Chapter 38.
Big announcement! I have written out the storylines for each chapter until the final one. If the story doesn't change at all, Love In The Palace will END at episode 47! That means 9 more chapters to go! :D
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Recap: in the previous chapter, Jade starts visiting the pavilion Third Prince frequently goes to. Third Prince asks whether did Jade marry Crown Prince willingly and Jade later on asks why did the two princes hate each other. However both of them receive no answer. Consort Lana's heart slowly melts as she sees more of the young her in Jade.
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"The fight for the throne in the palace cause a lot of deaths. Many thinks that the who becomes the Emperor wins. They are wrong, actually. The winner is actually the loser, because the new Emperor will have to pay the price for being the Emperor for the rest of his life. Those who lost the fight for the throne....they are losers as well. However, the biggest and final loser is still the one who won the throne. Same with me, for I am also the biggest loser."
"..."
"You must be curious about who is the winner, right? Unfortunately, there is no winner. The fight for the throne is one that has no winner. This is the palace, where winner does not exist." Emperor, to someone.
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Silence creeps into every corner of his spacious study room, which has only bit of all its windows opened to welcome fresh air in. The doors are also shut tightly to prevent any intruders from coming in. Usually, he has fragrant incense burnt to help him soothe his mind as he reads through all the rolls of bamboo books piled up on a tray on his low wooden table. Today, however, he especially asks the incense to be put out and the servants to carry flowers into his room instead. In his orange robe with a golden dragon embroidered in the middle, he leaves his books and massages his temples for a moment before he pushes himself up and paces his way slowly straight towards the flowers. He is enjoying the colours of spring in his delighted mood when he stops in his tracks, his eyes catching the image of a pot of white flowers.
White magnolias. The faint smell of the flowers grow stronger as he closes in on it. He lifts his fingers to brush past the damp petals of the fresh flowers, his memories of the past all swarming back like a storm.
Before long, he finds the world start to spin as he loses his balance. Eunuch Fan puts aside all manners and dashes towards his master, catching him just in time.
"Your Majesty!" He gently and very carefully lowers the Emperor's body onto the floor. The ruler of the Empire coughs hard and uncontrollably into his hand. When he calms down, he removes his hand, only to find that he has accidentally plucked two magnolia flowers with him as he falls.
And most importantly, they both see blood on the flowers.
"Blo-blood! Summon the Physicians! Quick! Summon the Physicians!" In the midst of the chaos in his study room, the Emperor chuckles quietly, his eyes never leaving the beautiful flowers that have been stained by his blood.
"She is coming to fetch me." He whispers to himself happily, as though he has been waiting so long for this.
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News have spread. The Emperor has fallen ill but still can attend the Court and to his duties as per usual, although the frequencies may have to be cut down. He is only forty-five years old, but the stress that has accumulated for the twenty-eight years of his reign has taken a toll on his health significantly quick. Of course, no one will ever know that the guilt and stress over the death of his loved one may also have been another reason his health is deteriorating so quickly.
"It all feels so sudden, is it not?" Third Prince knocks his fingers on the wooden fences, creating a rhythm as he zones out, staring at a point but his mind travels somewhere else.
"Will things...change?" She asks, secretly hoping for an answer she wants, yet she has known that the answer is apparent.
"Of course," he takes a short pause for a moment before he continues with the lines Jade hates to hear most. "this is the palace after all."
A careless and accidental move has caused Third Prince's finger to get a cut by the broken part of the wooden fence. Blood slowly seeps out of his skin, little by little yet he just stares at his injured finger as if nothing has happened, as though the cut has never been there.
"Blood..."
Her eyes wander to the redness on his finger. She used to become frantically agitated in the sight of blood. Now, however, after having lived in the palace for so long, she seems to have gotten used to the sight of blood.
"Here." She pulls on Third Prince's sleeves and reaches out into her own green sleeves, pulling out a soft translucent white silk cloth and carefully wraps the cloth around his finger. She ends it with a firm but not too tight knot and retracts back her hands to rest on her lap.
"To see him abandoning you like this, it would have been better if you are with me." Of course she seems surprised by his words, for he has never shown any interest in her before. So, she looks at him in the eye, searching for answers, for the reason he says something so unpredictable and unreasonable, and then she chuckles.
"I know what you are thinking, but I am not her. It is better this way." Third Prince ponders about her words for a moment, his eyes closed in the peace of the serene beauty. The breeze blows, bringing with it the smell of spring, the smell of flowers blooming in their peak.
"Sometimes... I feel that you understand me more than myself."
"What I understand... is human's heart."
At that very moment, both of them catch a faint sound of leaves rustling. They turn around simultaneously, both of them finding a man in a purple robe standing still, his face darkens with so much shock, anger and jealousy. His lips tremble and his eyes seem to have been clouded by his will to keep himself sane, though fire of jealousy may soon take over his mind.
