The Cicada Knows Neither Spring Nor Autumn - Chapter 3

The banquet hall had been filled with music, dancing, and an air of harmony.

Then, after delivering his congratulations to the Emperor, an envoy from the Tiele tribe proposed adding a little entertainment.

The envoy smiled. A towering, heavily muscled man strode out from behind him.

“This is the foremost warrior of the Tiele, the khan’s legitimate son, Ashina Tiegu. He has trained in martial arts since childhood and possesses extraordinary strength. Today he humbly asks to exchange a few moves with Your Highness the Crown Prince. What does Your Majesty think?”

The khan laughed heartily. “Let the children roughhouse a little for Your Majesty’s birthday!”

The music stopped. Silence dropped over the hall.

Everyone knew the Crown Prince was in poor health. The Tiele were plainly issuing a challenge. Forget an exchange of blows—one light shove from this man might put the Crown Prince on the floor for good.

From the corner of my eye, I saw something venomous flash across the Crown Prince’s normally refined face.

The Emperor suppressed his anger before speaking. “The envoy is thoughtful. But the Crown Prince is the heir to the realm. Given his noble position, it would be improper for him to enter the ring himself.”

The khan pressed harder.

“Your Majesty’s son is a son, and my son is also a son. Or is Your Majesty unwilling to grant me even this much respect?”

“You—” the Crown Prince began.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is naturally too exalted. Why not allow me to exchange a few moves with Ashina Tiegu instead?”

At the familiar voice, my body went rigid. I could not stop myself from looking up.

The man who had worn old gray clothes only yesterday now stood in a black brocade robe. A jade pendant patterned with gilded clouds and dragons hung at his waist, catching the light with a cold gleam. He stood straight as a blade. Though still sheathed, he already radiated a cutting edge.

For a moment, his presence utterly eclipsed the Crown Prince’s.

The khan clenched his fist. “Who are you? What standing do you have? My son will fight only a son of the Emperor!”

“If we are speaking of standing, I should address the Crown Prince as my elder brother.”

He smiled faintly.

“I am Zhao Yan, Second Prince of Great Ming.”

Everyone present was stunned, as though only now remembering that such a person existed in the palace.

But was the Second Prince not supposed to be shut inside Jingyang Palace with his mad mother, the Noble Consort? How had he suddenly—

I alone stared at that face, at once strange and familiar, while conflicting feelings churned within me.

Little Dog.

*Zhao Yan*

When I closed my hand around Ashina Tiegu’s throat, my imperial father looked at me in surprise.

After all these years, he had probably forgotten he had another son.

Sure enough, once the banquet ended, the Emperor dismissed everyone but summoned me for a private audience, claiming he wished to reward me.

Before Li Jiao left, she gave me a long look filled with worry. It was so amusing that I wanted to catch her by the chin and make her wear another expression.

After a moment’s thought, I merely gave her a reassuring signal: meet me at Qiyun Palace at midnight.

I followed the Emperor into Qianqing Palace, the first time I had ever set foot there.

He arranged his face into the benevolent warmth of a loving father, as though I had spent all these years basking at his knee. He prattled about how tall Yan’er had grown, how changed I was, and how I now carried the vigor of Great Ming.

I answered with reverent, filial emotion while nearly retching inside.

The Emperor’s mother had been an actress—the result of one night’s dalliance during the late emperor’s southern tour. The Ministry of Rites had never let the late emperor forget it. This throne had never been meant for him.

He hated and feared his base origins above all else. After ascending the throne, he forbade anyone from mentioning his late birth mother and behaved as though the noble-born Empress Dowager had truly borne him.

The amusing part was that, when he was still a prince, he drunkenly raped the daughter of a county magistrate. It drove the current Empress—then only an imperial consort—into a frenzy.

I was a mirror held before him, forever reminding him that low blood ran through his veins as well.

That was why he had ignored the Noble Consort’s abuse of me for so many years. Only the Crown Prince, born to a legitimate and noble line, could wash away the stain on him. Only that son was truly his.

Looking at the Emperor, I nearly laughed aloud.

At last, he abandoned the circling and asked what he truly wanted to know.

“Good child, tell your father. Where did you learn your martial arts? And who sent you today?”

*Zhao Yan*

When I returned to Jingyang Palace, the Noble Consort sat waiting before the main hall.

The whip in her hand struck my back, just as it had countless times over the years.

“You little wretch! Who gave you permission to steal attention from the Crown Prince? A filthy bastard like you dares?”

As if I felt no pain, I did not so much as blink.

“Why is Your Highness so angry? Were you not the one who ordered me to appear in the hall?”

The whip fell again.

“Spawn! You were supposed to work beside the lowest eunuchs! When did I ever tell you to—”

I smiled. “But that is what I told the Emperor.

“He believes you have come to your senses. Rewards will probably arrive at Jingyang Palace at any moment.

“He may even summon Your Highness to his bed. You should prepare yourself.”

Her eyes bulged. I felt nothing.

“No! It was him! It was all him! If he had not permitted it, how could that slut of an Empress have killed my unborn child?”

As a boy, I might have asked in anguish whether I was not her child too.

Now I simply knocked away the hand clutching my throat.

“The Emperor has remembered that I am too old to remain in Jingyang Palace. Fearing I might disturb Your Highness’s meditations, he has allowed me to move into Qingyan Residence.

“I came to bid you farewell.”

The Noble Consort stared at me in terror.

“When—when did you grow so strong? Why did you stand there and let me beat you just now?”

Why?

Because someone would ache for me.

Whether that concern was true or false.

I leaned close to her ear.

“I saw my brother the Crown Prince today. He was coughing ceaselessly in the hall again.

“I have the strangest feeling—

“that he will not live long.”

The Noble Consort lunged at me with a heart-rending scream. One light push sent her crashing to the ground.

Her vicious curses faded from my ears. I could think only of Li Jiao, whom I would soon see.

What expression would she wear?