Chapter 4 Meeting in the Cold Palace
When I arrived in this world, Xie Fei hadn't turned twelve.
His mother was a concubine raised with the emperor, beautiful and favored for a time. Pregnant, she was falsely accused of adultery and sent to the Cold Palace.
So Xie Fei had lived in the Cold Palace since birth.
The only one who cared for him well, his mother, died when he was six.
How could I, a powerless Cold Palace maid, save the villain bullied by everyone?
I dared not approach rashly. I silently followed behind Xie Fei, watching him read, look at trees, flowers, and the moon.
The books were old and worn, collected from who knows where, probably the same age as my father.
The trees were wild apricot trees in the Cold Palace, growing untended, no ornamental value, but they bore apricots.
The flowers were wild ones under stone slabs in the yard, intertwined and messy.
The moon hung in the night sky, nothing special.
Yet Xie Fei stared intently. Curious, I asked, "Your Highness, what are you looking at?"
Don't you get tired of the same things daily?
Xie Fei stayed silent for a long time, making me think he wouldn't answer.
"Looking... at a friend."
My yawn froze in place.
Twelve-year-old Xie Fei was taciturn. In this imperial city, he'd fought to survive to this day.
The grass and trees, old books, and moon I ignored were his mute friends.
People weren't his friends.
These were.
The days, boring then, were the rare peace in the years ahead.