Little Purple

"Lan'er…" After Hu Zi went home, the empress contemplated. "Without you and your mother, I would still be a fallen country's princess that doesn't have a place to go to. My followers and my people would still be going hungry, living on the street and slowly dying because of disease."

The empress sighed, remembering the past made her feel conflicted inside.

She went to her room, closing the door that had a phoenix carving on its sides and sat on the red double bed that was placed near the window.

She remembered the piece of paper that the boy, Jin Lan, gave her. The paper looked blank, but if she put it in front of the candlelight, she could see the code that was almost transparently written on the paper.

It was transparent because Lan wrote it with the sap of a tree, the sap seeping into the paper and making a part of it translucent.

The paper told her about several things, including his intention to go home.

He was gone for so many years so he had lost some of the things he used to have like a place to live. Since he was the son of the previous emperor, he and the current emperor weren't on the best of terms so asking the empress secretly was the best course of action for now.

The empress could arrange a small courtyard for him to stay, but…

"Concubine Yue is the one controlling the inner palace right now. Lan'er needs another stronger backing from outside." The empress burned the paper so that no one would be able to find it later. She was helpless to her own powerlessness.

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"I can't believe this…" Fa Sui sighed heavily. He and Hu Zi were inside the carriage that was going to carry them to the palace.

The moon highlighted the black carriage with red drapes on the sides. The beautiful young man contemplated about what happened to them not long ago. Right after Hu Zi went home, she discussed the proposal she got from the empress.

The news that the missing imperial family member might be coming back home intrigued him, he told Hu Zi to let him come with her to the party with her.

He got nervous all of a sudden. If what his uncle told Zhi Yu was right, that boy was the person who might have been there when Hu Zi was born.

Fa Sui glanced at the Young Miss in front of him. Actually, he should stop calling her 'Young Miss' as she was currently the head of the Hu family, he should start calling her 'Miss' or 'Third Miss' instead.

And then call Hu Xiang Yi 'Young Master' or maybe 'Young Lord'.

Speaking of Hu Xiang Yi, Fa Sui recalled that his self-proclaimed caretaker, Zhi Shao Yao, insisted on going with Hu Zi to the palace too. She said she didn't want Hu Zi and Lan to meet.

But Hu Zi didn't allow her to come, she needed to meet the prince and she wouldn't let Zhi Shao Yao hinder her.


Zhi Shao Yao was very persistent about it, but in the end, she didn't come with them nor did she send them off to the palace.

While Fa Sui was wondering around and about the girl that they left at home, Hu Zi looked silently at the bracelet on her wrist.

Her eyelashes flutters as she recalled the smile Shou made that night.

Every night, she dreamed of her family, of her Shifu, and how he promised her that he will travel around the world with her.

That promise might never be fulfilled.

Hu Zi clenched her fist, Falcon's last report about the search told her that there was a trace of someone surviving the fall, however, there was a huge chance that it wasn't Shou, but Meng Ru instead.

Slowly, the carriage stopped right in front of the stairs leading to Jin's great hall.

The light coming from the lanterns that were placed on both sides of the red carpet on the stairs shone on the drapes.

The shadow from the drapes made a pattern on her figure. On the gap between the shadows, her eyes gleamed.

Staring straight at the huge palace that were right on top of the countless stairs. Majestic, beautiful, powerful, yet cruel. The building where they reside showed their true colors well.

The carriage door was opened and Fa Sui helped Hu Zi went down the carriage stairs.

Her white cloth had purple hems and wave patterns. Her hair was pinned by a purple hairpin Zhi Shao Yao gave her not long ago.

Hu Zi and Fa Sui walked the red carpet, went up the stairs and arrived in front of the grand red door.

The carvings on the door describe the wealth and power of Jin, the grand door was around three times Hu Zi's height. It was made if iron and wood, very heavy and hard to open.

Two of the palace's servants opened the door for them while the another servant announced their arrival.

When the light coming from the inside of the hall hit her face, waves of emotion was apparent on the pair or purple jewels.

The game was on.