The Rise of Phoenixes- Novel Translation 15

“She was Da Yue tribe leader’s daughter. Da Yue had two tribes, the Sun tribe and the Moon tribe. Both tribes were very mysterious and both lived deep in the mountain range. The women of the Moon tribe specialize in the art of seduction but the women of the Sun tribe were called the “Emperor’s favorites” which of course just feeds my father’s dream and ambition. Capturing my mother, however, was not my father’s doing. She showed up in a rather unique fashion. She fell right on top of my father’s horse while singing”

Unable to suppress her surprise, Zhi Wei exclaimed “Eh?”
“There was a snow storm that day. As my father’s army trek through the snow blanketed forest, my mother fell from a tree at the cliff top, singing the whole time while holding a chipmunk in her arms. Everyone looked up and thought for sure they had seen a goddess descending out of the sky.”

Zhi Wei closes her eyes half way and thought of how beautiful and stunning the young girl must’ve been.
“Unsure of what to make of my mother’s unique grand entrance, a group of people in my father’s army said it was bad omen but another group said it was a good omen. A fight almost broke out between those two different opinions but my father finally insisted on keeping her. At that time, no one understood my mother’s language so no one knew the meaning of the song she sang either. My mother eventually learned some of our language but she was still one with very few words.”

“The next year after that, while my mother was pregnant with me, the Emperor of Da Cheng escaped to Da Yue which is why my father ended up in a war with Da Yue again. The battle wasn’t going well and the soldiers began to panic…that’s when the rumor started.”

“Spy?” Zhi Wei couldn’t help but asks.

Giving Zhi Wei a sidelong glance as his lips twists into a bitter smile “Yes and no. It was back on the topic of “Emperor’s favorite”. Some government officials with Da Yue background said that “Emperor’s favorite” doesn’t necessarily mean the woman would be the Emperor’s woman but that the women from Sun tribe have the gift of prophecy- to predict their own or their descendants’ future. At that time, the song she sang when she fell into my father’s arms was also translated.”
“What did the lyrics mean?”
“Don’t know.” Ning Yi shakes his head “Those who knew all died. My father is the only one who knows the lyrics now.”
“It probably was not a good prophecy then…” Zhi Wei mutters.
“Yes.” Ning Yi’s hand flex unconsciously and accidentally brushes his cold finger against Zhi Wei’s face making her shiver.
Noticing Zhi Wei’s shiver, Ning Yi taps on her pressure point and frees her. Zhi Wei scoots a little away from Ning Yi but then after thinking for a moment, pulls the fire basin closer.
“Are you worrying about me being cold?” The man behind her whispers in a low and gentle voice.
“No.” Zhi Wei refuses to admit it ” The clothes are not dry yet. I just wanted them to dry faster.”
Ning Yi smiles when he sees Zhi Wei tried to put a pillow between them to form a barrier. Embarrassed when she looks up to see Ning Yi’s smile, Zhi Wei changes the subject “Then what happened?”
“Then that’s that.” Ning Yi says calmly, “All the soldiers begged my father to get rid of my mother. It was a critical time for my father so two months after I was born it was announced that my mother had died of blood hemorrhaging.”
“All this was told to me by my nursemaid. I have no memory of mother so I had believed that she died as well. At that time, my father was still considerate of the fact that I lost my mother at a young age and took me over to the Empress…well, my father wasn’t the Emperor yet so she wasn’t the Empress at that time. After 10 days time, I started to be deathly ill and everyone, including my father had given up hope on me. But on the night when I was about to die, the Empress’ place suddenly started to have sightings of ghosts. There was an old nursemaid who was dozing off as she watched over me. The nursemaid spotted a white figure drifting by and started to scream loudly. When everyone rushed over they discovered that I was covered in sweat but was no longer at death’s door.”
“It was a strange circumstance but people didn’t think too much about it either. While I was with the Empress’, her servants didn’t pay much attention to me so I got hurt often. The Crown Prince was also at a rambunctious age and liked to stick various strange things in my mouth. There was nothing my nursemaid could do so she often sat outside and cried while holding me in her arms.”
Ning Yi’s voice was calm as if he was telling someone else’s story. A story where all the characters’ sorrow has long since been frozen in the past, like a crystal that was shattered on the path forward.
“One night my nursemaid fell asleep after crying, only to wake up to see me laying on the step beside her. She was terrified because she clearly remembers holding me in her arms. That was the same night the Empress’ place started to have sighting of ghosts again.”
“Ghosts are often from people’s own heart.” Zhi Whi whispers softly
A warm smile flashes across Ning Yi’s face and he continues “After a few more rounds of ruckus with the ghost business, the Empress finally gave me over to Royal Concubine Chang where I grew up without much incident until Tian Sheng Empire was established when I was seven.”

