A Kingdom's Ruin - Chapter 4

“Mother Consort!”

“Yun Che!”

Yueming came racing into my arms. Her fine clothes were filthy, and her soft palms were covered in mud and pebbles. She looked like a little beggar.

I raised my eyes to the chosen maiden. Ming Jia was every bit as bedraggled as my daughter and had run so hard she could barely breathe. “You can’t kill her.”

Yuwen Che merely lifted his eyelids. “Who let them in?”

The guards behind her dropped to their knees in a dark mass. Ming Jia fell silent.

The air tightened.

I stroked Yueming’s hand and asked hoarsely, “What happened?”

My daughter looked ridiculous. Had it been anyone else, I would have laughed. But she had no idea she had been toyed with and was still grinning foolishly.

“Imperial—Papa taught me to ride. Yueming was too clumsy and fell off. Sister Jia saved me.”

She tugged my arm, then saw the wound on my cheek. “Mother Consort, what happened? Why didn’t you come find me? Don’t you want me anymore?”

Papa?

I looked at Ming Jia. She seemed equally confused. Yuwen Che, eyes lowered, had missed the exchange.

“So this is how you teach her? Whenever anything happens, she calls a man Papa. How many fathers does she have? Being her father is cheap indeed.”

He was right. The trick worked almost every time. It could win Yueming nearly anything she wanted, and no matter what she did, someone always rushed to clean up after her.

But—

“I never taught her to call you that.”

The silly child did not notice his dislike. She went to take his hand. “Papa, please don’t bully Mother Consort. She’s a little slow, but she’s a very, very good mother.”

With each word, Yuwen Che’s face darkened. At last it went colder than I had ever seen it.

“I am not your father.” He shook off her hand and forced out an insult that sat awkwardly on his tongue. “Little. Bastard.”

Everyone in the palace had always spoken gently to Yueming. She froze, truly frightened now, and retreated behind Ming Jia.

“I’m sorry, Pa—Imperial… Imperial Brother.”

Yuwen Che did not like her.

At last, even my witless little girl understood.

“Why frighten her? She did nothing wrong.” My injured throat made each word difficult. “She’s only three. You took her riding because you wanted to torment her. She obeyed because she likes you. Does bullying a child make you feel powerful?”

His voice held no inflection. It sounded less like a question than a statement. “A woman like you dares speak to me of sparing the innocent?”

I considered this. He had a point.

“Then will you kill us both?”

His mouth twisted. “So you don’t care that much for your own child after all. You won’t even beg for her.”

“If that is what you want, I’ll beg however you ask.”

He laughed as if I had told the finest joke in the world, until tears nearly came to his eyes.

“And you think your pleas have value?”

At his gesture, attendants brought two cups of wine.

“One is poisoned. You believe in fate, don’t you? If fate says you must die, I will treat your daughter well.”

“Your Majesty…” Ming Jia could not help interjecting.

“Palace Commandant Ming is tired,” he cut her off. “She should retire.”

The attendants moved to drag Yueming away. She buried her head in my arms and clung to my clothes. I smiled and coaxed and lied until she finally let them lead her out.

When Yuwen Che and I were alone, his manner softened without warning.

I stared at the wine while he waited for my choice.

“Difficult, isn’t it?”

He pinched my chin and forced me to meet his eyes. His hoarse voice echoed through the prison.

“What are you thinking? Do you hope you’ll choose the poison—or the harmless cup?

“This is what it feels like to be forced into a choice you never wanted. Do you understand now? But I am not as cruel as you.

“Tell me you have me in your heart. Tell me everything you did was forced upon you, and you won’t have to choose at all. We can be as we were before. That girl can grow up safely.

“Whether Bo Yanxiu forced you or Yuwen Ce deceived you, say it. If you say it, I’ll believe you…”

His beautiful eyes looked exhausted, as though he had been driven into a corner and this concession was his last resort.

It was a tempting trap.

Unfortunately, I had no heart.

“Then keep your word.

“After I die, give her to Liu Xian’an.”

His expression froze.

Before he could react, I lifted both cups and drained them together.

“That is my last wish. Whether you honor it is up to you.

“And you needn’t acknowledge her. She has a name. Don’t call her a bastard.”

The poison was potent. My head began to swim almost at once. A warm, sticky drop landed on the back of my hand.

Ah. Blood.

Through the haze, someone struck off my chains. The floor vanished beneath me, and I fell into a broad embrace. All I could hear was the wind tearing past.

There was no point struggling.

From the day I chose this road, I had known how it would end.