Fuzhu's Ballad

8

CHAPTER 8 Insignificant

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Shentu Cheng was wearing a bright yellow fur robe embroidered with dragons, with gold and pearl ornaments, and a jade belt around his waist. His hair was styled in a high bun with a small red-gold dragon crown. Such attire, which was supposed to add to his air of nobility, unexpectedly highlighted his already outstanding features. After several years of plotting, he had finally achieved success, but instead of becoming complacent, he became even calmer and more restrained. When he stood there looking at her with a smile, there was a hint of light clouds and snow about him.

Lan Dan also looked at him, thinking she would flare up and attack him, but she felt nothing, not even love or hate.

Princess Danyang, who adored him like a little girl, felt shy and timid when she looked into Shentu Cheng’s eyes, and would unintentionally shy away. Xiao Lan Dan, who had been on the execution platfrom and guarded the mass graveyard, could pin him with a cold, indifferent look.

What was he thinking about?

She seemed to never know what he was thinking, never could see any emotion in his beautiful and deep eyes.

But she knew what she was thinking. It wasn’t the sweet words he said to her on a warm afternoon, but the empty city walls she had stared at absentmindedly while kneeling on the execution platform in the snow and haze.

“Who’s there?” the Empress Dowager in the side hall asked sternly.

“It’s the young lady brought into the palace by His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan,” someone promptly answered.

The smile on Shentu Cheng’s face grew even wider. “So it’s you. No wonder he went to such lengths to open the city gates in the middle of the night.”

The two maids who brought her in looked a little panicked when they saw Shentu Cheng. After greeting him, they rushed over to Lan Dan, pulled her off the kang without saying a word, and led her to the side hall.

Noticing Lan Dan’s abnormal gait, Shentu Cheng let out a faint sigh of surprise before joining them in the hall.

The Empress Dowager’s face was icy as she sized up the approaching Lan Dan, but seeing Shentu Cheng enter shortly after, she quickly furrowed her brows and asked him, “Why are you here?”

Lan Dan felt a chill run down her spine at the question. It was a clear indication that Da Yan was still firmly entrenched in its humble origins. While the wife from a government family had her own gracefulness, she was still lacking in the necessary competence to be an Empress Dowager.

Lan Dan knew all too well the intricacies of the imperial court. The relationship between ruler and subject came first, even above family ties. As someone who had experienced this firsthand, every subtle difference felt like a sharp knife in her heart. The Empress Dowager’s question was not for the Emperor but for her own son.

But the newly enthroned Emperor smiled brightly, as if not sensing anything wrong. “I have finished my work, and came here right away.”

The young girl beside the Empress Dowager stood up and ran over to Shentu Cheng, hugging his arm and sweetly calling out, “Brother Emperor.”

Lan Dan was kneeling down with the support of two palace maids, but when she heard the girl’s cry, her chest felt like it had been hit with a heavy hammer. Her head buzzed, her eyes went black, and she fell to the ground, half-kneeling and half-prostrating.

“That’s enough, no need for formalities.” The Empress Dowager waved her hand impatiently. “What a scheming vixen you are. If you were to injure yourself while seeking an audience with me, I shudder to think how many people would blame me for it.” Her tone was heavy with accusation, directed pointedly at Shentu Rui.