Page 19 of The Nightblood Prince

“Cancel the betrothal,” Siwang told his father.

Disappointment shadowed the emperor’s face, but Siwang didn’t cower. He kept his head high and his eyes locked with his father’s.

“You useless boy. Did I not just remind you that a real emperor can never love anyone?”

“You loved Mother, didn’t you?” Siwang pushed, and the emperor winced at the mention of his late empress.

“If Mother had asked you to set her free, you would have chosen the same. If Fei doesn’t want to marry me, then I’m not going to force her.

I’m the future Emperor of Rong. I won’t marry a girl if she doesn’t want to marry me, not when there are plenty who would give everything for this honor. ”

“What about the prophecy, son? Are you going to let another man become the emperor of emperors?”

“That won’t happen!” I blurted out. Luckily, this was a hurdle I’d prepared for. “I…I promise you that if I don’t marry Siwang, then I won’t marry anyone. Ever. ”

The emperor huffed at my declaration as if it were the words of a child. “You promise? What use is a promise? Promises are made to be broken, you foolish little girl.”

“Then I will swear on it! I will swear on the bones of my ancestors. I will swear on the sun and the moon and all the stars who blessed me, and my own life! As long as I live, I will not marry anyone besides Rong Siwang.”

Father’s eyes went wide, his lips parted with an objection that never became sound.

To promise on my own life was one thing. To promise it on the bones of our ancestors was another. If I ever broke this promise, it would be blasphemy, and I’d be banished to the eighteenth level of hell after death.

When the tension between the emperor’s brows eased, I knew it had worked.

The emperor stared at his son with all the rage of a ruler and all the love of a father.

In the end, he closed his eyes and shook his head in defeat. “ 死罪可免活罪难逃 . You can be exempted from the punishment of death, but you will still be punished. You have tarnished the Rong name with your defiance, and that cannot go without punishment.”

“Punish me instead!” Siwang interjected. “I knew Fei’s plan and I didn’t stop her. I am as much to blame for all of this as she is.”

The emperor shot Siwang a look of disdain.

“Lifeng Fei, I hereby banish you and your family from Yong’An.

You and your family will return to the Su’He region, where you were born.

There you will think over your mistakes.

You may return to Yong’An only if you change your mind and choose to marry my son. Do you understand?”

My heart sank. I looked at Father, whose head remained so low that I couldn’t see his reaction.

I’m sorry, I desperately wanted to tell him. I never meant for this to implicate you.

It was too late to change things now. This was the path I had chosen, so now I must walk it. Of course my recklessness would ensnare my family one way or another. It was naive of me to have hoped the emperor would spare them from bearing the weight of my actions.

I closed my eyes, knelt for the emperor for the last time, and bowed to receive this decree. “I…I understand.”