Chapter 43.
I know it's late, but anyway, Happy New Year to all of you! I hope 2017 will be a better year for me, I can make more friends and the list goes on. Hope 2017 will be good to all of you too! :)
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Recap: In the previous chapter, the ministers at the Court are trying to pull Crown Prince down from his position, and the Emperor is slowly losing faith in him too. Empress tries to persuade Crown Prince to return to the Court which only result in agitating Crown Prince. It is then found out that the Empress has been ill since young and she may not be able to live very long anymore.
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It is spring, the season where birds serenade the blooming of flowers everywhere they go, where leaves on the trees rustle with every single gentle rush of cool breeze passing by, creating a soothing rhythmic tune to all the ears nearby.
It is just like any other day as the sun generously splashing all the living beings on earth with its warmth and light. The sky is of a beautiful crystal blue with clusters of pearly-white clouds plastered all over the vast sky.
It is just like any other day, where one will be grateful for his life upon witnessing the beauty of nature, all until the palace is thrown into chaos when the Mother of the Empire collapsed in the palace's Grand Temple when praying.
Without any delay, she is sent back to her own palace while almost all the Imperial Physicians are summoned to attend to her. The Emperor has been informed and he himself, being carried on a sedan chair, rushes towards her palace. If it is simply just like any other events where one person or two faints due to heatstroke or sickness, it should have not created so much ruckus. However, the palace has never carried so much tensed atmosphere before, as people are collapsing one by one. It has not been exactly very long since the death of Empress Dowager, Emperor collapsed, the Mistress passed away and now the Empress fainted after coughing out blood. According to the Imperial Astronomer, the Imperial Family's star is shining dimly, almost engulfed by the darkness of the night sky. This means that the strings of events have not ended, and they have just started towards a fateful end.
The continuous shoutings from outside his chambers have irritated him so much, yet he makes no effort to say anything.
"Your Highness! Your Highness Crown Prince! Your Highness!" For one last time the eunuch frustratedly calls out for his master, though he never receive any reply from him.
"What are we supposed to do? We must tell His Highness, but His Highness is not willing to open his doors at all!"
"Just break it open! We cannot wait any longer!"
So the group of eunuchs, going against his commands, barge into his chambers as they find him drunkenly sprawled out on his bed, his eyes fazed and jugs of wine are scattered across the floors.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
"Get out..."
"Your Highness..! Her Highness Empress is-!"
"Get out! All of you! Scram! I am not listening!"
"Your Highness!" All the eunuchs are desperately trying their best to talk some sense into Crown Prince, however their attempts are all in vain. Maybe he is already too tired, having to listen to his Mother Empress his whole life and fighting for the throne like there is no tomorrow. He just needs a break, a rest from everything. He can find such comfort from Jade, but it is gone. She is gone.
"Scram! Scram!" Crown Prince gropes around for empty jugs of wine and, with his every single bit of energy left, hurls them at the eunuchs. All the eunuchs, the old and young ones scatter away, fleeing for their lives and hurriedly close the doors behind them.
"My heaven's! What do we do now?! His Majesty asked us to bring Crown Prince, but His Highness is so drunk, how can we bring His Highness to meet His Majesty?!"
"We better report back to His Majesty first!"
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Days have passed. The world is turning upside down. The Imperial Family is facing the dangers of collapsing. The Emperor has lost his patience against Crown Prince, whom he deems as a grown-up man. The fact that the Crown Prince indulges in alcohol and refuses to see his Mother Empress who is on her death bed has spread around. It has reached the ears of those gullible citizens and soon the table is turned around. They are all favouring Third Prince.
Everyone knows about what is going on, but no one has told Crown Prince and the Empress yet. The Emperor has handed down a decree to not let the Empress know anything happening at the Court. She should be recovering from her illness before any problems at the Court place any more burden on her shoulders. Crown Prince, meanwhile, was placed again under house arrest for misconduct and disrespect against the Empress.
The bedchamber is still as glamorous as it used to be, because she is still breathing on her bed. She is sweating profusely in the cool spring, losing and regaining consciousness repeatedly, her lips are pale white and cracked. Her complexion is slowly losing its rosiness.
"Zeth..." Every single time she wakes up from her sleep, she desperately asks for her only son, but he has never been there. He cannot be there. He does not even know what is going on around the palace. He has been too selfish and has taken the wrong steps in life.
This time round, the Emperor is sitting by her side. She forces her eyelids open as the light shines through. In the light, she can see him holding onto her hands, gripping it tight, holding it like she is leaving soon. Maybe she is. The Emperor's health is deteriorating too, but seems like the Heaven's Son pays no attention to it. The phoenix may not be the dragon's love, but at least they have been together for many years. The affection is there, and the fear of losing each other is there too.
"Your...Majesty..."
"Rest, just rest, Empress."
So many people have come and go in his life. He thought that he should have been numbed by it by now, but apparently no. His heart is in pain looking at the Empress, who has always been around him for more than half of his life and who has given birth to their son. She may not be his love, but she is the mother to his child. It is hard to actually lose her, it is a different kind of love. Maybe he is in pain because he owes her too much, that he always has gratitude for her because she has continued his bloodline by giving birth to a son and raising him.
