231 Untitled (2/2)
One could see the fear in Xuanyuan Cheng's eyes as he gazed at Xuanyuan Yun. A sigh could not help but escape from his mouth.
Xuanyuan Yun looked at her father, meekly. She wasn't dumb, so naturally, she knew why her father had sighed. In her heart, she too wished that she was more bold and courageous so that her father would not have to worry for her. However, her grandfather had always warned her, ”Xun Er, you don't have to be strong. The Xuanyuan family has the blood of an ancient god in their veins, and they have the rightful inheritance to the throne. It will not end well for those who steal unrightfully. With you being weak, your father will always be hesitant and not choose to make the grave mistake. Otherwise, do you really want to be enemies with Ah Yue for the rest of your life?”
To be enemies with Brother Yue for the rest of her life… she would rather die.
”Father, why isn't Brother Yue willing to come back?” she asked that same question for the millionth time.
Xuanyuan Cheng looked at his incompetent daughter as a hint of dismay appeared in his eyes. Recently, he had been feeling frustrated and looking his daughter absorbed in the idea of her Brother Yue's return, coupled with his gut feeling, he couldn't help but want to give this daughter he had spoilt a wakeup call. ”You really wish for him to come back earlier, and then, kill your father?”
”Ah—” Xuanyuan Yun did not know how to answer.
”You beg me to convince him to come back but do you really not know that he and I are at daggers drawn? The grudge between us is deeply embedded into our very soul, what methods do you have for us to bury the hatchet? Return his position? You marrying him?”
Xuanyuan Yun opened her mouth and stared at Xuanyuan Cheng, shocked.
”Putting aside whether he will marry you. Your idea alone is childish to the point it's ridiculous! Return his title as a Lord? Do you think that Ah Yue will be satisfied with a mere lord position? ”What about the revenge for Wen Yi's family? Don't you dare forget that his father died in my hands! He was initially the heir to the throne!”
”Father…” Xuanyuan Yun paused for a second, taken aback. Suddenly, she turned around and glared at him. ”You didn't convince him to come back at all, did you?”
Xuanyuan Cheng remained silent. After a while, he stood up and said, ”Rest well and take care of yourself. Don't worry too much about these. Some things are not as simple as you think.”
”You have not answered my question!” Xuanyuan Yun suddenly jumped down from her bed and kneeled down on the cold jade floor. She grabbed the Regent King's sleeve and looked right into his eyes. ”You did not convince him to come back… I even told you his identity and location… what… what have you done to him?”
Her skinny body bent over like a crescent moon. Her straightened neck was paler than the moon; it was so thin too, as though a gentle grasp could shatter it. Those long eyelashes fluttered, framing the graceful gaze of hers. But right now, in those eyes, tears of fear swirled, blurring the vision of the ever noble father.
Xuanyuan Cheng back-faced her, standing straight. The sentence 'things I have to do' almost rushed out of his mouth, but he swallowed back in. Eventually, what came out was a sorrowful, restrained sigh. He turned back and carried his daughter back onto her bed. ”Be good, nothing, I didn't manage to find him.”
”You did something to him!” Despite his lies, she understood. When her father asked her to 'be good', the majority of the time was because he needed to lie to her. One could see the green veins on her pale hands as she held tightly onto his sleeves as tears streamed down her face. ”You lied to me, you lied to me, you lied to me! You liar!” she yelled.
She had been ill for a couple of days, and her voice was now raspy and hoarse. Her husky screams, packed full of anguish and disappointment, tore through the hearts of those who heard, shattering the peaceful atmosphere in this luxurious place that knew nothing of the pain and sorrows of the world. At that moment, the silk bed canopy rose with the breeze and gently covered the little princess' frail shoulders.
Xuanyuan Cheng's steady hands begun to tremble - but only in that second - and then, he calmly and slowly pried away, Xuanyuan Yun's hands and stood up.
Once again, back-facing Xuanyuan Yun, he coldly told her, ”Yun Er, you are my daughter, the descendant of royalty. In the past, there were some things that you refused to understand, and so, I shielded you from the painful things. But now, I feel that I have harmed you. Why shouldn't you know? You not understanding anything is my greatest wrongdoing to you.”
”I don't care about knowing anything…” Xuanyuan Yun stared at him with her watery eyes. ”You are lying again, you are lying again. Grandfather was right. You lied to the world. Before Mother died, you held her hand and promised her that you would never marry again, but within a year after her death, you took in three concubines… you lied to Mother, and now you are lying to me… You harmed my Brother Yue… You have made me unable to face him even in death…”
”Yun Er!” hollered Xuanyuan Cheng.
Xuanyuan Yun trembled as she quickly shut up. It was one of the first time seeing her ever gentle father shaking in anger, fury written all over his face. She opened her mouth in fear, and then remembered that in her emotional state, she had said extremely unpleasant words that hit hard on her father's sore spot. Seeing that her father had raised his hand, filled with rage, she could not help but retreat in terror and crouch in the corner of the bed.
Xuanyuan Cheng had his hand in the air but seeing his daughter's fearful gaze, his heart ached. That gaze resembled the one who had passed, pure and clear like water, without a hint of contamination. It was the kind of clarity that aroused one's desire to protect with everything he could… his queen, the only person he had ever loved. Before she passed, he held her hand and swore that he would not marry others, he promised that he would love their child with his everything… But he had already broken the very first promise. Lin Dai Yu is a principal character in 'Dream of the Red Chamber', a classic chinese novel. She possessed ethereal beauty, further elevated by the streak of melancholy in her.