The Second Scroll

The wind blows down from the high mountain snowy top, travels through thousand miles of wildlands until it finally softly brushes by their faces, leaving only the feeling of refreshing coolness. 

“After we pass through this river, it will be the 12 tribes’ territory” Hua Qing comes out of the carriage and puts a cloak on Feng Zhi Wei who is standing by the river with her hands behind her back, “Spring has arrived in the inland but the more north we go the colder it gets. You are wearing such thin layers, what if you catch a cold?” 

Feng Zhi Wei pulls the cloak around her and smiles at Hua Qing “Don’t treat me like a sickly cat. It’s almost time for you to give birth, you shouldn’t be out here in the wind.” 

Hua Qing pats her shoulder and the two women exchange a smile then promptly look away. One continues to stare at the river while the other narrows her eyes to look towards the endless grassland. 

It has been quite a while since they left the Capital. After Zhi Wei buried Madam Feng and Feng Hao on the day of that snowstorm, she immediately fell ill. After she recovered and considered carefully, she still decided to leave the Capital. All of the sacrifices must be of worth. Mother spoiled her younger brother for sixteen years and created so many illusions, it was all in preparation for the day that when the last empire’s case would come up that her younger brother could be pushed out to die for her. Mother was even willing to die herself in exchange for the Emperor’s forgiveness and sympathy. She not only gave her the chance to survive but she also gave her the possibility to rise up. From this point on, her birth secret will no longer be in danger of being exposed. In fact, she can even use the Emperor’s guilt and her new status as a princess to go towards the direction her mother wants her to go. Mother has done so much for her that even at her last moment she was keeping up her act with the Emperor. So how can she, Feng Zhi Wei, let her down. How can she let her mother and brother die in vain? As for Ning Yi, now that he has officially attacked her then he will not hold back anymore. She escaped this time but there is no guarantee that there won’t be a next time. With him returning to the Capital, his achievement in South Sea will give him even more power so how could she be a match against him? 

“There are some things I must obtain. Now that I have come to this point, I am not allowed to back away. Sometimes, even those in power have things that they can’t control. Even if he wants to back away, his followers will not allow it…do you understand?” 

She can still recall those words the Fifth Prince had said to her in the palace. She finally understood it today. Sadly, that understanding came too late. It’s too difficult in the Capital for her right now so it’s time for her to retreat for now. 

  • Not long after, Hua Qing and Helian both arrived in the Capital. 
  • Around this time, the situation on the wildgrassland suddenly becomes unstable that resulted in the death of the King, Helian’s father. For Helian to be of any use to the Emperor he must be the next King so the Emperor immediately grants Helian’s request to return home. 

(The wildgrassland is like a client state to Tiansheng. Wildgrassland still has its own government and its own king but they pay tribute to the Emperor. It is normal in these circumstances to have the crown prince of the client state live in the Controlling state. The crown prince is there like a hostage but of course no one would ever verbally say it out loud. The expectation is that since the crown prince has been “raised” in the Controlling State then once he is king he would know better how to serve the Controlling state.)  

Helian gathers up his men to head back to the wildgrassland. Before he left, he stopped by to say goodbye to Zhi Wei who simply said “No need to say goodbye. I am leaving with you.” 

The next day, the Emperor made the official edict proclaiming Feng Zhi Wei as the new Princess Sheng Ying Princess (the Sheng here is the Chinese character “Holy” while the last Ying is a character taken from her mother’s name) before she is given to Helian in marriage. The marriage procession to the wildgrassland will be escorted by the Princess’ guards with Chun Yu as the captain. The “Holy” in Zhi Wei’s Princess title caused a great uproar amongst all the nobles yet Feng Zhi Wei only hid her sneer under her docile gentle expression. As expected, the one that got away is always the most “holy”. 

Overjoyed yet worried, Helian’s little heart is a mess but Zhi Wei just calmly walks up and accepts the royal edict as everyone else looks on with the “poor girl who just became princess is now sent off to her death” complicated stare. (Gentle princesses usually don’t last too long on the wildgrassland) On that day as the sun shines brightly on the palace steps, Princess Sheng Ying’s dress train trailed behind her as she walked proudly with her head high and her back straight out of the palace. On that day, Prince Helian (Now King Shunyi, granted by the Emperor but Helian still has to go back home to make the 12 tribes of the wildgrassland acknowledge him as their king) and his men walk out of the palace, past the Nine Dragon platform, pass the Jade Street, pass the Heavenly Water Arch, out of the Forever Peace Gate, out of the Capital. 

