By the time Baixun was fit to emerge from his chambers, the fate of the crown prince of Feng had already been sealed. Attempted murder of the regent was a crime of treason punishable by death, but because the kingdom was still in mourning for the late king and in consideration of the engagement, Princess Yue decided to pardon the death sentence and the king of Feng agreed to banish his son as a commoner instead.
"She should have sentenced him to death," Baixun murmured to himself as he admired the koi swimming in the pond. "Keeping him alive is bound to bring trouble in the future."
The little pond was situated in a small garden at the back of his chambers in the south wing of the Hwa palace. It wasn't grand, but still pleasantly quaint. This was a feature of the inner quarters of the Hwa palace that he found to be quite unique—a sense of simplicity and homeliness. He took a deep breath to inhale the scent of the fresh morning dew. It had been a while since he had been out and about.
He tossed some fish feed into the pond, watching as all the fish came swarming in to snatch at what meagre crumbs they could get. It was remarkable how a previously peaceful pond could suddenly devolve into carnage, just by adding a new variable into the picture.
"Your Highness," Maroo said, walking over from behind. "The prime minister of Hwa is here to see you."
"Send him in," Baixun replied, tossing the remainder of the fish feed into the pond.
Seconds later, his adviser returned with Prime Minister Jing in tow, the latter smiling congenially as he greeted the prince with a polite bow.
"Your Highness, pardon my intrusion. I've heard that you've been unwell, so I specially brought along our best imperial physician to have a look. Apologies that this had to take so long, but I'm sure you've heard about the incident with the regent. Our physicians were all occupied as a result of that."
Baixun smiled, waving his hand dismissively. "That's alright. I brought my own physician. I'm already much better now, as you can see, so there's no need to create a fuss. How is the princess? I would have liked to visit her, but unfortunately my health was failing me."
"The princess is recovering well. It was lucky that the poison had not yet affected her vital organs, and she has been responding well to the medicines that the prince consort has prepared for her. She will still need at least a month or two to fully recuperate though."
"I see," Baixun mused, a tiny frown appearing between his brows when he heard the words "prince consort" being mentioned. Turning towards Maroo and the other servants who were standing by, he said, "Leave us. I would like to have a word with the prime minister in private."
When all the servants had retreated out of the garden, Baixun led Jing Bohan over to the tiny pavilion not far from where the pond was, taking a seat at the stone table. He poured them both a cup of tea, handing one to the prime minister.
"I thought I told you not to establish contact so blatantly," he said coolly, taking a whiff of the jasmine fragrance. "This is, after all, still the palace of Hwa." Although he still wore a smile on his face, there was a hidden sharpness in his gaze that betrayed the fact that he was not at all pleased with the prime minister's presence here.
"Today is the day when the crown prince of Feng will be banished. Everyone will be too pre-occupied with that. Besides, there isn't anything wrong with me paying a visit to make sure that you are faring well, Your Highness. After all, I am the prime minister and it is my duty to ensure that our royal guests are well looked after while the regent is incapacitated." Jing Bohan took a sip of his tea, seemingly unperturbed by the nature of Baixun's remark.
"What is it that warrants a personal visit today?"
"There's been a question that's been bothering me for a while, and I thought the best way to get an answer would be to ask."
"And what question might that be?"
"Why did you exchange wine cups with the princess that night? That was not what we had planned," the prime minister asked, studying the prince's expression carefully as he did so. "Pardon my bluntness, Your Highness, but for a moment it looked as if you were trying to save her."
Baixun remained calm and indifferent in the face of the accusation, the corners of his lips still tilted upwards in a slight smile. "You're absolutely right. I was trying to save her. But more importantly, I was trying to abort a plan that would never have succeeded anyway." Seeing the slight confusion appear in the prime minister's eyes, he added, "Do you know who Prince Minjun actually is?"
Jing Bohan shook his head, listening intently for what was to follow.
"He's the White Scorpion. I assume you've heard that name before."
"The White Scorpion? But isn't the White Scorpion a nomad? How did someone like that suddenly become a prince of Feng?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Baixun replied. "I've already sent my men to dig up the story. In any case, Minjun's succession to the throne of Feng is dependent on the alliance he has forged with the princess—he needs her alive. Given that he's the best there is when it comes to poisons, do you honestly think we could have killed her there and then with him beside her? We were lucky that they had another target this time, or else the arrow might have come our way."
Jing Bohan fell silent, his grip tightening around his cup.
"What should we do next? With the crown prince deposed, it is only a matter of time before the king of Feng names Prince Minjun as his new heir. That will only strengthen the alliance further."
"Be patient," Baixun replied. "Good things come to those who wait. Now that the banquet is over and the dust has settled, I will need to return to Gi soon. I will send word once I've firmed up a new plan."
