CHAPTER 2
"Is tomorrow my birthday yet?" Wei An Ge questioned, randomly. Jing Nu the old and highest maid, who was combing her mildly curly hair after finishing her training with Rong Zhe, was startled.
"Not yet, Crown Princess" She answered, passing the small comb through the messy hair "What is your favorite number then? Do you have one?"
"Favorite number?" Wei An Ge stared blankly at her youthful 13 years old figure in the mirror, thinking hard. Her left hand, covered in a glove pounded the table, unrest.
"How many people of Hei An Guang know me?" She inquired, rolling her eyeballs to Jing Nu, smiling.
"Possibly 16 people in the palace,"
"Then 16 is it!" She turned her whole face to the maid by the neck, applying full force, causing the wooden comb to be thrown towards the room exit door.
"Crown Princess, the comb!" The other maids shouted, alert.
"FABULOUS!!" A well-known voice lingered, loud and clear. "Very good, Crown Princess!"
The maids started kneeling as Wei An Ge had her chin pulled downwards with an anxious face. Anxiety swallowed her, increasing her heartbeat.
She was afraid that he might blame her for being careless and complaining. She knew the punishment wouldn't be light.
"Wei An Ge greets the King of Hei An Guang," She shouted, with respect. Her fingers were engaging each other, nervous. A moment after, the King stepped inside her room, glorious with his dark and gold outfit and majestic hairpieces. A royal eunuch stood at his side, bowing to her.
The King had his seat on a random wooden table of the room, scanning the situation.
Wei An Ge and the maids couldn't rest settled. Even Jung Nu who was always calm had a hint of fear appeared on her face. The atmosphere was scary and intimidating.
"Go," the King complained. "Get out, all of you,"
The maids rose, including Jing Nu, walking through the exit door in a well-managed ordered line, having a hint of relief. Trying to escape, Wei An Ge hid at the end of the line, heading out of the room and possibly the manor, wanting to pretend nothing happened and she was still in the training base.
"Wei An Ge!" The king called, loudly and fiercely.
Her steps ended. Her plan was ruined. Obeying the King's wish, she walked towards the King, bowing before him. Nervously her eyebrows furrowed in fear. Her lip felt dried as her stomach felt uncomfy.
"Yes, your Majesty,"
"Come, have a seat," the King offered, still pasting his strict scary face, glaring at the terrified princess.
Wei An Ge sat just at the chair beside him, nervous, knowing she have no power against him. She has already thought of the things the King might be scolding her of. Her progress in training both archery and court matters.
"Let me see your hand," with a cold as ice and hard as stone tone of voice, he asked.
"The one with the glove?" She panicked. "Your Majesty, you know-"
"The injured one," he explained, offering his hand to get hers.
Wei An Ge nodded, understood. She placed her right hand on the offered palm of the King, revealing a bloody red and full of scar wrist. Some areas were purple and some were red, fresh with new slashes. The King had his eyes widened with a boost of care upon seeing the Crown Princess's wrist. He instantly applied the most random purple powder to it.
Wei An Ge holds herself trying to not show the pain she's enduring. She clutched her left palm, the one covered in a glove. Her eyes were squinted as she bites her bottom lips, trying to stay silent.
"Is it painful?"
"OH MY GOD, MY KING IT'S TOO MUCH! MIGHT KILL ME AS WELL," She cried out. Her head falls onto the table, "Can you stop, it's painful!"
The King's cheeks raised as he shook his head, refusing. He continued applying more of the medicines, ignoring Wei An Ge's request.
Wei An Ge stopped talking, trying not to enrage the King, knowing that she was ignored.
"You know what, Wei An Ge?" The king asked, trying to bring up the mood. "Sixteen is an unlucky number here in Hei An Guang".
"Why?" She replied, with her head still on the table, facing the pain of the purple powder.
"Well, a lot of bad things occur. Especially at 16th birthday"
"I don't believe it,"
The King stared at her, shocked. He didn't stop after.
"I think 16th is a very pretty number. Maybe it brings bad luck but that only applied to others. But I am Wei An Ge, I'm not a commoner"
Proudly she explained, smiling at first and then sneaked at the King's reaction.
