Su Jin sat in the corner of the dusty corridor in the old and abandoned palace a few days after her trial judgment.
“No, no, no!” she shook her head, still unable to accept reality.
This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. She was a princess of the tribe that sacrificed themselves during the Ghost Wars. She was a child of merit. She would not accept; this could not be her fate. It was SuSu or Bai Qian, or whatever that witch’s name was. The hate she felt made her mouth go bitter. This is my end? she thought. Did Ye Hua think he could be with Bai Qian, while she was waiting for him to take her eyes? They were her eyes. SuSu had pushed her. Why didn’t anyone believe her words?
Su Jin heard the chains unlock. She blinked when the light broke through the open door. Su Jin was about to ask who it was when she heard Xin Nu’s voice.
“Consort, I have the keys. You can leave and hide from everyone. This servant will follow you to the end of the world.” Xin Nu’s voice was quivering.
Su Jin grabbed Xin Nu’s hands with both her hands. Never had she been so happy to see another person, and this wasn’t any ordinary person, it was her Xin Nu. Su Jin began to cry.
“Xin Nu… Xin Nu… they accuse me falsely. Heavenly Lord was supposed to protect me. What I did to SuSu was for him and Ye Hua… Why must I take the blame for everything?” Su Jin sobbed.
“Oh Consort, what can I do for you? I will do anything you ask,” Xin Nu said as she bowed to Su Jin.
Su Jin pulled Xin Nu up from the floor and pleaded, “I want to see Ye Hua. Xin Nu, please bring Ye Hua to me.”
Xin Nu was kneeling in front of Xiwu Palace, and when she saw Ye Hua approaching, she started to plead.
“Please, your highness, Consort Su Jin needs to talk to you. Consort Su Jin knows she won’t be able to talk to you again. She would like to make amends.” Xin Nu kowtowed before she continued to plead, “Please, your highness, Consort Su Jin will kill herself if you refuse to see her. Don’t you need her alive to retrieve High Goddess’ eyes?”
Damn Su Jin! Ye Hua cursed internally. He knew she was being dramatic as usual but he couldn’t risk Bai Qian’s eyes becoming damaged. Gritting his teeth, he headed towards the abandoned Cold Palace, after notifying Heavenly Lord, his Third Uncle and Dong Hua Di Jun of his intention. Su Jin was a thorn in his side to the very end. He looked forward to not having to see her nor hear her voice again.
Su Jin was crouched on the floor in the darkest corner of the room. She was rocking back and forth, mumbling under her breath. She saw Ye Hua and ran to him. “Ye Hua, I knew you’d come to see me. We’ve been together for so long.” Su Jin sounded excited as she hung onto his sleeve. Ye Hua looked down at her the way one would look at an annoying flying insect.
“There has never been a “we”, Su Jin. What do you have to tell me? What is so important?” Ye Hua’s tone reflected his annoyance.
“You have to know everything I did was to be with you. I was even willing to share you with SuSu if she hadn’t jumped of the terrace.” Su Jin was trying her best to convince Ye Hua. “Why couldn’t you love me instead of pushing me away? Why was she the one instead of me? I am better than her, I love you more than she ever will. Everything I do is for you and our love. I would die for you.” Su Jin’s voice sounded like a pleading child losing her mind. Ye Hua took a deep breath and noticed all the dust in the air.
“Su Jin, there is no ‘our love’. You keep thinking I have affection for you when I never thought of you as a living thing. And I made that very clear from the start. It was you who didn’t want to listen. I already warned you to stop. But you never stopped and you continued to be deceitful with your treacherous ways. You’ve brought this all upon yourself.”
Ye Hua turned to walk out.
“Do you know, Ye Hua… the happiest day of my life… was when you took out her eyes.” Su Jin’s tone sounded half-crazed. “I told her you named her SuSu because of the Su in my name. She believed me and cried for days.” Su Jin covered her mouth and started to giggle.”I told her you never loved her but were using her to get even with me. I even told her you sat by my side day and night.” Su Jin laughed openly. She was now walking around Ye Hua in a circle, pointing at him and laughing. “I wanted her to die. I was happy when she jumped off the Zhuxian terrace. I became the only woman in Xiwu Palace by your side…” her words trailed off as if she’d lost her train of thought.
Ye Hua started to walk away.
“I prayed for her to die constantly! I prayed every day that she would die with your child inside her. I wanted both to die…” Her words turned into a scream as Ye Hua turned around and ripped out her eyes in a slow, single stroke. Su Jin’s scream sliced into the empty and cold palace. She screamed, then suddenly she stopped. To Ye Hua’s amazement Su Jin started laughing hysterically, “Bai Qian will never marry you, Ye Hua. She’s been with her beloved Shifu every day,” laughed Su Jin, hanging onto the bottom of Ye Hua’s black robe. Ye Hua jerked his robe away with force, causing Su Jin to fall to the ground. She was still screaming at Ye Hua long after he had gone.
Xin Nu, who was waiting outside, cringed when she heard her mistress scream. Ye Hua was leaving the courtyard when Xin Nu approached him and bowed before his feet.
“Crown Prince, Consort Su Jin has loved you her whole life, how can you so cruelly take her eyes? Is Heavenly Lord aware of your actions, which are not in accordance with Celestial Laws?” Xin Nu said with teary eyes.
“Presumptuous! How dare a lowly immortal like you question my actions carried out as the Crown Prince? Do you think me so unprepared to think I wouldn’t have notified Heavenly Lord first? It was Heavenly Lord who instructed me to take High Goddess Bai Qian’s eyes out of Su Jin’s sockets immediately.”
Ye Hua glared down at Xin Nu and added, “You will also need to take responsibility for your involvement with Su Jin’s evil schemes and be punished according to the laws of Celestial Heaven.”
To be continued…