"Fancy seeing you here, Prime Minister," a female voice interrupted the conversation. Yuehwa walked into the garden, stopping by the pond to take a quick glance at the fishes. Maroo was timidly trailing along behind her. "It's not his fault. I insisted on coming in unannounced and we all know there's nothing he can do to stop me. Did I interrupt?"
Jing Bohan stood up and bowed, his facial expression betraying nothing. "Your Highness," he greeted. "I only stopped by to—"
"Prime Minister Jing was kind enough to bring an imperial physician over because he heard that I was under the weather," Baixun interjected. "Your hospitality is excellent, Princess."
"If there's nothing else, then I'll take my leave." The prime minister bowed once more, before calmly walking away.
Baixun and Yuehwa looked at each other, letting a minute of silence pass between them. A great deal had changed since they last had a proper conversation, once upon a stable in Gi. If Baixun had known that things were going to turn out this way, perhaps he wouldn't have let her go, even if he knew that she would hate him for it.
"You're looking well," he said, gesturing for her to take the seat that had just been vacated by the prime minister. He had observed her carefully from head to toe the moment she arrived, and noticed nothing amiss except for a slight paleness to her complexion.
Yuehwa sat down, adjusting her red skirt around the stone stool. "So are you," she said. "Shoya says that you should add some liverwort into your medicine. It will purge the poison a little faster."
Baixun gave her a wry smile in response. "Tell him thank you on my behalf. I'll pass the message to my physician." He had never once believed that he could fool Yuehwa or Shoya by hiding in his chambers while he was recuperating from the poisoning. They were both far too sharp for that. "I didn't realise that it would have been you."
Although he had conjured up a fairly convincing story in front of Jing Bohan, he couldn't lie to himself. Regardless whether Shoya had been present, he would have initiated the cup exchange anyway in order to save Yuehwa, because he couldn't bear to see her die in front of his eyes. She had become a weakness and compulsion he did not intend to have.
"It's not your fault. I never told you," Yuehwa replied.
A brief moment of awkward silence lapsed between them, as if they both needed some time to acclimatise to this new status quo.
"Don't do it," she suddenly said.
"Do what?"
"Whatever it is you are trying to achieve. Hwa is my home and I promised my brother that I would protect it no matter what."
Baixun looked away, turning his gaze towards the willow tree by the pond. He knew that Yuehwa was still looking his way with those clear, mesmerising eyes that would undoubtedly sway his resolve without her even needing to try.
"I told you what my ambitions are, Yuehwa. If you think about it carefully, is the outcome really that bad? If we continue to exist as five kingdoms, the border skirmishes will continue and our people will have to suffer through endless fighting. If I didn't make a move, then someone else would. If you agree to this willingly, then there is no need for a single drop of blood to be shed."
Sighing, Yuehwa stood back up and said, "Then I suppose there's nothing else for us to discuss."
She turned to leave, but Baixun reached out and caught hold of her hand. "Yuehwa, wait," he called out. He spun her around so she was facing him, her beautiful countenance illuminated by the warm glow from the sun. "Why are you doing this for him? If you tell me that you wish to protect Hwa, then I'll accept that. But the crown prince of Feng was of no threat to your kingdom. It would have had been more useful for you to have framed me instead."
"Now that would have been far more difficult, wouldn't it?" Yuehwa replied with a knowing smile.
It was a compliment, but Baixun wasn't in a mood to appreciate that right now.
"Answer my question, Yuehwa. Why are you doing this for him?"
"Because I love him. Is that what you want to hear?"
It was a simple answer—and it cut like a knife. Baixun didn't know why he insisted on hearing it from her lips even though he already knew that whatever she had to say would hurt. Perhaps he needed the pain in order to set her aside once and for all and focus on his bigger plans. The prime minister had reminded him of one thing—that his feelings for Yuehwa could get in the way. They already had once, and there was no guarantee that it wouldn't happen again. If they ever faced each other on the battlefield, would he be able to pierce an arrow through her heart?
"Alright, I know that now," he said quietly. Reaching for his waistband, he pulled out an intricate silver bracelet that had been fitted with ruby and sapphire rhinestones, slipping it onto Yuehwa's right wrist.
"What is this?" she asked.
"Just something for you to remember me by." It was partly truth and partly lie. He wanted her to remember him, but this wasn't just "something". It was his mother's bracelet, passed on to her by his grandmother, who had in turn received it from the queen before her. It was a bracelet that was only ever worn by the queen of Gi, and he was giving it to her. "The next time we meet, I'm not sure if we'll be able to speak so freely. I just hope you'll remember that whatever I do, I never mean to hurt you."
