This is chapter 41! :)
Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I'm going through a lot recently and even now I'm sick. Plus this chapter is so full of emotions that it's super hard to write. But please do enjoy this chapter! :)
Oh and hey WHAT IS THAT?! YES! Love In The Palace finally has a trailer! Please do check it out! It's made by LidiyaKolonina
She's very patient with me and she's definitely a good partner to work with! You all should check out her profile and if you need any trailer, I recommend her! :)
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Recap: in the previous chapter, Consort Lana revealed everything to Crown Prince. Crown Prince was so devastated and heart-broken. He saw Jade in her lowest state and finally decided to let her leave the palace because that is the only way she can survive.
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"Mistress, your soup is here." Lis speaks in her casual straight tone, heartless and merciless after Crown Prince has left Jade's quarters.
Both the girls can hear very clearly the woman's voice outside, but they just look at each other without spouting a single word. Rowena hastily wipes off her tears with her sleeves and heads to the front, opening the doors for Lis. Lis, presumably the highest-ranking lady-in-waiting, carries the poisonous soup inside without batting a second look at Rowena. She finds Jade who is painstakingly propping herself up with both her hands.
"Mistress, please." Jade only gives an eyeful at the unpleasingly dark brown almost black-coloured soup.
"There is...no need for the soup anymore."
"Yes?"
"Please...tell the Empress... I will leave the palace..."
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What is trust? It is the most fragile thing that one can ever have. It breaks so easily with merely a single accidental touch. Yet, it is the hardest thing to repair ever, even harder than the legendary precious jadeite. He thought that there is at least someone trustworthy in the palace, someone to trust and someone to confide in. Now, that person is gone, she has left the palace, forever. She may never return anymore, unless fate says otherwise.
He watches as the birds scatter away from an unprecedented burst of wind blowing past the trees. They all, with their wings, go to many different directions, but most certainly they are all headed to places outside the palace. Then he watches as a bird which wing has been injured is left on the grounds, unable to move, unable to fly, unable to escape this golden cage.
He is just like that injured bird, as all the birds have left him alone in a place that has thick layers of fog blocking the sight of the future. He can no longer predict his future. In fact, he has never been able to. He can never predict that Seventh Princess, his love, will be married to the North. He can never predict that a Mistress will leave the palace for good. He can never predict that he has matured so much.
Maybe the reason she left the palace for good was because of him, because he once placed an interest in her, not because of love, but because he needs the warmth of someone who is able to empathize, or at least sympathize with him, despite knowing that she is the Mistress. The people he wants to keep always leave, yet those that he wants to be gone, stay. He has lost people whom he can trust in the palace, his main source of comfort, his main source of serenity. The two women, excluding Consort Shine, who are the most important people in his life. They have flown away from the palace, never to return anymore.
He stares down on his own hands, gripping on the piece of cloth with black words written on it.
"Birds fly, I follow
Who is left in the palace?
Love and friend
Promises must be kept
Jade is leaving
If fate allows, we may meet again"
Her name carries the word peace. Maybe that is the reason why she is leaving the palace, because the palace carries atmosphere that does not suit her name. Her name, since birth, has forbidden her from stepping into the politics and chaos of the place cursed with thousands of years of misfortune.
Again he stares at the injured bird which struggles to move its own wings but to no avail. His tears, after so long, drop for the first time. His tears of farewell for his most trustworthy friend, his tears of loss.
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It is the journey back home to the Mistress' household, they said. Is is the journey back to let Mistress recover from her sadness, they said. It is specifically arranged by Crown Prince with permission from the Emperor and the Empress, they said.
They just do not know, that it will be for the last time she will ever be heard.
The carriages are ready. She is ready, he is ready, everyone else is ready, but not the couple's hearts. They ache, they thump loudly against their ribcages, they carry so much regrets and pain as thousands of unsaid words get stuck in their throat. They are crying in their hearts, but they put on a happy facade for others to see.
He holds out his hand and she receives it. They both take their time strolling through the gates of the palace, leaving behind a trail of memories that will be the most painful for them and most unforgettable ones. The moments they spend together walking through the gates indirectly marks the end of their union, for he has granted her her preciously-sought serenity and she has gained her long sought-after freedom.
The carriage is now right before her. She still has time to return, but it will simply mean returning to death. She grips his hand tightly as he helps push her up the platform then he follows suit, sitting right next to her, their arms touching each other's but they pretend that it does not happen.
"Depart!" A loud sound of whip slapping against the air as a sign of departure can be heard as the carriage slowly moves into a steady speed while soldiers run behind the carriage. That very moment, feelings of reality slaps Jade out of her dazed expression and immediately she flips open the silk covering the window of the carriage. She peeks out of it, giving the palace, the place she has been staying at for the past five years to almost six years, the place she has experienced so much, for the one last time.
She has left Rowena there, under Consort Lana. It is better for Rowena, to stay in the palace than to follow a dying person to the unknown. For her help, Jade only brings along with her an experienced servant whom she trusts, who will of course return to the palace once Jade is gone, or when her master wants to return though it is quite impossible.
It is weird how things have changed so much between them that they cannot even think of anything to say to each other, thus they remain silent throughout the entire journey, throughout the entire ride.
