Chapter 13

When Qi E came to find me, I was already lying down.

Seeing him walk to my side, I scooted inward to make room for him.

He sat on the edge of the bed and asked me, “Did you go to the Empress Dowager today?”

I sat up on the bed.

“Qi E, the Empress Dowager said you have heart disease.”

The Empress Dowager is a bad person, so I was afraid she was lying to me.

He paused, then nodded under my anxious gaze.

“Does it hurt?” I crawled over to him and started feeling around his chest.

It was hard.

Completely different from me.

He laughed and caught my hand, gently pulling me into his arms.

“If Lan blows on it for me, it won’t hurt anymore.” His brows and eyes curved, looking much better than when I first met him.

I nodded, found a comfortable spot in his arms, and began blowing on his chest.

After just two breaths, he raised his hand to cover my mouth.

Before I could react, he flipped me out of his arms and back onto the bed.

I saw his eyes darken, but the corners of his brows and eyes were soft as melting snow in the warm sun, and his prominent Adam’s apple bobbed.

“Does it not hurt anymore?” I asked him, muffled.

He quickly let go and sat up on the bed.

After a while, he sighed.

The scent of agarwood on him was strong, mixed with a hint of sweetness.

“Lan.” For some reason, his voice was a bit hoarse. “Have you been taking your medicine lately?”

That made me angry.

“Do you think I’m too stupid?” I asked him, puffing up my cheeks.

He lowered his head to look at me, as if helpless, and smiled, his fingers gently tracing my brows and eyes. “Lan isn’t stupid.”

“But I hope you can grow up quickly.”

Nonsense.

I’m already of age!

Just as I was about to get up and argue with him, I caught sight of the small porcelain vial I’d hidden in the corner of the bed.

Almost forgot the important thing.

“If you don’t take medicine for your heart disease, will you only live a few more years?” I stared at him and asked seriously.

He didn’t expect me to keep asking about this and didn’t know what to say for a moment.

I stuck my head out and looked around. After making sure there were only the two of us in the hall, I took out the small porcelain vial from the corner of the bed and handed it to him.

“Look, can this medicine cure your heart disease?”

He took the small porcelain vial and opened it to smell.

“It can,” he said calmly.

I was stunned.

Could it be I wrongly blamed the Empress Dowager?

“But a poison has been added. Before the heart disease is cured, you’ll die.” He looked up at me. “You got this from the Empress Dowager?”

I nodded, furious. “I knew it, she’s definitely a bad person.”

The bitterness that had just seeped from him faded when he saw my expression, and he smiled. “How did you know?”

Of course, I smelled it.

But I couldn’t say that.

“Qi E, she’s your mother, how can she be so bad!” I was truly angry.

Whenever I got pricked by a needle, my mother would feel terribly distressed.

Why would Qi E’s mother give him poison that would kill him?

Qi E let out a cold laugh.

This time, the bitterness coming from him was overwhelming.

It was so bitter I couldn’t help but hug him and gently pat his back.

“It’s okay, Qi E, my mother will definitely love you.” I comforted him with heartache. “I will love you too.”

Only now did I understand.

His bitterness wasn’t from not eating sweets, nor from being unhappy.

We lay on the bed together, neither of us speaking again.

All I could smell was the bitterness enveloping him completely.

“I’ve never had a mother since I was little.” I don’t know how long it was before I heard him speak.

I turned my head to look at him.

He stared ahead, not knowing what he was looking at, his black eyes especially cold in the night.

“Back then, she caught my father’s eye and was forcibly taken into the imperial palace. Just once, and she had me. She hated me and threw me into the Cold Palace¹. My father hated me too and ignored me.” His voice was low and hoarse. “In the third year, they had another child. That person was cherished from birth, praised by everyone, the crown prince, the one she would protect even if it meant turning me into a blade.”

“Clearly we are both her children, so why am I the ant trampled underfoot, while that person stands high above, waiting to ascend to power?”

“Since I am the violent, lawless Prince Yan, the traitor everyone wants to kill, then I…”

I covered his mouth.

Too bitter.

More bitter than all the medicine I’ve ever taken combined.

I have candied fruit to eat, but he doesn’t.

I couldn’t help but lean forward and kiss the corner of his reddened eye.

He trembled slightly, looking at me in disbelief.

I tilted my head at him.

“You are the wise and mighty emperor, Your Majesty. Earlier this year I heard the servants say there are far fewer beggars on the streets now. I think it’s all thanks to you.”

Footnote:

1. Cold Palace(冷宫):In imperial China, this referred to a desolate and often neglected part of the palace where out-of-favor concubines or disgraced royal family members were confined. It was a place of isolation, hardship, and loss of status, essentially a form of internal exile or imprisonment within the palace walls.