Chapter 273 - Sky Lights

"Why are you smiling?" Princess Nalan when she glanced over to see Prince Yi looking up at the colorful sky with a smile, seemingly in his own world. They had been trapped in here for over an hour now and everybody else was feeling worried over this phenomenon and here he was smiling. 

Prince Yi immediately froze and his smile fell. He had not been aware that he was smiling. He sighed and turned to Princess Nalan and softly asked, "Isn't it beautiful?"

Princess Nalan knit her brows and looked up at the colorful sky. It was probably the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, but still, this was clearly not normal. She honestly responded, "It truly is...but it's definitely not normal. What do you think is happening?" She looking at Prince Yi curiously. He seemed to be in a much better mood now than he arrived with.

This was the first time they were meeting since that time in the flower field. He had not even sent letters during the last few days and she was starting to think something happened to him. But then he showed up today, smiled at her and asked after her welfare. Molin and others were around them so they could obviously not talk freely.

But he took it upon himself and mentioned that he had been very busy with a few things recently, letting her know that he had neither forgotten nor had been ignoring her. Princess Nalan got his meaning and was pacified. They talked about little things with Molin randomly as well, this was all before Lei Xing arrived and the bizarreness began.

Prince Yi lightly shrugged and responded, "I have no clue...I am simply appreciating the heavens." He finished with a smirk gazing back up at the four celestial bodies gracing the sky.

Today had surprisingly turned out to be quite a good and interesting day. One where he would watch his brother finally lose something he wanted, someone most believed he loved - Prince Yi was not convinced of the Emperor's love though. 

It had been over an hour now and the strange invading celestial bodies showed no inclination that they would be disappearing. Rather it was actually the sun that had disappeared, not even it's vague form could be seen anymore, this was a very bad sign. 

Although Prince Yi did feel bad that Lei Xing would have to suffer for his brother's arrogance. The Emperor had blatantly ignored all the signs that showed that Lei Xing was not meant to be his. As far as Prince Yi was concerned, the mistake began when he decided to hold her back after failing her during the concubine selection.

It was annoying that now Lei Xing would be the one to have to suffer for his brother's stubbornness. 

With the current situation, it would be hard for Lei Xing to remain in the palace. Even if she remained here, she could not return to her former position and frankly, her life here will not be good. No matter what wrong happened in the country, she will automatically be blamed for it, what sort of life could she have as an outcast of society? One to be trampled on, an easy target for everyone to throw stones at. 

He understood the feeling well enough.

Therefore, Prince Yi thought it was better if she was banished, that way he could at least find a way to help her. He could possibly fake her death somehow and take her away so she would at least have a chance at a good life, a new life away from his brother and his problems.

Prince Yi let out a silent sigh, he honestly did not understand his current infatuation with Lei Xing. He had never cared much about anyone else, much less about a woman that was not even his. 

If it were anyone else other than her, he would have been hoping that the Emperor would continue to be stubborn and insist on keeping her at his side so that the situation would get blown up. This way the people would end up losing faith in the Emperor and finally start to look at him as the better choice. 

It was just that in this scenario the woman at the center of it all would undoubtedly end up dead in the end, either at the hand of the Emperor to try to appease the people or at the hand of the people. 

This path was the best-case scenario for him, but yet here he was hoping that the Emperor would resolve this quickly so that Lei Xing's life would be spared. 

Prince Yi glanced at Princess Nalan next to him and lightly smiled. It seemed following his words, she was starting to appreciate the phenomenal view of the sky as she was looking with a smile of her own.

Prince Yi inwardly sighed and averted his eyes. He had expected that he would have been ecstatic after accomplishing his mission with Princess Nalan that day in the flower field but that was not the case at all. He had actually been holed up in his manor the last few days, brooding since that day.

To his utter annoyance and despite his best attempts, he had been thinking more and more about Lei Xing recently. These continuous and irritating thoughts about a woman who was not his further increased the feeling of guilt he had been feeling towards Princess Nalan since their consummation. 

He could not imagine how he would feel if a woman was with him but was thinking about someone else during the process. With all this going on, he ended up making no moves to contact or see Princess Nalan since then even though he felt that he should have - which ended up making him feel even worse. He just did not think he could face her. 

Princess Nalan was a nice girl, one he honestly had fun with. She was laid back, down to earth, not coy or pretentious. She was just herself so he really never had to wonder about her ulterior motives or any such things. So he could have peace of mind around her. He truly thought that she would be perfect as his Princess consort - but this was probably the real reason he had been feeling down since then. 

He honestly did not want to attend the ceremony today but it would look bad if he did not so he begrudgingly dragged himself here. Seeing Princess Nalan happy to see him made him feel both good and bad.

It was a long time since someone looked this happy with his arrival, especially one who he knew was sincere. It was both heartwarming and depressing. And then with Lei Xing arrived and seeing her smiling at the Emperor just made him feel even worse. 

But then this sky changing scenario happened and the irritating "happy" scene was thrown into chaos and he watched the Emperor panic and run out of here with haste and that instantly put a cooling balm on his wounds. He had never seen the Emperor panic before so it was truly a sight to see.

{...Perhaps he truly does care for her -...}

Prince Yi froze when that thought occurred to him. Then he closed his eyes and sighed. His brother's feelings were none of his concern and neither should Lei Xing's. She had made it abundantly clear that she felt nothing for him, yet he still thought about her welfare. 

{...*sigh* I truly no longer understand myself...}

Suddenly another round of panicked gasps filled the air. Prince Yi frowned and opened his eyes as Princess Nalan grabbed his arm. He saw Princess Nalan looking up with her mouth hanging open in awe. He followed her gaze and froze in shock, confusion, and amazement. 

Little balls of light were now falling off of the four celestial bodies in the sky, no, they were not falling. They were moving down in an organized form, converging into one river of multicolored lights floating through the sky to somewhere beyond where their eyes could see. 

What's more, as the light balls left the celestial bodies, their colors which dyed the sky seemed to be returning to them, leaving a dark night sky in their wake. The four celestial bodies also seemed to be shrinking in size with each departing fragment. 

***

The Empress dowager was still roaming about the inner palace heading to nowhere as she was busily thinking of how to get rid of Eunuch Li.She suddenly stopped in her tracks when she saw the river of light fragments forming and froze. Eunuch Li promptly stopped next to her and stared up at the sky with a frown, "What is happening now?" 

"I'm not sure." The Empress dowager lightly responded. She then closed her eyes and knit her brows.

After a while of just standing there, Eunuch Li finally got over his shock and spoke up, "I think we should return, this situation is really getting out of ha-"

Before he could finish, the Empress dowager suddenly opened her eyes and picked up, running at full speed.

Eunuch Li quickly ran after her, "Your majesty, where are you going?... Why are you running again? Your majesty, please stop!"

Eunuch Li kept kept calling after her but the Empress dowager did not even turn back, much less respond. 

{...I'm pretty sure it's him...Has to be...I hope T_T)...}