Rebirth of the Unloved, Sickly Prince - Chapter 1

In the winter of the thirtieth year of Xingping, the heavy snow that had fallen for several days finally ceased.

Over a hundred palace maids, dressed in willow-green uniforms, moved in a single file toward the Hall of Martial Valor (Wuying Hall), carrying food boxes. From across the carp pond, the sounds of string and wind instruments drifted out from the hall.

Dancers wore the currently fashionable thin silks, their brightly colored sleeves fluttering elegantly with their movements. Silver-thread charcoal kept the hall warm, and the air was thick with the fragrance of fruit wine.

As the maids rounded the carp pond, they saw a young eunuch in tattered clothes kneeling outside the hall, kowtowing repeatedly. He shouted at the top of his lungs as his head hit the ground.

“Your Majesty, I beg of you to save the Sixth Prince! His Highness has had a high fever for three days, and there isn’t a single drop of medicine! Your Majesty, I beg you.”

The young eunuch’s forehead was covered in a mix of snow and bright red blood; his ears were frozen a bruised purple. Before he could finish his plea, guards outside the hall stuffed his mouth with coarse cloth and dragged him away by his arms. Only muffled whimpers escaped his throat.

“The Sixth Prince? What kind of person brings such bad luck here? Today is the day His Majesty feasts the envoys of the Northern Di. A prince confined to a side hall doesn’t even have the right to attend the banquet.”

“It’s not as if His Majesty’s dislike for the Sixth Prince is a new thing. This time, it’s mostly…”

“But that eunuch said the Sixth Prince has had a fever for three days without medicine.”

“Who knows if he’s actually sick or faking it? For a Prince to use the ‘faking illness to compete for favor’ tactics of a concubine.”

The maids whispered among themselves, snickering for a moment before falling silent and stepping decorously into the hall as they reached the entrance.

________________________________________

The music from the Hall of Martial Valor did not reach the side hall.

The paper-covered windows were torn in several places, allowing the cold wind to squeeze through. In the corner of the room sat a charcoal brazier; the sparse ashes inside had been extinguished for who knows how long, feeling as ice-cold as the wind.

The room was hollow and desolate, containing only a wooden table and chair. Further back was a bed with a faded, washed-out coverlet. The quilt was a thin layer, looking even thinner than the multiple layers of silk worn by the dancers.

A young man sat propped up on the wooden bed frame. His black hair cascaded down to his waist like a patch of withered grass. His eyes were pitch-black, making his complexion appear even more deathly pale. Because of his emaciation, his prominent collarbones poked out from beneath the collar of his patched inner robe.

“Your Highness!”

The small eunuch who had been dragged from the Hall of Martial Valor stumbled inside. Seeing the Prince sitting up, he seemed to heave a sigh of relief but then said fearfully, “Your Highness, why are you up? Your fever is so high, if something happens…”

Mu Jue curled his lips into a faint smile. The young man’s features were handsome; when he smiled, his dark eyes seemed to shimmer. He slowly sat on the edge of the bed and began to dress himself with sluggish movements.

“I’ve been lying in bed for so many days, and I’m still sick, aren’t I? It feels a bit better to get up and move around.”

The eunuch supported him. “Your Highness, I… I just went to the Hall of Martial Valor to beg His Majesty for medicine.”

“You didn’t get any, did you?”

“No! I didn’t even get inside before the guards dragged me away.”

Mu Jue reached out and pushed open the door. The eaves of the hall blocked much of the view, leaving only a world of dull grey.

“Don’t go there again. If I die here sooner, it will only be exactly what they want.”

He was the Sixth Prince of the Ning Dynasty. It was said that before he turned three, his mother was the Emperor’s most beloved concubine, and he was the Emperor’s favorite son. But later, his mother was accused of an affair, and naturally, his royal bloodline was called into question. Ever since he could remember, he had lived here with his mother who had since descended into madness and the young eunuch before him.

The eunuch said indignantly, “The people from the Internal Affairs Department are so sycophantic. It’s bad enough they won’t give us charcoal or winter clothes but even the physicians from the Imperial Academy of Medicine won’t give us medicine! And they call themselves officials who have read the classics!”

Mu Jue walked out with a calm expression. “It’s fine. I’ve been sick many times before and made it through. In another half month, the weather will turn warm. Come with me to see Fireball; it’s so cold, I don’t know if he’s doing okay.”

“I know Your Highness likes that cat; I’ve looked after him well. He was even fighting me for steamed buns yesterday.”

Fireball was a small white cat Mu Jue had picked up a few days ago. At the time, it had been snowing, and the kitten was frozen stiff in a snowdrift, with only the tips of its fur twitching in the wind. He had carried the cat back to the side hall and gave him a warm name: “Fireball.”

As soon as the woodshed door opened, Fireball dashed out, circling Mu Jue’s ankles affectionately. The young eunuch smiled at the cat.

“You, you better grow up well and stay with His Highness. You should know that to save you, His Highness was bullied by the Third Prince and soaked in the carp pond for nearly an hour. That’s how he got this illness.”

Mu Jue took the kitten into his arms. The cat’s body was very hot, warming his hands.

“It was my bad luck to run into the Third Prince; it has nothing to do with Fireball. Even without him, the Third Prince would have found another way to disgust me.”

That day, when he was carrying the cat back to the side hall, he had been stopped by the Third Prince while passing the Imperial Garden. The Prince complained that the cat’s cries were unpleasant and wanted to throw it to its death. When Mu Jue refused, the Prince ordered his attendants to shove him into the nearby carp pond.

