I can protect you,Lihua,but remember no one can protect you... from me
With an unsmiling grandfather and an uptight aunt, Wu Lihua was perfectly content with her peaceful, quiet life. She wouldn't trade it for the life of a queen, and loved her fami...
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The Great Palace, Xiang Empire, 1479
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Whispers swam back and forth from person to person like the wicked sirens from mythologies and legends. The ones who seduced and lured sailors to their deaths. And whispers, in a twisted way, were similar to those evil creatures. Whispers meant secrets and things that mustn't be mentioned out loud, but when they are, things could go downhill. The whispers turn to gossip. Gossip turns to rumors, and rumors—whether they were false or true, especially in the royal palace—never led to any good. If people in the palace start believing the rumors spread about you, whether they were good or bad, you might as well just wish for the deities to guide you safely into the afterlife. You see, if the rumors were bad, then it's obvious what will happen to you. But if the rumors are good, you still get the bad ending. Why? Because no matter what you do, no matter how kind or nice you are to everyone around you, you will always
have enemies in the palace. You will always have people who loathe you. People who want you to disappear or to suffer. Sometimes, even both. We call those people monsters. And those monsters, they will do their best to make sure you don't survive in the palace. And sometimes, they succeed. Lihua wasn't really that nervous. I mean, it wasn't like she was going to meet the emperor's brother, right? All she had to do was stand there with the rest of the women and look pretty while everybody else greeted the prince and his wife. Hell, the prince wouldn't even notice her. All she had to do was stand back, and blend in with the rest of the noblewomen and concubines. Truth is, she didn't even want to be here.
She hated huge crowds. She hated it when she was surrounded by too many people. It made her feel really uncomfortable and it gave her anxiety. All she wanted to do was run away to the royal gardens, where she knew she would be alone—for some reason, people rarely visited those gardens. Not that she was complaining. Or maybe her private chamber would be a better place to hide from everybody—including the emperor, of course. What am I even doing here..? She thought with a small frown.
"I heard there's going to be a banquet tonight!" A maid whispered. "Woah, really? We haven't had a banquet in so long! Plus, I heard the prince has gotten very handsome!" The other answered. "Not as handsome as the emperor, though. His Majesty looks like he's been blessed a hundred times by the gods!" The two girls giggled. Eun Soo gave them a warning glare and they shut up. She sighed and turned to Lihua, then in a stern voice, she informed, "the prince's name is Daeshim, and his wife is Hei-Ran. Do not forget that and embarrass yourself." "Daeshim?" Lihua questioned with a raised brow.
Daeshim. Why did that name sound so.. so familiar? She wasn't exactly sure, but why did it feel like she heard it before? Maybe she heard it once in the village? I mean, he was the emperor's younger brother, the prince. Of course people would talk about him. Lihua bit her lip and said nothing else, shrugging it off. Eh, she probably just heard his name somewhere and forgot about it. It wasn't really something worth thinking about. "My lady? Are you alright?" Eun Soo asked, seeing how she spaced out. Lihua blinked, "huh? Oh, yes. Yes, I'm alright." She looked away from the woman and allowed her eyes to wander. How long did she have to wait? She's been standing here with the others for 20 minutes. She wasn't exactly a patient person, that being one of her many flaws. Her aunt always scolded her for her impatience.
