The Command to Pamper the Husband - Chapter 166

The Crown Prince suddenly got to the point, leaving Song Jin to take a deep breath and digest his abrupt shift in the conversation.

“Yes.”

Fearing the Crown Prince might stray off-topic again, Song Jin immediately asked, “Brother, can you tell me why you wanted me to steal this painting?”

The Crown Prince’s smile didn’t fade. “Didn’t I already tell you? To keep you by my side, Jin’er.”

Song Jin put her hand to her forehead. This conversation had finally returned to the main topic. Was it going to veer off course again?

Seeing Song Jin’s expression, the Crown Prince’s smile deepened. “Jin’er doesn’t believe me? Why not? Is there anyone in this world more worth keeping than you?”

Song Jin stared at the Crown Prince. “I’m curious to know why you value me so highly.”

The Crown Prince laughed, enunciating each word, “You are the heroine.”

Song Jin felt the blood in her chest nearly spill out.

“If you and Shen Yue hadn’t swapped bodies, I would have killed Shen Yue long ago. This kind of story that only happens in books actually happened before me. How could I bear to kill you?”

So, in the Crown Prince’s eyes, she was a living specimen from a storybook?

“Why does stealing that painting mean keeping me?” Song Jin no longer wanted to discuss why the Crown Prince wanted to keep her. He’d just say it was because she was the heroine.

“Don’t you already have the answer?” The Crown Prince’s smile was meaningful. “Not everyone can see the people in that painting.”

Song Jin’s heart sank. “You knew I could see the figures in the painting?”

The Crown Prince shook his head. “I wasn’t sure. It was just a guess. But as it turns out, I can see them too.”

She was once again stunned by the Crown Prince’s words. She could see them because she was the late Empress’s daughter. But what about the Crown Prince? Could he be her brother? The one who teased her all the time couldn’t possibly be her brother!

The Crown Prince swept a knowing look over Song Jin. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t let my dear sister wander in the countryside for years.”

Is my home in Yuzhou considered the countryside?

“The painting was hung in the Empress’s chambers. How did you see it?”

The Crown Prince looked at Song Jin with a condescending expression. “Firstly, the Empress wasn’t the Empress back then. Secondly, I grew up in the palace without a mother, so I could roam freely in the palace ladies’ chambers. Lastly, I’ve seen the late Empress.”

Right, the late Empress died sixteen years ago. She was sixteen now, Shen Yue was eighteen, and there were the Third Prince and Second Prince before the Crown Prince.

“Do you still remember the late Empress?”

The Crown Prince nodded. “She was very heroic, a victorious general on horseback. Her painting and military skills were equally famous, a true heroine of her time.”

A victorious general. Song Jin immediately thought of the scenes that appeared in her mind when she saw the painting. So, those scenes weren’t just her imagination? Could they really be scenes from her mother’s battles?

But how did they get transmitted to her through a painting?

“The painting was made with powder ground from Tianshan stones, also known as spiritual stones. Although born in Tianshan, they were adopted by the people of Miao Territory. The purest Miao nobles, like your mother’s clan, could control weapons with their spiritual power, sense the earth and mountains, and seal the scenes etched in their memory into their paintings.”

The Crown Prince paused and sighed. His smile had long disappeared.

“The painting seals the memory of the Black Tiger Ridge battle twenty-five years ago, a battle that shocked the Nine Provinces. Because of leaked military information, we lost nearly three-quarters of our forces.”

Song Jin gasped. Three-quarters!

“In that battle, the late Empress nearly died. Although she was saved, she was poisoned with the Thousand Mechanism Poison. The Thousand Mechanism Poison is named for its myriad symptoms. All the symptoms known to man can manifest when the poison strikes, making life unbearable, yet it doesn’t kill instantly.”

The Crown Prince spoke of the Thousand Mechanism Poison. Song Jin’s heart pounded. Her body harbored the same vicious Thousand Mechanism Poison.

“Despite the military intelligence leak, no one discovered who betrayed us, even after the late Empress’s death. She always resented that. She treated her soldiers like brothers, closer than blood.”

The bond between comrades in arms was profound. Although Song Jin couldn’t fully grasp it, she had heard of it. A battle nearly led to the annihilation of her troops because of treason. As the commander, her mother could never let it go.

Song Jin closed her eyes. When she closed her eyes, scenes from that battle replayed in her mind.

The Crown Prince continued, “That painting appears to depict peaceful times, but what the late Empress wanted to express was the heavy burden of moving forward. Without the blood and lives of those fallen soldiers, there would be no peace.”

Song Jin’s heart trembled. Her eyes stung.

The Crown Prince turned to Song Jin. “As the late Empress’s daughter, your most important task now is not to avenge your mother, but to seek justice for those wronged and dead soldiers.”

Song Jin’s heart sank again.

“You know?”

“What else?”

Song Jin stared at the Crown Prince, who met her gaze. Their eyes locked, each harboring complex, unreadable emotions. The air in the room grew heavy.

“Why?” After a long silence, Song Jin spoke first.

“You don’t need to know.”

Silence fell again. After a while, the Crown Prince added, “You only need to know I won’t harm you.”

Song Jin laughed. “But you wanted to kill Shen Yue before.”

“That’s different.”

“If the person I seek revenge on is someone you’re close to, you wouldn’t harm me? You’d support me?”

The Crown Prince knew exactly whom Song Jin referred to. He smiled wryly. “I only know that millions of soldiers, most of them, lie buried in foreign lands. This debt can’t be erased by titles.”

The smile was so bitter it made one’s heart tremble. Song Jin couldn’t understand the Crown Prince. She wondered if his identity was also special.

Seeing Song Jin’s expression, the Crown Prince said nothing.

“You don’t need to give me the painting. Keep it yourself.” With that, the Crown Prince stood up and left.

Song Jin sat there, unmoving. After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Wang Liu entered.

“Miss.”

Song Jin closed her eyes. “How did it go?”

Wang Liu replied, “I found an old friend of your father’s who used to be in the palace, but he wouldn’t say anything. He said your father instructed him that as long as he’s alive, he can’t tell anyone without your father’s permission.”