Chapter 130: Turning into a Wolf
Alah stared blankly at the woman before him, momentarily hesitant to recognize her.
“Are you truly Princess Wen Jia? The scouts reported… they reported…”
“That I am cowardly and weak, and have been bullied by the Imperial Son-in-law for years?”
Wen Jia chuckled softly.
Immediately, her expression turned stern, her gaze resolute.
“After being a lamb for twenty years, I too want to grow fangs, to try and transform, to become a wolf—”
Alah’s wrinkled eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
Her gaze was firm, her every movement graceful and dignified, her composure exuding confidence, a stark contrast to the Princess Wen Jia described in the scouts’ secret reports…
“Does my appearance not befit a princess?”
Wen Jia parted her crimson lips, a smile gracing them.
Before meeting Xue Sui, she had indeed been a lamb trapped in a cage, at the mercy of others, suffocated by fear and timidity, afraid to break free from invisible shackles, afraid to face the world’s storms, and even more afraid to discover herself.
However, times have changed.
Someone told her that she deserved a new life,
that she was worthy of everything.
She could also transform into a phoenix overlooking all things.
Wen Jia removed her veiled hat, the soft cloud gauze, like the gloom of the past, slipping away from her fingertips.
“People in the palace often say I resemble Mother greatly. Please look closely again, do I?”
“Yes. You resemble her greatly! Your mother, Princess Saina, was about your age when she left Chishui City…” Alah’s throat moved intensely under the light and shadow. His palm landed on the wolf tooth pendant on his chest, and he bowed deeply.
Seeing this, several Hu merchants also bowed, paying their respects to Wen Jia.
“Please, rise.”
This was the first time Wen Jia had met people from her mother’s homeland.
“You are all elders, please be seated. Let’s talk at leisure.”
The corner lamps flickered, casting dancing shadows.
Alah gazed at Wen Jia, as if trying to see through her eyes, across the river of time, to find the smile of his beloved daughter, Mu Ya.
“Princess, have you seen Mu Ya, my daughter…”
His voice was muffled, his beard trembling slightly. As if fearing Wen Jia might not know the details, he quickly added, “Mu Ya came to Daliang in the twelfth year of Jingyuan with the Xizi delegation for a political marriage with Princess Saina. Around the third year of Chongzhao, all contact was lost…”
“I met Aunt Mu Ya.” A soft glow of remembrance flashed in Wen Jia’s eyes as she slowly said, “She was extremely beautiful. Mother once said her eyes were the color of the Gobi Desert, and when she smiled, it was like the rising sun casting its light upon the sand sea…”
She described the Xizi woman’s appearance in a gentle voice.
“Alas, the years in the deep palace did not steal her smile, but she met a tragic end at the hands of Princess Ping Le…”
Alah suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with shock and grief.
“She is truly… truly gone? Was it indeed the wicked hand of Ping Le?”
Wen Jia nodded slowly.
Alah covered his face and wept, his entire body seeming to shrink considerably.
“When the Xizi delegation came to Daliang for a political marriage, the old priest performed divination, and it indicated good fortune…”
The tea soup in the celadon teacup rippled slightly.
Wen Jia was silent for a moment before saying, “Upon arriving in Shangjing, Mother and Aunt Mu Ya were sent to Prince Ji’s mansion—which is now His Majesty’s former residence. Mother told me that Aunt Mu Ya was naturally kind and trusting. On the seventh day at the Prince’s Mansion, she nearly lost her life after mistakenly drinking poisoned wine. Prince Ji later severely punished the maid who administered the poison, but the red rash on Aunt Mu Ya’s face never healed. She never had the chance to serve him after Prince Ji ascended the throne, nor did she gain any status. For those years, she stayed by Mother’s side…”
In the deep palace, it was difficult for women who were not favored to survive.
Alah murmured, “When Mu Ya wrote, she always said she was doing well, that Shangjing was bustling and lively, the crabapple blossoms were beautiful, and she had made many friends and got along well with them. She never mentioned any hardships or grievances…”
Wen Jia remained silent.
She knew that if it were her, she would also report only the good news and hide the bad.
As a “gift” from the Xizi kingdom to the Emperor of Daliang, for the safety of her people, she had no right to speak of her hardships.
She said, “After Mother gave birth to me, the Imperial Physician diagnosed that she could no longer bear children. She had no imperial princes, which brought her much peace. For those years, she and Aunt Mu Ya lived cautiously. Although they faced cold glances, they had no worries about food and clothing. This continued until the Xianning Rebellion, when tensions rose between Xizi and Daliang’s border…”
Alah’s tears flowed freely.
Even hearing mere fragments brought him immense sorrow.
He could only imagine how much suffering his poor daughter had endured in the deep palace.
Alah asked, “It was from then on that I stopped receiving family letters from Mu Ya. What exactly happened?”
Wen Jia said, “After the Shangsi Festival that year, the Empress Dowager held a skirt-curtain banquet at Qu Jiang. During the banquet, I accidentally broke Princess Ping Le’s newly acquired jade cup. Ping Le actually ordered two nannies to splash me with cold water and slap me… Aunt Mu Ya, to protect me, was severely beaten by Ping Le at the bank of Qu Jiang pond under the charge of great disrespect. My Mother was also banished to the Cold Palace because of this…”
From then on, her own nightmare began.
