Free Web NovelChapter 234: Chapter 234: What I Want Is Very Precious
Emperor Wu Su said, "What I want is not for you to enter the Imperial Palace."
"If it were as simple as wanting you to enter the palace, do you think you would still be enjoying your freedom in Lin’an, free to open your clinic?"
Ji Qingwu’s heart sank.
In recent days, the Emperor had seen everything she was doing, yet he had allowed her to act as she pleased.
This indulgence and freedom had long made her forget her own predicament. If the Emperor insisted she enter the palace, she would have no choice.
The light in Ji Qingwu’s eyes shifted. "Your Majesty," she asked, "what is it that you truly want?"
Emperor Wu Su looked at her, standing two steps away, his eyes half-lidded.
"What I want," he said, "is very precious."
Ji Qingwu looked up abruptly, but all she could see were his lowered lashes, which concealed most of the emotion in his eyes.
Yet, a sliver of emotion—dangerous, almost pathological—still managed to escape.
Emperor Wu Su could no longer suppress the thoughts caged deep within his heart. He stared intensely at the woman before him, his eyes a terrifying, inky black.
That familiar heart-pounding sensation washed over her again, and Ji Qingwu slowed her breathing.
Emperor Wu Su issued his ultimatum.
"It would be best if you are willing. But even if you are not, it matters little. I will take it. I will seize it by force. What Ah Wu refuses to give me will, one day, be mine."
He was being utterly honest with her tonight, and it terrified her.
His tyrannical words blocked every path of retreat Ji Qingwu had ever imagined for herself.
She wanted to escape, but where could she possibly run? What she wanted to flee were the rules and etiquette, the man-eating Imperial Palace.
Not... from him.
Ji Qingwu also needed a reason to keep moving forward.
Now, that reason had appeared.
Ji Qingwu tried to take a small step forward, but the glazed tiles were slippery, and she swayed unsteadily.
In that same instant, Emperor Wu Su reached out a hand to her.
She glanced at his open palm but didn’t take it. After wobbling for a moment, Ji Qingwu steadied herself on her own.
Emperor Wu Su closed his eyes. His brow seemed to absorb the deep gloom of the night and the cold chill of the moon.
Ji Qingwu shuffled forward another small step, closing the distance between them once more.
Her eyes sparkled, as if she had made some joyous discovery.
’If you truly love someone,’ she thought, ’you must take one step after another until you are standing by his side.’
*
By the time Tao Wanxin ran out of the Princess Mansion, Prince Yong was long gone.
The Prince’s Mansion carriage was still parked where they had left it.
Tao Wanxin hurried into the carriage and lifted the curtain. It was empty. The person she had hoped to see was not there.
The courage she had worked so hard to summon seemed to evaporate in an instant.
"Back to the Prince’s Mansion," Tao Wanxin said, her voice laced with bitterness.
The Fetus Protection Pills Ji Qingwu had given her were very effective; the cramping in her abdomen was gone. But now, an even more unbearable pain bloomed in her chest.
She leaned against the wall of the carriage, weeping silently.
Only now, when they had reached the point of divorce, did Tao Wanxin realize just how unwilling she was to let him go.
Prince Yong had asked if she remembered their wedding day.
She had thought she’d forgotten, but now, the memories replayed before her eyes, one scene after another.
Tao Wanxin could even clearly recall the majestic, four-clawed Golden Dragon on the shoulder of his bright red wedding robe.
It was just a pity that the Dragon and Phoenix Candle from that night had not burned until dawn.
Just like their marriage, destined to be severed halfway through.
"Princess Consort," the coachman said.
Tao Wanxin realized the carriage had stopped. She stepped down and stood before the main gates of Prince Yong’s Mansion.
’This is no longer my home.’
’I have no home anymore.’
Pushing open the main gates, Tao Wanxin forced herself to maintain a final shred of dignity, refusing to shed another tear.
As long as the divorce agreement was not signed, she was still Princess Yong.
