The Daily Life Of Mei Furen Doting On Her Husband - Chapter 33

Ten years ago, the Emperor and Empress went to the palace in Mang Mountain to escape the summer heat. The six-year-old Princess was playing around and running about. One day, she ran into the mountain behind the palace. There were countless wild animals there. Therefore, after being lost for a night, everyone thought she was dead, but she was found intact under a white camellia tree in the mountain the next day.

The Princess refused to tell what happened that night, but insisted that the wild white camellia tree be taken back and transplanted to her own palace. The Emperor loved her so much that he agreed to it after his little daughter held his arm and shook it, and asked someone to dig up the camellia tree and bring it back.

The front of the Princess’ Mansion was originally paved with bluestone, but because the little princess wanted to plant the white camellia tree closest to her, she had the large pieces of bluestone floor tiles chiseled off and a lot of soil from the mountains transported over to plant the white camellia tree.

Ten years passed in a blink of an eye. The camellia tree growing in the mountain was transplanted within the deep palace walls. It never withered because of the Princess’ loving care. It grew lush and green, and the trees were full of camellia flowers every year.

“I wanted my mother to issue an Imperial Edict to find someone from the folk who can cure this camellia tree, but my mother didn’t agree. Aunt, please help me persuade my mother. I really don’t want to watch that white camellia tree die.” Big tears fell from Li Yuanzhen’s red and swollen eyes. There was real despair and sorrow in her eyes as she looked at Wu Zhen pleadingly.

Wu Zhen’s brows slightly wrinkled, then relaxed again, and she consoled her, “Come, wipe your tears. Take me to see the white camellia tree first. Maybe I can find a solution for you.”

When she was six years old, Li Yuanzhen got lost in the mountain behind Mangshan Palace.

There were many scary noises in the deep mountains at night. The rustling of the grass always made people feel as if there was something in there that was about to jump out. The howling of wild animals could be heard faintly. The sound of the wind in the forest passed through the gaps between the leaves, whimpering like a person crying. The mountain was also very dark, and the shapes of the branches and grass were like monsters with bared fangs and claws. Many black shadows swayed in the wind, which was very scary.

Li Yuanzhen covered her mouth and stumbled in the forest, staring at the darkness around her in horror, not even daring to cry out loud. She was extremely scared and called out to her mother and father in a low voice, but there were only various black shadows that frightened her, and no familiar figures around her.

The mountain road was uneven, and Xiao Yuanzhen was tripped by a protruding tree root on the ground. She fell heavily to the ground. The severe pain from her knee made her unable to help but cry softly.

Just then, she saw the man.

He was a handsome man, wearing a white robe that seemed to glow in the dark. He stood behind a tree, looking at her hesitantly but didn’t approach her.

Xiao Yuanzhen had been walking alone for so long that she was already terrified. When she finally saw a person, she didn’t care about anything else, got up and rushed over, hugged the man in white, and burst into tears.

“I want to go back. I want my mother and father!”

The man let her hold him for a while, looking a little helpless. Later, when he saw her crying and running out of strength to sit down, he finally reached out and picked her up.

The man held her and walked towards the mountain. After a while, Xiao Yuanzhen saw a tree in the forest. The tree was so conspicuous because it was full of white flowers, just like the man’s clothes. A beam of moonlight shone down and happened to shine on the white flower tree. Xiao Yuanzhen stared at it blankly and forgot to cry for a moment.

It was not until the man asked her to sit on a low branch that Xiao Yuanzhen came to her senses. She refused to let go, hugged the man’s neck tightly, and buried her head against his chest like a frightened and trembling puppy.

The man had no choice but to hold her, sit on the branch himself, and let her sit on his lap.

He didn’t say anything and was very quiet, but his body was warm, which made Xiao Yuanzhen feel very safe. When she slowly relaxed and started to try to talk to the man, she found that the man couldn’t speak. He opened his mouth but couldn’t make any sound. He just touched her head and smiled at her.

At night, wild animals in the mountains passed by nearby, smelled the human scent, and lingered around. Xiao Yuanzhen looked at those eyes glowing in the dark and their bodies, which were larger than those of ordinary wild animals, and hugged the man in white tightly. She was afraid that the wild animals would suddenly pounce on her, but the man in white waved his sleeves, and the wind suddenly blew in the mountain, quickly scaring the wild animals away.

That night, the man held her the entire time and gently stroked her forehead when she felt scared and uneasy.

Later, she fell asleep. When she woke up again, the palace servants who served her had come with the soldiers to look for her. Everyone was glad that she was fine, but Li Yuanzhen was just looking for the man everywhere. He disappeared, but the white camellia tree she leaned against when she woke up was still full of white flowers, and the tiny petals had fallen all over her.

“I want to move this tree back to the palace and plant it,” said the six-year-old Princess.

Although she was a child, she already knew a lot of things. She thought that if she moved the camellia tree back, maybe she would be able to see her benefactor again. When she got older, she began to think that maybe the man was not a human, but a fairy or a monster, or even a mountain ghost. But no matter what he was, she always wanted to see him again.

Over the years, Li Yuanzhen had been taking good care of the white camellia. She could see the white flowers all over the tree every year. Every night when the camellia tree bloomed, she would wander under the tree. Sometimes, she thought she saw a white figure standing under the tree, very close to her, but when she came to her senses, she would find that it was her illusion. There was no one else under the tree except herself.

That year was the tenth year, and the white camellia was about to bloom again. It had just sprouted small buds. Li Yuanzhen was still thinking that the flowers seemed to bloom more, but just one night, the white camellia tree withered and died.

After bringing Wu Zhen to her mansion, Li Yuanzhen stared at the withered and black leaves of the camellia tree. Her eyes couldn’t help but feel sore, and she gently stroked the trunk.

A row of palace maids stood under the eaves in front of the palace, trembling with fear. They looked at this side and dared not move, even breathing very slowly. The Princess’s angry look that morning was extremely scary, and it was still deeply rooted in their minds. They dared not make this little ancestor angry again.

Wu Zhen, on the other hand, crossed her arms, secretly sighing inwardly, her eyes fixed on a branch of a camellia tree next to her niece. On that branch sat a shadowy man in white, looking rather pitiful.

Li Yuanzhen looked at the branches of the camellia tree with a sad face, and the man next to her looked at Li Yuanzhen intently.