"I can't wait for my 16th birthday. I'm sure a lot of awesome things are waiting for me"
The King froze, staring at her being ignorant.
"My king," she lifted her head, staring at him. "Where are my parents? "
She tried changing the mood.
"Blood and tears of Hei An Guang people." the king replied without any hesitation with a cold face. Wei An Ge was left stunned, not be able to understand the meaning of the phrase said. "I'm leaving"
He made his step. The Crown Princess immediately walked him off through the door. The King turned cold and his strict figure returned as he walked away. He was no longer the friendly King just now. He is the king of Hei An Guang, the darkest and mysterious kingdom.
"What the hell is this powder? So pretty, it's purple" She sniffed her right wrist. "It smells quite familiar"
Curiosity drove Wei An Ge as she rushed to the imperial medication house in the imperial palace to find the old imperial physician, Li Zhi Lian by riding her silver horse.
"Crown Princess," Li Hua Rong greeted her, gracefully smiling.
Li Hua Rong was the granddaughter of Li Zhi Jian, the Imperial physician. Hua Rong was just a few months younger than the Crown Princess. She has a very kind, introverted, and determined personality. Nevertheless, she also possesses a lot of medications knowledge from her grandfather.
"Where's your grandfather, Rong Er?"
"I'll get him for you" Li Hua Rong ran to the back, trying to find Li Zhi Jian, the old man. "Wait here,"
Wei An Ge had no choice but to wait for a few moments outside, continuing sniffing her wrists as Li Hua Rong's figure fades.
"Crown Princess, what can I help you with?" Li Zhi Jian, the old imperial physician appeared out of thin air, bowing and smiling at her. His squinted eyes displayed the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes as well as his smile.
"WOAH!" Wei An Ge jumped, surprised, enlarging her eyes.
She pats her upper chest, reducing the scare and heartbeats. "Li Zhi Jian, I almost died just now, earlier than you,"
He proceeded to smile and bow.
"Would you check my wrist?" Wei An Ge asked, stepping forward to him.
Li Zhi Jian panicked, he stepped backward with fear painted on his face knowing that the Crown Princess's hands matters should not easily be taken.
"Crown Princess, I think that is beyond what I can do," he bowed lower, stepping backward, not daring enough to look at the Crown Princess's reaction.
"But-" She walked to him, trying to get closer. Li Zhi Jian proceeded to walk backward with his head down.
"Hmph!" Finally, she stopped. "It's my right wrist, not the left one, Li Zhi Jian!"
He continued ignoring Wei An Ge even after hearing her defend.
"The King applied some kind of purple powder on here" she explained further " I want to know what medications this is, that's it."
"What does it smell like, Crown Princess?" He questioned,
"Fragrance like flowers. But there's none like the one we had here at the Imperial Palace," she explained.
The Imperial Palace was kept dark and cold. Hence, not many plants especially delicate flowers could survive.
Li Zhi Jian immediately lifts his head, walking towards her. He knew something. He sniffed the powder picked up from the wrist she offered.
His eyes enlarged in shock, looking at the Crown Princess.
"This, this-"
"Foxglove poison" Wei An Ge stated, without any notice before the physician himself couldn't bear to clarify.
Li Zhi Jian nodded, confident.
"Poison? Where's the cure!" Wei An Ge jumped, panicked as Li Zhi Jian was still holding her wrist. "LI HUA RONG GO GET THE FOXGLOVE POISON CURE!"
Li Hua Rong ran to the back, clueless of what she was aiming at. She didn't even hear Wei An Ge clearly.
"LI ZHI JIAN, IF I REALLY DIED BEFORE YOU DO," She cried, "I'll be shameless!"
"Calm down, Crown Princess. Although there's no cure for the foxglove poison,"
"NO CURE?" She shouted in disbelief. "My painful training these whole thirteen years is just a waste? I haven't even reached my 16th birthday,"
"I have one of the last man-made drugs that can stop the poison," Li Zhi Jian informed. "I'll send it to you by tomorrow"
"And that is if I survive"
Later that night, it was windy. The moon was crescent in shape and the whole Hei An Guang was covered in light fog and cold.
The King, Wei Guang was falling deep into his sleep in his room when an unknown figure dared to enter, silently.