The pond wasn’t deep. The water reached his waist so he had to hold the kitten high above his head while wading toward the edge. Every prince and princess in the palace knew he was loathed by the Emperor and didn’t treat him as a brother. The Third Prince was notoriously overbearing and loved to make sport of him.

From the bank, the Prince directed his attendants to kick Mu Jue back, preventing him from climbing out. They splashed water over his head, face, and the kitten in his hands.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to leave, you little bastard,” the Third Prince laughed loudly. “I want to eat grilled carp. Catch one for me, and if you do, I’ll let you go.”

Every time Mu Jue was kicked, his body swayed. His black hair was soaked, and he couldn’t keep his eyes open; he could only use his back to shield the kitten from the water. The Third Prince was accompanied by four attendants. All strong eunuchs, so resistance was impossible.

The young man closed his eyes, groping in the water with one hand. The carp had been scattered when he fell in, and the Third Prince, wanting to see him in a wretched state, ordered his servants to throw stones into the water so he couldn’t catch any.

After nearly an hour, he finally caught a small white carp. He walked to the shore with his clothes dripping, the wet fabric clinging to his body as the wind bit into him. The Third Prince snatched the carp, threw it on the ground, and giggled as he stepped on it.

Mu Jue still remembered the way the fish’s eyes bulged and its flesh became a bloody mess. During the days he lay unconscious with fever, that image had appeared in his nightmares many times. Only, the fish being crushed underfoot had turned into himself.

The soft fur of the kitten nudging his palm brought him back to his senses. There was a commotion outside the hall.

He called to the eunuch, “Xia Ming, go see what’s happening outside.”

Xia Ming responded and ran out, returning shortly with an excited tone. “Your Highness, Your Highness! It’s the Head Eunuch, and he’s brought a physician from the Imperial Academy of Medicine!”

This side hall didn’t even have a name. It was originally intended for low-ranking maids and eunuchs. The surrounding area consisted of deserted palace rooms; no nobles lived here, and imperial physicians never passed by. The Head Eunuch was the Emperor’s personal attendant; it was even more impossible for him to come here for no reason.

Mu Jue frowned. His looks favored his mother: peach-blossom eyes, elegant brows, and a vivid red mole just below the bone of his right eyebrow near the corner of his eye.

“Your Highness, His Majesty must have found out about your illness and the lack of medicine, so he sent a physician! Let me help you back to rest so the physician can examine you and prescribe something…”

Mu Jue nodded and lowered his lashes, his brow still furrowed.

Indeed, the Head Eunuch and the physician entered the side hall. After the physician finished checking his pulse, Mu Jue looked at the Head Eunuch. “Chief Eunuch, did His Majesty send you…”

The Head Eunuch didn’t bother to correct him that he should refer to the Emperor as “Imperial Father.”

“No. For the physician and the medicine, the Sixth Prince should thank Director Lu.”

Lu Shiting, the Director of the Eastern Depot. Even living in a remote side hall, Mu Jue had heard that name. Rumor had it he was a powerful eunuch who dominated the court. Every memorial sent to the Emperor passed through his eyes first. The Eastern Depot agents and the Brocade-Clad Guard, who secretly monitored all officials, were his talons. Countless dukes and nobles had died at his hands. Even many princes curried favor with him, begging him to pull them onto the Dragon Throne.

How could such a man, who “covered the sky with one hand,” have anything to do with him?

Mu Jue stood up, pulled all the loose silver he had from his sleeve, and offered it to the Head Eunuch.

“The Sixth Prince should keep that silver for himself,” the Head Eunuch smiled thinly. “Actually, regarding your illness, the Imperial Pharmacy did send people with medicine over the past few days.”

“But I never saw them…”

“The Third Prince sent people every day to intercept them. But today… the Third Prince was blind, and he died at the banquet in the Hall of Martial Valor. Since he’s dead, his men naturally didn’t have the time to intercept your medicine.”

The Third Prince was dead?

Mu Jue pressed his lips together, suppressing a flicker of satisfaction deep in his eyes as he listened to the Head Eunuch continue.

“Today, His Majesty hosted the Northern Di envoys. During the feast, the envoys proposed a duel between warriors from both nations to liven things up. His Majesty sent several guards in a row, but none could defeat the Northern Di warrior. Director Lu then specifically called for the Third Prince to go up. After the Third Prince went up, the Northern Di warrior ‘accidentally’ threw him off the high platform. The back of his head hit the corner of the table in front of Director Lu, and he passed away on the spot. His blood nearly splashed onto Director Lu’s black boots. Fortunately, Director Lu seemed to be in a good mood today and didn’t make a fuss over such a small matter. So, Sixth Prince, wouldn’t you say you should thank Director Lu?”

As the Head Eunuch finished, he waved his hand. Several small eunuchs behind him brought forward a tray containing a set of mourning clothes.

“Tomorrow, the Sixth Prince is requested to go to the Hall of Benevolence and Wisdom to keep watch over the Third Prince’s coffin for three consecutive days. I have brought the mourning clothes; I shall take my leave now.”

Mu Jue looked at the snow-white mourning clothes and whispered the name.

“Lu Shiting…”

Beside him, Xia Ming was overjoyed as he held the medicine prescribed by the physician. “Your Highness, I’ll go brew the medicine for you right now! The Third Prince really committed too many evils and met his retribution. Just a few days ago he bullied you like that, and today—!”

Mu Jue changed into the mourning clothes. They were newly made by the Palace Clothing Bureau, lined with fleece, and far warmer than the clothes he was currently wearing.

“There is no such thing as retribution in this world.”

A Prince dies right in front of someone, yet others only worry about the blood splashing on that person’s boots—that was the only truth.