4. King's gratitude
The King of Jing sat upon his ornate throne, his gaze fixed upon the radiant Rafoofil Flower that now rested in his hand.
A profound sense of gratitude and protectiveness swelled within him. Instead of giving this flower to the King of Ming, the princess had chosen to give it to him. The myriad emotions that coursed through him were a testament to the complex tapestry of his history with the princess and her late mother, Jiang Lian Hua.
After possessing this flower, he knew, the world may unite to attack his kingdom, but the king's heart was not gripped by fear. His confidence in the might of the Kingdom of Jing was unwavering.
The formidable army, fortified by six generals stationed at the borders and two within the capital, stood ready to defend the kingdom anytime. The nation's warriors are battle-hardened and capable, having successfully conquered neighboring lands one after another. The Kingdom of Jing was a force not to be reckoned with, and its sovereign was fully aware of its strength.
Even the Kingdom of Ming would have been captured if not for the king and queen's acquaintance with the former queen. When the kingdom came under threat of conquest, it had extended an offer of political marriage, coupled with the cession of two cities, in a bid to secure a peace treaty. This overture might have been dismissed outright had it come from any other nation or any other princess. However, the situation was unique—the individual at the heart of it was the daughter of Jiang Lian Hua, the king's childhood friend and ally.
Jiang Lian Hua had played a pivotal role in aiding the king to ascend to the throne and secure his queen. He held deep feelings of remorse for his inability to protect her and her clan. Now, fate had granted him the opportunity to safeguard her daughter, the very princess who bore the legacy of Jiang Lian Hua. The king carried a profound sense of responsibility and guilt for not being able to save her mother's life and clan.
His initial expectations of the princess had been shrouded in the assumptions and rumors that painted her as a dejected and unsightly figure, locked away within the cold palace since her birth. He had anticipated the need to compensate his ninth son for the political marriage and, perhaps, to bolster the princess's spirit. However, the princess's entrancing and enigmatic presence defied his expectations.
The king recognized that he had misjudged the situation, and the rumors had proven to be nothing more than fabrications. The worries he had harbored about the marriage had dissipated, leaving him with a sense of relief. Instead, his concerns had shifted to the precious gift bestowed upon him by the princess—a gift that could attract both admiration and enmity.
His heart swelled with gratitude, both towards the late Jiang Lian Hua, whose legacy had gifted him this precious treasure, and towards her daughter, the princess who had chosen to entrust it to him.
The king understood the significance of this gesture and the trust it implied. He knew that the princess had made a deliberate choice to offer the Rafoofil Flower to him, and that choice was laden with deep meaning.
This act of gifting was actually a gamble taken by a princess. She had heard of the connection between the king and her late mother, but her knowledge couldn't guarantee the king's treatment of her. In her position as an abandoned princess, she had placed her fate on the line in a daring wager.
This gamble bore two possible outcomes. Either the king would greet her with skepticism and hostility, making her life exceedingly difficult within the kingdom, or he would be grateful and protective, shielding her from harm. The princess had ventured into this game with modest expectations, but she had underestimated the depth of the king's generosity and his commitment to her mother's memory.
With the king's unwavering commitment to safeguarding her and the legacy of Jiang Lian Hua, the princess would find herself in a more favorable position than she had initially envisioned in the future.
The unexpected revelation of the Rafoofil Flower had elicited various reactions from the onlookers. Zhang Mingze, the ruthless and ambitious general of the kingdom, was one of those deeply affected. He had also been in pursuit of this rare medicinal plant, which held the power to grant long life, beauty, and protection against poisons. The appearance of the flower had initially filled him with astonishment, but that surprise had rapidly transformed into wariness directed at the princess.
He perceived the princess as the unwitting catalyst for potential chaos. By presenting the coveted plant before the entire court, she had set in motion a chain of greed and ambition that threatened to engulf the kingdom. Many were sure to seek the flower's power for themselves, and the resulting conflict could claim numerous lives.