Reunion of a second chance

Chapter 3

The Emperor was wracking his head almost for a whole day. He had to select a trustworthy person to take care of the Blind Concubine. But he simply could not think of anyone suitable, of anyone whom he would want to entrust his beloved Blind Concubine while not fearing for his safety and life.

It was not that there was a shortage of servants in the imperial palace. However, the Emperor did not feel like he could trust them. After all, even the Blind Concubine's last servant who was now no longer in the palace had turned out to be a spy for the Emperor's mother. And the Emperor was not about to risk the Blind Concubine being poisoned again.

He knew his mother was afraid that the Blind Concubine could reveal how they had once falsified official documents for the Emperor to ascend to the throne. She wanted the Blind Concubine dead now that he was out of the Cold palace and not under her watch anymore.

The Emperor could not have someone he did not trust hundred percent anywhere near the Blind Concubine. Sadly, even the servants and guards whose loyalty undoubtedly belonged to him could still fait to treat the Blind Concubine well.

He had not forgotten the time when he had imprisoned the Blind Concubine out of a misunderstanding on his part and his beloved had almost died because high officials wanted to please the Emperor by torturing the prisoner.

No, he could really not have that. But what was he to do in this situation when he did not want to entrust the Blind Concubine's well-being to anyone?

Perhaps the best chance would be to call some of his best behaved subordinates to the palace to take care of this. But he was not sure his general would be willing to be demoted to a servant position to attend on the Blind Concubine. And even then, the Emperor would still be uneasy that his mother could try to bribe or threated the general and get her way.

As it stood, the Emperor did not see any other possibility but to go himself. Who else he could trust in this palace?

His decision taken, he called the court to assemble and informed them that he was going to take a little vacation. He would of course still care about the state affairs and make decisions on all important matters, but he would not be readily available all the time. He appointed one of the officials as his temporary replacement and left the court. He did not even wait for the reactions of all people present.

When it came to choosing between state affairs and the Blind Concubine's health and happiness, his decision had long been clear. He had already failed once in this aspect and got the Blind Concubine blinded, he was not about to do the same mistake twice.

Of course, he did not want to abandon his country, but a few days of absence would not hurt anyone. If something truly urgent would come up, he would still take care of it. His personal aid knew where to find him.

He did not hesitate anymore and quickly changed his clothes. He was afraid that if he went in his high quality expensive silk robes, the Blind Concubine would recognize him immediately. He did not want to risk that.

He had a plan how to come and go without having the Blind Concubine realize who was taking care of him. But for that, he needed to wear servant's clothing and remain completely undercover. And also to wear a different pair of boots so he would hopefully not be recognized by the sound of his steps.

He put on an uncomfortably plain and scratchy grey tunic and picked up a chime he had asked the servants to bring to him. He took a deep breath; he was prepared for this. He left his chambers and headed towards the house on the island in the middle of the lotus lake to go save his beloved Blind Concubine.

***

The Blind Concubine was laying lifelessly on his soft chair. Once again, he did not have the heart to do anything at all. He did not feel like walking around, he did not feel like getting up, he did not feel like eating or drinking, he did not even feel like sleeping. He was only existing here and now, but not entirely living. At least he did not feel like he was living anymore.

All the happiness had left his jet black world and he was too lonely and broken to care. All he had left right now were his memories. He tried to recall the good ones to ease his mind but he found it more and more difficult as time passed. He could no longer remember what it felt like to have someone to talk to, or what it felt like to pet his cat who was not with him anymore.

As things stood, he could more often than not recall only the bad memories. That was to say, he had more than enough of those.

And the most prominent one was of course of the day when his sight had been taken away from him and he was tossed into the Cold palace to strive for himself. It did not help at all that some of the happy memories were connected to that moment as well and would plunge him right into this nightmare when remembered.

It was all because of the Emperor and his mother. He did not even know what he had seen that faithful day, he only knew that it made both of them so scared that they had blinded and imprisoned him.

To make the matters even worse for him, the Emperor came back and the Blind Concubine could not recognize him at first. Of course he would not, the Emperor's voice had changed from a child's to adult's and the Blind Concubine could not see him on top of that. The Emperor's hidden indentity only came to light a lot later. And it hurt the Blind Concubine all the more because he had fallen in love with the man he had believed to be a palace guard.

No one could even imagine his shock and then suffering when he learned the truth: he loved the Emperor, the man who had taken everything from him.

The Blind Concubine was thus tortured by his own heart. He wanted to spend time with the new, nice and caring Emperor whom he had gotten to know. At the same time however, he could not forget what the man had once done to him. How could he forget all those years of suffering?

Having these thoughts once again, the Blind Concubine was tossing and turning on his soft chair. He felt like he was being torn on the inside. He wanted to forget everything. He wanted to close his eyes and never open them again. Not that it made any difference when he was blind though. He started crying in his suffering.

Suddenly, he felt a touch on his hand. At first, he thought that he was just imagining it like the last time. But that was not possible, it felt too real to be a dream.

He shot up into sitting position and drew his hand away. He felt that someone was definitely here with him and he was immediately seized by panic.

Did the Emperor or his mother finally decide to get rid of him and kill him? Why now though? Had the Emperor not let him go already. Why come back to kill him or punish him even more harshly after all this time? Had he unknowingly done something to displease the Emperor or his mother again? Or, even worse, had they decided they would take him back to the palace?

He had always been afraid they would one day decide that he was too much of a threat and would eliminate him. He had been thinking about death just seconds ago. But now, when it was imminent, he was scared out of his mind.

He shuffled away from where he thought was the attacker. His breaths were rasped; his heart was racing. Cold sweat covered his whole body and he felt like he was drowning.

All of a sudden, the touch was back and the Blind Concubine shriek in terror. "Who is there?" he managed to stammer out.

All that replied to him was a sound of a chime.