Prince and His Fool

A sharp stabbing pain woke Rong Zian in a jolt, it was as though an axe had been dropped on his head and split it in half. He sat up at the edge of the bed still in a daze when he noticed Wu Yange quietly reading at the other end of the room. "You're finally awake, it took you long enough," said the prince with his gaze still fixed on the book as though he was reading something interesting.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked, rubbing his temple with a frown on his face.

The prince replied, "It's been five days, drink the medicine on the table. It will help with the pain," as his gaze shifted to Rong Zian, "I find you puzzling, you have a high tolerance to alcohol yet drugs seem to wear off at a snail's pace in that tiny body of yours though it takes an average person half the time."

Though annoyed, he ignored his insult and proceeded to drink the concoction. The bitter taste caused him to glower in disgust as he scolded the prince, "Why do you always have to give me bitter medicine? Yuck..... it tastes so horrible."

"It's good for you," said the prince as he finally placed his book on the table.

"That vile woman is still tormenting me, I am drinking this horrible medicine all because of her," whined Rong Zian as he opened a bowl of congee next to where the medicine was. "Mm, it's delicious," he said with a beaming smile that soon disappeared when the prince asked him a sensitive question.

"She's not your real mother?" asked Wu Yange, though he asked in an indifferent tone, he had a wan expression all over his face.

Not willing to talk about his family, Rong Zian responded with a faint, "mhm," but he had underestimated the prince's will power.

"Your father as well?' he asked thinking back to royal advisor Rong's behaviour at the mansion. He had been silent throughout the whole incident allowing his wife to speak for him. The man was brilliant and of great service to the emperor but in front of his wife he was stripped of all his confidence transforming into a submissive husband. He didn't seem to recognize Rong Zian as his son and allowed his wife to do as she pleased with him.

Rong Zian heaved a weak sigh as he realized the prince was not willing to let it go so he reluctantly answered his question, "He's my biological father, he just hates me because I resemble the woman who left him and dumped me on his doorstep."

"So you have never met your mother?" he asked trying to piece Rong Zian's mystery together. The Rong family had no history of spiritual powers in its ancestry but this man processed a weapon that would bring gifted beings to their knees, it could only come from his unknown maternal family origin.

"Nope and I hope to never see her. She should never have given birth to me if she didn't want me," he sullenly replied as he placed the bowl on the table.

"The east wing, did you live there by yourself?" he asked as he remembered how neglected and ill-maintained the section of the mansion was. There was no expensive furniture or sophisticated décor when compared to the west wing where the rest of the Rong family resided.

"The east wing was originally customized to my mother's taste because my father foolishly thought the woman he loved would agree to his marriage proposal but since she refused, he never stepped foot into the east wing ever again. His new wife learnt who the east wing was designed for, so she refused to stay there but surely stripped all of its splendours and sold them to redesign her new home. I was raised by two servants assigned to my wing till the age of fifteen when Chen Mei was given the task," he replied not from his memory but of the events that Chen Mei had occasionally explained to him on account of his memory loss.

Though he spoke with a smile on his face, he was deeply saddened by both his current life and previous life. The Rong Zians in both timelines had been subject to abuse all under the same woman who was angry because her husband was still in love with a shadow that had since disappeared.

Wu Yange felt his sadness but had no idea how to comfort someone so he simply asked, "How about Chen Mei, you were close to her for five years? She was willing to marry you just to grant you freedom."

"Wait! Is that why there is a wedding attire hanging over there?" he asked pointing at the red garment he had been eyeing ever since he woke up. At first, he had assumed that it was a figment of his imagination but once he realized there was nothing wrong with his eyes, he assumed it was left by a previous guest.

"Yep that's what you were wearing when I found you," he said assuming Rong Zian would be blushing at the thought that another man had changed his clothes and seen him bare.

The man seemed unfazed by this, he just responded, "Well Madam Rong played her like an expert. She used the feelings she had for me to get me married so her son can finally get matched up with a prestigious family. There was no way that shrewd woman would let me leave that mansion. I thought Chen Mei knew me well, she must have known I would divorce her the minute I woke up?"

"And if you had woken up married to Wang Tian?" asked Wu Yange as he remembered that she was the reason he wanted to kill himself.

"Sorry who?" he asked genuinely unfamiliar with the name.

The prince was confused. How, could he forget the name of the one he foolishly, almost gave up his life for? "Wang Tian, the woman you loved since childhood, the one you hung yourself over?" He watched as Rong Zian unconsciously rubbed his pale delicate neck as though reminding himself of the tragic incident.

"The woman is not the problem, even if I woke up married to the princess of Hepeng, I would kill myself thousands of times over. Marriage is the problem, even if I find a woman who gets my blood rushing, at first sight, I wouldn't get married. I am not going to turn myself into my father, a spineless fool who picked the sweetest girl in the entire city hoping she would treat him and me well but she turned out to be a reincarnation of medusa," he spoke, his emotions overflowing like a dam that had been burst open.

The memory he had based his speech on was of the day he had first ran into his now stepmother in his previous life. He was at the park with his uncaring father who instead of watching him was on a call discussing work. She was nice to him and kept him company while his father finished off his call. That same day his father left him under this woman's care attending to urgent work matters. She unselfishly fed him, clothed him, and bathed for two days while his father was away.

For the first time, a five-year-old Rong Zian had experienced motherly love. Two months down the line, his father had walked down the aisle and an unsuspecting Rong Zian was thrilled to have a new mother. Little did he know that when she finally realized she wasn't loved she would show her true colours and ruin his life.

Wu Yange listened in silence as Rong Zian poured his heart out but could feel a dark experience behind his words. He regretted being inquisitive because it had re-opened Rong Zian's old wounds. The hilarious joker façade that he wore each day was to push back horrifying memories he didn't want the world to know of. The prince stood up to walk away and said, "We're leaving for the market by noon be ready by then if you're coming," as he opened the door but he turned back and mocked him, "oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Your hair is a disaster."

Rong Zian gasped in horror and pulled the quilt over his head that you could only see his nose and eyes peeking through, "you are such an as-," he said before abruptly stopping himself when he remembered who he was talking to. 'An ass,' he thought to himself as he finished off the sentence.