The fire in the basin slowly dies down, making the room even darker. The air is filled with a dusty smell, the extravagant ornaments abandoned in the dark shadows- as bleak and sad as the story.

“You…when did you see her again?” After holding the question in for a long while, Zhi Wei finally asked.

“You are very smart, just too smart…” Ning Yi gently caresses her hair and lets out a sigh “I was nine years old at the time, still lived in the palace. The palace of Tian Sheng is the old Da Cheng palace renovated so the whole renovation project was quite extensive and there were many places I had never been. One time while I was fetching a kite for the Crown Prince I hurt my leg. My brothers took the kite and ran off telling me that they are going to find my a physician but no one ever came. Unable to stand the pain, I accidentally rolled down a hill but ended up discovering a small manor. Supposedly it was an old manor that has been abandoned and normally, everyone is forbidden to go there but for some reason that day, the door was open.”

A smile formed on Ning Yi’s lips as his expression unconsciously filled with happiness at the memory “…the door opened, a long haired nun walked out…that was the first time I saw her…” (So, Buddhist nun are usually bald but there are those who considers themselves nuns but not shave their hair. In novels, this is often the route for royal women when they are outcasts or as a way to get away from all the intrigue.)

Ning Yi coughs twice, turns his face away but not before Zhi Wei caught sight of something glistening in the corner of his eye.

“I didn’t know who she was at that time.” Ning Yi quickly recovered his composure and continues calmly, “I just thought she was extremely beautiful with eyes that were filled with kindness and warmth. Up to that point in my life, I have never experienced that sort of warmth so I completely forgot to be guarded and even allowed her to get close, carry me into the house and took care of my wound. She made a special sort of cake for me. I was already nine years old but she still tried to feed me like a young kid. I stayed there for about two hours and she didn’t say a word during all that time but cried when I politely bid her goodbye.”

It was Zhi Wei’s turn to turn her face away to hide the rush of tears.

The heart of a mother!

“…After I went back I couldn’t forget her so I snuck back a few more times. I knew it was forbidden to go to her place so I was always extra careful when I went. However, my schooling was intense and my brothers kept a close watch on me so I could only find a few times a year to go. But every time I showed up she is always overjoyed and rushed around to prepare things for me. One time I was too tired and accidentally fell asleep. When I woke up four hours later her wrist was swollen from fanning me the whole time to keep me cool.”

Ning Yi paused, softly touching his own wrist seemingly trying to imagine the ache his mother must’ve felt. His movement was gentle but his eyes slowly turns cold.

“Seven times… I went seven times…the eighth time…the place was empty.”

He was nine that year. He met his mother for the first time at nine then lost her forever at the age of ten.

He remembers vividly every joyful stolen moments he spent with her. Seven times, each time a mark on the heart to be counted.

Seven times, for a lifetime.

The journey before and the journey after was all so bleak and lonely but this was the only time that was vibrant, filled with colors that will never fade.

Zhi Wei stares at him and can’t bring herself to ask the ending. Beauty has always die young…history has never changed.

Perhaps she had struggled to stay alive for ten years just to have a chance to see her child again, wanting her love to shine on her child who is destined to walk down a long unforgiving path, to give her child the only light in his heart…a heart that will  slowly darken by the ruthless palace life.

“I found out later, her death anniversary, is today.”