When he finally opened his eyes, the world around him was still shrouded in darkness. Unadulterated panic set itself deep in his bones, until his entire body shook. He had been lied to, again. His body keeled over as he retched whatever had been in the stomach of this body.
No, I need to go back.
Suddenly, his head felt like it was being pierced by millions of cruel little bugs. They crawled and placed themselves in the depths of his brain and with the excruciating pain, they brought memories and clarity.
Slowly, his shaking hands found his eyes covered by a thick layer of gauze. He pulled it down in an almost practiced motion. This time, as he hesitantly opened his eyes, they teared up. Not from the blinding lights or the luxury around him but from the joy of being able to see them.
"Thank you…thank you," he was crying and smiling at the same time. He almost looked like a lunatic. The pain of his mind being forcefully merged with another, the uncomfortable feeling of being in a different world, none of it mattered. He could see. This time, fate was not as making amends.
He lay on the floor, holding his head in his hands for a long time. When he finally got up, he walked to the bronze mirror in the room. His face looked almost the same, only his skin was not tanned and gritty. His eyes were a ghastly shade of grey, for a moment, he thought he was going blind again. His hair was too long, held up by a white jade hair crown. He was still trying to make sense of his memories.
Presently, he was the eldest prince of Li Dynasty in the kingdom of Great Lian. Yes, the eldest prince, not the crown prince. The first son of the empress was not crowned the crown prince. The system had not been truthful to him, his life in this world was not going to be much easier than the last.
He sighed soundlessly and tied the blindfold back in place. He sat on the silk lined bed and sorted his thoughts.
He made a hypothesis of his current situation. When the souls split, the division was not equal. The soul he had, had suffered from illness, poverty, loneliness, and hatred because in this world, his soul got a good life. However, fate was not biased in the splitting. This body, too, had suffered. He had not gotten the wealth of wisdom and was not cunning. The original soul had fallen victim to palace politics, thus losing his right to the throne.
The past could not be changed but the future was yet to come. His soul was complete. He would pay back all debts in due time.
The voice of a man came from outside the room. "His majesty, Son of the Heaven, the Emperor, has arrived."
Hearing those words, Li Min got up from the bed and kneeled at its foot. With the blindfold on, he couldn't see who accompanied the king but he was sure he was hearing two separate footsteps.
"This prince greets his majesty, the Heaven's son," he said. He noticed the king falter in his steps.
"Rise." The king's voice, seasoned from years in his position was naturally commanding but it held a rare gentleness as he continued, "Lanzhou, forgive father for failing to protect you again."
Li Min, courtesy name Lanzhou, smiled gently towards the sound of the voice and spoke. When he wasn't shouting or agitated, his voice held a serene sweetness that was hard to miss. "Imperial father, it is my own incompetence that has caused your worries. Please accept my apology."
The king sighed and walked towards his son. A heavy hand was placed on Li Min's shoulders. "What use is the crown if we cannot keep our promise to your mother?" Li Min did not wish to respond and the emperor did not wait for him to.
He looked at the wet blindfold covering his eyes and said, "Is…it permanent?" While he couldn't see, he understood what was being asked. He nodded, his smile growing softer by many degrees, "The blindfold can be removed but I will not recover my eyes."
This was the most crucial memory in this body. He had been poisoned a week before his coronation ceremony. The slow acting poison was not supposed to kill him, but rather, make him unfit for the crown. What should have been a day of joy, the crowning of a prince, had become a day of mourning.
On his walk to the dragon altar, he fainted. His vision went black, never to see light again. When the imperial doctors declared his ailment, they sealed his fate. A disabled man could live but he couldn't adorn yellow robes and rule.
Thankfully, the system had been kind. Why, then, was he pretending to be blind? Well, isn't it better to hide your best cards for last?
The king's eyes had been wet as he held his son in his arms. In front of the imperial doctors, a father cried for his son, a king wept with his son to his bosom.
Presently, however, standing before Li Min was not his father but the imperial father. He would not weep, he would only think of the future.
The other man, upon seeing the king nod at him, knelt in front of Li Min.
"This subordinate, Mu Cheng, greets your highness, Prince of Anding." The young man's voice quivered slightly. The Prince of Anding, 'order', what a joke. He was nothing more than a tale full of woe to these people.
"He will be your personal servant from now on," the king declared. "Your majesty, I already have enough-" Li Min remembered his subordinates from the memories. He had not yet met them, but he had started to see those memories as his own.
"They failed to protect you yet again. After receiving their punishment, they will be sent back to your palace, but until then, we cannot leave you without aid." Especially not in this state, he thought but didn't add.
Since the king was not leaving room for debate, Li Min begrudgingly accepted the emperor's spy. "I am grateful for imperial father's grace."
Lanzhou, my orchid, promise your mother to trust no one. Those were his mother's last words. No one, not even his father, could be trusted. The original owner had not kept this promise but now he would.