Wen Jia slowly raised her wrist, pushing up her wide sleeves.
The once horrifying scars were now something she could face with equanimity.
Yet, it startled several iron-willed men, their eyes instantly reddening.
If she, a princess of the current Emperor, could suffer such hardship, what fate could Saina and Mu Ya, who had married into a foreign land, have endured?
“This is too much!”
Alah’s teacup shattered with a “crack.”
“A scavenging hyena, no matter how kindly it pretends, cannot hide its malice. You did not break Ping Le’s jade cup to receive punishment… It was clearly Daliang using the pretense of troubling you to show off to Xizi…”
In fact, when Wen Jia blamed herself for her recklessness, her mother had said something similar.
Even if she hadn’t broken Ping Le’s jade cup, there would have been another excuse to humiliate Xizi…
“Aunt Mu Ya always said that the sunsets in Chishui City were more magnificent than those in Shangjing.”
“Whenever the wind blew, she would hang camel bells from the eaves, saying that this way she could hear the surging tides of the sand sea in her homeland…”
Wen Jia took out a wolf bone flute from her embrace and placed it gently on the table.
“Aunt Mu Ya entrusted this to me before her death.”
“She told me that before coming to Shangjing for the political marriage, she had a young man she admired, and this wolf bone flute was a gift from that young man. She would never return to Chishui City in this life. If, one day, this wolf bone flute could return to her homeland, she would have no regrets…”
Before she finished speaking, Alim, standing beside her, burst into tears.
“It is my fault, Mu Ya. I shouldn’t have cared about the elders’ teachings, shouldn’t have feared worldly opinions… I should have taken her away!”
Wen Jia looked at him.
Suddenly, she understood many things.
In a daze, she seemed to see someone galloping on horseback, the sound of the wolf bone flute carrying the girl’s bell-like laughter, piercing through the rustling golden leaves of the poplar forest…
The events of more than twenty years ago, at this moment, turned to dust in Alim’s tear-filled eyes…
Time has passed, the person is gone, there is no turning back.
Each generation has its own missed opportunities and regrets…
Just like her and Lu You’an, destined but not fated, beyond her control.
Alah tightly gripped the wolf bone flute, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
“The Emperor of Daliang broke the wings of my eagle, and Princess Ping Le severed the pearl in my palm. One day, the iron cavalry of my Xizi will trample through Daliang’s twelve city gates and storm Shangjing—”
This low growl was like thunder from a clear sky, piercing through walls.
Xue Sui leaned against the carved window, her fingertips tapping a rhythm on the desk.
Outside the window, from some unknown opera house, 《Han Palace Autumn》 was being sung, its mournful and melodious tune accompanied by Hu strings, reaching her ears.
“This play is much more exciting than the one on Lantern Festival.”
Xue Sui looked at the distant and near lanterns, smiling slightly, “Wouldn’t you agree, Your Highness the Crown Prince?”
The room was extremely quiet.
Li Zhao walked steadily out of the shadows of the lamplight. Dipping his finger in tea, he lightly traced a line on the desk, seemingly indifferent.
“If it weren’t exciting, how could it be worthy of Ping An’s Yanluo Picture Album?”
Xue Sui’s eyes widened slightly, and she smiled.
“Your Highness investigated very thoroughly.”
They exchanged a glance, and Xue Sui slowly stood up.
“The clapper has sounded! It’s getting late, I must leave.”
She started to leave, then seemed to remember something, turned her head, and smiled brightly.
“The plum wine from the Eastern Palace is unforgettable. Bring another jar next time, Your Highness.”
She left as she said, without any hesitation.
Li Zhao reached out, leaning against the door panel. He suddenly leaned down, his knuckles pressing silently, his sleeve brushing past Xue Sui’s ear with a man’s scent…
“Leaving so soon?”
Xue Sui looked him up and down, then glanced at the unfinished chess game and the now-cooled tea, the corners of her lips curving upwards.
“What else? Do I need to pay?”
Li Zhao stood in front of her, his face cold.
Xue Sui moved his hand away, bowed slightly, and said, “Farewell.”
Her figure flashed, and she was gone without a sound.
Li Zhao gently touched the slightly mottled door frame with his fingertips, slowly sat back in his original position. His previously calm and gentle expression instantly turned icy, and he seemed to freeze.
A bustling inn, a contemplative Crown Prince.
Lai Fu hesitated for a long while before cautiously walking in, bowing and smiling apologetically.
“Crown Prince, it’s getting late, you should return to the palace.”
Li Zhao stood up and tidied his clothes. His cloud pattern magnificent robes, cinched with a jade belt, accentuated his tall stature, and his tone became even more chilling.
“Have someone keep a close watch on Prince Duan’s Mansion. If Xue Liu suffers even the slightest harm, have their heads brought to me!”
Lai Fu acknowledged, sighing inwardly.
One life, two destinies.
The Crown Prince might never be able to sever this bond.
