Chapter 47: Though Still a Youth, He Already Possessed an Extraordinary Grace

Upon hearing this, Qiushuang smiled and led the imperial physician away to prepare a prescription. Soon after, Chunfeng brought some easily digestible liquid food for Su Yingxue to enjoy.

Su Yingxue reclined on her bed, the pure white rice porridge emitting a fragrant aroma as it sat in an exquisite pink porcelain lotus-shaped bowl.

It must be said that Su Yingxue, as the Eldest Princess, lived a life of utmost refinement. Her daily expenditures were second only to His Majesty’s in the entire Dasheng palace, pursuing extreme luxury.

In her daily life, all the tableware Su Yingxue used for meals were the finest among palace ceramics. Su Yingxue loved flowers, and her only daily passion was painting.

As Her Highness the Eldest Princess, her daily routines were attentively cared for by four first-class palace maids. This set of fifty floral-patterned porcelain bowls, each with unique designs and colors, was custom-made for her by official kilns, based on the shapes and hues of flowers from the four seasons.

Su Yingxue’s usual habit was to have three meals a day, with beverages and pastries prepared in the afternoon. Dongxue was skilled with her hands, crafting extremely exquisite pastries and drinks daily. Paired with the never-repeating porcelain sets, it all appeared even more noble.

When Chu Xingchen entered, it was already afternoon. He wore a white brocade riding outfit embroidered with golden cloud patterns, his jet-black hair pinned with a single translucent green jade hairpin. As he walked in from outside the hall, the black riding outfit she had given him was tied at his waist, and a quiver of arrows was slung across his back.

It had been a month since they last met. Perhaps because he had just returned from the riding and archery training grounds, though he still looked like a youth, he already possessed an extraordinary grace—truly worthy of being the male lead in the original work.

Chu Xingchen hurried to Su Yingxue’s bedside, bowing in greeting, “Your Highness, I heard you’ve awakened.”

“Thank you for your concern, Younger Brother. This Palace feels much better,” Su Yingxue replied faintly, gesturing for him to rise.

“Since Elder Sister is feeling better, Chu Xingchen can rest assured,” he said, lowering his gaze to conceal his emotions.

Now that Su Yingxue’s health was so fragile, she would need at least several months to recuperate. At least during this time, she wouldn’t cause any more trouble or harm.

Now he could both rely on her status for convenience and avoid her interfering with his plans. The Da Qi intelligence network had already delivered several secret letters from the Qi Emperor urging him to accelerate his progress.

“Younger Brother, you’re very thoughtful,” Su Yingxue said with a smile. Her face was pale, her cheeks so thin that her eye sockets appeared slightly sunken. The once softly rounded chin had sharpened to a delicate point, and her voice was weak and listless, carrying an air of delicate illness reminiscent of Lin Daiyu, evoking pity in those who saw her.

“Qiushuang, Younger Brother’s riding outfit has a tear in it. Mend it for him. No matter how old he gets, he’s always so impetuous—he didn’t even notice such a large tear,” Su Yingxue instructed with a smile, noticing the inch-long tear on the sleeve of Chu Xingchen’s white riding outfit, revealing the silk cotton lining inside.

At her words, Chu Xingchen looked down at his clothing and indeed found a jagged tear on the right sleeve, likely torn during riding.

“Thank you for your concern, Elder Sister. It must have been torn when my sleeve caught on a branch while riding. It’s nothing serious, Elder Sister. I can take it back and mend it myself.” Chu Xingchen lowered his head and eyes, like a boy who had done something wrong, yet in places unseen, a flicker of elusive emotion passed through his gaze.

Upon hearing the instruction, Qiushuang naturally would not truly allow Chu Xingchen to take the garment away for mending. After several polite refusals, Chu Xingchen finally relented.

Su Yingxue watched as Chu Xingchen silently removed his riding attire and obediently handed it to Qiushuang for repair, her mind filled with countless thoughts.

The Chu Xingchen before her was docile and compliant—a child of just over ten years old who had endured so many unpleasant experiences. Yet at this moment, Zhang Susu felt that perhaps this was the original Chu Xingchen. With just a little kindness from her, he showed such concern, even behaving as meekly as a gentle lamb.

Su Yingxue thought that perhaps Chu Xingchen was moving in a positive, uplifting direction.

Perhaps if Chu Xingchen had not encountered misfortune early on, had not met the original host—the arrogant and domineering Su Yingxue—and had not suffered such treatment, the Chu Xingchen of today might have grown into a bright, justice-driven, and passionate young man!

Su Yingxue could not help but sigh with emotion.

Perhaps if she had arrived in this otherworld just a little earlier, she could have protected Chu Xingchen sooner. If he had been treated with respect and care since childhood, then perhaps Chu Xingchen would not have harbored such deep hatred for the palace of the Da Sheng Kingdom as depicted in the later parts of the novel. Would such hatred have even existed?

Her own fate, Su Yingxue’s, might not have ended in flaying and grass-stuffing, and Su Qinhuai might not have met his end pierced by arrows on the city walls after losing the will to resist following the fall of the kingdom.

Perhaps if they had treated Chu Xingchen with respect from the beginning and nurtured him into a refined gentleman, Su Liyue and Chu Xingchen might have had a happy ending.

In the original work, Su Liyue was enfeoffed as Empress by Chu Xingchen, but her father, Emperor Su Qinhuai, died, and her mother later hanged herself in Hanqiu Palace upon hearing the news of her husband’s death.

Although Chu Xingchen cared for her tenderly after their marriage, he ultimately became the indirect culprit who took the lives of Su Liyue’s birth father and mother. Even if there had been some affection between them, it could not withstand the sorrow of a fallen kingdom and a shattered family.

Even though Su Liyue became the most revered and exalted Empress of the entire Qi Sheng Empire, and Chu Xingchen indeed showed her extra affection, in the original work, the Qi Sheng Palace was established in the Da Sheng Palace because Su Liyue missed her homeland and was unwilling to leave the capital.

It was because of Su Liyue’s lingering attachment that Chu Xingchen, for her sake, meticulously restored the palaces and city buildings of the Da Sheng Kingdom that had been burned down during the war.

Su Liyue had heard that deceased loved ones would turn into stars and fall in the sky. Chu Xingchen truly embarked on large-scale construction, expanding the Qi Sheng Palace and ordering the building of a Star-Gazing Tower outside her palace, allowing Su Liyue to ascend and gaze at the stars whenever she missed her parents.

After marriage, Su Liyue remained as serene as a chrysanthemum, disinclined to involve herself in the affairs of the harem. Chu Xingchen abolished all the old palace regulations for the Empress from the former Qi State and Da Sheng Kingdom, personally exempted the concubines from paying homage, and did not require her to manage the harem, allowing her to simply be herself, Su Liyue.

Chu Xingchen offered the highest level of indulgence and affection that an emperor could bestow upon a woman. Yet, no matter what he did, he could not warm a heart already riddled with scars—like the shattered landscape of the once-great Da Sheng Kingdom, now gone forever, or like her, the sole target of condemnation by the former patriots of Da Sheng, who reviled her as the seductive queen who brought about the kingdom’s downfall.

Perhaps this was how the world saw her. After all, Su Liyue was merely a princess without any power. A princess of a fallen kingdom, even if she became the Empress of Qi and Sheng, what could she possibly achieve? In the eyes of the world, she was the one to blame for the kingdom’s ruin, the one who betrayed trust and abandoned loyalty, and the one who married the very enemy who had killed her husband and mother.