The Times Spent in Pretense

“Debts of emotion.” Wei Mingyue arched a brow. “Just a while ago, did you not give the crown prince a little woven animal?”

Hua Liuli nodded.

“Your dad liked using this little trick to coax me. Your Eldest Brother and Second Brother also liked weaving rabbits and puppies out of straw or grass to coax their wives. Never had I imagined that you’re even more capable. Not only did you weave something out of grass, you even weaved a lie of a story.” Wei Mingyue reached out to poke Hua Liuli’s forehead. “You didn’t learn the essence of the Hua family, yet you learn methods to coax people? You’re an expert at that.”

“Mother,” said Hua Liuli, covering her forehead. “I just wanted to cheer the crown prince up. There’s no other reason. What’s more, there is someone in his heart that cannot be replaced. He won’t so easily like someone just because of a little thing like that.”

If he didn’t like that person, then why would he have traveled so far to this Daoist temple on a mountain just to light a light?

This is a love that is sad beyond words.　　

“Enough. If you’ve actually taken a fancy to someone from the imperial family…”

“Mother,” said Hua Liuli, holding Wei Mingyue’s hand. “I’m not compatible with those imperial princes. And the imperial family would not allow a sickly person to become a princess consort. It’s best this way.”

Wei Mingyue shifted her gaze to Hua Liuli. “My child, you must remember that the Hua family will not flourish or decline because of a single marriage. So don’t worry about us.”

“Daughter knows.” A smile blossomed on Hua Liuli’s lips. “But what’s so good about being a perfect woman? A delicate woman is better. I want to be a world-famous sickly beauty.

“Maybe many, many years from now, there’ll be scholars writing poems about me. And they’ll describe a beautiful woman using phrases like ‘appearance like Liuli’s,’ ‘appearance matching Liuli’s,’ and ‘the reincarnated Liuli…’”

“Let’s go and return home.”

“Return home?”

“We’ll return home earlier to sleep. Anything can happen in a dream.”

When mother and daughter returned, the crown prince was still waiting for them.

“General, Commandery Princess, the mountain road is hard to traverse. Let’s leave together.” He smiled at them.

“After you, Your Highness,” said Wei Mingyue, nodding at once, not one bit worried.

Once they reached the front entrance of Marquess Zhongyong’s estate, Hua Liuli stood at the doorway. Turned her head at the lonely-looking crown prince, who was mounted on a horse. “Your Highness, would you like to join us for dinner in this humble residence?”

When the host said “have a meal before you leave,” and the guest said “thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to decline today,” these were merely words of courtesy among ordinary people.

“Then I will shamelessly disturb you.” The crown prince dismounted his horse, face still carrying a smile.

From this, it was evident that the crown prince, who had grown up in the palace, was ignorant of the etiquette and polite words of ordinary people.

Seeing his wife and daughter with the crown prince in tow, Hua Yingting was not afraid despite feeling surprised. He had the servants prepare a large table of food and invited the crown prince to sit.

“The last time this humble general ate at the same table as Your Highness was fifteen years and four months ago.” Hua Yingting picked up a teacup. “My indoors-one doesn’t allow me to drink alcohol. So I can only use tea as a substitute to toast your honored self.”

“Thank you, General.”

While Wei Mingyue wasn’t paying attention, Hua Yingting sent the crown prince a wink and whispered, “It’s not that I’m afraid of my wife, but as men, we shouldn’t anger our wives, right?”

“That’s correct,” said Hua Liuli in a low voice after coming closer. “If Mother gets angry today, you won’t have a wink of sleep tonight.”

A dry cough escaped Hua Yingting’s lips. “The crown prince is here. Let your father keep some dignity.”

The crown prince suppressed a smile. “Just now, I couldn’t hear clearly. What did Commandery Princess say?”

Arching a brow, Hua Liuli smiled. I didn’t expect the crown prince to say something like that.

A gentle smile on his face, the crown prince looked at her.

“Your Highness, how has your punching and kicking technique progressed?” Hua Yingting stepped in between his daughter and the crown prince, saying to him, “That year, this humble general had only taught Your Highness the sword for a few months before leaving. Did Your Highness improve?”

“After General left, Imperial Father had other people teach me the sword. However, those people cannot compare to General,” said the crown prince. “Now that General has returned to the capital, would you take on students again?”

“Thanking Your Highness for looking at this humble general so highly. But unfortunately, this humble general has suffered heavy injuries from the battlefield, and cannot even drink wine anymore, much less carry and use weapons.” Hua Yingting sighed in a regretful manner, as though he felt sad that he could no longer step onto the battlefield.

A servant girl entered the room carrying a bowl of medicinal soup. Hua Liuli received it, threw her head back, and drank it all up in one gulp.

The other members of the Hua clan seemed to have gotten used to seeing her take her medicine; their expressions did not even falter. The crown prince wrinkled his brows, but wasn’t in the position to say anything.

After they had the evening meal, Hua Yingting called out to the crown prince and gave him a small box of something to take back to the palace.

