The White-Haired Imperial Concubine

Chapter 41 The Bystanders See The Clearest

“Imperial Father, what is this wine? It smells so good!” The seven year-old boy with a face prettier than any girl’s looked like a fairy. The stern face of the man next to him held hints of fatherly doting, and he smiled, “This wine is called ‘Ten Miles Fragrance’. If huang’er(1) likes it, then Imperial Father will call for them to bring some more over for tomorrow night’s banquet.”

“Okay, but…Mother doesn’t like it when I drink wine, so I can only drink a tiny bit. Imperial Father, you should also drink less, otherwise, Mother will ignore you even more.” The little boy spoke in a serious tone. But he could never have expected that it was this wonderful smell that ultimately sent his most beloved person to the deepest parts of hell.

The stern man’s gaze slightly dimmed, only after a long time did he sigh.

The black night was like a dark and gloomy prison, sucking people in. Zongzheng Wuyou who was engrossed in his dream frowned deeper like a tight knot. As the pictures continued, the soul-shattering scene appeared once more…

A house full of the smell of medicinal herbs, ripped pieces of clothing messily scattered on the floor, the man who lost all rationality who was crazily demanding, each drop of his sweat causing people to feel disgusted. The person below him had already lost all color in their face, the slender fingers digging into the bed’s headboard, the bloody flesh displaying their despair and hopelessness. Death arrived soundlessly…

His face completely ashen, giant drops of cold sweat rolled down Zongzheng Wuyou’s face as he was trapped in his nightmare, causing the bedsheets to become wet.

Suddenly jerking away, the pair of ink-black eyes were full of sorrow and pain. He closed his eyes, trying to calm his breathing before opening them again, revealing their usual coldness. He flipped the blanket away, standing up to walk towards the window. Raising his hand, he opened the window, allowing the cold wind to enter, blowing through his inner clothes that were soaked with sweat, the coldness penetrating deep into his heart.

He inhaled, calling out, “Leng Yan.”

Leng Yan immediately appeared behind him, his usual apathetic expression slightly changing when he stared at the tall and lonely back in front of the window. Master had another nightmare! This nightmare has clung onto him for thirteen years, every night he would awaken in the middle of the night and open the window, his desolate and miserable figure chilled by the cold wind.

Zongzheng Wuyou did not turn around and stared off into the black night in a daze. His voice was like ice dropped onto the stone bricks, cold to the point of making people shiver, “Why is there ‘Ten Miles Fragrance’ on this earth? Didn’t you say it was all destroyed?”

“Yes, that year when the Qin clan was exterminated, none of the wine in the wine storage was left.” Leng Yan paused, recalling something, “The ‘Ten Miles Fragrance’ at the banquet today smelled a little different from the one back then, it doesn’t seem like one that’s been brewed for very long.”

Zongzheng Wuyou started, turning around and narrowing his eyes, as a cold glint flashed through his eyes, “You’re saying…The two orphaned children of the Qin clan did not die? Investigate!”

“Yes.” Leng Yan obeyed, preparing to leave.

“Wait.” Zongzheng Wuyou stopped him, pausing before speaking again, “Still no movements from the General’s residence?”

Leng Yan nodded, “We’ve looked everyone, we did not see the person.”

Zongzheng Wuyou’s expression returned to normal but inside, he was still unsettled from that dream of his, causing his mind to be scrambled, unable to calm down to think rationally. He paced back and forth in front of the window, his brows knit tight as he spoke in a heavy voice, “Continue watching the General’s residence. Tomorrow, close the city gates and investigate each family and person, you must find her.”

Two whole days have passed, Jingcheng was full of soldiers. From the East City to the West City, each inch of land was turned over, he even sent people to the palace and the Crown Prince’s residence to investigate in secret, but they could not find any trace of that person.

The drizzle outside kept falling, and the room was quiet.

The guard who came to give a report was kneeling uneasily on the ground, his heart pounding as his forehead hit the ground. He didn’t dare to breathe.

Zongzheng Wuyou tightened his fists, feeling extremely fidgety. Ever since she left, he never had a day where he felt at ease.

The Ninth Prince walked in with large steps, sitting down across from him without giving any greetings. He poured himself a cup of tea, downing it in one shot before loudly exhaling, “I’m so tired! Seventh Brother, where do you think Li Yue is hiding? Between the large streets and small alleyways and the houses and the straw cottages in Jingcheng…I’ve looked everywhere. A living and breathing body, how could it just disappear into thin air?”

