Chapter 3.
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Recap: Yì Róng, together with her aunt and sister, left her village to the Capital City. She was amazed by the grandeur of the city and most importantly, the palace. Ān Yù tried to enter the palace but they were denied as they were merely commoners. So they spent several days waiting outside the gates. On the fifth day, the gate was opened for a group of Imperial Family members to pass. Yì Róng saw a boy on the horse and another one in the carriage. It was the three's first encounter, on a sunny day on the tenth year of Emperor Ming's reign.
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It was the sixth day. They were still waiting outside. Little Yì Róng could not forget the scene she saw yesterday, of a group of Imperial Family members. It was her first time seeing the people who resided in the palace as owners. There were mixed feelings, but most importantly, she felt that they were too distant from her.
She was still tired after days and days of persevering under the heat of the sun at noon, directly on the top her head despite it was still the transition into spring. The chilliness of the morning and the sudden strike of heat in the afternoon, paired with the coldness of the evening that she was unprepared for, her body was tampered with the weather and she was merely a little girl. It was then that she saw the gate was opened once again, not that a group of Imperial Family members were passing through once again, but this time round a man on a black horse came out of the gate, followed by two other men behind him. He was dressed a slightly elaborate robes but he only had a simple bun on top of his head, fastened with a bronze headpiece. The sight of commoners standing near the gate caught his attention.
So he turned to look at them, and his heart skipped a beat. It was her. She came. She finally came. He could not believe his eyes. He hoped that she was another person, but the looks of hope in her eyes, the looks of familiarity in her eyes all spoke that she was the same person. So he dismounted the horse and took slow steps towards them.
"...how may I address you?" was his first words to her.
"La-lady...Yè."
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Yì Róng and Pī Yáng was separated from Ān Yù as soon as they entered the palace under the permission of the man earlier. The two were brought around by the two men into the headquarters of eunuchs, into a study room where they were then seated on cushions made of pearly-white silk. Throughout the whole time, Yì Róng was clenching her fists under her sleeves as she looked around the room. The wood was dark, they looked expensive and the rolls of books were placed neatly on a red-painted tray next to the ink brush. The incense burner was placed in the corner of the room, the fragrance travelled into every single nooks of the room, filling it with a pleasant smell again she had never smelled before. There were potteries placed on the tables around the room, with not a single speck of dust on those expensive works.
She was still admiring the room when suddenly the creaking sound of doors opening startled her and she was awakened from her awe. The man from earlier had returned after sending her aunt to somewhere else.
"Eunuch Wǎn(Wan)..." Pī Yáng rose from her seat, followed by Yì Róng and they both bowed down to the man who then sat across them.
"So...how were you guys, all these years?"
"We were living fine." It was a lie she had told, again and again, to everyone, especially to herself. They were not fine. They were anything but fine. They were burying secrets deep within their hearts that living itself was such a torture.
However, the little Yì Róng knew nothing. She did not deserve to know the sins which people from generations before her committed. She did not need to live while carrying those burdens. Unfortunately, that was not something for humans to decide. It was something which only the heavens had the rights to decide on.
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"His Majesty asked to meet at the Imperial Graveyard." Eunuch Wǎn said as he led the way out of the palace, on the horse carriage as they traveled to the sacred place of the Imperial Family. The little girl was still looking around excitedly, seeing a whole new world beyond hers. The carriage was luxurious, of course it could not be compared to the one she saw yesterday. However, it was way much more luxurious than the one she took on her journey to the Capital City. It took them not too long to reach the graveyard and they descended the carriage. She looked around and there were routes and paths and she could see the mounds of graves of people she did not know. She walked again following the eunuch until she saw her aunt talking to a man who wore a cloak covering his features. Without second thoughts, she released the hand of Pī Yáng and dashed towards her aunt.
"Aunt!" She lifted her dress slightly as she ran towards Ān Yú. Both her and the man were surprised and they turned to look at her.
"Yi-!" He aunt almost shouted her name but she stopped. She saw her aunt hurriedly opening her arms and caught her in them. She hugged her aunt tightly and peeked at the man hiding behind the cloak. She could not see his face properly but she knew he was at least not a bad person.
"Kneel quick, meet His Majesty." Yì Róng just dropped to her knees and never lifted her eyes to meet Emperor Míng(Ming). Pī Yáng also immediately dropped down to her knees, her hands in front of her.
"Who is this child?" He asked, but no one answered. He was just returned with silence. Seeing how he was not going to get any answer from anyone, he turned to ask the girl herself.
"Little girl, what is your name?"
"M-my name is Yì Róng." He remembered that name, very well. How could he possibly forget that name? At the same time, he found Ān Yù's face losing all its colours. She must be extremely scared inside, scared that he would find out and take her away.
"Good girl, Yì Róng. Can you tell me, she is your who?" Emperor Míng pointed at Ān Yù.
"My Aunt."
"Okay Yì Róng, can you go and play somewhere else first?" He asked again, and then the little girl was taken away by Pī Yáng. Later that night, the three settled into a small house-or hut-located at the outskirts of the graveyard.
"We will stay here. We will clean the graves. We no longer need to find firewood or herbs to sell for money. The palace will pay us once every full moon."
Of course she was scared, she was merely a little girl. Of course she did not have the guts to be running around the graves of strangers, cleaning them. She still knew the existence of ghosts, she had heard of them. But she knew, she could not disobey. She had to be an obedient child. So she had never disobeyed her aunt or sister, not once.
