Prince Xin had also heard that Prince Xiang’s carriage had entered the imperial city. However, during the morning court session, the seat beside him remained empty, and the sight of the emperor’s dragon robe stained with snow caused him to sigh involuntarily.
Prince Xiang had been gravely ill the previous night, requiring the palace gates to be opened urgently to summon the imperial physicians. How could he possibly attend court this morning?
Prince Xin was distracted throughout the day. When he returned to his residence after court, he entered the front hall to find his son misbehaving. Lu Weixiao and Jiang Qi were seated together at the same table, which softened his heart slightly.
Jiang Qi rose to her feet. Having served Prince Xin for many years, she was most adept at understanding his moods. She could discern a hundred meanings from a single expression, so she asked, “My lord, did you encounter something outside today?”
Lu Weixiao also looked at him with some concern.
Prince Xin glanced at his virtuous wife and beautiful concubine and said, “The human heart has always been partial since ancient times. Even between one’s own flesh and blood, even between the palm and the back of the hand, there is a difference in favor.”
Upon hearing this, the two women immediately understood—he was speaking of his father, the emperor.
Prince Xin seemed to have suffered some significant blow today, appearing gloomy and disheartened. Fixing his gaze on his carefree son, he said, “Tell me, if one day I have other children, sons or daughters, will I also favor some over others?”
Lu Weixiao did not know how to console him.
Jiang Qi, understanding that the best approach in such situations was to first flatter him, responded, “My lord, you are different from His Majesty. I believe you would not.”
Prince Xin hesitated. “Really?”
Jiang Qi nodded. “Of course.”
The usually silent Lu Weixiao could only follow suit and nod.
Seated in the main seat, Prince Xin suddenly grasped Lu Weixiao’s wrist tightly. “Weixiao!”
Startled, Lu Weixiao felt pain in her wrist from his grip. “Your Highness?”
Holding her hand, Prince Xin’s eyes reddened slightly. “Weixiao, though my father has not treated me unfairly, I have always reminded myself to keep a righteous heart and maintain my virtue. But in the end, I cannot deceive my own feelings. I feel pain, resentment, and unwillingness. I do not want my children to endure this kind of suffering. Weixiao, let’s not have any more children, shall we? Let us have only Ah Can.”
Prince Xin’s eldest illegitimate son was nicknamed Ah Can.
Before Lu Weixiao could fully comprehend the madness in Prince Xin’s words, Jiang Qi had already stood up and exclaimed, “Your Highness—!”
Prince Xin waved his hand to stop her. “I am not mad,” he said, his grip on Lu Weixiao unrelenting. “Weixiao, you are my lawful wife. From now on, you will be this child’s rightful mother. Together, we will raise him, move to my fief, and I promise you, he will treat you as his birth mother.”
Jiang Qi, disregarding matters of rank and propriety, stepped forward and pinched her own child’s arm. Seeing the boy’s face crumple as if about to cry, she quickly covered his mouth, pressing him down with her as she knelt. She pleaded sternly, “Your Highness, the princess consort is your legitimate wife, whom you married formally. How could you ask her not to bear children?”
Which proper family’s wife would be forbidden from having children?
Which proper family’s illegitimate son could be born before the legitimate heir and even usurp everything that rightfully belonged to the legitimate wife?
Lu Weixiao had already recovered from her initial shock and regained her composure. Facing Prince Xin’s somewhat desperate and even terrifying gaze, she gently shook her head and said, with profound disappointment, “Your Highness, you are not the man you once were.”
Jiang Qi advised, “Your Highness, if you insist on this, it would go against ethics and propriety.”
Upon hearing this, Prince Xin suddenly let out a cold laugh. “Ethics and propriety, ha! My father ignored the harem and never appointed an empress in his lifetime. Was he upholding ethics and propriety? He could trample on others’ true feelings at will, so why must I follow the rules? Why—tell me why!”
Crash—
The servants of Prince Xin’s residence stood frozen outside the courtyard, listening to the loud sounds of smashing and breaking coming from inside. No one dared to step in.
Not long after, Jiang Qi emerged carrying the child. She handed him over to the wet nurse, then returned to the room to help the trembling Lu Weixiao out. She ordered hot water and medicinal soup to calm the princess consort’s nerves.
Meanwhile, at Prince Xiang’s residence on the same street.
Li Fuxiang finally woke up after sleeping well past sunrise. He blinked, his vision gradually sharpening, and saw Gao Yuexing leaning by his side.
