Your Highness, Please Love Me Tender

59. Childhood Memory

Translator: Flying Lines

“Yes, we can leave for the capital tomorrow.” Xiao ShengNian said as his eyes fell on the kite in Su Jie’s hand.

“Oh.” Su Jie nodded and averted his eyes from Sun Shu after a quick glance, yet, however, the latter’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise like he was suddenly frightened by some evil spirit.

His eyelids twitched violently as his gaze fell on Su Jie’s face. However, the next second he resumed his downcast state as if having realized his own discomposure, yet his attention was now glued to Su Jie.

His emotion swing lasted only for a second that escaped everyone’s but Zhou ZaiYue’s before he soon resumed his poker face, his lips parched, his skin of healthy brown complexion but his spirit low.

“Did you go to fly a kite?” Xiao ShengNian raised his eyebrows and looked at the swallow kite Su Jie was holding.

“No, I bought this but there was not much wind in the afternoon, so it didn’t fly.” Su Jie shook his head with a look of regret.

“…… I didn’t know you like this kid’s stuff.” Xiao ShengNian said.

Su Jie stroked the paper kite, shaking it as he replied, “I can’t say I like it, but I never got the chance to fly a kite. Now I saw it, I can’t help but want to buy one.”

“Never? We can do it another day.” Xiao ShengNian liked to run when he was young, so there was a time when he was so keen on flying a kite that he even broke seven kites in a day, and the last one fell by his father’s side.

At that time, his father the emperor and the empress were chanting poems and appreciating flowers in the imperial garden when a kite flew over.

“YouGuang, you love flying kites?” asked the emperor as he picked the kite up and handed it to Xiao ShengNian. YouGuang was his style name. “Father, mother,” the young Xiao ShengNian got down on his knees and greeted in an unhurried manner.

“Now get up…” The emperor cracked a smile, saying, “Eunuch Song has superb skills of making kites. I’ll let him go to your place tomorrow and make some good ones for you.”

“Thanks, father.” Xiao ShengNian expressed his gratitude but in reality never played a kite again. Eunuch Song had a fierce look and knew nothing about making a kite. Obviously, his father got dissatisfied with his behavior. If he dared to indulge in kite-flying ever again, his father would definitely put him in detention to ponder over his own mistakes.

“Have you ever flown a kite before?” Seeing Xiao ShengNian a bit lost in thought, Su Jie couldn’t help but open his mouth and pull him back to earth.

“Yes, but that was a long time ago.” Xiao ShengNian gave a faint smile as his thoughts travelled to the long past.

***

Among all the princes, he was the only one who had a deep sense of propriety since very young. Everyone thought that the emperor loved the empress most. However, Xiao Shengnian knew the emperor’s favorite was an imperial concubine of extreme elegance and beauty who somehow ended up in the cold palace.

This imperial concubine once gave Xiao ShengNian a kite, a token of kindness that he had been keeping in mind. So after she was degraded to the cold palace, he would secretly fetch some food to the cold palace. One day, when Xiao ShengNian slipped into the cold palace, he found the emperor was also there.

“I love you.” The emperor sounded cold and calm.

Xiao ShengNian at that time was hiding outside, not able to see the emperor’s expression. He just felt that his father’s voice was no different from that of the ordinary times, cold and indifferent.

“The woman I love most is you.”

“Thank you for your love, Your Majesty.” The woman’s voice was also very calm, with no special emotion coloring her tone.

“I don’t want to let you die in the cold palace, wasting your beauty here.” The emperor’s words sounded very affectionate.

The woman didn’t give any response. She must be moved, Xiao ShengNian thought.

But what the emperor said later chilled Xiao ShengNian to the bone, “I will keep your cremains by my side.”

Xiao ShengNian covered his mouth to stop himself from making any sound out of utter shock and fright. He ran away from the cold palace and hid behind a tree, his heart pounding rapidly.

At that very night, a fire broke out in the cold palace, the scorching flames of which lit up the night sky, startled countless palace people and Xiao ShengNian, who was staying up late reading.

“Did father do this?” thought Xiao ShengNian, stunned.

His ninth brother yawned, “Brother, there is a fire outside. You want to have a look?”

“No. Time to sleep.” However, Xiao ShengNian did not sleep that night. From that day on, he began to play weak and incompetent in front of the emperor.

He became afraid of his father and began to alienate his father, for the fire burned the poor woman who had been left in the cold palace, the very woman that his father claimed he loved most.

Xiao ShengNian never understood his father, just as his father never understood him.

***

“We’ll leave first thing in the morning.” Coming back from his recollection, Xiao ShengNian smiled.