It was his first Leaders Annual Conference after his enthronement.
They say he is the number one beauty of the two hundred and fifty-six regions.
But rather than a feminine beauty his masculinity was far more apparent.
I'd never seen anyone wear so much gold and gems before.
Be it his head, ears, neck, arms, wrists, waist and ankles, jewels were stunningly wrapped around his body.
Yet the jewels were dull in comparison to his ethereal beauty.
Even to me, who stood above him, he looked out of reach.
An elegant lotus in the mud.
~Anomyous~
**********
"I can't. I'll be going to the capital today for work." Tying the strings of the golden crafted face mask to the back of my head, I adjusted the mask making sure it wasn't crookedly worn.
"No. I finally caught you today! You aren't going to get away like last time brother Ying." Shao smirked in mischief as he habitually clung to my back holding my waist tightly on his embrace.
As his fingers combed through my silky hair, I quickly cut him off, "Sorry Shao, but I really don't have time for your games."
*Shiiiiiing* Shao pulled the sword out of the scabbard which was hanging on my waist. He swung the sword as he admired its lethal edges glistening in the sunlight.
"Hey!" I tried taking back the sword but Shao quickly shifted to the side.
He pouted dramatically at my response one hand clutching his heart and the other at my sword, "Are you picking on Imperial brother's attitude? I know you dislike me but have you started hating me too?"
Observing his movements I shook my head with a smile, "How can you be this foolish? If I hate you I wouldn't have allowed you to roam around my palace so freely."
"..."
My tone grew stern as I lectured him, "Shao, I have told you several times that I dislike you hanging around those places. Early morning you reek of their cheap perfume and it's nauseating. I wish you would take your life a little more serious and start focusing on something useful without wasting your time like this. I don't mean to force you into it. Whether you do as I say or not is your choice. It doesn't mean I hate you neither do I dislike you. I just have things to take care of Shao. You know it better than anyone else."
How could I dislike you when I know you're just a carefree but kind soul? Everyone has their flaws and you have yours. You're just someone who loves his freedom, like a trapped bird who escaped its cage. Exploring whatever that comes into his sight purely out of curiosity. Honestly I wish he could be like this without getting involved in the palace affairs. I only wish he changed one of his bad habits of visiting brothels. Besides that, he was also straight forward and negligent of his sharp words that had earned the hate of those around him. But he was kind when he was needed to.
"I just dislike your habits."
"Hmm spare me some time please dear brother? When was the last time we got to speak? Almost seven months ago! Seven months! That's ridiculous!"
"Shao I really don't have time. But you could come by tonight. I'll spare some of my sleep hours for you, deal? Also as compensation you need to do me a favor."
*Clink* Dropping the sword on the ground he responded, "Yes sir, your wish is my command." He kowtowed.
"Shao! Could you please stop joking around?" I pulled him up and dusted the sand off his robes. I picked up the sword that was fallen on the ground, putting it back to its scabbard.
He gave me a toothy smile and brought his ear closer to my lips urging me to speak. After I had whispered a couple of words to him, a fit of maniacal laughter jolted through him.
"I didn't know you were into gossips!"
Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Manners Shao! Where's your self discipline? It's fine to do that when your outside but inside the palace it would create trouble for you. Just do your job without babbling nonsense."
"Yes Sir! Consider the work done!"
Unknown to me, Shao had a mysterious glint in his curious eyes as his smirk grew wider with joy,
"You know I-"
"Your Highness."
"Aish talk about hindrance! Can't any of you see I'm busy talking to my brother! Why does everyone have to ruin the moment all the damn time?!" Shao exploded in his childish irritation surprising me and the one behind him who happened to be the head eunuch of the Empress Dowager. Apologising to the prince, she respectfully bowed to the both of us as she relayed her message.
"This servant pays respect to Your Highness. Her Majesty wants to arrange dinner at her palace for Your Highness tonight. Will Your Highness accept the invitation?"
"Wait! You promised me that you would be with me tonight!"
"Oh don't mind him. Inform Her Majesty that I'll be there around Xu Shi (chinese time between 7pm to 8.59pm)."
"Brother! How could you break a promise so easily?"
Taking a glance at the head eunuch whose eyebrows were twisting in annoyance at the blunt disrespect, I soon voiced out, "Shao, it's the Empress Dowager. Please mind your words."
"Aren't I important too?"
"Yes you are, that's why we'll still meet at midnight. Deal?"
Giggling joyfully he nodded, "Deal!"
"Many thanks Your Highness. This servant will take her leave."
Watching her leave I gave Shao a threatening glare to warn him about his behaviour, "Just because you're given too much freedom doesn't mean you can act spoilt and blatantly disrespect Her Majesty, your Imperial Mother! Please Shao for the final time I warn you to pay attention to how you behave in front of people. I hate setting you boundaries but inside this palace you need to be careful. Maybe it's our fault for spoiling the youngest."
"Don't be mad brother Ying. I'll try not to offend anyone. I'm sorry for making you upset."
