Kingdom of Moutan
1st Year of Yongming: Early Autumn, 1452.
"Your Majesty, you must come quickly," said the King's personal eunuch. "Her Majesty is delivered of a son!"
The King of Moutan, Xiao Jing Feng, rose immediately, gathering his black and scarlet robes, taking the steps two at a time down the dais in his haste. It was rare for him to break out of his normal composure, but today he rushed towards the door of his palace, tried to hide his smile, and failed miserably.
"Byul? Are you sure?" he asked, voice trembling with undisguised joy. "Are the Queen and the child alright?"
The eunuch nodded, lips quirking up.
"Then, I must greet my son!" the King grinned, and followed by Byul, he hastened towards the inner palace.
When the King arrived, he sensed something odd about the atmosphere of the Queen's Peony Palace. All the servants, who should have been bustling about with joy, were nowhere to be found. The Peony Palace was ominously empty.
"What's this?" he asked, as he stepped over the threshold of the empty palace, heading towards his wife's private chambers.
The eunuch Byul frowned.
As the King walked, his strides increased, and his heart quickened with fear.
"Has something happened to the Crown Prince?" he wondered out loud, chest tight, as he finally rounded the corridor and came up to the doors of the Queen's room. In front of them, blocking his way, were two of the Grand Chancellor's Shadow guards.
"Your Majesty!" they greeted solemnly, kneeling quickly, and from what he could see of their masked faces, their expressions were carefully blank.
"Why are there no other guards or servants in the Queen's palace at a time like this?! The Queen could be assassinated...what of the Crown Prince?" he growled, a vein throbbing in his forehead as he struggled to restrain his temper.
The eunuch, Byul, who did not have legs as long as the King, finally caught up to him. He wore a frown wondering what could have had happened between the joyous news of the Crown Prince's safe birth and now. It couldn't have been more than a half count of the hour.
At that moment, there was the jagged wail of an infant, startling everyone who stood outside in the corridor.
From within the chamber, a voice called out.
"Is it his Majesty?" asked a softly silken, but masculine voice.
The guards straightened uneasily.
"Grand Chancellor Mu, his Majesty has arrived," reported one guard, ignoring the seething look his sovereign gave him.
"Then why are you blocking the way?" the voice asked with cold impatience.
The guards, realizing their mistake, hastily stood and opened the doors to the chamber, bowing at the waist as their King rushed in. They shut the door with a sharp 'clack' once he and Byul had entered.
"What's happened? Why have you sent the servants away?" demanded the King of Moutan, eyeing the extremely handsome, but partially masked man, who knelt calmly next to the bed of his Queen. This was the Grand Chancellor, Lord Mu Shan, and in his arms was a newborn.
The King was quite startled and confused by the fussing infant held protectively in the Grand Chancellor's arms. Lord Mu's calm was contrasted by the ugly look of anger on the Royal astrologer's face who sat opposite, and the terrified look on the face of the Queen, who sat huddled in her bed. Seeing her, the King realized immediately that she was cradling a second child to her chest.
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Migong - Book 1
Fantasy"Mine..." he repeated softly, drawing his head back to stare at her. Dazed by his beauty, she could only stare back. Feiyan flinched as he brought his face even closer. The ruby red eyes above her were framed with heavy white lashes, and they bore...
