Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Last Orphan of the Fallen Dynasty

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After finishing his breakfast that morning, Chen Shanglu was summoned to the study by his father.

Chen Lin got straight to the point. “Do you have feelings for the fifth daughter of the Jiang family?” Chen Shanglu glanced at him uneasily and answered, “Yes, I like her very much.”

Chen Lin stood up, sweeping his sleeves, his face cold. “From today onward, I forbid you from having any further contact with that girl from the Jiang family.”

Chen Shanglu was stunned. “Why, Father?”

“Because you and she are not walking the same path.” Chen Lin looked straight at him, enunciating each word. “The Jiang family supports the Crown Prince, while our family is sworn to the Second Prince.”

Chen Shanglu sprang to his feet in disbelief. “Father, haven’t you always said you serve only the Emperor, and would never be involved in these factional struggles?”

Chen Lin smiled faintly. “Those words were for outsiders. From the very beginning, our loyalty has always lain with the Second Prince.”

His words plunged Chen Shanglu into an icy abyss.

“Now do you understand? I will never allow you to marry a daughter of the Jiang family.” He continued, “Shanglu, ever since your mother died, I have indulged you too much. Now you are grown, you can no longer live as carelessly as before. From now on, you must put the interests of our family above all else.”

Despondency clouded Chen Shanglu’s expression; his voice was low. “But I truly care for Chu’er.”

“This matter is settled. In a few days, I will find a suitable young lady for you.”

“Shanglu, a real man should not be shackled by affairs of the heart. We have more important things to accomplish,” said Chen Lin.

“Yes, Father,” Chen Shanglu replied weakly. He had never dared to go against his father’s wishes; all he could do was silently deny his words in his heart.

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“These days, the disaster in the south has worsened, and rumors are flying everywhere. The Crown Prince spoke out of turn and was rebuked by the Emperor, which, in fact, benefits us.”

“But now, there is an undercurrent of unrest in the land.”

Chen Shanglu said, “But the Emperor of Chen has few heirs left, and all have perished in the chaos. How could the Chen dynasty ever rise again?”

Chen Lin suddenly turned to him, silent, as if caught in a wave of anxiety, his eyes vacant.

After a long pause, he spoke. “No, there is still one who lives.”

“I was the one who saved him.”

Chen Shanglu was shocked. “Father, what are you saying?”

Chen Lin went to shut the door tightly. He looked at Chen Shanglu and said, “It’s true. The sixth prince, Yongjia, the Emperor’s youngest son. That night, when the soldiers stormed the palace, I mingled with the crowd and went straight to the Hall of Pure Serenity, because an old friend was waiting for me.” Chen Lin smiled—a smile so genuine that Chen Shanglu had never seen it on his father’s face before.

The man who was now the shrewd, artful Assistant Minister of the Secretariat, Chen Lin, had once been a dashing youth. Back then, the Lin family lived next door to the Chens, and he and Lin Susu, the Lin family’s eldest daughter, had known each other since childhood, their friendship deep and true.

At sixteen, Susu entered the palace as Consort Su. A few years later, she gave birth to the Emperor’s last son, Yongjia.

The Emperor of Chen was foolish and cruel. Consort Su, fearing for her son’s future, was constantly anxious about how to keep Yongjia safe. Gentle and clever, with no other recourse, she thought of her childhood friend, Chen Lin.

She sent him many messages, begging him to save Yongjia in his hour of need, and Chen Lin agreed.

In the end, the Chen dynasty collapsed, and the enemy army closed in. Most of the Emperor’s sons perished by the sword. Disguised and risking his life, Chen Lin infiltrated the palace, and from the Hall of Pure Serenity, rescued the six-year-old Yongjia. Consort Su’s wish fulfilled, she hanged herself in the hall.

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“I wanted to take her with me, but she refused. She would not go,” Chen Lin said with a bitter smile. “She was stubborn from childhood; no one could change her mind once it was made up. As the soldiers were about to break into the Hall of Pure Serenity, she pushed me out with all her strength. Yongjia would not let go, clinging to her tightly. She pried his fingers from her one by one, telling him not to hate, not to seek revenge, but to live well.”

“You escaped with Yongjia? Where is he now?” Chen Shanglu asked.

“I fled the palace with him, pursued every step of the way. Yongjia was wounded—his right shoulder was slashed, his clothes soaked in blood.”

“To save him, I hid him away and lured off the pursuers. But when I returned, he was gone.”

“I do not know if he is alive or dead,” Chen Lin sighed. “In the end, I failed Susu’s trust.”

“Father…” Chen Shanglu hesitated. He had never heard his father speak of these things.

“I remember there was a very conspicuous birthmark on Yongjia’s right shoulder, shaped exactly like a qilin,” Chen Lin recalled, having seen it when Yongjia’s clothes were torn in the chaos.

It was as if lightning had struck—Chen Shanglu stood dumbfounded, his mind flashing back to a sudden memory, a qilin-shaped birthmark… a qilin-shaped birthmark!

“Yuewu!” he cried out in shock.