Stars After Midnight

IV. The Blood King

“Your highness, you called for me?” asked Ming Lihua as a shameless blush tinted her cheeks.

He sent servants to search for her. Truly, Zhao Ju planned for some scandalous rendezvous with her in his study.

He glanced from his scrolls, eyes as unreadable as ever. “I have made arrangements for you to visit a prestige matchmaker.”

“W-What?”

“Your service to the crown is no longer required,” said the Crown Prince, returning to his practice of calligraphy. “Our union was foolish in nature and dishonorable on my part.”

“But, your highness-” she tried, clawing at the thin fabric of desperation. It cannot be. I worked too hard!

“This is not up for discussion.”

Lihua flung herself at his feet, tears brimming her eyes. “What have I done to displease you, my prince? I can change it. I can be whoever you want, but please, I beg you to keep me in your harem. Do not abandon me!” she begged.

Ju was not anticipating this reaction, yet he kept his visage impassive and indifferent, cold and calculating. To show his devotion to China’s beloved Crown Princess, he had to sever ties with women who served no benefit to him. He needed no other affection. One was enough.

“Stand, Lihua.”

Demonic fears possessed her soul, tormented the fragile gem inside her heart. Hysterical laughter echoed throughout the chambers of her mind, chasing a frightened and lonely Lihua into a past she thought she left behind. Men of uncouth behavior stripped Lihua of her innocence long ago, and now their whispers once again haunted her.

She sobbed.

Guilt prickled on Ju’s skin, and he sighed. “I understand that men have been cruel to you in the past,” he said, shaking his head, “but I am not the man for you. Instead, I have arranged a meeting between you and the matchmaker, so that you will find a more suitable husband.”

“W-Why can I not s-stay, your highness?” she hiccuped through her heaving breaths.

“Lihua,” sighed Ju. “I have no interest in taking you. Not now. Not ever.”

Every word he spoke broke another piece of her heart. Every letter he brisked by shattered another part of her soul. Lihua’s mind crumbled into dust, a forgotten tale of a potential concubine to the royal heir. She was too late, too slow, too weak.

“All Emperors have harems, your highness,” she spoke softly, gazing at him with innocent eyes. “Could… I stay in yours?”

Ju contemplated her request. Most of China’s Emperors, including his father, had a harem that surpassed most royal families. Concubines were a way to ensure unity between different types of nobility. Not only were there benefits in concubines, but there was also a lasting need to have an heir as soon as possible. Ju needed a successor to his throne.

However, Mian could provide for all his needs as his Empress.

Although most Emperors or Crown Princes would have already built a harem of a variety of women, Ju was not like them. Unlike previous rulers, he valued the lives of his soldiers, the battle strategies of his generals, and the exhilarating rush of warfare. No other Crown Prince single-handedly defeated an army of men on their own.

Some generals praised Ju’s tactical abilities and quick-thinking, comparing him to great generals that led his country to victory many years ago. If he did not have a duty to the throne, Ju would have led his own elite division in the military.