It was the New Year in Capital City, and snow fluttered down in profusion. As it fell from the sky, it resembled plum blossoms unfurling-cold and clear, yet impossible not to marvel at.
Inside the imperial palace, however, all was quiet.
The Crown Prince, barely into his teens, wore a stern expression as he read the piles of memorials. Beside him, the Old Eunuch periodically checked whether the brazier in the room was still burning.
He had been reading all day and showed no intention of stopping to rest. Anxious, the Old Eunuch beside him opened his mouth, then closed it again.
At last, the young Crown Prince put down the brush he had been using to annotate the memorials and asked, "Are Father and the others not planning to come back this time?"
The Old Eunuch was advanced in years. He thought for quite a while before answering slowly, "This... this old servant does not know. But Your Highness is the beloved son of His Majesty and Lord Shen. For your sake, they will hurry back, no matter how fierce the wind and snow."
The Crown Prince fell silent. He glanced at the relentless snowstorm outside and said calmly, "I hope so."
In truth, he knew that once he grew a little older, those two would probably come back even less often, and he would have fewer chances to see them.
Though he hated to part with them, he knew that only by shouldering these burdens himself could he protect the people he wanted to protect and avenge his family.
He would uncover the truth of his origins, and he would make those Westerners and Xiongnu who dared invade regret ever setting foot in the Central Plains!
On the second day of the new year.
Those two finally returned.