"Yo-Your Highness Crown Prince..." Jade whispers as she rises from her seat, her eyes never leaving his.
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Outside, the sun is waving to the earth with its bright beautiful smile, its love warms us all living beings. The sun loves us so much, it smiles all day at us. However, the sun can grow tired too, and at night it bides its farewell to us, yet tomorrow it returns again because it just loves us too much.
Why human's heart cannot do the same? Maybe because we have all the negative emotions existing within us, causing us to die slowly from the inside. Humans can love, but once they get tired, they never return anymore. Maybe because the sun has endless amount of energy, while us humans do not. Maybe this is what make us human.
"So this is why you never look for me? Because you are meeting him?" They are both alone in Jade's quarters, him turning his back on her, for he is unable to face her directly. He is too afraid that he might lose his cool.
"...."
"I thought that maybe you still need some time alone. Turns out, you wanted me gone so that you can have your peaceful time with him?"
"...."
Why is it that I cannot say anything? Why is it that my voice is not coming out of my throat? Why is it that I cannot seem to deny him? Even though I really have never been unfaithful to him?
Maybe, maybe it is because the trust that she once had towards him has already been broken long ago. She always thought that she is the kind and gentle Crown Prince. Turns out, he is also like any other people in the palace, who kill mercilessly to achieve what they want. He is also someone who is not trusting, just like those who scheme to live. Is it wrong to want to live? No. It is ironic how wanting to live is not wrong, yet killing others for one's survival is wrong. Sometimes, this world demands too much, so much that people cannot bear it and give their lives up.
She calmly lowers her body to the floor, her eyes are kept in front, never astray. She kneels on the floor, once again remembering the times when she was a mere servant who has to kneel too many times a day to even be able to count.
"Why are you kneeling?!" Crown Prince loses his composure and screams at Jade, his body trembling, more due to disappointment rather than anger. This is just her admitting her sins while he just hopes for her to deny all assumptions that he has hurled at her.
"Stand up!" He repeats, again and again, but all Jade does is pay no heed to his command. She stretches out her hand, reaching towards the teapot and the cup on the table. Her hands tremble as she lifts the teapot. For a moment she lets the teapot hover above the cup. Maybe she is too tired to pour the content inside, then her vision seems to have been clouded. Her tears will not stop pouring, no matter how hard she bites the insides of her cheeks to hold them back. She cries as she pours the tea into the cup, partially spilling it, like how her heart has been spilling tears every night over her life these past few years. Then she lifts the cup with every strength she can gather, presenting it to her love, who seems to have drifted apart so much from her.
"Your Highness Crown Prince, today's weather is very hot. Please drink."
"Wh-what?"
Smash! She loses her grip on the cup of tea, the precious piece of porcelain breaks into pieces. All she does is simply stare at it, like there is nothing wrong, like nothing has ever happened.
"Ah...right... Crown Prince is gone."
"Jade...?"
"Rowena... where is Crown Prince?"
"Jade?" Crown Prince's expression softens up seeing her in this state-crying, confused, scared, despair. He holds out his hand, trying to lift her up from her kneeling position, yet she moves away from his reach.
"You are...not my Crown Prince..."
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"The Emperor is ill." She gazes at the tea in her white porcelain cup, swirling it around, observing how the liquid slowly calms down after being stormed around by her delicate hands.
"Yes, Your Highness. It is only a matter of time." High Minister Shine slightly nods his head, his eyes throw sharp glares at the surrounding, always beware of the possibilities of having intruders or spy who may be eavesdropping their conversation.
"This Palace has more of my people than the Empress'. Rest assured, our plan will never go wrong." Consort Shine places the cup back on the table, now her eyes are set on the small patch of cloth resting in the middle of the table, itself is unusually clean for such a usually insignificant item.
"All right, Your Highness." High Minister Shine stares deeply at the small packet containing substance that must not be known to other people. Consort Shine picks it up, her eyes glinting deadly auras and her lips curl up into a smirk.
"This thing no longer has any use anymore." She throws it into the charcoal burner without giving it a second look, without caring for it, as though that thing has never existed at all. Indeed, she must treat it such that it has never existed.
"All we have to do now is wait." She whispers to herself, her fingers are impatiently clenched as she cannot wait for tomorrow to come, for the future to come.
"Jane, after the fire is out, keep the burner. Winter is over."
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Whew! Can't believe that this story will have a whopping 47 chapters when it ends(excluding special chapters, summary, author's note and 1 announcement).
Anyway, what do you think about this story? From the start of the story until now? Did things happen and change so much that they surprise you and change your initial impression of the story? XD Let me know in the comments! :D
See you in the next chapter!