The carriage goes past the capital city, past the gates, into the vast grass field. It is so pleasing to the eyes, the air is so much fresher and the cool breeze blows the yellowing grasses, creating an illusion of the grasses waving at her. The birds are flying above her, swiftly, so pain-free that she is envious. She hopes that in her next life she will be reincarnated as a bird, because they will not feel the pain like humans do.
When the sun has set, the carriage steers off the road into the riverside, where the travelling group will be resting.
It is at this river where the fateful event will happen, or so-called happen. She and her servant has heard from him, that tomorrow dawn they both will have to secretly leave the group into the forest, where someone else will fetch them and bring them to another city. In the morning, they will be reported missing and after three more days, he will ask everyone else to stop searching for them and pronounce them missing-dead, reason being the river has drowned and swept them away. She will be recorded as dead, that the heavens have fetched her back to end her sufferings.
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Her servant blows the last candle out, the smoke travels around the area for a while before dissipating into nothingness in the air. Darkness engulfs the white tent set up by the soldiers. Everyone is supposed to be sleeping, or going to sleep for now, except for some soldiers, but not Jade, her servant and Crown Prince. It seems as though they are unable to sleep, that their hearts are thumping loudly anticipating the agreed time in anxiety.
They all wait in silence, in one tent, pretending to be asleep, trying not to fall asleep but the fear of failing the plan has successfully kept them up all the time. Maybe the servant has sensed the crumbling trust between the two, as there exists an awkward gap between the Crown Prince and the Mistress. Their eyes are slightly sunken and their lips dry while swear roll down their temples non-stop.
"Your servant excuse herself." Crown Prince and Jade remains silent, an act of agreement to the servant's request. When the servant disappears from the tent, it can only mean one thing, and that is the time is coming near. And now that there are only two of them in the tent, the silence creeps into every single corner of the tent, driving their uncomfortableness out.
Crown Prince's fingers finds its way to hers, they grip hers tightly, perhaps for one last time. There are so many words that they both want to pour out of their hearts, but perhaps those words are better off to remain locked up forever in their hearts, though surely fate is toying with their lives, for they may never meet anymore. The next time they will ever meet, will be a tearful and a heart-breaking one.
"This...is for you..." From his sleeves, Crown Prince digs out his favourite bamboo flute complete with a red string tied to a small golden plate that symbolises the Imperial Family. He leaves on Jade's lap and she holds it tight, for it will be the thing that she carries with her forever, the thing she uses to rid her longing for him.
"You must live on." Crown Prince can only make out those simple words, and he can no longer express his true feelings, like how he used to. He was sure that their relationship is not between a head of the family and a woman who will bear his children and continue his bloodline, but really between a husband and a wife who love each other. He was extremely delighted and grateful for that, though now he hopes that their relationship is the former one, because the latter is way too painful to bear.
"Your Highness too, must live on." And then they fall into silence again, each mourning over the death of their love. In the darkness and silence, they both catch the voice of Jade's servant from outside of the tent.
"Mistress, it is time. Please hurry up." Jade's eyes shoot up at the entrance of the tent, where the white cloths are draped over. She pushes herself up painstakingly but Crown Prince does not help her up. Perhaps if he touches her one more time, he will go against his own words and not let her go. Jade looks down at her own body, she is wearing the palace servants' uniform, disguising as a servant to escape indeed is much easier.
Without herself expecting, she has felt her tears running down her cheeks as she turns around to pay her respect to her husband for one last time. Her legs may be weak, but she wants to and she forces herself to. So she lowers her body into a curtsy.
"Mistress Leanne...is requesting for...her leave..." It takes Crown Prince several moments before he can reply to her request. He holds back his tears as much as possible.
"Granted." Then she forces her body upright again, nods her head as she turns her body around. In that very moment, Crown Prince's hand speeds to hold her hand, as though begging for her to stay. Jade can feel his warm hand, and she knows that she will miss his presence, but everything has to end. Everything has to stop here before any of them will fall victim to the battle in the palace. She takes her steps and she can feel his grip on her hand weakens. As her hand is finally freed from his, Crown Prince's tears roll down his lids, to his cheeks and drop onto his robes. Then she disappears behind those white cloths.
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The next morning, chaos soon takes over the tent as the news of Mistress missing spreads. Two soldiers are sent on horses with full speed to inform the palace, while the remaining search for traces of the Mistress around the tent and in the river. Even when half a day has passed, there is still no news of Mistress Leanne. The search continues on for two days, until they soldiers find a familiar pair of sky blue shoes that belong to Mistress downstream. More soldiers are sent to find her, though in the end, on the third day, Crown Prince announced the stop of the search and pronounced Mistress Leanne as dead. A funeral is held for her, though the coffin is empty.
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That is the end of this chapter. Oh my god I can't believe it's happening, releasing the chapter where Jade leaves the palace and the trailer is first introduced at once is just perfect.
Love In The Palace hits 200k reads! Omg... THANKS TO ALL OF YOU READERS! I love you all so much omg thanks to all of you! Without you, this can never happen. I really don't know what to say. You're all the best! ❤️
Anyway, what do you all think about this chapter? Please do let me know in the comment! :)
See you in the next chapter!