The Last Empress [Fantasy/Romance/Adventure | IN PROGRESS]

6. Demons & Ashes

The way the Emperor and Consort Wren suppressed his voice in court was no different than five years ago, when he first returned to the palace.

A young Yi Xuan looks out the open window, his thoughts drifting away from yet another mundane scroll involving fractional politics. He coughs, not quite recovered from traces of the battle left on his body by the relentless war. None of the scrolls he read talked of the true issues that ravaged the country. Like, the officials who continued to receive taxes from the poor and pocket the majority of money instead of setting it aside for disaster relief. Or Han soldiers who put their lives at stake every day only to be told that they didn't have enough rations to last the next battle. But every time he raised these issues to the attention of the court, the Emperor denied his request for investigation, maintaining that there was absolute fairness, peace and prosperity under his rule.

A drop of water lands on the table. And another, followed by a thin splattering of rain that spread like a disease.

Yi Xuan shirks away.

He disliked rain. In fact, he disliked anything to do with water.

When he was still a toddler, his brothers played a prank on him. They grabbed his arms and legs, swinging him from side to side. At first, it was thrilling to be suspended and their jokes made him chuckle. But the swinging became wider and more erratic as they inched towards the edge of a pond.

"One, two, three!" They counted out loud.

With each swing, Yi Xuan's heart lurched painfully. Every time they made a move as though to release him into the water, he screamed in fear.

Back then, he still knew fear.

But each time they pulled back at the last moment, only to swing higher and higher until finally the momentum took over and he was tumbling through the air like a wooden puppet.

The surface of the pond hit his face like a hammer.

Water filled his eyes and mouth, contaminating every opening on his body. He choked and gasped, clawing his way to the surface.

It was then that he glimpsed the golden tips of Emperor Yi's boots.

"Father," he splutters, relief washing over his tired muscles, "please save me." 

His small hands reach out towards the shimmering light like a drowning man clutching at straws.

But the Emperor's expression remained stern as he looked down on his son.

When he finally spoke, his words fell like stones.

"Any son of Yi should be able to save himself."

That was the last sentence the twelfth Prince heard before sinking again, his limbs so heavy that he could barely move them.

When Yi Xuan woke, it was Nurse Guo who cradled his head in her arms, distraught as she patted his hair, calling his name repeatedly. He was the unwanted Prince, a living curse. His own mother, the Jade Concubine, died giving birth to him. Since then, Jade's old nanny, Nurse Guo, had taken up the task of looking after him. The Emperor grudgingly agreed to this temporary arrangement despite the wishes of GuangPing Wang Fu for the Prince to be brought across and raised under the Empress' name.

However, one day, Nurse Guo had to be eliminated.

After all, Emperor Yi was a firm believer in gaining strength from the banishment of all emotional attachment. Much like the way an enemy without weakness cannot be defeated, those in the royal family needed to grow seamless armors of steel that left nothing exposed.