Chapter 46 (2/2)

Just as I thought this, I caught sight of a human-shaped figure flas.h.i.+ng by out of the corners of my eyes. When I turned around to look, it was gone. Alarmed, I broke out into a cold sweat. Standing in place, I shrank my head back and dug into my sleeves, hesitating for a long while before looking outside the gates. The children who were playing there had disappeared, as if the voices I’d heard before were all an illusion.

Then…could they be ghosts?

I could only feel the scalp on my head turning numb as my icy hands while cold sweat broke out over my body. Little Li said a male concubine lived in the Cold Palace, but why did I feel that this place lacked signs of life? There was something indescribably strange about it all…

While I was considering when to leave, I heard a vague noise. My body stiffened as I held my breath to listen. There was no mistake…the sound came from the room furthest away from me, where the door was unlocked. This is the Cold Palace, where Lord Hua was supposed to live.

I didn’t know why, but from the first time I heard his name to all the times afterward, when people mentioned details about him, my heart would tighten to a taut string, as if about to snap. Disturbed, restless–I’d never been troubled like this before.

Did his relations.h.i.+p with the emperor cause me to feel this way?

Was it just because of the emperor, though?

I really couldn’t tell. Perhaps, I’d need to ask him for the details before I could reach a conclusion. I held back for a bit before the curiosity was too strong to resist. More soft noises came from the room, making my heart itch.

d.a.m.n it! If I was going to die, I might as well die from fright, not by being stifled! At least I would pa.s.s away understanding everything.

I hunched down as I approached that door, preparing to spy through the crack in the doors. A cold wind blew out, turning my scalp numb…I squinted before I could see anything. It was very dim inside the room, but there really was someone inside, fair and graceful…actually, I could even call them lithe and elegant.

What was that sticking out of their head? It looked like a flower hairpin.

A female?

A female was in this room?

Wasn’t it a male concubine that lived here?!

—

I was angry. Why was I angry? I didn’t know either, but I pushed open the door, frightening the person inside. The faint scent of mold came to greet me, and the ancient floorboards groaned beneath my feet. Surprised, I began to grow apprehensive.

…this, did it count as invading personal quarters?

In the dim lightning, everything was absolute silent. I could see a shadowy form back away a few steps, her back to me as she dug in her sleeves for a long while, as if searching for something…there was a sharp sc.r.a.ping noise, and light illuminated the room.

Under the hazy light, I stood dumbfounded. She leaned over to pick up the lamp and peered at me. Its dim yellow glow lit up the entire room as well as my features. I was a little timid, uncertain of whether I should hide my face. I tried to turn my head away as much as possible, taking the chance to inspect the room. The objects were set up orderly as if purposely arranged, but there was no sign that anyone lived here. Everything was covered in a thin layer of dust. The weather had turned colder, but the covers on the bed were thin and poor, and carried the odor of damp.

“Are you the imperial concubine that Big Brother Emperor’s going to confer a t.i.tle on?” a timid female voice asked.

I roused myself, unable to resist looking up at the rafters. There were quite a few remnants of white knotted silks there.

She asked me again.

I gave an ‘un’ in affirmation before withdrawing my gaze to her face.

Maybe the lamplight was to blame, but there wasn’t a single hint of blood in her youthful face. Her complexion was extremely pale, but she had beautiful eyebrows that had rose slightly. If she knitted those brows, she would probably look fierce, but an attractive girl like her seemed so vulnerable and weak. She was dressed ornately, and though the hairpin in her head was nothing compared to my phoenix coronet, it was still n.o.ble and precious.

She smiled a bit and said lightly, “Perhaps you don’t recognize me.” A hand rose to rest on her temples, the wrist as white as jade. “My name is Xuan’er. I’m Big Brother Emperor’s little sister.”

Little sister?

I’d never heard him mention it…

What was she doing at the Cold Palace?

I glanced outside. Out of all the rooms in the Cold Palace, only this one was lit and had the signs of human habitation. Everywhere else was pitch-black. Odd, it really was grotesquely odd.

