It took Ye An a minute before the fuzz on her mind cleared enough to register that the glint belonged to someone's eye.
"Ye An?" The person outside the medicine room whispered urgently. It appeared as if the person outside, whoever it was, couldn't quite adjust to the darkness in the medicine room as he squinted through the gap.
But Ye An recognized his voice. "Prince Adlai?" Her throat was so dry that it felt as though claws scraped its walls as she spoke.
Prince Adlai huffed in relief. "Thank goodness you're still alive. And please, just call me Adlai."
Ye An scrambled to her knees and scooted hastily to the gap in the wall. "Why are you here? Go back! What if they catch you here?" Her eyes were frantic through the fissure. If anyone else she knows loses their life.. Ye An shook her head roughly at the thought.
"Don't worry." Prince Adlai murmured. "No one's here. They are having a celebratory bonfire. And even dragged the remaining soldiers who surrendered to watch the celebration."
Indeed, as Ye An strained her ears, she could hear the muffled noises of festivity in a distance that she had missed while being lost in her thoughts. As if finally realizing where she was, Ye An jerked her head up, her glazed eyes finally sharpened. "Have you seen Yue Fei? The physician here at the barracks? And her family?"
"I- I don't know who's Yue Fei, but there weren't any physicians here when we arrived. Only soldiers. They might have fled when the soldiers saw us coming."
Ye An's body slumped. The tension in her body fading at Prince Adlai's words. She could only hope that the physician and her family were safe.
Prince Adlai strained to make out Ye An's outline in the dark room. "Let me get you out of here. It took me some trouble obtaining the keys to this room."
Ye An remained motionless on the floor and breathed dejectedly, "Leave it. Leave me."
Prince Adlai stalled.
"What is there for me to live for? I don't even know what I've been fighting for up until now. And because of me, so many people had- So many people had lost their lives. It's better that I'm dead." Ye An's voice was hollow, like the bleak wintry sight enveloping the lone medicine room.
Prince Adlai's lips pursed into a thin line, he leaned closer to the wooden wall as he spoke. "I heard from Khenbish. About Xi Chen."
Ye An closed her eyes and saw the scene unfold in front of her eyes once again. The scene at the mountain was now etched forever in her mind's eye.
Prince Adlai continued, his voice as still as a frozen lake. "You're going to throw away your life just like that? When he sacrificed himself so that you could keep yours?"
Ye An slammed into the wooden wall, her fingers gouging into the wooden panels so strongly that a nail chipped. "I NEVER ASKED HIM TO SACRIFICE!"
YOU ARE READING
THE DAY EMPEROR: 阳明王 【The Night Emperor Book 2】
Historical Fiction"There are enough bad things in life, hold on to whatever it is that gives you joy." In the months after Ye An had ascended to the throne, she has learned about all the secrets that were kept from her. Secrets that had spanned generations. But is th...
