Love In The Palace

Empress Dowager Shine

Chapter 48.

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Recap: In the previous chapter, Jade, Bisen and a young girl named Yiron travelled to the Capital City in hope of meeting the Emperor. They had to wait for few days outside the palace gates before they meet the Eunuch Wan who served Third Prince and remembered the face of Mistress Leanne. Eunuch Wan brought them into the palace and Jade then finally met Third Prince, now known as Emperor Ming. Jade then found out from Emperor Ming that Crown Prince had died in the hands of the Shine Generals. She was devastated by the news after ten years. She asked Emperor Ming where Crown Prince's tomb was, and he showed her. He was buried together with Crown Princess Shana who committed suicide after Crown Prince was killed. Jade asked to stay at the Imperial Graveyards as a tomb cleaner. She also asked Emperor Ming for them to never meet anymore.

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"W-what?"

"Your Majesty heard me." The fact that she refuses to repeat stabs him straight at the heart. Jade painstakingly pushes her sickly body up, facing Emperor Ming. She has never paid attention, how his height easily towers over her. Maybe because this will be the last time they will ever meet, so she makes sure that she pays more attention to him, for she does not want it to be another regret. He slightly resembles Consort Shine, now the Empress Dowager, and looks nothing like the late Emperor Shiv. His eyes are looking at hers, squinted, filled with emotions.

"Must you...be so cruel?" He asks, wanting a reason, wanting to stop her from further crushing his heart.

"I am not cruel. Life is. Just like what Your Majesty said before, life is what decides Your Majesty to become the Emperor Ming. Life is what decides me to be Mistress Leanne. If anything were to be blame, blame...life..."

"Mistress Leanne has died. You are alive. You can never be Mistress Leanne." His words bore deep into her, and she remembers, that he is right. Crown Prince has said before, that he would report her as dead to prevent anyone from searching for her. To the world, Mistress Jade Leanne is dead.

Then, I can be myself again, finally, she thinks. Yes, finally, she can live again as Jade Yeva. The times she is living as Jade Leanne has been extremely tormenting, both her mind and soul.

"I can give you a position in the palace, you can live with peace. I will make sure that no one dares to harm you." Then she remembers, what Crown Prince had said before, the very same promise that he broke. The very promise that he could not help but break, for he was the Crown Prince.

"That was what...Crown Prince promised to me...but could not do..." Again her tears are pouring. He dares not wipe them away, for he thinks that he has no rights to, for they will never stop as well.

"Let us just stop, Your Majesty and me." Emperor Ming stands still, rooted to the grounds, his eyes looking at her straight in the eyes, his pain seems to be obvious to her, but she pays no heed to it.

"I do not wish to return to the past. Let us...not relive it..." she pauses and swallow her saliva for her drying throat before she continues "...and let me be the tomb cleaner, while Your Majesty...will continue being your Emperor Ming. We will not be not related in any way." There is a long pause in between them, long enough for Jade to stop crying and for her face to return back to normal, instead of red and tired, though traces of tears can still be seen clearly.

"Aunt!" Yiron's voice can be heard from afar and they both turn towards her, finding Yiron running quickly towards them while Bisen running behind in panic as she tries to catch her.

"Yi-!" Jade stops before shouting her name. Jade takes few steps to catch her and wraps her arms around Yiron protectively, panicking in her mind.

"Kneel, quick. Meet His Majesty." Yiron just drops to her knees and never lift her eyes to meet Emperor Ming. Bisen also immediately drops down to her knees, her hands in front of her.