EMPRESS LIU

~FOURTEEN~

Liu Changsheng was not expecting his sister-in-law to say that to his mother.

"Why don't you take the third young master with you too, mother?" Was what she said. But suddenly Liu Changsheng's world stopped. He realised the same events had started happening. The motive was probably different, but the indication was that the end result will still be the same. He froze in place. He didn't want to go this time. He did not want to sacrifice everything again. He had enough of the pain and he didn't want more.

"NO!" He shouted. Startling the two ladies in the process. The cup of tea spilled by his mother fell on the ground with a huge sound alerting the maids. He himself was startled at this point.

In this time after his rebirth never once did he do anything to let on suspicion. Of course if he gets scared all of a sudden by the person he loves people would notice. Now that his father also knew about his interest in the fourth prince, which he misunderstood of course. Liu Changsheng realised he has to be very careful.

After recovering from the initial shock he moves forward to help his mother but is refused. "A-Sheng. Ni hai hao ma?" His mother was concerned of course.

"Young master, is your health alright? Do we need to contact the physician?" His da sao was also worried. He was a cared for child of the family after all.

"I'm alright. Da sao. Mother." Then he looked at his mother and asked if she was alright. "Is A-niang alright? I did not mean to startle you."

But instead of answering his question his mother looks for answers in his eyes. Not sure what she finds but he was excused to leave and go back to his room to rest.

He was deep in thought on his way to his quarter when a sudden voice stopped him on his track.

"So you still think you can change your fate?"

Liu Changsheng looks around to find the source of the voice. "Ying Lianying! Ni zai na?" He looks around the corner but she was nowhere. "Where are you Ying Lianying? Come out. I know it's you. I know your voice." But to no avail.

Ying Lianying was nowhere to be seen. So Liu Changsheng had to give up on trying to find her.

In the late afternoon, he went to the village market on the other side of the bamboo forest. This is his usual place to meet Jing Xuanyu. He bound the reins of xiao su to a branch of the peepal tree and sat at the abandoned pier at the end of the bamboo forest and looked off to the waterline.

Jing Xuanyu came right after and sat by his side. "Hey, who are you and what did you do to Liu Changsheng?"

I can't really tell you that, was what he wanted to say. But instead he just laughed. He had a lot to talk about with his friend. Jing Xuanyu went to the neighbouring city ruled by the imperial monarch to learn accounting. He had to stay there for a year. So he did not really know about Liu Changsheng falling in love with the fourth prince yet. And this time Liu Changsheng wasn't intending to tell him either.

In his last life Liu Changsheng was so excited to receive the imperial verdict to be married into the imperial family that he called his friend himself and announced the news. Although shocked Jing Xuanyu accepted the news very well and supported him to the end. Later he joined the imperial treasury and they were very close. But the fourth prince limited his movements and he couldn't meet this friend ever again. The last time he saw Jing Xuanyu in his last life was when he went to the emperor's study to confront him about his brother's imprisonment.

And here right now everything seems like a dream. It was all a lifetime away.

"I have some news to tell you." Jing Xuanyu starts.

"Really? What is it?" Liu Changsheng was actually very enthusiastic to know what happened to his friend's life in the last one year.

"I met someone I like."

I did too. This was what Liu Changsheng told in his last life. But this life he just looked at him hopefully to know more.

"I met her when I was in the capital city for the imperial exam. Mei er is very pretty just like her name. Her father is a horse merchant. She is very kind and soft spoken. She likes to sew and likes the scent of cardamom." When Jing Xuanyu was talking about this girl his whole face was lit up. His eyes were sparkling. It was evident that he likes this person very much.

Liu Changsheng remembers he used to be like this talking about the fourth prince. But then everything changed. And his life was ruined.

But he was happy for his friend. That he found someone to cherish for life. Whereas his life is spent scheming to survive and save his loved ones.

In no time the court gathering of people came closer and the old Liu went to his two younger sons informing them about going to the court gathering. Liu Changsheng didn't realise it was inevitable until he was already in front of the mirror getting decked up for the occasion.

He looks very beautiful today. He has half of his hair up in a ponytail. A blue ribbon was wrapped around it with the ends let loose to fall on his back. He wore a sophisticated blue embroidered hanfu to match the nobles in the gathering. The end of his hanfu had ocean waves drawn on it. It went so well with the outfit and Liu Changsheng's appearance that everyone would be mesmerized. He carried his blue fan with him. He kept xuehui at home because it was a social gathering with common people being present.

And with his brother he rode in a horse carriage with his mother and sister on another one.

The journey to the imperial city will be uneventful, he thought. But as we all know God always has other plans than we think!

Heyyyy everyone! What's up people?? I just finished a long to-do list and then started writing this! I know this story is kinda turning long will all sorts of characters and entanglement! But I promise I'll clear it all up in future chapters one my one...  You just have to wait a bit! Because at the moment, I have a lot on my plate and barely have time to research stuffs for writing...

I hope you don't mind my unedited chapters... And feel free to point out any mistakes... Empress Liu is so far my favorite story I'm working on right now... And the only one I have an idea on how I want it to end...

I'd give you a quiz... I know it's a long way to the end, but as of how the story is going, how do you think it would end??

Write your thoughts in the comments! And Happy late Thanksgiving!

All the love
C 💕

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