Back at Jinmo Residence.
The room was cold and desolate. Like a zombie, she sat down at the low table.
Her mind uncontrollably drifted back to the time after their wedding. Prince Yong had been furious for a long time, but half a month later, he had stepped back into this room.
He had lost a considerable amount of weight, but his eyes still shone with a brilliant light.
And his eyes had been filled with nothing but her.
’If only I had known of his feelings back then. If I had been a little braver, not so afraid of my father, and told him the truth... would we have ended up like this? Like complete strangers?’
Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside.
"Princess Consort!"
An urgent knock sounded at the door. Tao Wanxin grabbed a handkerchief, dabbed the corners of her eyes, and opened it.
It was Du Yufang’s handmaid. She immediately knelt and clutched at the hem of Tao Wanxin’s dress.
"Princess Consort, I beg you, please save the concubine!"
"What happened?"
Tao Wanxin had rushed back from the banquet because Du Yufang had claimed to have severe abdominal pain. She’d had a doctor from Qingchun Hall called, but the doctor said it was just a minor disturbance of her pregnancy and nothing serious.
And now, just a short while later, there was another problem.
As the handmaid spoke, she peered into the room. "Princess Consort, please, you must ask the Prince to go see our concubine."
How could Tao Wanxin not see through the tricks of this mistress and her servant? She had been fooled by them countless times before, but she could never bring herself to ignore them completely. What if, just once, it was real? The consequences would be disastrous.
Du Yufang’s little trick had never failed her, but this time, Tao Wanxin had no intention of playing along.
’Now that Prince Yong is divorcing me, why should I bother looking after his concubines for him?’
Tao Wanxin said, "Go back. I don’t know where the Prince is."
The handmaid said, "Princess Consort, if you send someone to the Prince’s courtyard to ask, Eunuch Changlu will surely tell you."
Everyone in the Prince’s Mansion knew the Princess Consort was out of favor, yet she was always able to find the Prince whenever she needed to.
Tao Wanxin said, "If you want to find the Prince, then have your concubine find him herself."
Seeing her resolute tone, the handmaid retorted defiantly, "But the concubine is in terrible pain! If anything should happen to the child, you, the Princess Consort, will also be at fault!"
’So many people have called me wrong, but Du Yufang, of all people, has the least right to do so.’
"Very well," Tao Wanxin said. "I’ll go take a look myself."
Entering Du Yufang’s courtyard, Tao Wanxin realized just how cold and empty her own Jinmo Residence was in comparison.
Servants were clustered everywhere here. Some of the newer ones didn’t even recognize her as the Princess Consort.
Tao Wanxin was the principal wife. Upon entering a concubine’s room, she was entitled to the seat of honor.
But Du Yufang remained lounging on the daybed, expecting Tao Wanxin, the Princess Consort, to take a subordinate seat.
Tao Wanxin stood before her. "Concubine, it seems you ought to properly learn the rules of this house."
Du Yufang languidly raised her almond-shaped eyes. "And by what right does the Princess Consort presume to teach me?"
She pulled a jade token from her sleeve and slapped it down on the table in front of Du Yufang.
"By this right."
Du Yufang’s eyes widened. "This... but... wasn’t this token with the Prince?"
She had borne the Prince’s Mansion’s eldest son and had pleaded with Prince Yong for ages, wanting a share of the authority over the inner residence. Prince Yong had only ever told her that he wouldn’t give it to anyone else.
’So it’s been with Princess Yong this whole time.’ Du Yufang had lorded over her for so long, yet she had never once seen her produce it.
The handmaid helped Du Yufang up, and she sat down reluctantly in a chair.
Tao Wanxin, for once, asserted her authority as the Princess Consort. "The concubine has yet to offer her salutations."
Du Yufang said aggrievedly, "Sister Princess Consort, why must you make things difficult for me? I am not feeling well."
Remembering what Ji Qingwu had told her, Tao Wanxin instinctively touched her own belly...