"But you make me upset all the time."
"I do?"
"...you... go back now. Its getting late."
Giving me a carefree wave of his hand he left the premises.
Watching his retreating back I called upon the man hiding in the shadows, "You can come out now Du Xi."
"You won't be happy with this news." He replied as he revealed himself.
"When was-" The words were stuck on my throat refusing to come out.
Ignoring my hesitation he continued, "She does have a connection to all of this. But it's not what you think. This... It's more complicated than we imagined."
Having my suspicions confirmed I chuckled lightly as I responded, "I knew something was wrong but I preferred not to dig too deep because I'd never thought she'd do something like this. It's fine... Their true faces are finally getting revealed. Let's head back to the Defence Ministry. We will discuss it in private."
"Her situation is complex. You wouldn't want to hear this..."
"It's fine. Now or Never."
"..."
"Du Xi?" I asked, receiving no response from the Deputy General who wore a deep stern expression.
"What did you whisper to him?" Du Xi looked at the direction of Shao.
"Huh? It's nothing important." I responded.
"He's a cunning fox. Be careful."
Like being hit with a hammer on the head I questioned, "Who?" Not sure who he was referring to.
"You aren't a good judge of character when it comes to the people you care about. I'm talking about the Fourth Prince."
"Look here... I maybe bad at judging those I hold close but Shao isn't a bad person whatsoever. That boy is complicating and could be easily misunderstood. Yes he loves playing with people and causing them trouble, and especially cunning but he just needs someone to understand him. I know this because I saw him growing up. Trust me, he's safe."
"..."
**********
The insides of my stomach was rolling furiously. So nauseating! Du Xi's words... They struck to me like lightening and I still couldn't get out from my initial shock. I gritted my teeth rage pouring out from my bloodshot eyes. It got worse when I saw someone I didn't want to see at this very moment.
"Why didn't you inform me about him?" I frowned at the servant with a hint of frustration in my tone.
"I was told to by Her Majesty, Your Highness." She bowed her head, sweat dripping her forehead with anxiety as she swept her eyes towards the man sitting at the table across her. The Emperor was obviously annoyed to see me,
"Why is he here?"
"Am I not allowed here Your Majesty?" I enquired.
His dark eyes pierced at my face with great intensity.
"General."
"Your Majesty?"
"Get out." his calm voice was heard.
"I have the right to roam around this nation as I please, Your majesty. It's up to me to decide whether I stay or not." I raised an eyebrow at him challenging him to talk back to me.
He was taken aback by my sharp remark. Not just him but the servants and the guards were shocked by my rude behaviour towards the Emperor. The tension was surrounding the vicinity when we heard a delicate voice.
"What's going on?" She looked between her son and I with skepticism and worry.
"Is everything alright?" She glanced at me for assurance.
"Yes, Imperial Mother. Everything's alright." I smiled as I greeted her with respect but my attention was caught the man behind her, Sixth Uncle.
"Sixth Uncle's going to join us too?" A sharp glint crossed over my eyes. My hands balled into fists inside my sleeves.
"Oh no Your Highness. I just accompanied Empress Dowager since she was bored."
"Oh..." I took a deep breath in to calm down my nerves.
It seemed everyone noticed my abnormality, and I didn't pay attention to that. My patience was running thin as I rudely dismissed him,
"Then what are you waiting for? Leave... You are not needed here!"
"Su Ying, you don't look well. Your complexion looks pale." Imperial Mother had worry etched over her face realising I was not in a good mood. But not being able to calm it down meant something drastic had happened. I couldn't control my anger as I gave a sharp look to her signalling her to stop.
Sixth Uncle left shocked by my rudeness but it seemed the Emperor was not ready to back down.
"Nothing's alright here." The Emperor retorted darkly. I rolled my eyes at his silly behaviour and sighed heavily, catching his attention.
Imperial Mother ingnored him and instead smiled, her eyes twinkling under the moon, "I've prepared dinner for both of you. Come Su Ying! Have a seat. Try these dishes and see whether it's to your liking."
The Emperor watched the harmonious interaction between The Imperial Mother and I with disdain, clearly irritated for being ignored and treated with disrespect. Imperial Mother who noticed this immediately focused her attention to him as she picked up the tofu and served His Majesty to which the dish was slapped away from her hand dropping onto the ground smashing it into pieces. Imperial Mother let out a sharp cry as she held her hand to her chest with tears hanging at the corners of her eyes, disbelief and fright evident in her beautiful eyes.
"Wei Xiang!" I shouted furiously at his actions, standing up from my seat and harshly pulling at his robes, bringing his face so close to mine as I felt his heated breath fanning on my face.
Anger poured out through my body wanting to punch him but something inside of me stopped me from doing so. I can't think of hurting him. Damn it!
A solid object smashed across my face catching me off guard following Imperial Mother's blood-curling screaming. I crashed onto the floor, blood drippping from the side of my face. My hand reached to the side of my forehead and felt the wetness on my fingers. Drops of blood dripped on to the floor one after the after.