"Ze..th..." So how can he tell her that her own son whom she has devoted her entire life to is refusing to meet her? How can he be so cruel as to add fuel to the fire? How can he bear to break the news to a mother? All the while, he can only ask her to rest and sleep and not to think about anything else. But her condition has never improved. It has only been worsening instead. She is growing thinner and thinner as days pass by.
Everyone knows that she is not going to make it. It is too sudden, everyone is surprised. However, as the Imperial Physician mentions how the Empress has been hiding her health condition over the years, it all makes sense. Consort Shine, of course, is currently gripping the hem of her sleeves tightly as she sits down and does nothing while she anticipates for that day to come. She is standing just outside the Empress' bedchamber along with Consort Lana and the other low-ranking concubines whom the Emperor has never visited in so many years. She angles her body slightly forward as she peeks into the room.
She is dying, the Third Prince's mother thinks to herself.
Finally the barrier will be down. Things will get easier soon, she thinks again, feeling a great rush of relief after so many years of fighting.
Then I can finally have my revenge too, she speaks in her heart as she squints her eyes at the Emperor who is tending to the Empress and has his back facing Consort Shine.
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The flowers are blooming, a beautiful range of bright pink, yellow, orange, red and white colours fill the Phoenix Garden. It is assumed to be the most fertile time of the year, thus the reason why the Phoenix garden is blossoming in its full bloom, where all the colourful flowers are spread across green garden.
That Phoenix Garden may be in full bloom, but the Phoenix of the Empire has already been covered in white cloths.
Two weeks have passed. It has been the most tensed and difficult two weeks for everyone in the palace, because they are preparing themselves for the worst. Now that the worst has come, they are all weeping, be it real or fake. They just have to show that they are really in sorrow after the Mother of the Empire has left the human world.
It is a sea of whiteness in the palace. The atmosphere is extremely solemn, so solemn that only the sounds of chanting can be heard at the Grand Temple. The smell of incense seeps into every corner of the site, a sign that a lot of people have paid their respects to the Empress. No one dares to talk, everyone is kneeling on the ground, facing the direction of the Empress' coffin. Everyone is grieving.
Then all of a sudden, from the gates, loud running footsteps which break the silence can be heard from a distance. Everyone turns their heads around, except the Emperor. He has expected that person to come running, sooner or later.
"Mother Empress!"
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What is regret? It is something that always comes and only comes when everything is already too late. That is why it is called regret, because time cannot be reverted back. Sometimes, humans really need to taste regrets before they come to their senses. They need to feel the pain of regret, before they are willing to change. However, by the time they understand the bitterness of regret, it would have been all too late. So, is it better for them to feel the regret, or not at all?
What is the point of repenting for your sins when your Mother Empress has already departed? Maybe there is. The point is, that at least you realise your fault, because other humans always want to see those who have sinned to regret, to see them admitting their faults. It is human nature. However, not forgiving someone who has regretted is considered to be even more humane.
And maybe that is exactly what makes the Emperor humane.
He allows his first son to grieve together with the others, because he at least wants the Empress to see her own son crying for her. He does not want the Empress to leave this world like a childless woman who has no child crying for her. Crown Prince is allowed the white robes. He grieves for the same number of days as everyone in the palace does.
Empress Milea Harv, passed away at the age of forty-four. She was a wise Empress and was very loved by the people for her positive influence on the Emperor's new policies and laws.
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Today is the last day of grieving. All the Imperial Family members are already standing at their designated positions, something that signifies their status in the Imperial Family. The ministers and generals are standing right behind them, all donned in white too. Everyone has been looking tired for the past few days as they have been hurled at with endless lists of rules and traditions for an Empress' death. Everyone is wearing their white robes, no one is wearing red at all. In fact, no red cloth is allowed to be seen for the funeral.
He is not there. He is still in denial, walking around aimlessly in the palace, trying to persuade himself into believing that today is not his Mother Empress' funeral.
What is wrong with my life? Why is it that people important to me are leaving me one by one?
He lifelessly climbs up the stone stairs and comes up to the palace's walls, where the guards oversee the Capital city everyday for any disturbances.
He looks at the same direction at them.
The oceans and oceans of whiteness fill up the Capital, like it is winter. The warm spring sun feels like winter to him. It is cold, he feels cold. He can no longer hold back the tears. He breaks down. He drops down to his knees, pouring his tears out and no longer cares about the guards who are watching. They all too, understand that although he is the Crown Prince, he is also a son to a mother.
Later, he returns to the Grand Temple and joins in for the last chanting for the Empress before everyone departs to the Empress' tomb.
I have just lost Jade. Now...Mother Empress is gone too. What is next?
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Okay, the Empress's gone. For the past few chapters, she's been the villain, but now she's gone. It's very sad because Crown Prince wasn't by her side when she died.
Okay so btw, I didn't know that my story is in Wattpad's Historical Fiction's reading list! Wow! I just found out the other day when I was just looking around at the HF profile and I was like, "Isn't that my story's cover? Hey that's my story?! Since when?!" XD
Anywayyy, see you in the next chapter! :D