On that day, the South Sea royal envoy team and Prince Chu returned triumphantly back to the Capital. The procession enters from the Forever Peace Gate, pass the Heavenly Water Arch, pass Jade Street, pass the Nine Dragon platform, into the palace. The two processions, passing right by each other. 

By the time the royal envoy team paid their respect to the Emperor, accepted the long list of rewards, enjoyed a feast and etc…Princess Sheng Ying’s procession was already far far away, making their way towards the wildgrassland. 

The wind on the grassland is very fierce, very cold. Zhi Wei stood by the river and watched the sunlight slowly burn itself out, watched as the ripple of lights on the water slowly turned to darkness. After a long time, she finally lets out a smile. Taking out of her sleeve an object that is rectangular in shape with an exquisite flower pattern on it. In this world, most beautiful things are poisonous. That’s a lesson she has finally learned. The wind rushes past the water, sneaking into her sleeves. In the wind, there seems to be the sound of something singing. Is it the reed field that is forever singing on the path? Or is it the ocean waves that rise and fall? Who is listening to the song of the reed field, who is listening to the poems of the ocean waves, and who is listening right now to the windblown river right now? 

“PLOP”

After a long long time, a sound came from the water but immediately disappeared. 

The nights on wildgrass land, very cold. 

“Why shouldn’t we use tonight to cross the river?” Returning back to their tents, Helian frowns and asks Zhi Wei. 

“You know why we can’t.” Zhi Wei sits down by him, “The area across the river is not under Gold Roc tribe’s control. Things within the twelve tribes are a mess right so who knows if the Chimera tribe (a mystical creature that resembles a winged lion) might have something nefarious in mind. To cross the river at night is too dangerous.” Zhi Wei picks up a cup of goat milk but begins to frown even before the cup gets close to her. 

“If you don’t want to drink it, then don’t force yourself.” Helian puts his hand on hers to stop her.

Zhi Wei doesn’t move but lowers her gaze and stops on the hand on her wrist which causes Helian to immediately withdraw it with mild embarrassment. Looking away, Zhi Wei smiles and says “In this world, one can’t always avoid everything one dislikes.” Tipping her head back, Zhi Wei drains the cup in one shot, accepts the handkerchief Helian hands her to dab her mouth before giving him another big smile. Helian doesn’t say anything– he knows that if he tries to converse with her right now she won’t be able to suppress the goat milk any longer and will end up throwing it all up which will in turn, cause her to stubbornly drink more goat milk. So why torture her. Averting his eyes, he doesn’t want her to see the pain in them. Zhi Wei has changed. Her day to day personality is not what changed. She is still gentle, still all smiles. Yet, only those who are closest to her know that behind her gentle manner and smiles hides perpetual cold desolation. If previously, under her gentle facade there was still vibrant life then now, behind the same gentle facade, there is only never ending bleakness. She regrets bitterly that she wasn’t smart enough, wasn’t ruthless enough so she will no longer allow herself to indulge and soften…including her emotions. The day the Emperor had given her to him for marriage, he had, in the midst of anguish over his father’s death found a sliver of joy but when he looked up and saw her expressionless eyes, his heart sunk. That is a Feng Zhi Wei who has locked away her heart. She is closer to him than any other time, she is further away from him than any other time. The vastness of the wildgrassland cannot compare to the emptiness in her heart. 

“You should go to bed soon. We will be heading into the land controlled by twelve tribes tomorrow. Things from this point on will get tiring.” Helian takes Zhi Wei’s cup from her. 

“Indeed…from this point on, it might get tiring.” Zhi Wei frowns, trying to suppress the urge to throw up. 

Letting out a small sigh, Helian stands up and decides that from tomorrow on he will forbid any goat milk from appearing in her tent, let’s see how she is going to drink it then. 

Helian walks out of the tent, letting a waft of cold wind in. Staring after his retreating figure, Zhi Wei wonders to herself that the young man who was once a cocky hooligan has become much more silent than before, is it because of the heavy burden of his father’s death and his clan’s uncertain future? Everyone is forced by things of this world to change, just as the blooming flowers will all one day fall from the trees.

All text copyright @ www.Ninja-Reflection.com

Related Posts