Chapter 303 - Languid Despair (2/2)
He was not sure what Princess Nalan had in her mind.
She has on more than one occasion talked about how she did not like life here, saying it was too rigid and boring for her taste. She liked to be wild and free so for all he knew, he was just a passing whim for her.
After all, they had never discussed the possibility of a future together.
So this would either be a goodbye or a what now meeting. Both of which Prince Yi was not in the mood or in the right frame of mind to have right now.
The prospects of this whole Princess Nalan and Zou business was seeming like it was going to be another dead end it was currently infuriating him. The idea that in the end, this affair would simply bring nothing but trouble to him - to both of them was weighing down his mind.
If that Doctor was really as good as he claimed to be then Princess Nalan was already pregnant. Therefore, he had already kicked up a storm and so it was too late to turn back. He should have not been so hasty with this, but what was he to do, time was short. He had to take the gamble or lose the opportunity.
Of course, he was still trying to tell himself that a union with a Princess could not be bad per se. Even if Prince Houyi did not work out then perhaps her father might buy into the deal. After all, he had wanted her to wed an Emperor. So a prince who was just one person from the throne was not too bad.
They just need to get rid of the obstacle in the way. But even this Prince Yi could not be certain about. He sighed and refilled his cup and ordered, ”More wine...”
Tian Ji knit his brows and then hesitantly informed, ”Master Zhao is here again...I told him you were not receiving guests but he is being very insistent, he says he has some good news for you...”
Prince Yi scoffed, ”Is the Emperor dead?”
Tian Ji's calmly advised, ”Your highness, the walls have ears...”
Prince Yi dryly chuckled and said, ”Apparently the heavens too have ears...yet they never hear me. Isn't this level of favoritism too cruel?” He asked and then went about refilling his cup and grumbled, ”They answer all his prayers...”
”I will send Master Zhao away...” Tian Ji said with a bow and then turned to leave, but just as he reached the door, Prince Yi said, ”Send him in...”
Tian Ji bowed and again and left. Prince Yi glanced at Princess Nalan's letter again, then he sighed and continued his drinking without touching the letter.
He truly needed some good news in his life, he could not remember when last he heard any good news...Perhaps, it was at his father's death. That old man did not know what was good for him.
After everything he had done for him, he actually had the audacity to threaten him.
A sad smile made its way across his lips as he remembered that fateful day. His father had called him to the Emperor's palace and praised him for all his efforts all those years, made him feel good about himself - made him feel accomplished.
He had thought his father had finally recognized that he was just as good - no, better than his brothers. For a brief moment there, he had believed it was his victory, that the time had come for his father to officially recognize him, for him to claim his rightful place as the Crown prince of the empire, he had worked so hard all those years to earn that place.
But then his father went ahead to say that it was time for Jun Kai to return to the capital.
Prince Yi was confused and his father, of course, noticed this and kindly went on to explain that he did not want to personally kill his own son, but there cannot be two tigers on one mountain.
'The time had come to face the truth', their father said.
The truth that no matter how hard Prince Yi worked he would never be better than Jun Kai in his father's eyes, in the world's eyes. After all, the people hailed Jun Kai as the god of war and he, Jun Shan was just another official in court. A good follower but not born to lead.
He was inadequate from birth, while Jun Kai was exceptional from birth. There was nothing he could ever do to change those facts in their father's eyes.