Chapter 9: Parting in Life and Death, Spoilers of an Early Death, and a Vow Made

The little girl stepped out of the bathroom onto a plush, water-absorbent mat.

The hem of her pure white short-sleeved shirt fell to her ankles, and the wide neckline revealed a slender collarbone. Read novels daily ->𝔱𝔱𝔨𝔰. 𝔱𝔴

The peach-scented aroma of body wash drifted out with the steam, diluting the accumulated bitterness of medicine in the room.

Lin Xuan grabbed a thick, dry towel and draped it over the girl's head.

His fingers worked through the towel, vigorously rubbing that wet, long hair.

"Sit down and dry off, or your asthma is likely to flare up again."

The girl obediently bent her knees and sat on the edge of the bed.

She tugged at the soft cotton fabric on her body, looked down at her bare feet, then raised her gaze to Lin Xuan.

"Lin Xuan, you just said the Great Tang fell."

"So what happened to Father later? And what happened to me?"

Lin Xuan's hand, which had been rubbing her hair, paused for a moment.

He tossed the towel aside, pulled over a folding chair, sat down, and took out his Mobile Phone to unlock it.

"Want to know? Let me check."

Lin Xuan cleared his throat and began reading the text on the screen aloud.

"Princess Jinyang, Li Mingda, courtesy name Sizi."

"The most beloved daughter of Tang Taizong Li Shimin, born of the empress."

"After Empress Zhangsun Huanghou passed away, Taizong, grief-stricken, kept Princess Jinyang by his side and raised her personally."

"The princess was wise and gentle in nature, often interceding for ministers, and deeply won Taizong's favor."

Upon reading this, the corners of the girl's mouth turned up, and her eyes curved into two crescent moons.

A sense of pride radiated from that pale, small face.

Lin Xuan swiped his finger upward on the screen.

His gaze swept over the next paragraph of text.

His voice suddenly cut off; his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his finger hovered above the screen, frozen stiff.

The girl noticed Lin Xuan's strange behavior.

She suppressed her smile, straightened her posture, and leaned forward slightly.

"Why stop reading? What does the rest say?"

Lin Xuan said nothing and simply flipped his Mobile Phone face down on the bedside table.

"Nothing, the rest is just dry records of a life, you wouldn't understand."

Lin Xuan averted his gaze, trying to keep his tone as flat as possible.

The girl stared directly into Lin Xuan's eyes.

A child raised in the imperial family, even at a young age, possessed an extremely keen perception of others' emotions.

"You are not good at lying."

"Every time the Imperial Physician checked my pulse and turned to face Father, he wore this same expression."

"Read it out loud."

Lin Xuan sighed.

Ancients matured early, and imperial children even more so.

A lie could not comfort a wise princess of the Great Tang.

He flipped his Mobile Phone over and lit up the screen again.

"Ahem... then listen well: In the twelfth year of her life, Princess Jinyang died young due to illness."

The master bedroom fell into a deathly silence.

Died young at twelve.

The girl's face turned ashen at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Large teardrops swirled in her eyes, but she forced herself to hold them back from falling.

"So, I can only live to be twelve."

"I often couldn't catch my breath, as if a huge stone pressed on my chest, keeping me awake all night."

"The Imperial Physicians always coaxed me, saying they could cure me; they lied to me too."

The extreme terror of a death countdown completely shattered the four-year-old girl's psychological defenses.

Tears broke through the dam, crashing onto the carpet along her cheeks.

Lin Xuan's heart suddenly clenched tightly.

He looked at this vibrant life before him, at her being crushed to the brink of collapse by a cruel historical verdict.

He leaned down, his hands gripping the girl's shoulders.

"Look at me. The Imperial Physicians of the Great Tang could not cure you; the history books of the Great Tang sentenced you to death."

"But where are you now?"

The girl, her eyes blurred with tears, sobbed and could not answer.

"You are in the twenty-first century."

"I do not care how the history books write it."

