69.3

The capital, inside the Grand Master's house. The window pane, the curtains and the bed sheets were all white, as if holding a funeral.

Princess Shunde's red dress was particularly eye-catching in this setting, but her face was also wrapped in white. Only one eye and her mouth were visible outside the bandages.

She was leaning on the bed couch, half-drunk and half-awake. Her hand held on to a celadon wine bottle while smashed pieces of other wine bottles littered the floor.

"Someone!" Her voice was hoarse as if her throat had been shredded.

"Bring more wine! I still want to drink!"

A general dressed in black iron armor stepped in with iron boots. Broken pieces of celadon on the floor were crushed into even smaller bits under his feet. He walked to Princess Shunde and kneeled down on one leg. His face was behind a black iron mask, but horrible burn marks could be seen between the gaps around his eyes.

"Princess, you are still recuperating, you can't keep drinking like this."

"Can't? Why not?!"

"Princess..."

"I can do anything! I can do anything right now! I have a master! Master..." Princess Shunde looked around and did not see the Grand Master, and her one eye grew nervous.

"Zhu Ling, where is the Grand Master? Where is my master?"

"The Grand Master went to develop a medicine for the princess, it should be ready by tomorrow."

"Medicine? Ha... ha ha..." Princess Shunde laughed maniacally. Then she grabbed Zhu Ling's hand and pulled it in for an embrace. Zhu Ling was stunned but obediently allowed her to hold his hand.

"Zhu Ling, I'll tell you a secret." Princess Shunde came up to Zhu Ling's ear.

"I am not the daughter of the late emperor." The eyes behind the iron mask widened, and Zhu Ling froze in shock.

"I am the daughter of the empress and the prince regent."

Zhu Ling was speechless.

"Prin... Princess..."

"I... I knew it ever since I was very young, so I grew up cautious. I was afraid of making a mistake… mistake... My mother thought I was a mistake! The prince regent tried to kill me several times, I... I was so scared..." she said in a dumb voice then cried into his ear.

"I was afraid... to just die in the palace... When I was small, I suffered so much humiliation… Until the master saw me."

She stood up and stepped barefoot on the floor. Zhu Ling immediately padded the bottom of her feet with his hands. She stepped onto his hand and did not notice at all when his palm was sliced by the broken shards below. She walked forward and Zhu Ling followed.

"Princess..."

"Yes... he saw me, and I became a real princess. He held me to the stars, and I became the moon, the proud daughter of heaven. Even my brother, that orthodox imperial son, must share his throne with me. But..." She spun around, not feeling the slightest pain under the soles of her feet.

"But, it wasn't me that he cared about. Zhu Ling, did you know, it's this face." She grabbed the bandage on her face so hard it uncovered some festering wounds underneath.

"With this face, I seem to have gained everything, but the fact is I have gained nothing at all. And now... now this face that I relied on is ruined..."

She stood still for a while, then suddenly smashed the bottle in her hand on the ground. She picked up the largest piece of broken shard and slashed ruthlessly at the curtains in front of her.

"If the world wrongs me, I will wrong the world! If people hurt me, I will kill them all! That demon master, Ji Yunhe! She will be the first to suffer my wrath!"

As if she saw Ji Yunhe standing there, Princess Shunde slashed again and again, cutting the curtain in front of her into pieces. Then she slammed the shard onto a wooden pillar and the celadon pierced into her hand. Blood splattered everywhere. Zhu Ling also clenched his fist.

"Princess, I would like to do as you wish."

"No, I will kill her with my own hands." Princess Shunde turned her head, her one eye outside the bandage red with rage.

"Ji Yunhe was refined into a demon, so she has the power of a demon that doesn't belong to her. Zhu Ling, I also want it. I want to have more than what she has." She paused then continued, "Zhu Ling, you shielded me in the fire, you were also burned. I only trust you. Help me." Zhu Ling nodded his head.

"Yes, princess."

The next morning, the Grand Master walked into Princess Shunde's room carrying a box of ointments. Princess Shunde looked at him from her bed, and his ageless face.

"Master."

"Hm?"

"The new ointment, is it ready?"

"Well, this ointment may be a little painful, but using it for a month should have a miraculous effect."

"Master," Princess Shunde said, "the ointment is too painful. It feels like it's gouging out my flesh then replacing it with new flesh."

The Grand Master's voice was distant and unemotional. "As long as it works."

Princess Shunde was silent for a moment. "Then master, I want a treat for enduring all that pain… just to fulfill your wish."

"What do you want?"

"The forbidden arts, the secret book that you never let anyone see."

"..."

"Master?"

"Ok, I'll give it to you."

Princess Shunde smiled. She watched as the Grand Master unwrapped the bandage from her face layer by layer. Then she lowered her eyes.

"Thank you, master."