[TCFO] Arc 1 — Chapter 68.3

Big Brother’s Epilogue III

Lan Ziyu held the hairpin that was stroked no less than 10,000 times a day. The pain in his heart was overwhelming. When he returned to the ice palace underground, he looked at the person on the cold bed. He slept beside her as if he was used to it and held her hand for ten years.

“Why is it so cold? Min’er, the child of the Lan family clan I adopted eight years ago, has become more and more able to stand alone. Give me another five years! Please wait for me to destroy the Yan Kingdom. Then, when the wedding dress is ready, when the child sits on the dragon throne, we will get married. When that happens, I won’t have to go out anymore, and I can be with you!”

“Min’er, don’t worry, that child is the one I personally picked out from the Lan family’s clan. He is clever and quick-witted. -One in a hundred. He is your only child, and you will be the only Empress in the future. You will be the only phoenix Empress in the Lan Kingdom. A hundred years later, you will be the only Empress dowager worshipped. No one can let say you are not.”

“But I don’t like him calling you Empress Mother, nor do I like him calling me Father! For I am yours, only yours, and you are mine, mine alone, and between us, no one can interfere, no one can ... You belong to me alone!”

Lan Ziyu suddenly propped up his upper body and looked sideways at Lan Min’s delicate eyebrows. Although her face was horribly pale, in Lan Ziyu’s eyes, this was the only heartbeat and happiness in his heart!

“Also, the materials for your wedding dress have been found. I’m sorry to keep you waiting for so long. Soon, soon .... your wedding dress will be ready, and then, when all this is over, I can bring you the dowry you want. At that time, would you still want me?”

But Lan Ziyu didn’t seem to want her to answer at all. Pillowed in her arms, as hard and cold as ice, he was numb.

“Whether you want me or not, I will haunt you to death for the rest of my life, and I will never let you go!” He declared.

***

Four more summers passed.

Suddenly, more people joined the harem. And many of those who came of age left the palace.

The initially empty harem suddenly ushered in a new concubine one day, and then more and more. The women of the originally empty harem gradually became rowdy, but Lan Ziyu became more and more irritable, and his mood increasingly foul.

He rarely participated in court matters. Instead, the young Prince, who was eleven years old, received the full delegation.

Day by day, he became more and more like Lan Ziyu and received more and more recognition from the court officials.

But the young Prince was not satisfied because the person he wanted recognition from most had locked himself in his room, becoming reticent in recent months.

He kept painting. And like a madman, would catch a person and ask them, “Do you know Lan Min?”

But everyone shook their heads. They didn’t know what happened to the Emperor, who was always calm and indifferent and in control of everything. But those who answered did not know.

If they were lucky, Emperor Father would present them with a kick to the face.

Those who were unlucky would have blood spattered on the spot.

Everyone said that this man, who was once like a god, had gone mad, but only he knew that he hadn’t because the Emperor’s eyes were still as bright as fire and as sharp as a sword!

But what happened to the name he spoke every day and the wedding dress he held in his arms, which he had never seen before?

And when was the ice palace in the palace, which was strictly forbidden to enter, built? And why did he have no recollection of it?

He once ordered someone to call a construction supervisor, but he didn’t have the slightest clue. Also, Empress Mother - this woman seemed to be a mystery. He didn’t remember such a woman and did not have the slightest impression of her.

But his father had decreed that if he ever showed the slightest disrespect or negligence towards that woman, the officials could call for a decree to oust him from the throne and install a new Emperor.

“Emperor, it is time for you to eat.”

The visitor said cautiously, but the man sat alone in the darkness, his back so lonely, as if he were a lone soul, without any of the glamour and dignity of a few months ago.

His head hung, bowed, and he held something in his hands, muttering to himself.

The palace staff, carrying the meal, looked at the Grand Steward, who had no choice but to approach him curiously at the Prince’s behest.

He was surprised to see that the King, with his head hanging low, was still in his prime and that his long hair, which had been like lacquer in the morning, was now covered with white frost.

‘What is that ...?’

The steward hadn’t said anything yet, but Lan Ziyu suddenly thinned his lips with an indifferent smile. Repeatedly, he spoke incomprehensible words.

” The first time I saw her was in the Empress Mother’s bedroom.

She hadn’t been born for long. Her features hadn’t grown. She was tiny, the size of a kitten. Her eyes were closed. Her skin was wrinkled; it was ugly”, Lan Ziyu smiled and spoke softly, “At that time, I was still too curious, so I poked her with my index finger, I didn’t expect she opened her eyes ... those eyes were like a whirlpool that drew my eyes in... those eyes were so beautiful...”

“The second time I saw her was when she first returned to the palace from her studies in the mountains. She was three years old then, and she was so bold that she climbed up a tree without any of the decorum of a princess. She had a dusty face, like a little flower. A cat, but she stood barefoot on a tree full of greenery with a bird in her hands, smiling like the sun. I knew it then; it was her! That little crumpled lump of a child... I watched as she put the bird back into the nest when she suddenly stepped out of the way... My body moved in, a subconscious movement. I flew over and held the girl who had fallen from the tree at the base of the tree... The girl’s shocked eyes instantly turned to joy, and she hugged my neck, calling sweetly, “Brother ... you’ve finally come back. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time... At that moment, I felt so happy, for the first time. She was like the world in my arms ...”

“From then on, I had a follower behind me, who followed me around with a different cake in each hand every day. She hid secretly at the door of the study in class; hid behind a pillar at the court. She pretended to be a good girl in front of me when my father scolded me. But when it came to eating delicious food, she had no choice but to play helplessly. In my heart, the weight of her position became heavier. I pushed her away, she was in a mess, and she even fell at my feet one day... But I ignored it, or rather, I was afraid of being soft, so I ran away...”

“When I thought I had nothing to do with her, she appeared again, and when I saw her again, her eyes were brighter and unwavering. So I pulled her in and pushed everything away that night. Lost in love... Then came the unravelling of the misunderstanding, and then only the deeper... until the final inexorable consequence, I was too deep... That night, she said, she wanted the world as my dowry. She said she wanted the most beautiful and luxurious wedding dress. She said she wanted to make herself my only wife ... otherwise, in death and life, we would never meet again ...”

Lan Ziyu smiled as he slowly remembered, “I tell myself three times a day... for fear of forgetting....”