The figure was wearing an all-black outfit, covering all of his body except his wrinkled eyes. He scanned the rolls of books and small plants in the closet that was decorating the wall and dividing the room and the study area.
Seven minutes passed without any result. He was about to give up and return empty-handed before he saw the plant on His Majesty's table. The small plant stood strong with purple buds waiting to bloom. He lifted the rectangle vase, revealing a packet of white powder in a small paper envelope.
He smirked in joy.
Without any hesitation, he rushed to the exit door without getting captured with it.
--
"Crown Princess! Li Zhi Jian is here," Jing Nu reported, rushing to the Crown Princess that was reading an official scroll from the court on the study table. The whole day, she couldn't stop thinking about the purple powder, she kept touching the wrist.
"Get him in," Wei An Ge permitted, smiling out of excitement.
"Here's the cure, crown princess" Li Zhi Jian bowed.
The Crown Princess ran to him, thrilled.
"Thank you" She bowed, smiling
Li Zhi Jian stopped her immediately. "Aiyyaa, Crown Princess your lowly servant (referring to himself) doesn't deserve your bow"
"How come, you saved my life. I have to properly thank you" She bowed twice. "So, I just apply it on my wrist, ?"
"Crown Princess is indeed smart"
"Those flowery sentences again," Immediately she opened the curing drugs which were in a small paper envelope, and immediately applied it on her wrist so that she could enter the court for training without worries.
The court was dead silent. The King was standing straight in front of the rows of generals and ministers serving the court.
"Your Majesty," Wang Kuan, one of the generals, dared to say "How about we start the court first without the Crown Princess?"
He suggested it after waiting for 2 hours, representing the court's opinion.
"Why don't we wait longer?" The King preferred, trying to convince them.
"Your Majesty, you yourself know the matters of the court should immediately be solved without any hesitation," The general answered, bowing.
"Your subjects beg you to start the court" the rows of generals and ministers bowed, daring.
"You all!" The King slammed the table in anger.
"The Crown Princess, Wei An Ge has arrived!" The eunuch shouted as she entered the court door with the same dark brown outfit covering the upper part of her face.
The generals and ministers bowed to her but then were surprised by her new figure. Her lips were dark purple in color and her skin turned pale.
"Wei An Ge is here for training to serve the court in the future" She reported as usual.
Her palms lay on each other as she bows lower to the King.
"We will help the Crown Princess for her training to serve the court in the future" The generals and ministers joined her, bowing.
The King was speechless by Wei An Ge's new lip color. She does look more confident in it hence sparing his opinion about it.
"Are you okay, Crown Princess?" He asked full of care as she sat on the throne, almost fell.
She ignored the King's question and the court started perfectly fine.
"Enough for today," The King ended as soon as he noticed the Crown Princess' condition getting worse.
He walked off the court with his eunuchs followed by the generals and ministers.
An hour passed and the court was hallowed and empty. But Wei An Ge was still sitting on the throne, motionless.
"Why hasn't the crown princess left?" General Wang Kuan inquired, having his attention on her that was laying her back. Her face was still covered and her lips turned darker.
Wang Kuan directed Jing Nu to check on her. The maid rushed along with the court to her side.
"Crown princess, are you okay?" she whispered, worried.
Wei An Ge gripped on the maid's arm, using all of her strength left to speak.
"Let's return to Chang Ge Manor" Her voice turned raspy and sick as she speaks, trying to rise.
"You're not going to the Sun manor?"
She moved her head to the sides furiously, in reply.
"Return" She ordered.
---
"Mother," Gan Xin stared at the wide and clear blue sky as birds flew. They were having a simple picnic on a small and tall hill, trying to relax their mind peacefully.
"What's wrong, Xin Er?" Gan Xie le replied, care.
"When can I leave Wei Zhuang?"
"Why would you?"
"I want to go to that big castle" He pointed towards the dark area, not far.
"That is Hei An Guang, my son" the mother explained "Things are so different there. Wei Zhuang trees are light and bright green while the trees at Hei An Guang are either dark green or dead"
"I see, mother" He looked away from the dark palace, closing his eyes with his bare palms. "I won't go there but if you or father wanted it, I'll surely get the palace for you"
"Thank you, my son" She smiled, touching his son's nose.
30 DEC 2021