No Repeats

The proposal

(Author's note - Hello everyone, this is the second last chapter of Shu Mei's story, thank you for coming along the journey with me!)

It has been a month since he has woken up, but the recovery and healing process has been slow. In addition to using up all his powers in the battle, Bai Ye had also suffered severe internal and external burns from the backlash. Luckily the burns have long healed and the internal inquiries are healing well, leaving him with only mild discomfort. The remaining concern was that his internal force has all but disappeared.

Shu Mei tried to give back some power that he had previously transferred to her, but his body is too weak and rejected it. Bai Ye has become a normal person now without internal force. The loss of his internal force in addition to his scarred face and missing arm made Bai Ye feel insecure and withdrawn. His gloominess was evident, and Shu Mei racked her brains on how to help him recover mentally.

One day, while Bai Ye was meditating, a servant requested Bai Ye to follow him. Bai Ye felt apprehensive as he followed behind the servant, it has crossed his mind, more than once, that he is now a useless cripple who have nothing more to offer the Princess. Shu Mei is so beautiful and with her special identity, she deserves to be with a man who could represent the royal family.

He had thought about secretly leaving the palace, but he could not bear to leave the clingy woman behind. Every night she would cling to him and rest her head on his chest, covering his body with her long silky black hair. Every day he thought to leave, but his bleeding heart refused to allow him to take a step away from her.

There was an irrational fear in his heart as he followed the servant away from her own palace, maybe she is using this method to evict him without having to deal with a tearful goodbye. Bai Ye sighed, even though just thinking about it hurts his heart, he will be willing to go with whatever she wanted, as long as she is happy.

The servant led him to a building in the outskirts of the imperial palace that was heavily guarded and then walked down a series of dark stairways. Bai Ye have seen this type of building before, usually buildings with basements that are so heavily guarded must detain violent or high value criminals.

He smiled sadly, was it all a dream and now she wants to detain him?

Even though he knew that was impossible, there was a tiny bitterness in his heart bought about by his insecurities and he allowed it to fester in his consciousness. (Author's note – I'm so sad, seems like Bai Ye is suffering from depression)

When he was unconscious, he distinctively heard her one-sided conversation with him every day and heard about how she cared for him during that time. He knew in his mind and heart that her feelings for him is not insignificant, but his own insecurities caused him to think that her feelings stemmed from the need to repay him for saving the empire. Not wanting to make her feel more indebted to him, Bai Ye had resisted sharing with her about his time in the stone.

"Young Master Zu, please come into this room and stay silent. The Princess asks that you enjoy the show and watch until the end," said the servant before bowing and closing the door behind him.

Bai Ye looked around the nicely furnished room, the comfortable wooden lounge in the middle with a plate of fruit and pastries one side and facing an intricately embroidered silk screen on one wall. He walked towards the silk screen and was taken aback by the scene before.

The silk screen looked opaque from afar but from a specific angle it became almost transparent. This must be the infamous double embroidered vision blocking screen. Bai Ye looked at the room that the screen was covering and felt warmth spreading through his heart and a small smile lit his face.