"In the modern era, in this room, I promise to make you live a long life of a hundred years."

"Even if the King of Heaven himself comes, I can make him roll back empty-handed."

Above the Sky Screen, Lin Xuan's oath, like rolling thunder, exploded in the night skies of all past and present dynasties.

Great Tang, Taiji Palace.

"Twelve years old... died young..."

Empress Zhangsun's legs went weak; she looked up at the sky and let out a mournful cry like a cuckoo weeping blood.

"My Sizi... won't live past her coming-of-age..."

"Guan Yinbi!" Li Shimin's eyes seemed ready to burst; he rushed forward to support his wife.

In the square of Taiji Palace, imperial guards, eunuchs, and palace maids were in chaos, with terrified shouts rising one after another.

Li Shimin stood frozen in place.

Holding his unconscious wife in both hands, his heart was wrung with pain.

His daughter was the pearl he held in the palm of his hand, the most noble legitimate princess of the Great Tang.

Yet she was to be tortured to death by that wretched asthma in the very bloom of her youth.

Li Shimin handed Empress Zhangsun over to the old eunuch who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the news.

He raised his head, gazing at the short-haired youth in the Sky Screen who had made such bold claims, and lifted the hem of his long robe.

The next second, his knees bent.

A great hero of his age, the Emperor of the Great Tang, knelt heavily on the cold golden bricks.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Wei Zheng, and other high-ranking ministers were utterly terrified, crying out in alarm.

The ministers clamored and dropped to their knees.

The armored soldiers in the square fell to their knees in a great mass, like wheat cut down by a scythe, with a rustling sound.

Li Shimin placed both hands on the ground and bowed his head, striking it heavily against the hard stone bricks.

Once, twice, three times...

The dull thud of his forehead hitting the stone slabs struck the nerves of every subject of the Great Tang.

His skin and flesh split, and fresh blood slid down from Li Shimin's brow.

"Li Shimin, Emperor of the Great Tang, weeps blood to thank you, Sir!"

"If you can ensure my Sizi survives this fatal calamity, I, the Emperor, vow to establish an eternal tablet for you, and with the full strength of the Great Tang, offer sacrifices to you for generations!"

Modern apartment, master bedroom.

Lin Xuan needed to use concrete action to completely eradicate the fear in the little girl's heart.

He found the official account of the local top-tier children's hospital.

"Words alone are not proof; let me show you something real."

Lin Xuan held his Mobile Phone screen close to the little girl's face.

"Look, this is a hospital, a place here dedicated to treating illnesses."

Lin Xuan swiped his finger, opening the department list: "Respiratory Medicine Department. Asthma Specialty Clinic."

Rows of photos of doctors in white coats popped up.

Below them were listed dense lines of text detailing their credentials.

Lin Xuan's finger stopped on the portrait of an old man with a head full of silver hair at the very top.

"Chief Physician, Doctoral Supervisor, National Level Expert."

"For treating your kind of hereditary airway disease, he ranks among the top three in the nation."

The little girl stopped crying and stared with wide eyes at the old man's photo on the screen.

"How do we invite him?"

"Must we prepare a heavy gift to pay a visit? Or must Father issue an imperial decree to summon him?"

"Neither is needed."

Lin Xuan tapped the "Special Outpatient Service" button below the old man's portrait.

Selected date: 9:00 AM.

The page jumped to payment confirmation.

"Beep—Payment successful, registration fee three hundred yuan."

A green appointment-success QR code popped up on the screen.

Lin Xuan shook his Mobile Phone: "Done!"

"Spend a little money, wait in line."

"Tomorrow morning I'll take you to see him; draw a vial of blood for testing, and do a lung function test."

"Identify the allergen, and treat the specific cause."

"Use modern Inhaled Glucocorticoids to control the airway inflammation."

He rubbed the top of the little girl's head.

"Once the whole process is complete, I guarantee you'll be able to run and jump like a normal child from now on."

"Don't just say twelve years old; you'll live to eighty-two and still be dancing in the square."