Seven Unfortunate Lifetimes (Love You Seven Times)

Chapter 9

Edited by Kiseki

The next day, a decree came from the palace. It said that because of my marriage to the third prince, I needed to go live in the palace and learn the etiquettes until the day I marry. The emperor’s intention was very clear. As long as I lived in the palace, he wouldn’t need to be afraid that father Song would do something against him when he was outside fighting the rebels. Because if father Song did something, the first one to die would be me. What a perfect plan.

After the eunuch who delivered the decree left, I went into father Song’s room. He stared at the decree, his expression unreadable. I squatted against his bedside and whispered, “Father, if you’re still alive, the emperor won’t do something to me. So you have to take good care of your body, live a long life, and annoy the emperor to death.”

Father Song sighed loudly. He raised his withered hand and gently placed it on my head, touching me like when I was a kid.

“Our Yun Xiang has also grown up.”

I quietly accompanied father Song for a while until he couldn’t bear it anymore and wearily fell asleep. Only then did I leave the mansion. I climbed onto the red carriage and went into the palace.

I didn’t get to see the emperor. The head of eunuchs brought me to an empty room for concubines. On the other side of the wall must be the cold palace because every night, I could hear a woman’s sobbing. I found her crying beautiful, like a lullaby. Every night, I slept very soundly while listening to her crying.

The days in the palace were boring, but they went by quickly. It was like the time when I was in Yue Lao’s temple. Then, I was only worrying about how I could afford good wine and lamenting about stingy Yue Lao. Now however, my mind would always go back to that snowy night when Lu Hai Kong proposed to me. I blushed.

The day of the marriage was nearing. At the entrance of my place, more guards were patrolling. At night, I couldn’t hear the woman’s sobbing anymore. There was only the sound of the guard’s footsteps, making me more depressed than when I was in the north.

It was a snowy night again. I couldn’t sleep, so I had put some clothes on and walked to the window. I opened the window and just happened to see a man in black making the guards faint.

I blinked. The figure of that man seemed awfully familiar to me.

“Hey…”

I had just opened my mouth when the man in black reflexively turned to the window. He stretched out his hand and covered my mouth.

“Silence.”

His face was covered with a black cloth, so the sound was a bit muffled, but I had known him for more than ten years, how could I not recognize him?

He listened for a moment, and then pulled away the black cloth that was covering his face. A pair of black pupils reflected the snow.

“Yun Xiang, it’s me.”

I patted his hands to indicate that he could let go.

“En, I know.”

Lu Hai Kong really didn’t want his life anymore. He was a rebel leader; how could he quietly sneak into the palace?

I didn’t hesitate and stretched out my hand. I squeezed his cheek really hard. His face turned red from the pain.

He made some sisi sounds of pain, but he didn’t pull my hand away. He only said, “Yun Xiang, it hurts.”

“Lu Hai Kong.”

I looked at him for a moment before saying, “Don’t you want to live anymore?”