A Flower Without Rain

Chapter 70

In the dead of night, the only sound to be heard in the now ownerless Peach Palace was the sound of the door opening to the chambers where Crown Princess Lian Yu once resided. The person opening this door, was Crown Prince Xin Hua who wore a white robe. He was not with his son, the Grand Prince, Xin Shiying and left him with his father considering that he was not in the best state.

Coming to the couch, he simply sat there without any words or sound. He didn't know how long it was that he sat there but all he knew was that time now ran slower than usual. The look he held was somber as if he didn't know what to do.

Her funeral went by quickly and the burial finished not too long ago in the White Garden where members of the royal family were laid to rest. When they covered her coffin in dirt, he simply looked on with a daze in his eyes. It didn't feel real then and even now.

Standing from the couch, Xin Hua slowly made his way around the room that has yet to be rid of her things. It was dark but with the moonlight he was able to tell what was what. His hands touched everything of hers; the desk where she always did her pressed flowers, the other desk that held her mirror and cosmetics, her erhu she used to play that was now left for display on the top of her drawers, the embroidered folding fan she started with his late sister Princess Xin Lan and completed, the many poems she used to write in her spare time, the selves that held a collection of books she had read, and many more. But one thing that especially made his heart ache more was that knowing the hair bracelet he had made for her was not in the best condition to be worn, she would instead keep it in the drawer of her nightstand and take it out every night to look at and admire. He loved watching the face she made every time her eyes laid upon it.

A deep breath, he continued his way around the room but stopped when he stepped on an uneven part of the floorboard. Looking down, the Crown Prince realized that it was that same part of the floor he previously said was going to get fixed but had forgotten all about it. About to get up and leave, he suddenly had a feeling that he shouldn't. Reaching towards the loose board, he pressed down on it before pulling it up. This surprised him quite a bit as he then decided to reach his hand inside and feeling something he pulled it out. It was an envelope and seeing this made his brows press together with question.

Taking the envelope, the royal went to light a candle and brought it to the table. On it, he recognized his wife's handwriting and it read "To my dearest husband and Crown Prince, Xin Hua." Seeing this, he felt hesitant to open it. But after a few minutes of deliberation he eventually brought himself to.

Opening it, Xin Hua pulled out the paper that was inside and unfolded it. His eyes focused on the contents, he wasn't sure how to feel at first and kept his composure. Once he reached the end, his lips were shaking and eyes glistening with liquid. Dropping the letter, the Crown Prince rested his head in his arms on the table. What followed after were quiet sobs and eventually the anguish that could no longer be contained.

For days maybe even weeks, Crown Prince Xin Hua sat on the couch within his chambers of the Vermillion Palace doing nothing but staring into space. If one were to look at his eyes, it was like life had left him.

Then, the doors to his chambers slid open and close without an announcement made to him of who it was that entered. Coming before the young royal, was King Xin Chao who sat across from him. Xin Hua didn't even bat an eye or bother to acknowledge his father's presence.

It was silent for a while, with the two royals keeping to their own. But this silence had to come to an end.

".....Do you know how your mother died?" the king asked his son.

The Crown Prince's solemn eyes slowly turned to his father. He didn't say anything but his answer was clear. It was known that she died while giving birth to him.