So after a few days of this game of playing silence, Queen Liu finally caved. Unable to sit still, she pleads: âLing Yue, you are sure we shouldnât go see my son? Why donât you send another one of your paper cranes to enlighten him, maybe that will open him up to speaking with us.â Undoubtedly, such a scenario would be a great improvement in the queenâs eye.
âThe timing isnât right yet. Your highness, you only need to do as I say for the next few days and continue to send water inside. Believe me, it wonât be long until the toxins inside the princeâs body clears up.â No urgency could be found in her tone, rather itâs quite lazy.
Sheâs mixed some of the phoenix tears in those waters, of course sheâs not anxious. As one of the best healing waters in existence, thereâs no doubt in Ling Yueâs mind that it can sober up the prince. Besides, through the constant feedback of the paper cranes, she can tell the boyâs sanity was near completion at this point. The only lingering question now was why the prince hasnât requested to leave the barred room yet. Itâs like heâs deliberately secluding himself, even from his mother.
Can it be, other than the wrong cultivation method, thereâs also something else wrong in the boyâs heart?
Realizing this much, Ling Yue figured the only true way to help the boy was to pry open that heart of his and wrench out the bottom-line issue. Voluntarily or involuntarily, it matters not to her. She will have the answer soon enough.
Another night passes.
Like usual, Xia Hou Qi remains curled up in the corner.
Without the accompaniment of the paper cranes, the days became dreadfully slow for him. Then suddenly, the sound of light footsteps interrupts the eeriness of the hall. A maid appears at the doorway.
Opening the bars, the presence of the young girl causes the prince to twitch somewhat.
With nothing but a loose robe on him, Hou Qi was practically a ghost in appearance if one didnât know better.
Through his long messy hair, the boy casts an alarmed glance at the maid.
He didnât think much of anything when he saw the newcomer in the ordinary maidâs outfit, but when his eyes moved upwards and saw those irisesâ¦. They are like gems in the night sky, deep and endless.
Greeted by a beautiful face, the bold maid casually takes a seat and slides the food box next to him.
Shocked by the maneuver, Xia Hou Qi realized heâs never seen this maid beside her mother, the queen.
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âYour highness, do you still remember me?â Upon hearing that voice, his eyes dilate in astonishment for itâs too familiar.
Itâs the same voice from the paper cranes.
âYou!â Xia Hou Qi jolts up from the floor like a cat having its tail trampled.
âDonât be so alarmed, I am the owner of the paper cranes. Under the request of the queen, Iâve come to see you.â At that, she casually opens the lid and placed the dishes out on the ground for him.
The boy initially wanted to reject her offer at the beginning, but after being deprived of food for so many days, his stomach got the better of him as the fragrant smell of the dishes repeatedly attacked his nose.
Picking up the ivory chopsticks nearby, he dived right in.
Since these ingredients, including the rainbow wine, are all from Ling Yueâs pocket dimension, the texture and flavor are exceptionally fine. One startling bite down, thereâs no going back for him at that point. Devouring everything, not a piece was left at the end.
âWhy donât you tell me your story?â With the meal complete, Ling Yue went ahead to pour them both a cup of the rainbow wine.
ââ¦â¦â
âYour highness, donât tell me you plan on keeping up with your hysterical act for the rest of your life do you? Or do you plan to have your mother the queen protect you for your entire lifetime?â She makes a hissing sound with her tongue to show how little she thought of him.
Hearing the word âactâ, Xia Hou Qi impulsively jerks his head up. Underneath those long messy hair, a cold and uninhibition face appears.
Pricking her brow up, Ling Yue gets a better look at the boy.
Originally she thought the âmadâ prince would have a sickly pale face, but it appear sheâs wrongâ¦. Though only somewhere around fifteen years of age, those features are worthy to be praised like the flower petals of the autumn season.
Among those sheâs met in her life thus far, Ling Yue can only say thereâs one other man superior.
Outstanding looks, fluent and well learned, and capable of using the spirit force, no wonder this sixth prince won the hearts of the old dowager and the king himself.
He shouldâve been at the top of this world, so why pretend to be a crazy madman?
If Ling Yue didnât pay closer attention, even she wouldâve mistakenly thought the âcrazinessâ was due to Consort Luoâs poisoning. Now it appears her initial assumption was wrong.
âWhat do you know! Is she really protecting me? If so, then I wouldnât have been excluded by the other princes and almost died as a result.â Agitated by her words, the glass in front of him explodes as a result. For a moment, a haze of rainbow mist fills the air and wows the boy in wonderment.
Beneath that façade, a memory buried deep, deep within was forced out again.
That year, Xia Hou Qi was but five years old. As the first born of the queen, his status in the palace was beyond compare. Adding in the fact that heâs both intelligent and talented, itâs unavoidable that the dowager and the king would send him all their favors. Without a doubt, back then he was the best candidate to take over the throne.
There wasnât a single soul who didnât show respect for him, including all the princes and princesses. This included Consort Luoâs son, Xia Hou Hong.
Due to their similar age, both boys would often get together to play with the other kids in the palace.
At first everyone was friendly to him, but then one day something occurred and changed all that.
One of the consorts had a misconduct and was punished by the queen. Eventually that consort died in bed due to illness.
From then forward all of the children began to alienate him. Hou QI was still young back then so he didnât understand why, he just wanted to blindly play with his sisters and brothers.
Then on a random day, his siblings got together and cornered him to a lotus pond. Unable to resist so many hands, he was eventually tossed into the water and nearly drowned as a result.
After being rescued by the maids, he never explained the real reasoning to his mother out of fear for retribution by the others. Sadly, his kindness not only didnât warrant understanding, it only made the bullying even worse.
By then only his fourth brother, Xia Hou Hong would play with him and even secretly handed him a manual to train with the spirit force. Gradually, Hou Qi stopped trying to play with his siblings and engrossed himself in cultivation.
Never in his mind did Xia Hou Qi think the root of his pain would all be because of this.