Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I have passed away.

The one crying the hardest is my Chancellor.

Chancellor Cui flung himself down in front of my spirit tablet, sobbing so violently he was on the verge of passing out.

“My King suffered such a bitter fate… My King suffered such a bitter fate…”

Someone tried to caution him, telling him to mind his words and stop spouting nonsense-the late Emperor had children and grandchildren filling the halls, and had passed away peacefully.

Cui Yan was so furious his eyes went red. He shoved the man away. “Peacefully? Have you ever seen someone ‘pass peacefully’ at forty-something?”

Exactly.

I’m only forty-five.

I’d thought I still had plenty of time.

Seeing Cui Yan getting more and more worked up, I walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

This old man’s heart isn’t good. If he gets too riled up and follows me to the grave, what then?

The instant my palm came down, Cui Yan’s whole body went rigid. Wild joy burst into his eyes as he turned around in disbelief.

But once he saw who it was, the light in his eyes died at once.

“So it’s… the Crown Prince.”

He lowered his head and saluted, his posture sinking.

I blinked, oddly touched.

Then I patted his shoulder again and said, “Chancellor, do take care of yourself. Before Imperial Father left us, he reminded me again and again that your heart is weak-that you mustn’t grieve too deeply. Great Xia will still be relying on you from here on out.”

At that, Cui Yan cried even harder and knocked his head heavily against the floor toward my spirit tablet.

My grand general was crying too, but it was obvious he didn’t have Cui Yan’s genuine feeling.

He sobbed while sneaking his hands toward the offerings laid out before the spirit tablet.

I sniffed. Mhm-cloud cakes, made by Imperial Chef Jia from the Imperial Kitchen. Sweet without being cloying, soft and chewy. My favorite.

Using the curtain as cover, I quietly crouched down beside the grand general, then-right under his eyelids-I grabbed a piece of cloud cake off the offering table and stuffed it into my mouth.

Yes. That was the taste.

Back when I’d been sick for so long, the imperial physicians forbade it, saying it would harm the spleen and stomach and worsen my condition.

I’d been craving this for ages.

The grand general stared at me, dumbfounded, as I took one piece after another from the offering table.

“Uh… Your Highness… Your Highness has quite the appetite…”

I waved him off while eating. “Just craving it.”

“Little Uncle likes cloud cakes too?”

That’s right-this was the Empress’s younger brother, my own brother-in-law: Grand General Zhou Ke.

Zhou Ke looked embarrassed and scratched his head. “This subject is… just hungry.”

I nodded, understanding. He was a big lad, got hungry fast, and training troops every day was hard labor.

I simply took down the whole plate of cloud cakes, then set a plate of jujube paste cakes on top of it.

“Eat.”

Zhou Ke looked flattered and alarmed at the same time. “Th-this… isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

My legs had gone numb from squatting, so I just dropped onto the floor. “Go on. I just asked Imperial Father-he won’t blame us.”

Sitting on the ground, chewing pastries, I tipped my head back and looked up at my own spirit tablet.

Damn it. What kind of situation is this?

Forced back online, and still expected to keep selling my life to Great Xia?