Princess In The Palace

6. A Sinful Existence

"You have an Aunt?"

"Yes, but she has always been sick. She almost never leaves the house."

"You Aunt must be very kind, to adopt you and your sister despite being ill." The little girl beamed when she heard that from him. She definitely loved her Aunt the most, she was just proud of her Aunt, who was beautiful, gentle, kind and especially talented in embroidery.

"Do you still remember your parents?"

"Um...no. I was abandoned near the forest." He had heard stories of parents who abandoned their newborn daughters or even sold their daughters off to survive, for they were unable to feed another mouth. However, she was definitely the first such girl to appear right in front of him.

"Well, I think we should stop today. I will ask my guard to send you back later. Let us meet again three days later." He said as he pushed himself up from the cushion. She followed suit, standing straight and then knelt when he left.

---

"Did anything happen to you? Are you alright?" Her aunt touched her forehead, then patted her shoulders, her arms, making sure that she found no swelling nor any wound on her body.

"N-no. I am alright." When she was finally sure that she was really unharmed, then she wrapped her arms around her to reassure herself that she was really in front of her and it was not a dream.

"Good. That is good. You should not enter the palace ever again."

"But...His Highness asked me to go again...three days later."

"W-what?" Ān Yù listened in disbelief. Her fear might have just been crystallised into reality.

"Wait. What did His Highness ask of you?" Pī Yáng inched closer to both of them, sticking her ears out attentively.

"His Highness just...wanted to paint a painting of me."

"Painting?"

"Yes."

That was the worst that could ever happen, him painting her. Her beautiful face was not a blessing, but a curse, a curse that was born with her the moment she came to this world. Because there was a saying, that a beautiful person would not have a beautiful life. Perhaps that was why those people who were gifted with beauty ended up in the palace, suffering through endless cold nights in fear and uncertainty.

---

The Phoenix Garden was filled with the most flowers it could ever have in a year, the fragrance of the blossoms diffused into every single corners of the paradise. The scent was wicked, it was bewitching, it was a dangerous smell, for anyone who smelled it will fall in love with it.

When he relieved himself of his reading and studies, the first thing that came to his mind was the palace servants' excitement about the garden that resembled Heaven. Butterflies fluttered about gracefully, like a crane that danced for the moon.

When he stepped into the premises of the garden, the faint scent of the nature's beauty travelled into his nose effortlessly. It was true indeed, that the Phoenix Garden was the most celebrated and favoured place in the palace, it was so pure, so beautiful that any evilness would have been rid.

Or maybe not. Maybe he should not have plucked a pink flower that was blooming peacefully on its own. Maybe it was his sin for destroying such a pure place. Maybe it was his act that resulted in this place being a sinful place as well. When his fingers trailed the flowering bushes as he strolled, he heard a voice that sang the melodious song of heaven, in this place that resembled heaven itself. His eyes scanning his surroundings to find the source of the voice. And he saw her.