"Su Ying!" Imperial Mother came runnig towards me.
"Guards take her away."
"Your Majesty what in the world are you doing to your brother?!"
"He's no brother of mine."
"Your Majesty! Son! He's injured, cant you see? Please send for the Imperial physician!"
"This is Xu Lin's General. Of course he can bear this much. It's just a scratch to him."
"WEI XIANG!" My voice boomed throughout the pavilion. I stood firmly on my ground not affected by the blood dripping down my face. My voice radiation skills were on par with His Majesty. Having to constantly speak to thousands of subordinates at a go wasn't easy for a normal person. It required refined martial art skills.
Silence....
No one uttered a word.
All eyes turned to my figure with wide opened eyes.
"Imperial Mother, please let us solve this by ourselves. This wound... Its nothing but a scratch." I calmly spoke to her, my voice stern.
Imperial Mother nodded her head as she shook her arms off from the guards. She gave the Emperor a disappointing glare and left with large strides feeling completely bitter and sad.
"Everyone leave!" I ordered without expression.
After everyone had cleared out the area, I sighed heavily and looked straight in the eyes of the mighty Emperor who was deadly silent.
"We've been avoiding the matter at hand for so many years and I guess I'm out of patience now. I won't let you get out of here until you tell me the reason you hate me this much."
"..."
"Jealousy?"
The corner of the Emperor's lips smirked in mockery.
"I don't see anything other than jealousy. You worked hard for your people but in the end it was as if you weren't strong enough that someone else had to join you on your throne. It was like labelling you as too weak to take care of your nation. Or was it how I was treated special by your father and mother?"
This time he let out a deep chuckle as he shook his head in disbelief, "Do you see me as a petty weakling?"
"...No."
"I'm this country's Emperor by law. The Son of Heaven! This country runs at the palms of my hands. I make decisions and you follow them. Even if you have the right to change them, you don't have the confidence to do so because your heart knows it wasnt your birth right. Simply speaking, you just have the right to the throne too, just like me but you're simply my puppet in the end. You follow my rules. You bow down to me, your Emperor. It seems like you think so highly of yourself. Don't embarrass me General. The problem isn't anyone or anything but YOU and you alone." He laughed out in disbelief once again.
"What the hell did I do to make you hate me so cruelly?" I gritted my teeth in irritation.
"My dear General, you act like a white lotus, so pure and full of justice, but in fact you're just a two-faced snake. It seems you really forgot what you did. It's funny you know! You who first broke my trust is shameless enough to pretend like nothing happened."
Does he...
Did he realise my feelings for him? Was this what it was all this time?
"Can you please stop going around the bush and tell me straight out? I too want to know what I did wrong!"
"Don't tell me you were ignorant enough to forget what actually happened?"
"What?"
His feet slowly approached me as he spoke with irony, "Wow General... You are a man of wonder to me..." He clapped his hands with a smirk on his face.
"Back then, you were physically weak. But whenever you challenged me for a duel, you give it your all even if you had to stay in bed for days after exhaustion. Do you remember Ying?"
As he intimately called my name I felt my heart skipping a beat.
"Yes." I nodded.
"Sometimes I would purposely lose just to make you happy."
I inhaled sharply as I nodded warily.
"You hated it when I did that. To you all those duels we had were important. There were times where you were so ruthless and had dared to hurt me but you didn't even notice it because the desire to defeat me was so strong at the time. In my eyes you were a hard worker thriving to be my side for a lifetime but what about you?"
As he kept speaking I frowned slightly not understanding what he was trying to get at.
"I don't...."
"What were you thinking every time you spared with me so much so that you didn't even bother hurting me?"
I froze at the question.
"8 years ago, Xu Lin's rebels were gathered for a mission. And the mission was to kill me at Mount Fu."
With his quick reflexes His Majesty grabbed onto my throat so tightly as he brought his face right onto mine, his face icy cold, his hot breath fanning on my face,
"I don't think you'd ever understand how I'd felt when I discovered with my own two eyes that it was YOU, my dearest brother, who gathered the rebels to kill me!"
It felt like something inside me cracked. My mouth gaped opened with horror. His Majesty pushed me to aside with brutal force. My knees felt numb as I fell onto the ground with a loud thud sound.
"H-how..." I could only look at His Majesty's feet in a daze.
"Even after you destroyed all the evidence, how did I know?" His Majesty looked calm as a lake as he questioned me with sarcasm.
No...
No way...
How...
How did he... find out?!
BONUS:
The man in the shadows who watched the show leisurely, had a wide smile on his face. With a flick of his sleeve he left the place, feeling a sense of victory.
The Emperor who had noticed the man's presence since the beginning, held a mysterious glint in his eyes as he once again focused on the foolish General at the floor who was looking listless as tears gathered around his eyes.
This man truly knows my weakness, is what the Emperor thought as he gazed at his General, feeling a sense of helplessness that he'd never felt before.