Love In The Forbidden City (Completed)

Chapter XV - The Divorce Announcement (Revised)

Apart from my marriage, I had to take care of others' love affair. Everyone in the palace knew that the Tenth Prince and Gorolo Ming Yu always quarreled. It had been eight years but Pussycat was still envious of me. She had always believed that the Tenth Prince loved me and had thus constantly hit him. This time, she had gone over the board. During a gathering, the Tenth Prince showed up with a bruised eye and flushed cheeks.

"Where is Father? I cannot tolerate with that shrew anymore. I want to divorce her," the Tenth Prince roared. Anger blazed within his eyes. His mouth hung open as he gasped for air.

Herald Lee stepped forward. "The emperor is still resting. Kindly wait for a while."

"Wait? I cannot wait anymore. Look what she had done to me. I just gave her a Tanglong which I planned to give to Ruo Xi, and she exploded like a volcano." The Tenth Prince wheeled around the hall, displaying his face to his brothers. "I want to divorce that shrew no matter what."

I nearly bit off my tongue trying to keep quiet, until finally, the nosy part of me won. "Tenth Prince, please stay calm." I approached him. "Could you allow me to tell you a story?"

"Speak your mind."

"I remembered when I was still a young maiden in the Northwest, the first dessert that I had ever tasted was a candied gourd and I loved it. I threatened Father that I would only eat proper meals if he bought me a candied gourd. One day, the stall didn't open. Father had no choice but to buy me Lotus Cookies. The taste overwhelmed me. Unlike the oversweet candied gourd, it had a light tang of sweetness that surprisingly still remained in my mouth and teeth even after hours. However, since I was used to the candied gourd, I never switched preference. But though I hadn't eaten Lotus Cookies in three months, the aftertaste still lingered in my mind."

The other princes nodded and grinned after hearing the metaphor in my story.

But the Tenth Prince looked ignorant. "I do not have the mood to think of food now, Ruo Xi."

I held the Tenth Prince's eyes as I said, "In your scenario, I am the candied gourd, and Gorolo Ming Yu is the Lotus Cookies. Let me ask you a question."

He made a hand gesture, signaling me to go ahead.

"Did you retaliate when she hit you?"

"Of course no. I am a man, a man does not hit a woman."

"Pardon my direct tongue, but Ruo Xi saw Tenth Prince punishing your maidservants when they did mistakes. They are women too. In my humble opinion, Ruo Xi believes that Tenth Prince loves Gorolo Ming Yu. I'll suggest you think over your marriage and reminisce about the time you had spent together with her. Think of the predicaments both of you've endured and overcome. Can you let her go just like that? Won't you feel disheartened?"

The Tenth Prince pondered over my words when the emperor walked into the hall. We dropped the discussion immediately, but from the way he scanned us with his eyes, he seemed to sense something fishy. When the official meeting was adjourned, he called after me. I had no choice but to tell him the truth. This incident, after all, originated from me.

The emperor sighed, "This is their love affair. No one can release the knots except themselves. I do not have much time for them. You may now take your leave."

The Tenth Prince heeded my advice and sent his herald to apologize to Gorolo Ming Yu, but she still refused to forgive him. She had even begun to pack her belongings. She had only stopped when she received the news that General Gorolo had been heralded to meet the emperor.

Scared of her father's visit, Pussycat bolted towards the Hall of Justice and Honour and bumped into me. "You!" She pointed at me. "It has always been you. You are the culprit of the turmoil in my household. Why do you still want to conquer my husband?"