EMPRESS LIU

~THIRTY-THREE~

There was a saying in Dachen that even the gods can't predict a sudden event that comes out of nowhere.

And that's how the emperor's sudden death came down as to the people.

But behind the scenes it was not sudden at all.

People started talking.

"The young princess only just turned four months."

"The emperor didn't even appoint anyone as an empress."

"What will happen to Dachen now?"

Some, who were sympathetic, said things like this.

"The emperor wasn't a good man. Didn't you know."

"Dui le. I heard the emperor killed Liu Changsheng himself."

There were brave people like these too.

And some just had neutral opinion. They weren't sympathetic or brave. They were common people. They were Dachen's those subjects that spend their lives under the shadow of normal daily routine. They just listen to the news but thinks of it as a bad news and goes their own way.

The emperor was loved by his subjects but there are always some people who wouldn't be fond of you.

Right now in the palace the throne was covered in a white clothe. And in the inner courtyard of the imperial palace, the coffin of the emperor was kept. The aura in the courtyard was gloomy.

At the same time the fourth prince's palace was carrying the same atmosphere.

At the inner courtyard of the fourth prince inter a peony tree was a coffin kept alone. And a single man was sitting in front of it. He was feeling numb alover his body.

It was Liu Changsheng. Guarding the fourth prince's coffin with all he had because this is all he can do after what happened. He can only guard his husband's coffin, because he himself was the reason for it. He himself pushed the dagger through the Xiang Wang's heart. He can still remember what led to this result. He still remembers three months ago how he ran out of the shabby servant's courtyard leaving the fourth prince behind, kneeling on the ground. Maybe if he stayed things wouldn't have turned out like this.

Three months ago

Ying Lianying was standing at a considerable distance keeping watch on the outside and the hut at the same time when a furious looking Liu Changsheng came out of the courtyard. Tears gracing his beautiful white face.

"Liu Changsheng. What happened?"

Liu Changsheng just looks at the young shadow guard and rushes to god knows where. Not getting an answer Ying Lianying gets into the hut only to find the Xiang Wang kneeling on the ground devastated. His face wet with fresh tears that wouldn't listen to him and stop flowing.

"Daqing?"

Maybe somewhere deep inside her heart Ying Lianying was a sister too. And the picture in front of her moved her even just a little bit. She sat in front of the prone figure of the twenty nine years old man and looked at his face. Maybe she just didn't know how to comfort someone because she herself never got comforted by someone.

"Daqing. Tell me what happened?"

"A-Jie. I'm sorry. I hurt him too much. Maybe this is my punishment."

"Daqing!" Her face showed an indecipherable genuinity. A surprisingly soft tenderness not characteristic to her.

"A-Jie. I made a lot of mistakes. I killed that old man Luo Guang. But I didn't let him know. I treated him so bad in the pretense of protecting him. I confined him more than once in the excuse of punishing him when he did nothing wrong. Even I knew he did nothing wrong.

"But I still treated him that way. It's right for him to hate me. It's right for him to not believe me."

And finally he breaks down in the welcoming arms of his A-Jie.

Liu Changsheng kept walking aimlessly along the emperor's palace garden. His heart slowly coming to a standstill. He didn't know why he had to feel this endless love for that same man allover again. He couldn't understand why he was feeling this way. He didn't want to believe that man because he knew that man was the one who massacred the whole Liu family. But he also wanted to believe him.

Because what's done is done. What's gone is gone. He knew even if he takes revenge nothing will go back to where it was. His father won't be back. His brother won't be back. So will his second brother. His A-Jie, his Er Jie. No one will come back. Then what's the point.

But still he wanted that man to suffer. Just like he did. Just like how he felt when he got to know that everything he held dear was gone. Just like how he felt when he was standing on the edge of Xuanhua cliff with the emperor's army hot on his heals.

Just like how he felt when his world fell apart for the second time after coming back here again.

He wanted the fourth prince to feel all of that. But also he did not want him to suffer at all. He wanted to forgive him and just disappear.

He didn't know what was right what was wrong anymore.

He finds himself in front of the dowager empresse's chambers. This was where he once used to get all the warmth he needed in this palace. That old lady gave him the love he never thought he'd have from the emperor's palace.

The two years of his life in the palace made him go through all sorts of situations. But just like the dowager empress loved her fourth grandchild, she gave the equal amount of love to Liu Changsheng.

He remembered what the dowager empress once told him.

"A-Sheng. You and A-Qing are the only two people in this corrupted place who are the most pure. Will Shengsheng keep a promise to grandma?"

"Yes. Grandma."

"Live with our A-Qing and love him till you both are old and grey."

But right now standing in front of that old lady's chambers he finds himself apologising. He finds himself saying, "I'm sorry grandma. I couldn't keep your promise. Your A-Qing won't let me."

Unknown to him someone was looking at him and finding out something they weren't supposed to find.

And none of them knew how severe the result of this day's careless outfurst would be. And none of them were ready for it.

Okay well no prediction was I the comments section! So shoutout I guess!

I'm actually not home!! And tired! So I took this time while lying on the sofa trying to re-energize I'm updating this!!

Hope you enjoy!
All the love
C 💕

Oh and please don't forget to vote!! ⭐⭐