THE EMPEROR'S QUESTION
1382 Words
The doors closed behind Shen Yichen.
The sound echoed through the chamber.
He stood alone.
The imperial hall was larger than he had imagined. Golden pillars rose toward a painted ceiling, and enormous curtains hung between them, hiding the far corners of the room. The air smelled faintly of incense.
At the end of the hall sat the Emperor.
Yichen lowered himself into a bow.
“Your Majesty.”
“Stand.”
Yichen obeyed.
The Emperor studied him without speaking.
Yichen had expected anger.
Instead, the old man's expression was difficult to read.
“You look like her.”
Yichen's heart skipped.
“Who?”
The Emperor's eyes remained on his face.
“Your mother.”
Yichen said nothing.
The Emperor reached for a cup of tea.
His hand trembled slightly.
Yichen noticed.
“You knew my mother?”
The Emperor didn't answer.
Instead, he asked, “Do you know why I summoned you?”
“No.”
“Your father told you nothing?”
“My father rarely tells me anything.”
A faint smile touched the Emperor's lips.
“Honest.”
“I have no reason to lie.”
“You have every reason.”
Yichen frowned.
The Emperor put down the cup.
“Do you know who Lin Yuehua was?”
“My mother.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Yichen's eyes hardened.
“Then no. I don't.”
The Emperor leaned back.
“She was not born in the Shen household.”
“I know.”
“She did not enter your father's household as an ordinary concubine.”
Yichen felt his pulse quicken.
“Then why did she?”
The Emperor's gaze shifted toward the enormous doors behind Yichen.
“Because there were people who wanted her dead.”
Yichen froze.
“What?”
The Emperor looked back at him.
“Your mother knew something she should never have known.”
“What?”
“I am asking the questions.”
Yichen clenched his jaw.
The Emperor continued.
“Do you remember anything about her?”
Yichen hesitated.
“A little.”
“What?”
“Jasmine.”
The Emperor's expression changed.
“She smelled of jasmine?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She used to sing.”
“What did she sing?”
“I don't remember.”
“Try.”
Yichen closed his eyes.
He could almost hear it.
A soft voice.
A melody he had spent years trying to forget.
“She used to sing about the moon.”
The Emperor's fingers tightened around the armrest.
“And what else?”
“She had a jade pendant.”
“What did it look like?”
“Jasmine.”
The Emperor went completely still.
Yichen opened his eyes.
“Why?”
The Emperor didn't answer.
Instead, he asked another question.
“Did she ever tell you that you were different from the other children in your household?”
Yichen's stomach tightened.
“No.”
“Did she ever tell you who your father was?”
Yichen stared at him.
“You're my Emperor. Surely you know.”
The Emperor's expression became cold.
“Do not be clever.”
“I am trying to understand.”
“You are trying to survive.”
The words landed differently.
Yichen stared at him.
The Emperor leaned forward.
“Listen carefully, Shen Yichen. There are questions that can be answered safely and questions that cannot.”
“Which category does my mother's name belong to?”
“The second.”
“Then why did you tell me?”
The Emperor looked at him for a long moment.
“Because someone else already has.”
Yichen's breath caught.
“Who?”
The Emperor stood.
He walked toward him slowly.
When he stopped in front of Yichen, he looked almost tired.
“You should never have been brought into the Shen household.”
Yichen's face changed.
“What does that mean?”
“It means exactly what I said.”
“Then where should I have been?”
The Emperor's gaze softened for only a moment.
“Far away.”
“From what?”
“From this.”
Yichen looked around the hall.
“The palace?”
“The people inside it.”
The Emperor reached into his sleeve.
For a moment Yichen thought he was going to hand him something.
Instead, the Emperor pulled out a small wooden box.
He opened it.
Inside lay a silver hairpin shaped like a jasmine flower.
Yichen stopped breathing.
He knew it.
His mother had worn it on the last day he saw her.
He remembered reaching for it when she was taken away.
“Where did you get that?”
The Emperor closed the box.
“It belonged to your mother.”
“I want it.”
“No.”
Yichen's eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because if anyone sees you wearing it, they will know who you are.”
“Who am I?”
The Emperor's face hardened.
“That is precisely what you must not ask.”
Yichen took a step forward.
“Your Majesty—”
“Do you still have your mother's jade?”
Yichen hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In my room.”
“Destroy it.”
Yichen stared at him.
“No.”
The Emperor's expression changed.
“What did you say?”
“It is the only thing I have left of her.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
The Emperor's voice dropped.
“If you keep that jade, you may not live long enough to learn why she gave it to you.”
Silence.
Yichen felt something cold settle in his chest.
He had spent his entire life believing his mother had died because she was sick.
Now the Emperor was speaking as though someone had killed her.
“Did she die naturally?”
The Emperor looked away.
Yichen already knew the answer.
“Your Majesty.”
The Emperor said nothing.
“Was she murdered?”
A long silence followed.
Then the Emperor whispered:
“Leave the palace.”
Yichen didn't move.
“Your Majesty—”
“Return to the Shen residence.”
“Why?”
“Because I have changed my mind.”
“About what?”
The Emperor looked at him.
“I should never have summoned you.”
The doors suddenly opened.
An elderly eunuch rushed inside.
“Your Majesty.”
The Emperor turned.
“What is it?”
The eunuch's face was pale.
“Imperial Advisor Shen has requested an audience.”
The Emperor's expression darkened.
“He is here already?”
“Yes.”
Yichen's heart tightened.
His father had followed him.
Why?
The Emperor looked at Yichen.
Then he said something that made Yichen's blood run cold.
“Do not tell him what I showed you.”
Yichen stared at him.
“You're afraid of my father?”
The Emperor's eyes met his.
“No.”
A pause.
“I am afraid of what your father knows.”
Before Yichen could ask another question, the Emperor turned toward the doors.
“Take him through the eastern passage.”
The eunuch bowed.
Yichen didn't move.
He looked once more at the Emperor.
Then at the closed wooden box containing his mother's hairpin.
Something had changed.
He could feel it.
His mother had not simply been a forgotten concubine.
His father had not simply hidden him out of shame.
And the Emperor was hiding something.
Something big enough to frighten a man who ruled an entire empire.
Yichen followed the eunuch through the eastern passage.
But he didn't see the figure standing behind the silk screen at the far end of the hall.
The figure waited until Yichen disappeared.
Then stepped forward.
The Fourth Prince, Xiao Lian, looked toward the Emperor.
“You shouldn't have shown him the hairpin.”
The Emperor's face hardened.
“You were told to stay out of this.”
Xiao Lian smiled faintly.
“I tried.”
“And?”
“I failed.”
The Emperor stared at him.
Xiao Lian's smile disappeared.
“Who is Shen Yichen?”
The Emperor said nothing.
Xiao Lian's voice became quieter.
“And why does everyone who knows the answer seem terrified of him?”
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