Eh…?

“Where’s the man who lives in the Cold Palace? Why isn’t there any sign of him?” I asked rashly.

She seemed flabbergasted as she looked at me, eyes gleaming like a trough full of water as she pondered for a bit. “Are you talking about the Lord Hua who used to live here?”

Ah…

Used to live?

“Where did he move to?”

She smiled softly. “If you’re talking about Lord Fang Hua, then he lived here for awhile five years ago. Afterwards, he took his leave and left the imperial palace.”

What?! Left the palace…? But what about the one I met recently?

“Last time the laundry rooms mixed up his robes and he came to personally retrieve them. How could he have left for five years already?” I was doubtful.

“How could that fake compare to one-tenth of Fang Hua’s looks?” she lowered her head, using a sleeve to brush away the dirt on the table. Her words were slow and drawn out. “You should know, all the male concubines that Big Brother Emperor takes in are named Lord Hua.”

I was stunned.

There was no way to avoid it, this revelation was too earth-shaking. A strange feeling rose in my heart…something I couldn’t describe clearly…at the very least, it was very tangled.

She looked at me once more, mouth stuck between a smile and a line as she spoke. “Fang Hua is unique and resembles a jade Immortal. No matter how many others try to imitate that air, they still fall short of him. But n.o.body foresaw that he’d get sick not long after living in the Cold Palace.

Few people paid him any attention, so it was only me who always gave him flowers to eat. Ever since Big Brother Emperor banished him to the Cold Palace, I’d liked coming over to visit…

He’s a very good-natured, gentle person, even if he never talked much. After his illness, he spoke less and less. That’s right…sometimes when he was feeling better, Lord Fang Hua would call me Little Huang[1].”

She lowered her head and fiddled with her hands, face holding a quiet happiness like a woman recalling the joys of her youth.

Wait…she said the man was named Fang Hua.

My head turned numb.

This name was very familiar.

“What’s wrong?” she looked at me, deeply concerned. I smiled with difficulty, my head heavy and dizzy. Every single one of her words rang with truth in my ears.

“There was a period of time when I asked Big Brother Emperor to let me move in with Lord Hua, but he refused. Afterwards, Lord Hua disappeared from the palace.” her smile turned sad, and I had the sudden feeling she shouldn’t be smiling like that. It seemed inconsistent with her image. Instead, she should…

She should what?

I was blank until an image appeared in my mind of a self-important brat, whose face was enough to make a person gnash their teeth. In the end, I wanted to say something else, but something threw himself against her and hugged her by the legs.

“E niang[2], I’m hungry.” It was a very young voice.

There was a figure outside holding onto a second little child, whose beautiful eyes looked my way with a smile.

“It’s getting late, I should leave.” the pretty woman gave me a smile, and walked out the gates holding the little child by the hand. She’d left the candle for me, using the moonlight to guide her way…

I suddenly noticed that her robes, despite being of gorgeous make, looked a bit shabby beneath the moonlight, though it should’ve been barely used.

Even the emperor’s little sister lived such a hard life?

—

I exhaled, holding the candle in its lamp as I inspected this so-called Cold Palace. This was probably the place where her Fang Hua had lived. Besides a single bed, the room contained a table and two or three chairs. Although they were simple and unadorned, they made me feel at ease.

A jar on the table caught my attention. Testing its weight in my hand, I found it very light. A glance inside revealed some traces left behind by tea as well as a lingering scent of fresh flowers. Its owner must have been exceedingly elegant and refined.

Just as I was s.p.a.cing out, a tiny noise sounded from outside the window.

-o- Original and most updated translations are from volaretranslations.

[1] Little Huang (小黄) －xiaohuang, also known as Xuan’er (璇儿), made her first appearance in Chapter 30: A Clingy Servant, and was also mentioned indirectly as an aside in chapter 34.

[2] e niang (额娘) －a formal, fancy way of saying mother, mom, etc.