"And Yì Róng." Ān Yù spoke again.
"Yes?"
"From today onwards, your name will be Yì Rán, okay?" It was surprising for everyone, especially the girl. Even Pī Yáng was surprised, however the next moment she immediately realised why Ān Yù said so. She sighed and turned around, unpacking their belongings.
"W-why?" The girl was confused. She was used to her name, why must she change? It was so unfair, why her? Why only her? First, they had to move away, now her name was also going to be taken away from her?
"Because... Yì Róng is a dangerous name. Your name from today onwards is...Yì Rán(Yiran)."
A dangerous name, so she did not think too much. As her aunt said it was dangerous, it must be dangerous, and she did not inquire anymore than that. She believed her aunt, as simple as that.
"And you must not let anyone know that your previous name was Yì Róng, understand?"
"Okay."
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Who knew, that in just the blink of an eye, four years had passed. The little Yì Rán had grown again, her height had now almost reached the height of her aunt. Most importantly, her features were developing. Not in a blessed way, but in a cursed way. People could easily see that she was beautiful, dangerously beautiful as anyone would be easily smitten by the charcoal-black hair that was long and straight and it fluttered in the presence of gentle breeze. With a wide hat on her head at all times, her skin was shaded from the damaging sun rays and they were white, though probably a few red bug bites could not hide themselves for she still worked in an environment with wild grasses growing every single day, which she in turn had to weed.
As the graveyard was out of the palace, she still retained the freedom she used to have. Just like a bird, a beautiful one, flying around the world, roaming freely and chirping with a voice more pleasant than the heaven's music.
"Aunt, sister, I will go first." Yì Rán said as she tied her pack of coins onto her sash and lifted the basket filled with beautifully-embroidered cloths while Pī Yáng carefully placed a hat on top of her simple hairdo. She pulled the translucent white veil down from the top and thus no one would be able to recognise the face behind the veil. It might be difficult to walk behind it, but it was worth the safety, because a woman's beauty was a dagger that would one day stab back at the owner.
"Take care, do not take too long." Ān Yú replied in between her needlework.
The trip to the Capital City was a long one, however she had a horse. A horse which one day just appeared in front of their hut. It was clearly a gift from someone, however that person had never appeared, for perhaps he was not supposed to appear in front of them. The horse was a beautiful white horse, a colour so pure, white and untainted, unlike human's heart.
So despite her frail body, Ān Yù still taught Yì Rán how to ride a horse. Now, it proved to come in handy. So she mounted the horse and left, all while Pī Yáng looked on and on, until she disappeared as she turned around the corner.
"Aunt...you are right..." Pī Yáng turned around and picked up the threads scattered around the floor and crumpled them up into a ball before she threw them out of the house.
"What?" Ān Yù stopped and looked up at her. She caught how Pī Yáng looked worried, her colours were fading.
"Yì Rán...she is growing to look more...and more like her..."
"..."
"Is this a coincidence? This cannot be...this irony..."
"No...It is not. There were some Empresses from both families in the past. So they should at least share a little bit of blood and ancestry after all. It is just...really...really...why she has to look like her of all people?"
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The endless chatterings filled in the space as people bustled around, coming into and out of the city. The pair of father and son were still selling their famous roasted pork in front of the herbal store. The old lady with fully-white hair was still selling her usual sparkling jewelries all spread out on a piece of cloth. The mother of a toddler was still selling her vegetables all placed perfectly in the most desirable and nicest way possible. Yì Rán entered the city without encountering any trouble. Her veil was still let down, not allowing people to see through the thin piece of soft cloth. After dismounting her horse, she held onto the lead rope, gently caressing her horse as she led the way into the busy market of the city. She loved being there, being in the middle of business of the city, feeling the liveliness of the city that the graveyard obviously lacked. She would have to visit the Capital City about two times a week and she loved them most. She always wanted to live in the city, to blend into the lives of commoners and had friends like normal girls her age would. However, she knew she could not.
So she took most of her opportunities observing the city from behind her veil. It was unclear but it was enough. She looked on again at the people passing by as she walked through the business. Then, she finally exited the busiest part of the market into the heart of the city, where the restaurants, the inns and brothels were located. It was less crowded now as less people were passing through the area. She headed straight to a crowded restaurant located next to an inn, called the Fragrant Success. She was tying the lead rope of her horse to the wooden pole at the side of the restaurant when she suddenly heard a faint sound of horse trotting. The faint sound grew louder and louder and she looked up, through her veil. It was extremely unclear and she could only squint her eyes while trying her best to make out the silhouette before a gush of wind blew up her veil and hat so suddenly that she gasped and almost fell down.
Her heart was racing as fast as it could ever be while she gripped tightly to her chest. Blinking a few times, she looked around, finding a person, a man, dismounting his horse. His servant was at the side tying the lead rope to another pole. She looked down to see her hat and veil being stepped on by the horse, but no one said anything.
Rude, she thought to herself as she proceeded to again tie the lead rope to the pole tightly, before she picked up her dresses and turned around, taking a few steps to reach her hat and veil on the ground.
"Excuse me. Could I trouble you to move away your horse?"
That was her first words ever to him.
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Hi again at the end of chapter 3! Please do check out the summary chapter as I've just added a little bit more of the summary into the chapter! Thank you!
By the way, how is the new cover?! Please do tell me which one is nicer! Thankssssss! See you in the next chapter!