Princess In The Palace

26. The Change

Chapter 26.

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recap: in the previous chapter, Emperor visited Empress and implicitly warned her not to touch Yi Ran, or her position would be in danger. He also passed her a name for the girl he chose to be First Prince's primary spouse. Pi Yang and Yi Ran sat down enjoying their afternoon tea when Pi Yang told her stories. Back in the palace, Second Prince received news delivered by his eunuch.

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The palace of the phoenix seemed to always be engulfed in the burning flames of the phoenix's power. It stood magnificently, emanating aura which palaces of other concubines could not, it was the aura of being the Empress, the primary spouse of the Emperor, the highest ranking woman in the Empire. Perhaps that was why its owners always became the main target of the other scheming concubines, sadly forcing the resident of the palace to harden up her heart and emotion into a heartless woman.

"What is happening? Why was Your Son not informed beforehand?" She could clearly see the hands of her son trembling under his sleeves, almost furiously as he tried to hold back his emotions. However, she looked away, pretending to not see and to not care.

"Your Father Emperor decided it on his own. Just go ahead with it," she answered with her eyebrows furrowed as she was almost completely overwhelmed with annoyance. For some reason, she felt like a phoenix which had lost its wings. How different was she from other birds then, apart from the fact that she was called the phoenix?

"With Minister Mèng's daughter? With someone so coincidentally Mother Empress has always been trying to pair me with? How am I supposed to believe that?" Even she herself could not believe why would the Emperor choose someone she had always wanted to be First Prince's Consort. What was he planning?

"Why do you even dislike her so much when she is such a likeable girl?"

Likeable? He recalled his past experiences when he was set up by the elders to spend time alone with the girl, Mèng Sù Yán. His impression of her was initially a gentle and polite girl who talked with a sweet voice and moved with grace. Little did he know that when they were left alone, her attitude completely changed and her true colours were revealed. He found out then that she was just a manipulative and proud noble girl who believed that she was so perfect that she deserved more respect from people than the princesses in the palace.

I do not understand why I should bow down to First Princess when she is just a sickly princess whose name is not even remembered by the people.

As she said those words with contempt, he left her alone, feeling completely disgusted by her personality. Her nice, gentle personality was all but her mere facade she put on in front of the elders.

"Just...anyone but her." He knew his Mother Empress would never agree to him wanting to take Yi Ran even as his concubine, especially when she had become part of the Yù family now.

"Anyway it will only disgrace the name of the Imperial Family if the edict is retracted. Just go back and reflect on how disrespectful you have been to me today. Keep it in mind that I will not tolerate anymore such behaviour of yours today."

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He stared straight at the blank point on the floor as he threw himself on the cushion right before his writing table. His eyes slowly reddening, even he himself was unsure if he was mad or sad. Perhaps it was all the negative emotions he had built up inside him exploding all at once. His lips trembled as he forced himself
to calm down.

Why was it that life was always so unfair? He could have held the status of the First Prince born to the Empress of the Empire, but what had he sacrificed for the position he was forcefully tied to by fate? He felt disgusted at times for being jealous of the Second Prince when he was supposed to feel superior to him. Jealousy for having a much more loving mother and jealousy for the younger prince possessing more freedom than he did. How unfair must life be? He promised to himself, that no matter what, he must become the next Emperor, to eliminate those people who made him feel miserable as a First Prince chained inside the palace walls.