The Golden Cage Sigh - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

His Majesty the Emperor waited until Li Yanhe had finished crying, then spoke with him for a long, long time.

It was as if the two of them had endless things to say.

Listening to them, I grew so drowsy I was about to fall asleep.

In my dream, I dreamed that Mother picked me up.

Mother’s embrace was fragrant and soft.

Instinctively, I clutched at Mother’s lapel and nuzzled against her in her arms.

Late autumn in the Capital was a little cold.

After we left Zichen Hall, a thread of chilly wind brushed past my neck.

I shrank my neck back.

The person holding me noticed and hurriedly tucked my cloak around me.

When I opened my eyes in a daze,

I saw such a beautiful face. I thought my own Mother must have been this beautiful too.

I secretly looked at her, not daring to speak.

I was afraid that if I said anything, she would disappear.

Only after she carried me back to the room and carefully placed me on the bed

did she notice that my big eyes were open and looking at her.

She froze for a moment, then smiled.

When she smiled, her eyes were like crescent moons in the sky, and the two shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth were very pretty.

She pinched my little cheek and asked with a smile, “When did you wake up?”

Facing someone unfamiliar, I was still a little uneasy. But Elder Brother said that once you knew what someone was called, they were no longer a stranger. So I looked at her and asked, “I’m Man Nuer. Who are you?”

She thought for a moment. “I am Ruan Yaoguang. They call me the Empress.”

I slowly sat up and thought it over.

“You are His Majesty the Emperor’s wife.”

She nodded and praised me, lightly brushing the tip of my nose. “Man Nuer is so clever.”

I proudly lifted my head.

That night, after Nanny took me to wash up, Her Majesty the Empress carried me onto the bed again and patted my back every now and then.

Softly, she sang a nursery rhyme.

“Moonlight bright, shines all around, all around is vast, the lad far from home longs to return, longs to return…”

Elder Brother used to boast to me all the time that when he was little, Mother always held him to sleep.

He said the little songs Mother sang were very nice, and as soon as he heard them, he would obediently fall asleep.

I was not obedient when I slept. It must have been because I had never heard Mother sing a little song.

Mm. Elder Brother really did not lie. Otherwise, why would I feel sleepy when I heard Her Majesty the Empress sing?

Tomorrow-tomorrow I would tell Elder Brother that I had listened to Her Majesty the Empress sing.

From now on, I would sleep obediently…

One deep toll after another from the ancient bell echoed within the square city walls.

When Her Majesty the Empress and I hurried over,

Li Yanhe was kneeling before His Majesty the Emperor’s funerary coffin.

His back was perfectly straight.

The boy His Majesty had called a crybaby had red eyes at that moment, yet he did not let a single tear fall.

Her Majesty the Empress had changed me into a white dress, with a small white flower in my hair.

She patted my back and said gently to me, “Man Nuer, go keep His Majesty company.”

I looked up at her, and she added, “Yanhe is His Majesty now.”

I pressed my lips together, nodded, and hurriedly ran to him, kneeling properly at his side.

Having lost his father, he must have been very sad.

Because every time Father went to the borderlands, I would feel very sad too.

But every time my father went to the borderlands, he could still come back.

Li Yanhe’s father, however, would never come back again.

Grandfather Liang had told me before that this was called death.

When people died, they would be put into a long, square box. Once they went in, they could not get out, and they could not come back.

He was much, much more pitiful than I was.

I quietly reached out and held Li Yanhe’s hand tightly.

“Brother Yanhe, don’t be afraid.”

He looked at me and said bravely, “Imperial Father said that from now on I am the Emperor, and no matter what happens, I cannot be afraid. So I won’t be afraid.”

I did not know how to comfort him, so I could only nod hard. “You’re so brave.”

Before long, Father entered the palace in heavy armor.

I was very happy to see him.

He stroked my head.

“Man Nuer, stay here obediently. Father will protect you.”

Then he went out through the hall doors.

That night in Zichen Hall was long and peaceful.

Even the candle flames did not sway too much; they simply burned quietly.

But outside Zichen Hall, at the palace gate, Father was wiping the weapon in his hand.

The blood and flesh beneath his feet had dyed the bricks red, and no one dared step forward again.

At dawn, Father came to Zichen Hall again, carrying his blade.

I heard the movement, rubbed my eyes, and when I saw Father had returned, I hurried forward and threw myself into his arms.

“Father, are we going home?”

Father wanted to raise his hand to stroke my head, but when he saw the blood on his hand,

he wiped it again, then crouched down in front of me and said very seriously,

“If Man Nuer goes home, what will His Majesty do?”

I turned back to look at Li Yanhe.

“Then I’ll keep him company for a few more days. When he isn’t sad anymore, I’ll go home.”

Father nodded.

After the Late Emperor passed away, the funeral bells tolled a full thirty thousand times.

When those thirty thousand tolls ended, I began looking forward to going home every day.

But Father never came to pick me up.

Her Majesty the Empress-oh, now she was Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.

Li Yanhe also ascended the throne smoothly and became the Emperor.

They all said I was Her Majesty the Empress now.

But I was still a child.

I asked Her Majesty the Empress Dowager when I could go home.

She said, “Once you become Empress, you cannot go home anymore.”

I was very sad and curled up in her arms, crying for a long time.

Father was a liar. He had said he would come to pick me up.

After I had cried enough, I looked at Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, still sobbing.

“Your Highness, have you also not gone home for a very long time?”

She froze for a moment, then wiped my face again.

Gently, she said, “I also haven’t gone home for a very long time.”

“Then does Your Highness’s father miss you?”

She thought for a moment. “He probably does.”

I asked again, “Then has he come to see you?”

Her Highness stroked my head. “The palace wall is too high. My father cannot come in, and I cannot go out. For a very long time… I have not seen him.”

Hearing this, my mouth turned down.

Then, with a loud waah, I burst into tears again.

I did not want to never see Father again.

Seeing me cry again, Her Highness hurriedly wiped my tears in a fluster.

But the tears and snot simply could not be wiped clean.

With one big gasp, I actually blew a snot bubble.

Seeing me like that, Her Highness could not hold back and burst out laughing with a pfft.

Once she laughed, I cried and cried, but then I laughed too.