My Liege And I

His Weakness

Chapter 58

Bai Yuwen Hong
Bai Shen Hong
The Palace

Yuwen Hong watched as his father delicately polished the qin that was dear to his heart. His smile the constant on his face.

“Fuhuang,” Yuwen Hong begged, “When will you teach me the qin? I have been waiting for years.”

His father gave him the weary eye that Yuwen Hong was accustomed to as the look of contemplation.

“Life has many pleasures a person can indulge in, but duty must come first,” his father pointed out.

“I have been working hard. The people are living well, and the empire has been expanding.”

“Which is true, but when a leader becomes content, room for growth is stifled.”

“However, I seize every opportunity to grow at all times. Even now, I am still building.”

His father’s forehead furrowed in disapproval. “Remember, you do not fall because you are weak, you only fall because you think you are strong.”

The gut-wrenching fear that Yuwen Hong was all too familiar with started to cripple him. His worst nightmare was for his father to not be pleased with him. It was his dream to always receive Fuhuang’s acknowledgement of his hard work.

“Fuhuang is right. Your son will keep working hard for the glory of the empire.”

“Working hard is not enough. Giving yourself to the empire is the best. Before achieving greatness, you must be willing to accept the cost of losing everything.”

Yuwen Hong went to his knees and bowed. “His Majesty’s wisdom is boundless. Your son understands what you are saying.”

His father nodded, now satisfied with his answer, and a guttural belly laugh roared from him in delight.

“Very well,” he howled.

Yuwen Hong opened his eyes to darkness as the foggy dream emptied out. It was for a few minutes that he lay in content peace until reality hit him.

His father was no more and long gone. He was no longer the crown prince but the emperor in charge of an empire. Each decision he took would affect the well-being and welfare of his people. Everything sat on his shoulders, and he had to harness the strength and focus to succeed.

Yu'er shifted and rose to sit. An empty clay jar of wine rolled over. The ache of his lower back admonished him for sleeping on the floor. He drank himself to blankness on that late morning, right after the challenging Morning Court Meeting which left him confused.

Furia had given their answer to his conditions. They submitted their allegiance to Nevoria, that they would support Nevoria in the battle against Huticah.

The other two conditions in which he asked for Nevorians to have allowance to cross the borders of Furia as they saw fit and allowance for marriage between the two, Furia said they were willing to consider it and come to an agreement after negotiations in the near future. It was the most they could do.

The ministers were delighted with the offers and requested for his decree to release Li Lian, so as to get Yang Liu back. Yuwen Hong did not want to fold easily, not when Furia did not explicitly agree to his other two conditions.

Negotiating was a method they would use to buy time till Nevoria gave up and forgot about the matter.

Moreover, the honest truth, he was not prepared to let go of Li Lian.
He was still coming to terms with the fact that she deceived and lied throughout the time they were together; that one of his dreams to have her as his phoenix sitting on the throne next to her was snatched out of his grasp. For a long time, he waited for Li Lian’s return, and patiently, he protected her phoenix seat.