
Furious, Prince Wu had him beaten and once again expelled from Liangzhou City.
When the princess was fourteen, Prince Wu passed away in a concubine’s bed. He was only thirty-nine.
To protect his reputation, no one dared let the truth spread. It was only said that he had died of illness.
Afterward, all the concubines were dismissed. Some, having nowhere to go, even killed themselves by striking their heads against Prince Wu’s tomb.
Zhao Wan did indeed become the mansion’s only child.
“Even today, I don’t know whether I was the one who caused your father’s death…”
“But my sins are truly grave, and I cannot be forgiven…”