Zongzheng Wuyou’s fist rested against his lips, his brows furrowed as he looked at the foggy rain drizzling outside, not speaking.

The Ninth Prince saw that he didn’t have any reaction and curled his lip, seemingly remembering something funny, he drew near with a mysterious expression on his face, “Aye, Seventh Brother, tell me…Li Yue looks so beautiful, do you think she’s an immortal fairy who came down to the mortal world? You broke her heart, so she turned into smoke and disappeared from this world, returning to her original home…”

Before he could finish, Zongzheng Wuyou shot a sharp look at him, successfully sealing his mouth.

As the saying goes, ‘people speak thoughtlessly but listen intently’, the woman was originally an orphaned soul who borrowed her body anyways. Now, she seemed to have evaporated like mist from the mortal world, not a single trace of her could be found. He suddenly remembered that the day she left, she had a cold smile on her face when she spoke, “I know Prince Li’s power reaches even farther than the heavens, but there are some things in this world that will not always be within your control. There will always be one person that you can’t have even if you beg; there will always be one thing that will cause you, Zongzheng Wuyou to overturn heavens and earth, but still not be able to change.”

This sentence was spoken with such conviction, could it be…thinking about how that woman very well could have left his world, Zongzheng Wuyou suddenly felt fear spreading within him. He didn’t think too much about where this fear came from, but lowered his gaze, gripping the armrests of his chair so tight that his fingertips turned white. Thinking from another angle, he felt it wasn’t quite right. If she really did leave this world, then her body should still be here, but up ’til now, they haven’t even found a corpse, which meant this hypothesis was unlikely.

Where did she go? Jingcheng was so large, how could there be a person that he could not find?!

As his frustrations grew, his hands unconsciously gripped tighter until a “kacha” sound rang out, the armrest couldn’t handle his strength and was broken, the wooden fragments littering the ground.

The abrupt sound rang out with no warning, causing the prostrating guard on the ground to tremble and break out into a cold sweat.

The Ninth Prince was stunned and he stared with his eyes wide open, feeling astonished. The Seventh Brother that he knew was always cold and indifferent, he had never treated anyone sincerely, yet now he was turning over the entire Jingcheng in such a brazen fashion to search for a woman, even getting angry. This was a completely inconceivable notion to him.

Zongzheng Wuyou started, looking at the scattered wood fragments, he blanked out for a moment.

The Ninth Prince waved a hand at the guard below, indicating for them to leave. The guard had a joyous expression on his face, rushing to stand up and leave before he finally let out a breath of relief.

The rain dropped endlessly on the roof. The Ninth Prince leaned forward, sticking his head out and rolling his eyes before suddenly speaking, “Seventh Brother, why are you in such a hurry to look for Li Yue? I’ve never seen you treat anyone or anything so seriously! You…could it be…you have feelings for Li Yue?”

Zongzheng Wuyou’s body quaked, raising his eyes as his lips hooked up. His gaze, however, was chilly and terrifying, as if he [the Ninth Prince] said some great big cold joke. But when Zongzheng Wuyou’s eyes met with the man’s across from him, seeing the Ninth Prince’s usually playful gaze filled with incomparable seriousness as if he was looking directly into the depths of his heart, Zongzheng Wuyou’s smile stiffened. He stood up, turning his back, forcefully suppressing his sudden surprise.

What are feelings? He didn’t even have a heart, so where would he develop feelings?”

“Are you bored out of your mind?! Then go find that person, if you can’t find her then don’t come back.” Zongzheng Wuyou spoke coldly.

The Ninth Prince was startled, he was just saying it casually, thinking that Seventh Brother would make fun of him for speaking nonsense. He did not expect that he would receive such a different reaction instead.

The Ninth Prince stood up, gazing at his back for a while, he shook his head and went out. When he stepped out the doorway, there was an unprecedented serious expression on his face. He spoke to the person behind him, “Seventh Brother, have you ever thought that for someone as intelligent and cautious as Li Yue, why did she fall into your gentle trap so easily? If you didn’t have any serious feelings towards her at all, do you think that she would not have noticed?” This was definitely the most decent sentence he ever spoke in his whole entire life!

(1) huang’er: Affectionate term referring to a (young) prince.