The Cicada Knows Neither Spring Nor Autumn - Chapter 4

At a quarter past midnight, I sat alone in Qiyun Palace.

Little Dog—no, the Second Prince—was probably not coming.

I was about to leave when two arms seized me from behind.

“Li Jiao—”

I sprang up in alarm and tried to kneel, but he caught me around the waist.

“This servant greets Your Highness the Second Prince. This servant did not know Your Highness’s identity before and offended you repeatedly in word and deed. This servant deserves ten thousand deaths.”

Zhao Yan’s smile vanished. His eyes looked almost wounded.

“Sister, are you truly going to speak to me like this?”

I had once asked Little Dog to call me Sister, but he had always refused. Now Zhao Yan, exalted as the Second Prince, said it with ease.

The nine years we had depended on each other inside the cold walls of Qiyun Palace had been real. Yet however neglected Zhao Yan was by the Emperor, however cruelly the Noble Consort treated him, those were affairs of the imperial family.

I was merely a palace maid, born to serve—

“Since you live in the palace, you must know something of the Second Prince’s circumstances. Qiyun Palace then and Jingyang Palace now were both hell to me.

“There were times when the Noble Consort nearly beat me to death. Times when I was so hungry that I chewed bark and ate insects in Qiyun Palace.

“If I had not met you, I would have gone mad or died long ago.”

I remembered Zhao Yan’s skeletal body when I first found him, every inch marked with blood.

The Noble Consort had been the Emperor’s secondary consort before he took the throne, and she had always been the Empress’s enemy. The Cheng clan behind the Empress had contributed greatly to his accession. To placate her, he confined the humble-born Noble Consort to Qiyun Palace shortly after becoming emperor, empty title notwithstanding.

The Second Prince had been born there.

Once the Emperor consolidated his power, he remembered the Noble Consort’s beauty and ordered her moved to Jingyang Palace. No sooner had she arrived than she bit his arm bloody.

Everyone said she had gone mad and kept their distance. Jingyang Palace became a second Qiyun Palace, imprisoning the young Zhao Yan with her.

When I remained silent, Zhao Yan pointed at Qiyun Palace’s gates and spoke one word at a time.

“Very well. I will not make things difficult for you.

“If my identity truly makes you want nothing to do with me, turn around and leave. I will not stop you.

“We can pretend these nine years never happened.”

I hesitantly raised my eyes. My hand lifted without thought and touched his broad shoulder. He hissed.

“What—what happened to you?”

He turned his face away. “If you mean to become a stranger, why should you care?”

I frowned. Zhao Yan was still throwing a childish tantrum.

Without another word, I pulled down his robe. Whip marks ran up his back to his shoulders, blood soaking through the white inner garment.

“The Noble Consort beat you again? Does the Emperor do nothing? Why run all the way to Qiyun Palace with wounds like these instead of treating them first?”

Zhao Yan met my gaze, his voice unnaturally calm.

“If I had not come tonight, would there still have been a tomorrow for us?”

I looked away and took out a bottle of medicine. Zhao Yan caught my wrist.

“Li Jiao, if you choose to care for me today, you may never regret it.

“It is like the food you gave me nine years ago. I did not ask you then. Now I will give you this one chance. If you decide to take responsibility for me, never imagine you can cast me off easily again.”

I sighed and dabbed medicinal powder gently over his back.

“I think of you as my younger brother. If I do not care for you, who will?”

Zhao Yan laughed softly. His murmur was full of attachment.

“Li Jiao, I knew you could not bear to abandon me. Whether it is…”

Distracted by his injuries, I did not catch the final words.

The muscles of his back curved smoothly beneath my hand, his shoulder blades shifting with every breath. His skin burned under my fingertips while powder sifted over old scars and new wounds.

The pitiful child from years ago had become a young man taller than I was. I remembered the scene in Linde Hall.

“Yan’er, when did you learn to fight?” I asked.

“The Noble Consort usually forces me to clean the imperial stables with the eunuchs. The Blood Guard trains nearby, so I secretly copied a few moves. Perhaps I have some talent for martial arts.”

The imperial stables. Such a method of humiliation and torment suited the Noble Consort perfectly.

My heart aching, I stroked Zhao Yan’s hair. When I tried to withdraw, his burning palm closed around my hand.

The Blood Guard was the Emperor’s organization of assassins and protectors. Every member was indeed a formidable fighter. And yet…

“Sister, you once said that in this palace, one either climbs or dies.

“You want me to climb, do you not? All the way to the highest seat.”

Zhao Yan crouched before me and pressed my hand to his handsome face. His eyes were hidden by his hair, and I could not read them.

“Stay beside me, and I will give you anything you desire.”

Would he truly?

As I looked at Zhao Yan, his figure overlapped with the sinister child curled in the corner nine years ago.

Once again, I thought he looked like a dog.