Chapter 8: Emperor QiLing

Yan Luan wondered if her ears would decay if she continued to eavesdrop, leaving this filthy place hurriedly with her old servant, reaching a surprisingly beautiful pond. Yan Luan sat down beside the pond and, ignoring her servant’s panicked expressions, removed her shoes and socks before placing her pale tiny legs into the cooling pond.

“WengZhu, you shouldn’t do this, what if someone sees you…”

“Do not worry, my legs are sore from all the walking and I wish to rest them,” Yan Luan replied gently as she moved her legs playfully, splashing the pond water everywhere while she frowned deeply as she considered the issue about Yan Fei.

“This old servant will surely report the issue today to the elder imperial princess,” The old handmaiden, noticing Yan Luan’s concerns, complained in rage, “Not only is she not grateful that she was allowed to stay alive, she even continuously plot against WengZhu, how dare she!”

Elder Imperial Princess was the current title bestowed upon Princess Yong Kang. Her father was Emperor Ming, and when he passed away, Princess Yong Kang’s own brother, Emperor Shun, took the throne, but when her brother, too, passed away, Emperor Shun’s legitimate prince, Emperor Qi Ling, took the throne, which made her the current emperor’s legitimate aunt, hence earning the title “Elder Imperial Princess”.
(TNote: Emperor Ming, Shun and QiLing were not the surnames of the emperors, they are the emperor title used by the respective emperors)
(TNote 2: And my bad on the confusion about Princess Yong Kang’s role in the whole royal family as they had described it only now, so apparently she’s the royal aunt of the current emperor, not the sister.)

Yan Luan was not confident in her abilities in dealing with the scheming Yan Fei, hence the best option was to leave it to her mother. She nodded silently at her decision before moving her legs lazily through the water.

“The wind here sure is cold…” Yan Luan shivered slightly at the sudden cold wind.

“Please wait a moment, WengZhu, this old servant will be back quickly,” The old handmaiden replied immediately, intending to collect her coat from the carriage nearby.

“Thank you, MeMe!”

As she waited for the MeMe’s return, she glanced around silently as she admired the beautiful and clean scenery which was filled with peace, birds chirped cheerfully and the soft scent of flowers flowed through the breeze freely. There were no pollution at all and the sky was bright, not like the present world at all.

She laid comfortably on the grass, enjoying the occasional cooling breeze on her cheeks, and without noticing it, she had fallen into a light slumber. In her drowsy state, she could feel something itchy on her cheeks and a familiar scent lingered nearby, without hesitation, she snapped opened her eyes in a panic.

Her face paled when she realized she had been sleeping in the arms of Yan Dao! “S…second brother! Why are you here… no… Why am I… Please release me.” She stuttered nervously as she squirmed, trying to escape from his hug.

Though this was not the first time she had fallen asleep in his arms, this time it was unusually terrifying as she her gaze landed on his ice cold expression and the warm hands that were gripping her tightly around the waist.

It was too ambiguous, even for siblings.

“Stop squirming around, how could you soak your feet into the cold pond under such hot weather.” Yan Dao said coldly as his eyes narrowed at her pale feet which were still in pond. Frowning slightly, he grabbed her feet firmly in his huge hands before taking them out from the pond.

“Ah! Second brother what are you doing?” She cried out in alarm at her second brother’s sudden actions as he wiped her dripping feet silently with a clean handkerchief, with movements so gentle you would think that he was wiping down a fragile and precious object.

“Second brother, they are already plenty dry, you can stop now!” She whimpered nervously, trying to wake him up from his crazed state.

He stared at her in silence as he recovered from his unrealistic fantasy, his brows furrowed slightly at her interruption before walking towards her forgotten shoes and socks.

He picked them up, checking them thoroughly before putting it on her carefully, “This place, though beautiful, is filled with many different types of wild beasts,” He warned her sternly, helping her get on her feet, “This is not a place you should linger at.”

“Why are you here then, second brother?” She asked curiously, wondering if he had done something to her MeMe, resulting in her long disappearance.

They walked hand-in-hand as he lead her back to the crowd, he was much more taller than her for each of his step were two of her steps, he slowed down immediately when he realized that his little sister was struggling to keep up.

“I took a walk with his majesty for he wanted to attend the party…” He relied calmly after a slight pause.

His majesty! Yan Luan thought excitedly, If I recall correctly, the current emperor is my cousin, isn’t he Emperor QiLing? The most pitiful emperor in history.

“Is his majesty even allowed to leave his palace? Didn’t the queen dowager disallow it?”

If her memories served her correctly, the reason her cousin was saddest emperor ever existed was because of his mother.

In their country, there was an ancient custom passed down through generations, when the new emperor takes the throne, his birth mother would be killed, while the wet nurse would be crowned as the queen dowager. This was to prevent the birth mother of the emperor to take advantage of her position and authority to seize control of the emperor.

But when Emperor QiLing was throned, his mother, Chu MiaoZi, refused to obey the law and with the help of her strong family and the country’s best strategist, Wang Yong. Together, they murdered the supposedly crowned wet nurse, Feng Shi in cold blood and took control of the entire palace, treating even her own son, the emperor, as a puppet.

According to history, Queen Dowager Chu was an extremely infamous character, but she would eventually be pulled down from her high position by the current Prime Minister, the strategist that conspired with her from before.

“What is on your mind, little sister?” A voice sounded nearby, “His majesty is awaiting your answer.”

“Hm? His majesty?” Yan Luan raises her head and blinked in surprise when she saw a young man sitting nearby on a rock, he looked most sixteen.

The young man was wearing a golden coat, a color only an emperor could wear, and the jade that hanged from his waist shone with brilliance.

“Ah Luan, I have heard rumors that your personality changed after that incident,” Emperor QiLinh chuckled curiously at her blank stare, patting her head gently like a big brother, “I had my doubts but now that I’ve seen you in person, it seems that the rumors were not exaggerated after all!”

Yan Luan’s heart clenched at the thought of this wonderful man’s imminent death at the hands of Yan Jing…

Characters mentioned in this chapter:

Yan Luan – Title “Mi Yang Weng Zhu”, the daughter of the imperial princess
Yan Jing – Eldest brother of Yan Luan
Yan Dao – Second brother of Yan Luan
Elder Imperial Princess – Title “Princess Yong Kang”, favorite and respected aunt of the current emperor
Emperor Ming – grandfather of Emperor QiLing
Emperor Shun – father of Emperor QiLing
Emperor QiLing – current emperor, the nephew of Princess Yong Kang
MeMe – an old servant who serves Yan Luan.
Queen Dowager Chu – birth mother of Emperor QiLing and sister of Lord Chu. She treats the emperor as her puppet and ruled the kingdom behind the scenes