The White-Haired Imperial Concubine

Flowers in the Mirror, Moon in the Water (1)

Even as noon approached, the skies were still dark and unclear, swaths of clouds gathered in the sky as if a dark mask covered the earth, blocking all the light.

Zongzheng Wuyou was sitting cross-legged next to the hot spring with his eyes closed, his palms pressed together, the air around him churning like smoke. He suddenly opened his eyes and pushed out both of his hands, only to hear a loud booming noise and the jade stone next to the hot spring shattered into pieces, its remnants flying everywhere. The trees around it broke and the water in the spring splashed around in waves. Such strong power! He only used two percent of his strength, and it already produced such results. Zongzheng Wuyou stood up, and thinking how he was finally able to perform the highest level of the Heart Sutra, it did not betray his efforts trying to woo this woman the past ten days. Thinking of that woman, he looked towards the cottage, a smile unconsciously appearing on his face.

Man Yao was awakened by the noise and opened her eyes to see herself in an elegant but strange house. She frowned and sat up only to find her body sore and weak, her brain full of the passionate scenes from last night. She lowered her head to see her ** underneath the silk blanket. Her heart jumped and her mind instantly cleared up. Her hands tightened on the blanket and she laid back down, her heart pounding. She really gave herself to him! Closing her eyes, she tried to calm herself down, regardless, since she fell in love, there was nothing to regret, and moreover…her heart felt a sweet type of fulfillment, including a thread of unease. She did not forget that her wedding to Fu Chou would be happening in two days! Now, she can longer marry and she is unwilling to marry! No matter what happens, she must tell Wuyou the truth about her identity, if Wuyou’s feelings for her were true, then he would definitely not allow her to marry someone else but he would also be angry for her hiding this from him or misunderstand her, she…was willing to explain to him. Thinking to here, she immediately got up from the bed and put on her clothes. She had just put on her inner robes when she heard someone from outside yell out, “Seventh Brother!”

The Ninth Prince was always like this, you would hear him before you saw him. Man Yao lightly laughed and walked to the window, gently lifting a corner before looking outside through the slit to see the Ninth Prince laying on a chaise that was being carried by people. He yelled out in a loud voice, “So you were here Seventh Brother, you made me go through so much to look for you! I say, Seventh Brother, your body is not suited to stay in the hot springs, what are you doing here?”

Man Yao slightly frowned, Wuyou’s body was unsuited for hot springs? Why? She suddenly remembered how his body was always so ice-cold, could it be related to that? She turned her head and opened the window slightly more, the straight figure near the hot spring entered her view. It was the man who was entangled with her all night and she couldn’t help but turn red. Even though she was not as conservative as the women in this era, but since she experienced **, she still felt a little shy and embarrassed.

Zongzheng Wuyou saw how the Ninth Prince didn’t even bother to move from his chaise and furrowed his eyebrows, “You haven’t recovered yet, what are you doing running around everywhere?”

The Ninth Prince remembered the reason why he came and excited got up, accidentally bumping his wounds and cried out in pain, his handsome face crumpling as he still tried to smile, “I’m happy, aiya! It hurts, it really hurts…”

Zongzheng Wuyou laughed, “You’re happy getting beaten a hundred times? Next time I’ll let him punish you with an extra one hundred strokes!”

“Hey! Don’t don’t don’t!” The Ninth Prince’s lips twitched as he hurriedly put his hands out, “Seventh Brother, that’s not the reason why I’m happy. It’s because Qiyun’s Princess Rong Le is going to marry Fu Chou, so I don’t have to marry her, haha…I finally escaped this disaster!”

Man Yao shook her head and bitterly smiled, marrying her was a type of disaster! Zongzheng Wuyou gave a sharp smile, raising his eyes, “Do you think this marriage is a…good thing?” The Emperor of Qiyun chose him to be the other party in this marriage and after experiencing his rejection, he wasn’t angry and changed his choice to Fu Chou who just returned from victory. Yet that Princess who went through so much effort in the great hall to ask for half a year’s time was willing to marry the arranged party when three months hadn’t even passed yet. This wedding has probably lost all of its original intentions!

