Chapter 27 — The Village and the Promise
⸻
A small village, lost in the mists of an unimportant morning.
It had now been more than three weeks since Xù Liyan and Yuèyao had settled here, far from the court, far from the Emperor, far from the world.
In this village, no one knew their real names. For the inhabitants, she was simply the healer of the North, and he, the handsome and charming young man who accompanied her.
Through his knowledge of medicine, Yuèyao had earned the respect of the elders, women, children - and even animals. She didn't ask for anything, but she gave. And that was enough to leave her alone.
Liyan, on the other hand, was not a doctor. But he was warm, caring, and discreet. We adored him for his kindness, his sweet laugh, his way of carrying buckets of water for the old ladies without being asked. Here, he was neither a prince nor a bastard. Just... a good man.
⸻
One evening, while the village was sleeping in a fine rain, they were lying side by side, under the low roof of their small straw house.
And Liyan whispered:
- Yuèyao... Do you think the Emperor is a good person?
She looked up at him, calmly.
— I know what the history books say. That he is a strong, intelligent, fair man.
Then she added, more gently:
- But history books... don't always tell the truth.
Liyan was silent for a moment, then sighed:
— You're right about that. Tonight, I will tell you what no one tells. The story of the man called Emperor. The one who is my brother... or maybe my father.
He turned his head towards her.
- Not to harbour hatred, but to show you his true face.
⸻
Flashback — Before the Crown
The Emperor was not born Emperor.
He was born the third son of the former Sovereign. His mother's name was Yù Zhēn, a silent and erased concubine.
As for his father... he was a broken and obsessed man. Eager for power. Sick of desire. He saw in the young girls only fragile, defenceless toys. He laughed when they cried.
— You can't do anything. I am the Emperor, he said.
At the age of fifteen, his sons received a strange, almost cruel order:
— Do you want the throne? So take it. Prove that you deserve it. None of you will have my favour. Only those who will survive.
No succession. No chosen heir. Only the law of the strongest.
The future Emperor - the one who would become Liyan's father or brother - never forgot that day.
And he made a promise:
I will never become a man like him.
For two years, he disappeared from the eyes of the palace. He was studying. He listened. He travelled, alone, under a false name. He observed the country he one day wanted to govern - not as a tyrant, but as a free man.
And at seventeen, his destiny changed.
He met a boy named Cài Xu.
Son of a peasant. Round glasses. Ruffled hair. Narrow and piercing eyes like those of a fox. He handled the numbers as others wielded the blades.
He could calculate the taxes of an empire with a rope and pebbles. He spoke quickly, thought even faster. He had no beauty, no title, no power. But he had the spirit of kings.
For days, they talked until dusk.
And one evening, the future Emperor told him:
- If one day I ascend the throne... I promise you, Cài Xu. You will become my Prime Minister.
It was a promise. A real one.
And for Cài Xu, it was more than a dream. It was the only way out of a life of misery.
He gave everything.
Everything he had. His intelligence. His plans. His loyalty. Everything, for this man in whom he had seen something greater than the nobility.
But what no one knew is that...
(The rest of the flashback is in chapter 28.)
⸻
End of Chapter 27