Chapter 1489: Chapter 872: Emperor’s Memories_2
It was unclear how long he had been kneeling until Su Zimu and Mo Ke passed by his side, turning their heads to look at him.
How to put it, from the style of his hair, it could be determined he was not yet eighteen, very young, and when one really looked at his face, it confirmed their judgment was correct.
Indeed, he was a boy of fifteen or sixteen.
But what boy looks like this?
Sword-like brows and starry eyes, the general description would be elegant and beautiful, but to describe it truly, perhaps he possessed the allure of a demon, the beauty of an immortal. Both Su Zimu and Mo Ke thought their own appearances paled in comparison to this youth... that skin like jade, appearing even more pale due to his youth and frailty, yet despite kneeling in the rain for so long, his straight posture showed a stubbornness rarely seen in grown men.
A youth like this, in modern times, would drive both men and women mad.
But those eyes... Su Zimu and Mo Ke actually paid the most attention to those eyes.
Double-folded eyelids, and not the normal black irises, the inner iris was silvery-gray, a color that could imply both the weariness and tenderness of time, as well as signify despair and darkness.
They looked at people without focus, giving a sense of illusion, and with such looks, he truly seemed like a bringer of calamity.
Who is this person?
Looks like he’s not the emperor.
The two were still puzzled.
Out of nowhere, a person appeared in the air, holding a paper oil umbrella, wooden clogs stepping on the wet ground, waters trickling over the umbrella surface, beading up and falling away, the corners of snow-white robes adorned with silver ink flower patterns, like streaming ink paintings etched on to the moon-white fabric.
This person stood three meters from the boy, neither too far nor too close, merely watching him indifferently.
Not even helping him shelter from the rain.
"He is not here."
The voice was spectral, chilling to the bone, devoid of any vitality, yet it lingered in the air, stirring one’s heart.
Mo Ke and Su Zimu both shivered.
Instinctively looked over.
Beneath the oiled paper umbrella, the face within the white robe stood out clearly.
Yet compared to the one they knew... not speaking of aura, but merely sensation...
A celestial being amidst clouds, a deity within snow.
You look at this empty court, thinking it lonely, thinking it vast, but unaware that there’s her.
She is this lonely empty courtyard.
Yet she is within reach.
The boy raised his head.
"Father comes to this Imperial Crown every seven days to seek answers, do you not know when last he came, kneeling for seven days is sure to see him eventually."
"If there’s any disturbance to the Crown, you will surely come to atone for it later."
This dynasty’s humblest prince by birth, born from a court courtesan, a courtesan who was favored by a traveling emperor outside the palace when the child was born among commoners, sentenced to death but spared by the coincidence of being born during the Imperial Family’s most esteemed Orchid Festival; yet his mother was smothered by eunuchs on the night of his birth and her body discarded in the Mass Burial Mound...
He was named Yu, styled Qing, the term "Qing" signified servitude and slavery in this era, also implied feminine gentleness... Such a name for a prince carried demeaning implications, if the Imperial Family did not mind its insult, it meant they held him in utmost contempt.
Not caring what kind of reputation his existence might bring to the Imperial Family.
Yet few could understand why this prince could still calmly and stubbornly refer to himself as Qing, as if oblivious to his origins and unaware of what humiliation this name represented.
He knelt there, calmly and stubbornly stating he would come back to atone one day.
Perhaps it was this uniqueness and tenacity that made the master of the Empty Court speak a few more words.
"If you continue kneeling, there will be no tomorrow for you, how will you atone then?"
She turned around, both the person and the oiled paper umbrella strolled away in the rain, wooden clogs making a crisp sound on the ground.
"In this palace, the lives begged on knees are always short-lived, and more painful."
The young and defiant prince was wise, his expression changed instantly at those words, finally becoming dejected.
Since childhood, the old nurse who cared for him was his only emotional attachment in this cold palace... the Crown Prince who flogged her twenty times, behind him was the Queen, and behind the Queen were the intertwined powers of the Noble Clan, he knelt to the emperor, but the emperor never lacked people to kneel to him, even if he granted a brief moment of goodwill, for the sake of appearance gave this cheap son a little face, he would soon after hold him in more contempt, leading to the old nurse...
The High Priestess of the Empty Court, her words were always true.
He closed his eyes and lowered his head, bowing in that direction.
Seeking assistance?
No,
He pressed his hands to the ground, stood up with difficulty, limping with each step, out of the Empty Court.
Proud yet unwilling to seek aid?
The pride of this young prince had long been shattered by sneaking to this Empty Court and kneeling alone for three days.
It was being too well versed in the emperor’s Mind Art.
If today the honorable High Priest would plead for such a lowly prince, tomorrow would be a test from all forces of the court and discernment, leading to the princes’ jealousy... and ultimately his death.
The emperor... would merely look down aloofly.
Su Zimu and Mo Ke watched, always feeling something was off.
If this is the memory of the emperor, why is it only this boy and Sui Yi...
Unless...
This boy was actually the emperor.
But such youth and disadvantage, how could the tables turn in the end?
The two were puzzled at heart, yet more eager to approach that person... the High Priest.
They finally saw the true Sui Yi, the past Sui Yi.
But just as the two were about to follow Sui Yi away.
They suddenly felt a barrier in front of them, and then the illusion shifted...
Sui Yi sat at the low table, looking at ten boys and girls in front of him.
All were young and full of spiritual energy.
These were the newly appointed wizards.
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