The Ninth Prince was startled and stopped smiling. Carefully thinking, he spoke, “Seventh Brother means…there’s a conspiracy behind this? Ah, let me think…this battle was actually already finished a month ago, but Fu Chou pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes and delayed until now, could it be…”

Zongzheng Wuyou’s hands were crossed against his back, his eyes deep and dark as he spoke in a heavy voice, “I don’t care about these. Is there no news about the person I asked you to find?”

The Ninth Prince shook his head, “It’s already been twenty years, when Noble Consort was giving birth that year, anyone who was present at the time is either missing or already dead…” He paused, his eyes carrying suspicions, “Seventh Brother, are you sure the person you’re wanting to find…is still alive? But we don’t even know if that person is a man or a woman, just going off of a birthmark that we can’t even confirm is present or not, this…is too difficult of a task?!”

Zongzheng Wuyou slowly blinked, his gaze becoming heavy as he pursed his lips, not speaking. The Ninth Prince realized that he shouldn’t have spoken of something and hurriedly waved his hands to have his servants carry him near Zongzheng Wuyou and raised his body to pull him, his voice apologetic, “Seventh Brother, I was just casually saying it…the person you’re trying to find is definitely still alive!” Zongzheng Wuyou expressionlessly glanced at the hand the Ninth Prince was tugging and frowned. The Ninth Prince gave a dry laugh and let god, suddenly recalling something as a glint flashed through his eyes and he reached out to pull on Zongzheng Wuyou’s arms, kneading it few times as if he was trying to confirm something. His eyes widened as he stared at his Seventh Brother in disbelief. Zongzheng Wuyou frowned, rudely slapping his hands away.

The Ninth Prince didn’t acknowledge the pain from his hands as he yelled out, shocked, “Ah?!! Why is it warm? Seventh Brother, you, you…why is your body warm? Is your qigong finally complete? No way, you said practicing the Heart Sutra cannot go against the laws of nature, so in order to not touch women, you would soak in the ice lake all the time, causing your meridians to be blocked…last time you wanted me to find a woman, but after I spent the money, it was fine if you didn’t want to touch her, but you even killed her! I had to go through so much effort to settle the matter…”

Zongzheng Wuyou gave him a sharp look, “Oh? In this capital, there are still women that you ‘Ninth ye‘ can’t settle?”

The Ninth Prince immediately laughed, “Of course not! But that woman…it’s truly a shame! Cough…I’m going off-topic, Seventh Brother, tell me, how did you complete your qigong? You didn’t secretly find a woman on your own, did you? That reminds me, the night when you encountered those assassins, you suddenly wanted me to find a woman and yet despised the woman that I brought, saying that she wasn’t good enough, could it be that you already had a candidate in mind? Who is it? It couldn’t be…Li Yue?” As he spoke, his voice slowed down and he turned his head, trying to test him.

Man Yao had been eavesdropping on their conversation all this time, and hearing this part, her heart suddenly fell, an unsettling feeling rising within her as she pieced together everything that happened. In order to suppress the long-term chill that Zongzheng Wuyou got from soaking in the ice lake, causing his meridians to be blocked, he asked Ninth Prince to find him a woman to resolve this problem, only to kill that woman?! He avoids women like a snake yet he only treated her differently? Could it be because he didn’t feel any disgust when she accidentally fell onto him that night? She recalled how his eyes turned red that night and how he lost control and pounced on her…now that she thought about it, could it be that some type of magic possessed him?! Also…that night, she rejected him, saying that it could only happen if there was love present…

(1) Flowers in the mirror, moon in the water (镜中花水中月): Meaning illusions or fantasy; Objects being reflected by mirrors and water are ultimately projections and not the real object. It’s usually used to describe the type of love that is beautiful but ultimately unachievable. (Translation credit)

(2) ** is in the raws, not me purposely trying to censor