Yuehwa smiled wistfully. "I'll try to remember that," she said. "Thank you, Baixun. And I'm sorry things have to be this way. If we ever meet on the battlefield, don't go easy on me, because I won't return the favour."
There was a lightness in her tone, but they both knew that she meant every word she said.
Baixun slowly let go of her hand, allowing her to turn and walk away, eventually disappearing round the corner.
A quiet rustle coming from behind forced him to snap out of his trance. He snapped his neck around, but there was nothing there except willow branches swaying by the walkway. Minutes later, Maroo rounded the corner and came walking towards the pavilion, a look of worry etched across his face.
"Your Highness, is everything alright? What do we do now?" he asked anxiously.
Baixun let out a long sigh. The birds were still chirping cheerily in the trees, unaware of the storm that was brewing in the horizon. "We'll head back to Gi first thing tomorrow morning," he said calmly. "I need to think this through a little more carefully."
#
Yuehwa had only walked up till the entrance to the south wing when she bumped into Naying and her palace maids coming the other way, a wooden tray bearing Baixun's medicine in the latter's hands.
"Naying..." Yuehwa called out, letting her voice trail off as she tried to find the words to say. When she had been the Phoenix, the two of them had been friends, but now that she had shed that identity, things weren't the same anymore.
"Why did you come here?" Naying asked, a frown marring her delicate countenance.
"I came to pay Baixun a visit. He is my guest after all."
"That's right. I forgot that you have a different status now. You're the princess regent of Hwa. If you'll excuse me," Naying bobbed her head politely, "I need to deliver medicine to the prince before it gets cold."
She tried to quickly make her way past Yuehwa, but just as their shoulders touched, Yuehwa reached out and caught hold of her sleeve. "Naying, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hide anything from you. It's just that I never thought anyone would need to know my true identity. I never intended to return to the Hwa palace if I didn't have to," she said.
"But you did, and here we are now," Naying replied stiffly. She turned her head to look at Yuehwa and her gaze fell upon the glint of rubies from the bracelet on the latter's wrist. Her fingers tightened around the wooden tray.
"I know that things are different now and it would be naïve of me to wish that they could ever go back to the way they were before, but I just wanted to let you know that I really treated you as a friend," Yuehwa said. "That hasn't changed."
Naying blinked, then a look of relief washed over her face. She handed her tray over to one of her palace maids and took hold of Yuehwa's hands, saying, "You don't know how happy I am to hear that. I was so worried that things would be different because you're now the princess of Hwa. I was so shocked when I found out. I'm sorry if I seemed a little cold earlier, it's just that I didn't know how I was supposed to act around you. Is it really alright for us to be like how we were before?"
"Of course! I may be the princess of Hwa, but I'm really still the same person as I was before. I'll still lie on ceiling beams and eat a whole chicken by myself, things like that will never change," Yuehwa laughed.
"You're not only a princess now, you're also engaged to be married. There are some habits that you should really start to change."
"That's alright. I'll never learn to be as poised as you are, and I suppose that's just the way it's always going to be. After all, Hwa is not the same as Dahai. My father and brother brought me up on horseback, not in a garden filled with flowers."
Naying laughed a little. "I'd better be going, else the imperial physician will need to brew another bowl of medicine for Baixun. You shouldn't stay out too long either, not when you've only just recovered." She placed her arms around Yuehwa's shoulders to give her a hug. "I'm so glad that you're alright now."
"It's lovely to be able to see you again, Naying," Yuehwa said with a smile. "If ever you need anything, all you have to do is send word and I'll try my best to help wherever I can."
#
The moment Yuehwa stepped away and vanished from view, the smile that had been on Naying's lips immediately faded away.
He gave her the bracelet. He actually gave it to her.
She had heard about the bracelet before because the queen of Gi had asked her about it as a passing question, but she had never actually seen it. Back then, the queen had lamented about how the bracelet never came into her possession even after she succeeded the crown from the former queen, and remarked about how fortunate Naying was to be able to inherit such an heirloom once Baixun became king. If only the queen had known that she wouldn't be the one with the good fortune of being gifted the bracelet either.
Naying picked up the bowl of medicine that was sitting on the tray and threw it onto the ground so hard that the bowl shattered into a dozen little pieces, its contents spilling all across the stone pavement.
"Your Highness!" her palace maid cried out in shock. "That was the prince's medicine!"
"Get the physician to prepare another bowl."
Swinging her sleeves, she turned on her heels and headed back towards her chambers instead of to the garden where Baixun was. She had already seen enough of one hypocritical face to make her nauseous. She didn't need to see another. All of them thought that she was nothing but a foolish girl who would be blinded by their pretty words and lies, but one day they would learn that she was far more than that. Yuehwa thought that she was weak just because she had been brought up in "a garden filled with flowers"—but even the most beautiful of roses had thorns.