His wife, her face bare of makeup and her long black hair swept over one shoulder, patted his shoulder lightly upon seeing him awake. “You’re back!” she said.
Just awakened, Li Fuxiang, caught in a moment of sentimentality, felt a flood of indescribable emotions from those simple words.
It was as if his illness had taken him to another world, while his wife had stayed home, waiting for him, knowing he would eventually return.
Li Fuxiang’s illness had come swiftly and left just as quickly.
With the morning snow stopped and the weather warming slightly, Gao Yuexing checked his pulse and found it steady and strong.
She asked, “Why do you always fall ill during the first snowfall?”
Li Fuxiang replied, “I don’t know. It always feels like something is tugging at me from an unseen void.”
In her previous life, Gao Yuexing had died during the year’s first snowfall.
Li Fuxiang rested his head on Gao Yuexing’s lap and said, “I had a dream.”
“What kind of dream?” she asked.
“I dreamt we were being hunted,” he said. “In the vast capital, I led you from one hiding place to another, but no matter where we went, we were always discovered. We didn’t even have time to catch our breath… Blood was everywhere—yours, mine, all mixed together. The snow turned a dark, crimson red.”
Gao Yuexing stroked his head and reassured him, “It’s okay, don’t be afraid. It was all fake.”
Li Fuxiang seemed to slip back into the dream, as if he hadn’t heard Gao Yuexing’s words. Or perhaps he heard them but didn’t have the heart to respond.
“Do you know what the most absurd part was?” he asked.
She replied, “Tell me.”
He said, “We couldn’t run anymore. We were cornered, and I saw the face of the person chasing us… It was me.”
Gao Yuexing let out a long sigh, leaned down, and pressed her forehead against his. “Don’t be afraid. Next time you dream, take me with you. I’ll help you drive him away.”
Li Fuxiang grasped her hand tightly and asked, “Has the snow stopped outside?”
Gao Yuexing replied, “It has. The sun has come out. In an hour or two, the snow outside will have melted completely.”
Li Fuxiang threw on a coat and pushed the door open. As Gao Yuexing said, the sun hung high in the sky. It was a rare sunny day. The courtyard bore no trace of the earlier snowfall, only a thin layer of lingering moisture.
It was as if the snow had been nothing more than a fleeting dream.
This bout of illness before winter finally slowed the pace of the couple’s lives.
Needing time to recuperate, Li Fuxiang no longer ventured out every day.
Gao Yuexing stayed by his side, and it had been a long time since she last visited the Wen Yuan Library.
Li Fuxiang remained at home, occasionally calling a few of his subordinate generals to the study for casual conversations.
The study in the prince’s residence was always open to Gao Yuexing, the princess consort.
One day, Gao Yuexing noticed that the sand table depicting the western territories of Fox Hu had been set up again in the study. Moreover, an entire wall on the eastern side was now covered with their marching maps.
She took it all in silently and kept it in mind.
The days flowed by like a stream, with all the turbulence hidden in a foreseeable future.
Soon, it was New Year’s Eve.
The emperor hosted a family banquet in the palace.
Li Fuxiang brought Gao Yuexing to the palace before nightfall. The family banquet hosted by the current emperor lacked the grandeur of earlier years. Few attendees genuinely displayed joy, and even the emperor himself seemed uninterested.
At this family banquet, Gao Yuexing once again encountered Prince Xin and his consort, Lu Weixiao.
Across the grand hall filled with music, lights, and candles, Gao Yuexing glanced over and was instantly shocked.
In just a few months, Prince Xin had visibly thinned by more than a circle. As for his consort, Lu Weixiao, the exhaustion on her face was unmistakable. Even with carefully applied makeup, it could not conceal her pale complexion.
Gao Yuexing’s heart tensed. Taking advantage of an opportune moment, she approached Lu Weixiao. “Princess Xin.”
Lu Weixiao turned her head in a daze, forcing a smile. “It’s Fifth Brother’s wife.”
Gao Yuexing asked with concern, “Princess Xin, you don’t look well. Have you not been resting properly lately?”
Lu Weixiao tightened her jaw and nodded. “Perhaps so.”
Gao Yuexing stepped closer and, without drawing attention, gently linked her arm with Lu Weixiao’s as they walked to their seats.
Yet at the moment Gao Yuexing’s hand touched hers, Lu Weixiao suddenly froze, standing completely still.