“These are some interesting playthings this humble general received in Qinghan Prefecture. His Majesty used to be interested in these things in his youth. Since so many years have gone by, this humble general does not know if His Majesty’s interests have changed.” Hua Yingting scratched his head. “This humble general is too embarrassed to give these to His Majesty, and so asks Your Highness to help me bring them into the palace. His Majesty loves Your Highness dearly, so even if he dislikes these toys, he would still accept them on account of you.”

“Imperial Father will like the things General sends.”

Don’t support theft; read this at sleepchaser’s wordpress.

The crown prince’s personal attendant took the wooden box from Hua Yingting’s hands. Then the crown prince continued, “Although General wasn’t in the capital, Imperial Father kept all the letters between you two. This kind of friendship is different from the relationship he has with anyone else.”

When he was still a child, he had not been sensible and read the letters Hua Yingting had sent his imperial father. The letters contained all sorts of topics. For example, things like his daughter being cute and clever and General Wei treating him well. Things like eating some culinary delicacies of the border, and how it was a pity he couldn’t bring some back for his imperial father, and so forth. Compared to those stereotypical and repetitive memorials that paid respects to his imperial father, these had been more interesting.

When his imperial father discovered that he had peeked at those letters, he straightforwardly and openly allowed him to read them. He even said that General Hua was behaving like a loyal subject and helpful friend. Later on, the crown prince learned that every year, Hua Yingting would send a letter back to the capital, and his tone would be honest and humorous. Amusing the reader to burst out laughing.

Out of all the topics in those letters, General Hua loved mentioning his daughter the most. In his letters, even when his precious daughter sneezed, she would be prettier than all the other little girls.

His precious daughter’s hair and eyes were more beautiful than those of other families’ girls, skin paler than other girls as well…

As such, when the crown prince met Hua Liuli for the first time, he specially lifted open the curtain to his sedan. Took a good look at the girl standing at the side of the palace walls.

Her eyes were big, lips very small. Indeed, it was as General Hua had said: She was prettier than the girls of other families.

“Your Highness,” said Hua Liuli, sticking her head out from behind Hua Yingting. A smile on her face. “Respectfully seeing off Your Highness. Save travels.”

“Goodbye.” The crown prince returned her smile, turning around and leaving the Hua family.

Leaving the warm and comfortable room, he gazed at the street that was enveloped by the night scene. He wasn’t in a bad mood anymore. After stepping foot within the imperial palace, he handed the box that Hua Yingting had given him to his imperial father.

Emperor Changlong opened the wooden box. Within were some strange stones, things carved from wood, and clay figurines of humans. There were also traceable books to learn calligraphy, and some of them were counterfeits.

“This Yingting.” Emperor Changlong recalled a memory from a few decades ago: The palace sent news that the previous emperor wanted to establish a new crown prince. Back then, he worried to the point where he couldn’t eat or drink.

After Hua Yingting and Wei Mingyue had learned of the news, they went looking for a pile of playthings to lift his spirits. They even told him that if the emperor at that time deposed him, then they would take him and run away. So that the new crown prince would not have the chance to kill him.

Never had he expected that in the blink an eye, a few decades had passed. And their daughter was already this grown.

“We heard that you went out to play with Commandery Princess Fushou last night?” Emperor Changlong played with a clay figurine, a smile that did not quite touch his eyes as he looked at the crown prince.

“That girl was living in the border all year round until now, and has never seen the capital bustling with excitement. So Son-Official accompanied her to take a stroll in the city.”

“Mm.” Emperor Changlong nodded. “Because you basically see her as a sister, you should take her out to play in the capital when you have free time.”

The crown prince stared at a candle holder attached to the wall, silent.

Emperor Changlong stuffed a clay figurine into the crown prince’s hands. “Go to bed. Remember to attend court tomorrow.”

The crown prince held the ugly clay figurine as he returned to the Eastern Palace. He placed it on a table in passing, when he noticed a few characters carved beneath it.

Spring of the twenty-third year of the Changlong Era, handmade by my daughter.

Rubbing these characters, the crown prince laughed lightly.

No wonder the clay figurine was so ugly. It turned out a child had made it.

As he was washing his face and changing his clothes, something fell out of his clothes. The court eunuch attending to him picked it up. It was… a lump of grass?

“Your Highness, should we keep this?” asked the court eunuch in a soft voice.

The crown prince took that item from the eunuch’s hands. Gazed at with rapt attention for a moment. “You’re all dismissed.”

“Yes,” said the palace servants, doing so.

In passing, the crown prince slipped the grass-woven butterfly underneath his pillow.

Now that the child had grown up, the butterfly she weaved was ugly too.

That night, Hua Liuli had a dream. A dream where she was to give little grass-woven rabbits to a crowd of beauties. But for some reason, no matter how hard she tried, she could not weave anything. Later on, Commandery Princess Jiamin suddenly appeared, willfully jeering at her.

Once she awoke, Hua Liuli found that dream inauspicious to the max.

With a sullen gaze, she took in the sunshine outside the window. “The weather is slowly warming. I’ll go play with Commandery Princess Jiamin.”