When All the Joy Has Faded

There's a flood in the south, and you're still drinking yourself into this state?" The crown prince was drowning his sorrows, clutching a wine jug as tears and snot streamed down his face, wailing, "Hui Ning, Hui Ning." He was the very picture of a scorned woman! I couldn't take it anymore, so I kicked him again. "If you keep shouting so everyone can hear, you can forget about keeping your position as crown prince!" Instead, he grabbed my hand and pulled me down beside him, then went on and on about his past with Hui Ning. At the end, he clutched my hand, unwilling to accept it, and asked, "Why does she turn a blind eye when I give her all my heart? Qing Huan, haven't I treated her well?" His grip reddened my wrist. His words stirred up wave after wave in my heart, and I wanted to ask him in return: Haven't I treated him well? This was supposed to be a story about three people. Why didn't I, Lin Qinghuan, deserve to have my name in it? I yanked my hand free. "Ji Wu, she is a minister's wife!"