"Run away?" Jian Guozhi muttered.
"Yes. I do not want to live here anymore," Nianzu replied and stood up. His steps wavered, but Jian Guozhi held his arm and kept him steady at one place.
"Brother, Come with me. I will drop you to your chamber," Jian Guozhi offered his help. Nianzu pushed Jian Guozhi away.
"No, I do not want to go." Nianzu's eyes were getting heavier because of the wine consumption. "Leave m-me alone," requested Nianzu and turned towards the wooden railing of the pavilion. He again sat on that and pulled out the bamboo flute from his sash. He blew the air and a melodious sound was produced.
Jian Guozhi did not force Nianzu and let him stay alone. He thought of meeting the Crown Princess but since it was late at night, he postponed the plan to the morning. He came to his chamber, where Eunuch Long confusedly looked at him but lowered his eyes.
"My master, why did you come in the middle of the night here? You were supposed to spend a night with Lady Mi." Gathering his courage Eunuch Long asked. It was unusual on the behalf of Jian Guozhi that he left Zhilao Mi in the middle of the night.
"Make sure that Lady Mi will not leave her chamber for a week," Jian Guozhi did not reply to the query of Eunuch Long instead ordered him.
"Yes, my master," Eunuch Long bowed his head while Jian Guozhi walked inside his chamber. He removed the overcoat and put it aside on the bed. Sitting on the bed, he brought his fingers to his forehead and moved them over it. "Why is everyone mad for power? The one whom I thought innocent and trustworthy, turned out to be greedy." He questioned as tears filled in his eyes.
"The first mother did not listen to me and I ended up killing her indirectly. I thought I would get support from Zhilao Mi, but she did the same. I opened myself to her and she betrayed me. But isn't it the fruit of my bad karma?" Jian Guozhi muttered and wiped his eyes.
Lying down on the bed, he stared at the wooden ceiling. The tears poured from his eyes, without his knowledge. 'Now, I can feel the real pain that Sheng Li underwent at that time. I used to laugh at him, but now my own life has come at that point. I thought to repay them till my last breath, but I feel that my wife now turned against them. At least Xue did everything openly but Zhilao Mi hid her true self from me.' Jian Guozhi felt stuck once again. He changed himself, but what's the use when the whom he trusted plotted against the Crown Princes and the Crown Princess?
Eunuch Long came inside with two maidservants, who blew off the candles and the oil lamps except one.
"Your highness, let me open your shoes," Eunuch Long bent on his knees and took off the shoes from Jian Guozhi's feet. "Your highness, I passed your order to Lady Mi," Eunuch Long added.
"My teacher was right, Dai Long," Jian Guozhi said, making Eunuch Long furrow his eyebrows. Jian Guozhi sat up on the bed while Eunuch Long stood up and took a step back. "He told me to not trouble Sheng Li because time may change anytime. Do you know what I did that time?" Jian Guozhi laughed wryly.
Eunuch Long was still befuddled, thinking why his master talked that way.
"I asked my late mother to punish him. He was smiling while getting flogged, and it irritated me more," Jian Guozhi asserted. "Now, I am in that phase where I can understand my teacher's words completely. Time indeed changed. Though it is good, but it is painful too," Jian Guozhi proclaimed.
"Your highness, please do not think about the past and relate it to your present events," Eunuch Long suggested to Jian Guozhi, who raised his head to look at him in that dim light.
"His highness shall take rest. It is late," Eunuch Long worriedly said. Jian Guozhi hummed and laid on the bed. Eunuch Long covered him with the blanket and blew off the last candle before leaving the chamber.
Tossing and turning on the mattress, he drifted off to sleep after a while.
~~~~~
Zhilao Mi was infuriated as Jian Guozhi left her in the middle. What did Jian Ge find out and how? Zhilao Mi threw the flower vase that was on the table, on the floor. "I cannot go out of this chamber for a week. He did not give such punishment to Xue Yu-Yan, so why me?"
The maidservant came Inside upon hearing the sound of a flower vase. She cleaned it but Zhilao Mi stopped her.
"Why did you not stop his highness? Did you see he left me in the middle?" Zhilao Mi shouted at her.
The maidservant apologized. "Apologies, My Lady but this lowly subject could not stop the First Prince from leaving," she was trembling in fear.
"Clean it and leave," Zhilao Mi ordered her. The maidservant accepted the order. She cleaned the floor and left the chamber.
Zhilao Mi went to the bed and sat on the mattress. She touched her lips. "It was only an act. Jian Ge tried to learn everything from me and like a fool, I said words against Xue Yu-Yan. Now, I cannot do anything else Jian Ge would do something more," Zhilao Mi murmured. But after today's incident, she was in a dilemma whether Jian Guozhi would ever trust her or not.
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