A Flower Without Rain

Chapter 66

At the Office of Rites, Crown Prince Xin Hua finished the last of the documents he was to oversee. The only thing left to do now, is to find a place where he could lay the One Rise book to rest so that it could never be touched again by someone like Han Yinjie and those before him.

Leaving the building, it was already the middle of the night and walking with him was his Grand Guard, Ru Mingyu. But rather than return to the comfort of his chambers to rest, the royal decided to take a stroll around the palace due to the silent hour. He often did this to sort out his thoughts as well.

It was quiet for a moment with the two not exchanging any words until something that had been on Xin Hua's mind for sometime came to voice. "Ru Mingyu," he called.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

The Crown Prince sighed, "What should I do?"

This made the Grand Guard raise his brow as he didn't know what he was talking about. "What is it that you are troubled about?"

A short laugh, he explained himself. "I want to give Yu something when our child is born.....but I'm just not sure what it is I should give her."

Hearing his friend's name made Ru Mingyu stop breathing for a second. He still felt guilty about what he had done and does plan on apologizing for his behavior. But pushing that aside to help the Crown Prince, he gave his advice. "Maybe you should learn how to play the erhu." a suggestion.

"Ahhh, I should've known." the face Xin Hua was making looked like a child and this made the guard laugh.

Ru Mingyu had told him before that his wife adored a erhu player by the name of Yanmei and only ever longed to hear her play.

"How do you think she would feel with me playing the erhu?" he question jokingly.

A smile, Ru Mingyu responded. "Joyful,"

It was morning as the head shaman, Na Xiaoli along with those who follow her guidance swept the grounds of the Royal Shaman Department. Snow no longer fell from the sky, leaving it to thaw and block the pathways. And entering through the front gates, came Crown Princess Lian Yu. Seeing her, all those present stopped what they were doing and bowed in respect.

"Please rise, and continue your duties." The pregnant woman spoke.

Standing, the shamans returned to what they were doing and coming forward, Na Xiaoli bowed once again. "Greetings, Your Highness. What brings you to our department?"

Lian Yu looked around as if she were checking to see if anyone was listening in before turning back to the head shaman. "May we go inside to speak?" she said to the mid-aged woman.

A nod, the head shaman agreed and guided her into the building. Once inside, the two sat at a table. Lips in a frown, the Crown Princess took a deep breath.

Weeks passed and the Grand Guard, Ru Mingyu waited anxiously in Yuan Shan's quarters of the Yuan Manor. And finally entering, came Yuan Shan with a few notes in hand. Setting them down, he turned to his friend. "Well, from what you've told me before it doesn't seem to make sense or add up. You said that His Highness was poisoned by Han Yinjie; however, the physician who tended to him said that there was little to no poison in his system because it had all been absorbed into his right-hand, Xue's body." Due to this confusion, he looked things over a couple of times to be sure of it, but in the end there wasn't much of a conclusion he could come to.

Ru Mingyu fell into thought as this didn't explain Lian Yu's strange behavior. What else was there that he didn't know?

"Also," spoke Yuan Shan. "I'm not completely sure but I've read in the One Rise book that the deities do in fact have divine abilities and can manipulate things to their liking if they ever wanted to."

This raised a brow on Ru Mingyu, "Continue,"

"They can even stop the ruin of a kingdom from happening. For instance, when the Sui Kingdom was at the beginning of its fall with the false king on the throne and even dared to wage war against the Jin Kingdom, Her Divine Goddess Daiyu change an individual's path to meet a person who practiced dark magic to bring back a person he regretted never looking towards. By doing this, order returned." The individual who was brought back in another's body, was Crown Princess Ha Lee.

"What are you trying to say?" asked Ru Mingyu.

"Maybe Her Divine Goddess Xifeng, intends to change Yu's fate as a result of Han Yinjie's actions."

In her chambers, Crown Princess Lian Yu sat at her desk, still wondering what it is that she should write. It was difficult deciding what words to put along with what to say.  A sigh, she set the paper aside as she has been doing this for the past few hours.

Again, she felt a cramp and trying to ignore it, she suddenly felt wetness in her private. Loosing strength in her legs, she fell to her knees as breaths became heavy.

"Help...help me!" It was hard to even make out a sentence. "Someone, please help me!" She yelled.

Quickly, servants entered and coming to her side, Lian Yu came to her feet with their help. Her child was coming.
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