EMPRESS LIU

~FOUR~

A fifteen years old boy was cutely hanging around his mother in the kitchen going round and round. As if he wasn't a fifteen years old but a five years old. And to think that boy has just made his first diplomatic move last night wouldn't fit with the image seen right now.

Yes! It is Liu Changsheng. The fifth child of the Liu household, the third young master. Pampered and sheltered, but who had to face a horrible fate, a terrible destiny. A death he wasn't proud of sharing with anyone.

But that was a lifetime away. In this lifetime he wasn't going to let any of those events happen again.

"Shengsheng. Be a good boy and stay there. Don't come near the fire."

The caring and loving mother said to her youngest child. This child has been ill for a year right after birth, probably because of her late age. So his body wasn't as strong as his peers. On top of that he wouldn't focus on learning martial arts and making himself strong. So naturally the mother was quite worried.

When she looked back a small smile appeared on her face. The child she told to stay still just now actually listened to her and sat down at the side of the kitchen.

Liu Changsheng remembers in his past life he would hang around a lot in his mother's kitchen to learn how to cook because he wanted to impress his prince. But this life he's doing the same thing for a complete different reason. He just wants to bond more with his mother. In his last life his mother was very devastated and angry at him after his father was assassinated and never looked at him until the day he died. This time no such thing is going to happen.

He helps his mother with the spices and sees how his mother works her magic in the kitchen. Thanks to learning in his last life he is good at the kitchen, but he wasn't going to reveal that just yet.

He knows from facts that he started lingering around his mother's kitchen from a week before his rebirth. That's when he met the Fourth Prince, soon to be Xiang Wang.

It's been a habit for Liu Changsheng after rebirth to go to the boat house sometimes in the evening. After waking up that night he likes the calm and quite atmosphere more than anything. Right now too he is sitting on the roof of the boathouse with a flute in his hand contemplating if he should play or not. He learnt playing the Xiao and Guqin from concubine Li after entering the imperial palace as a Wangfei. Being a merchant's son he was already lacking at a lot of things. But learning to play the Xiao and Guqin gave him a little chance to have some influence in the palace. He still remembers his skills. So he holds onto the Xiao he got by asking his father.

The moon he was looking at reflected the feelings inside his heart. He once gave everything he had to be loved by the person he loves. To be cherished. But in the end he ended up alone and abandoned. In the cold prison cell held a lot of his secrets, his pains, his fears and his tears.

There was a few times he met the Xiang Wang after his imprisonment. Even he's a man the emperor cannot visit him alone for he's the wife of his brother. So those few times the Xiang Wang would accompany the emperor. But that stopped after the sixth month of his confinement. And from then on his life was as hateful as it could get. He hated his life, his fate, almighty, everyone. And after two years of imprisonment one day his oldest brother came from outside and freed him. He faught with his last breath with the guards and left the prison with a wound in his stomach.

Liu Huanglang gave him a sword when he was about to leave. And the dethroned wangfei held that sword close to his heart and left. He found Xiao Su in the horse stable of the prison guards.

He remembered Xiao Su was a special breed brought from overseas by his father for him. She only serves one master through her lifetime. And now she was being used by some strangers, snatched from her master. Without thinking twice he cut Xiao Su's reins and ran towards the mountains. It was a rough terrain. The trees were getting thicker and he only knew he had to pass the border through the woods. He'll find Mu Ling and go far away living a life of a peasant.

But unfortunately he ended up at the Xuanhua cliff and he didn't have anywhere else to escape. To free Xiao Su he cut her throat in one go and jumped into the abyss.

Liu Changsheng was lost in his thoughts replaying the night of his death over and over again. He does this everyday to keep himself sane and to remind himself that he has to avoid the misery of his last life.

Slowly he raised the xiao to his lips and starts playing. The soft and sweet melody intertwined with the sound of the waves reached far and far away to the ears of the citizens of the port city. Particularly to the ears of a certain prince sitting on the tree of the riverbank.

The melody had a touch of solitary feel to it. As if the person playing it is a lone warrior looking for a companion in the middle of nowhere. As if the person was calling for a ray of hope in a lost battle. As if the person was just a stranger to the world, passing by coincidentally.

The Prince felt the notes of the song touch every string of his heart. He felt like every note of it was made for him. To listen and to break his heart. A melancholy tone of his voice came out as a whisper to the winds.

"Who are you? Who are you playing this for?"

Mu Ling was surprised too much to register the fact in his head that it was really his young master who was playing the xiao. And he couldn't conceal his curiosity even when Third young master Liu came back to the shore with the blue fan covering his face.

"Mu Ling ah! Ask!"

I mean who wouldn't know looking at the young servant's face that he was curious about something. And it's Liu Changsheng we're talking about.

"Gong Zi! When did you learn playing the xiao?"

So here's the new chapter... Here's a bit of a revelation about how the prison life of Liu Changsheng was.... I'm hoping you'd like it!

All the love
C 💕

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