Lonely Star Accompanying the Full Moon - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Forget it. I’ll marry him!” I pushed the doors open and slowly walked into the hall.

The noisy crowd fell silent in an instant. Everyone turned to look at me.

I saw the white-bearded old man at the head of the group frown slightly when he turned and saw me. I knew he wanted to say that women had no place meddling in affairs of state.

But the words would not leave his mouth, because I had come to save his life.

Father Emperor, seated high above, looked at me for a long while, as if only then remembering which princess I was. At last, he said, “Yue’er, stop making trouble.”

I walked forward step by step and bowed to him. “Father Emperor, your daughter is not making trouble. Third Imperial Sister’s whereabouts are unknown, and my younger sisters are still too young. If I don’t go, how are we to answer to the Song Kingdom?”

Father Emperor rubbed the space between his brows and said nothing.

The ministers in the hall knelt to the floor and cried out, “The princess understands the greater good. This is our great fortune.”

Father Emperor tugged at the corner of his mouth. In the end, under the ministers’ persuasion, he agreed to my proposal.

The ministers urged Father Emperor not to disregard the soldiers at the border and the millions of common people simply because he could not bear to part with me.

But I knew he opposed my going not because he could not bear to part with me, but because the Song Kingdom had specifically requested to marry the most favored princess of our dynasty.

And I just so happened to be the least favored princess.

Even my name, Manyue, had been chosen offhand after he looked up and saw that full moon.

Ever since it was decided that I would be sent to the Song Kingdom, my treatment suddenly improved by several levels.

If I had not refused, I might already have been moved into another resplendent, gilded palace hall.

When Father Emperor came, I was holding my dying cat and basking in the sun.

He crouched down in front of me and reached out to touch my cat.

“Don’t touch it!” I shielded the cat, wariness flaring in my eyes.

Perhaps it was the first time anyone had ever spoken to him like that. His hand hovered in midair for a long moment before he finally withdrew it.

Maybe because I was about to sacrifice my entire life for the Lin Kingdom, Father Emperor did not take offense at my disrespectful attitude.

“Yue’er, it’s about to die,” he said, looking at the cat in my arms.

I blinked, my voice unusually calm. “I know. Even if it dies, it has to die in my arms.”

Alive, it was my cat. Dead, it would still be my cat.

No one else could even think of touching it.

In the end, Father Emperor sighed and stood. He looked around the hall where I lived.

“Yue’er, this place of yours is far too desolate,” he concluded.

I smiled faintly, my fingers gently stroking the cat in my arms. “It is all thanks to Father Emperor. Your daughter likes it very much.”

It truly was thanks to him.

And I truly did like it.

Back then, my mother consort had died of illness in this very hall. From that day on, Yuquan Hall seemed to become a cold palace.

Ignored by all, left to fend for itself.

Was that not thanks to him?

Before Father Emperor left, he ordered many more things to be added to my hall. All at once, I found it rather laughable.

I would be leaving in two days. Adding things now felt like putting on an act.

But then again, it was an act to begin with.

Wasn’t this whole performance of me being favored meant for the Song Kingdom’s people, who would soon arrive?

On the day the Song Kingdom’s wedding escort arrived, my cat died in my arms.

It really was a cat I had raised for many years. Even dragging along its sickly body, it insisted on waiting until the wedding escort came before it finally closed its eyes in peace.

“I’m about to go find him. You have to bless me,” I whispered softly to the breathless cat in my arms.

Just then, Chuyi came in from outside. She was my only maidservant.

She glanced at the cat in my arms, sorrow flashing through her eyes before she leaned close to my ear. “He didn’t come.”

Of course he would not come.

But that was within my expectations.

It was the Lin Kingdom that sought peace with the Song Kingdom. It was I who was being sent for a marriage alliance. As the dignified crown prince of an entire kingdom, how could he possibly come personally to receive his bride?

Five days later, I took Chuyi and a grand procession of dowry gifts and set out with the people of the Song Kingdom.

Before we departed, Father Emperor looked at me, and for the first time, his eyes held the gaze I had once longed for.

He said, “If you suffer any grievances, write to Father Emperor.”

I smiled. Such empty words sounded both absurd and ridiculous coming from his mouth.

What grievances could I possibly suffer?

He did not know that everyone who had wronged me was dead.

Only he was still alive.

Because he was my father emperor.