The seemingly intimate gesture was concealed beneath their wide sleeves, so no one else could notice. Gao Yuexing’s face remained adorned with a serene and proper smile, as if wearing an uncrackable mask. But her actions revealed otherwise.
Gao Yuexing’s fingers trembled slightly.
Lu Weixiao immediately closed her eyes, knowing that Gao Yuexing had figured it out.
Rubbing her fingers together, Gao Yuexing trusted her judgment.
Lu Weixiao was pregnant. However, the pregnancy was fragile—whether due to the mother’s fright or her long-standing poor health, the pulse suggested the fetus was in a precarious condition, teetering on the edge of survival.
Gao Yuexing raised her eyes solemnly, only to meet Lu Weixiao’s pleading gaze. Lu Weixiao shook her head gently at her.
She didn’t want anyone to know about this.
Gao Yuexing furrowed her brows, gazing at her for a long moment before saying meaningfully, “Princess Xin, your vitality is severely depleted. You must take care of yourself, even if not for your own sake.”
The implication was clear: if she continued to neglect her health, the child might not survive.
Lu Weixiao was no fool and understood perfectly.
A dignified princess consort, pregnant but unable to announce it—Gao Yuexing sensed there was more to the story but chose not to delve deeper. After all, it was a matter of another household’s inner chambers.
Besides, the Prince Xiang residence had its own share of busy affairs recently.
As soon as New Year’s Eve passed, spring was just around the corner.
The emperor’s decree had arrived a few days earlier, and now the entire court was busy preparing for the significant event of Prince Xiang’s southern tour.
The Great Xu Dynasty’s territory was vast.
For this southern tour, Li Fuxiang would first travel south by land, then switch to waterways heading west, passing through Shu and possibly even reaching the western border. The journey would take at least six months, potentially more than a year.
The emperor had discussed arrangements for Gao Yuexing with Li Fuxiang before his departure. The emperor suggested that since the southern tour was a state matter and involved arduous travel, it would be better for the delicate princess consort to remain in the capital, where she could enjoy wealth and comfort.
To Gao Yuexing’s relief, Li Fuxiang didn’t even return to ask for her opinion before rejecting the emperor’s kind offer outright. He insisted on taking her with him no matter what.
The emperor, left with no choice, relented.
Li Fuxiang remembered something Gao Yuexing had mentioned before.
Before departure, he personally appointed Kong Rangchen from the Ministry of Works to accompany them.
This didn’t attract much attention.
However, one thing was certain: among the officials accompanying Li Fuxiang on this southern tour, those who stood by his side now would undoubtedly hold significant positions in court when Li Fuxiang ascended the throne. Thus, despite the known hardships of the journey, a group of ambitious young talents eagerly volunteered to serve under Prince Xiang’s banner.
—
On the day of their departure.
Gao Yuexing, dressed lightly and casually, rode a small red horse, following Li Fuxiang as they headed south.
Prince Xin stood on the tall city tower to see them off, leaning against the battlements as he sighed.
“—Prince Xin, so young, yet why does your heroic spirit falter so?”
A sudden voice behind him caused Prince Xin to straighten abruptly. Turning around, he saw a wealthy man dressed in a round-collared robe.
Prince Xin recognized the man and greeted him. “Master Kong.”
It was none other than Kong Shishu, the Minister of Revenue.
“I’m here to bid farewell to my fifth brother,” Prince Xin explained.
Kong Shishu nodded faintly. “I’m here to send off my youngest son.”
Prince Xin found this strange and asked, “Why did Prince Xiang choose to bring your youngest son along?”
Kong Shishu was equally puzzled and furrowed his brows. “Who knows? My youngest has always been eccentric. Even as his father, I can’t figure him out. He ignores proper scholarly studies and instead enjoys playing with water and mud. Perhaps, by sheer chance, he struck up a friendship with Prince Xiang.”
Prince Xin said no more, gazing into the distance.
The procession for the southern tour had already vanished from sight. All that remained was the endless expanse of mountains and rivers. In the gentle spring breeze, the once-dead grass and trees were gradually showing signs of revival.
Kong Shishu remarked, “Prince Xiang’s military prestige has long been unparalleled. This year’s southern tour will undoubtedly win over the hearts of the nation’s civil officials. One must admit, our emperor’s affection for his son is truly unmatched, putting us all to shame.”
Though it seemed like a casual comment, his words carried deeper implications.
Prince Xin wanted to smile, but the corner of his mouth, halfway raised, fell sharply again. He waved his sleeve and descended the city tower without looking back.