Chapter 4
A flash of bright yellow robes crossed my vision, and that familiar face appeared before me.
Panic filled his expression as he swam desperately toward me.
His rich voice was taut with urgency. “Zhuozhuo, do not be afraid. I am here!”
After he pulled me ashore, I clutched my chest and coughed violently, tears spilling from the corners of my eyes.
At the sight of his face, I let an appropriately timed flicker of shock enter my gaze.
“Y-you are His Majesty?”
The emperor crushed me against his chest. His hands trembled faintly as he gave a quiet hum of assent.
The candidates remained kneeling in greeting. The emperor did not tell them to rise, and the surroundings fell deathly still.
Zhou Lanzhi could bear it no longer. She stood. “Cousin, she did it deliberately! I did not push her. She threw herself in on purpose!”
The emperor rose with me in his arms and gave her an icy look.
“We can still tell true drowning from false!”
Indeed, not one part of my reaction had been feigned. I had feared water since childhood, so my response to choking on it had been entirely real.
Zhou Lanzhi looked wounded. “Cousin, you do not believe me! We grew up together and have always been closer than others. What reason would I have to harm that ugly creature?”
The other candidates chorused their agreement. Some even dared raise their heads.
“Your Majesty, Sister Zhou is the kindest of us all, steady and virtuous. Miss Shi looks so… ordinary, and she is withdrawn and silent. What reason could Sister Zhou possibly have to persecute—”
I lifted my head, revealing a delicate face washed clean by the water. The candidate fell abruptly silent, her eyes wide with shock.
Gasps rang out all around us. Everyone but the emperor opened their mouths without realizing it.
After all, the emperor had already seen my true face at the temple.
My sister had been the greatest beauty in the capital. How could I possibly be her inferior?
The emperor carried me into the nearest palace hall. Along the way, he thoughtfully used his imperial robe to conceal the curves exposed by my soaked clothes.
Since ancient times, not even the most favored consort had ever worn the emperor’s imperial robe.
Zhou Lanzhi’s eyes reddened with fury. Standing behind us, she shouted, “Cousin, that wretch has deceived her sovereign! She deliberately used some substance to hide her looks. Perhaps she has a lover outside the palace and never wanted to enter—”
The emperor stiffened for an instant. He lowered his gaze to me, something meaningful in his eyes.
I met his gaze, blushed furiously, and buried my face in his chest. The corner of my mouth curved upward.
Zhou Lanzhi’s assistance could not have been better timed. She had insisted on reminding the emperor yet again of my feelings for him.
After taking my pulse, the imperial physician cautiously reported that I was unharmed and would recover after drinking some medicine. My reaction to drowning had simply been severe, so I needed several days of rest.
Once the physician left, tears blurred my eyes, and I coughed lightly a few more times.
“S-sir… Your Majesty, I do not know how I offended Miss Zhou. I had never met her before today, yet she acted so viciously and tried to kill me.”
I sniffed and drew another shallow, trembling breath.
“You know I told you before that I have feared water since childhood. Once I fall in, I cannot struggle at all…”
The emperor gathered me into his arms with aching tenderness. He stroked my cold cheek and frowned deeply.
“Zhuozhuo, Zhou Lanzhi has been like this since childhood. Do not worry. I will give you justice.”
When the selection ended, the chosen women returned home to await news of their investiture, while those not selected were free to marry.
The imperial decrees arrived in less than five days.
Zhou Lanzhi received only the rank of Consort of the Second Degree, far short of the position of empress the Marquis of Cheng’en’s household had expected.
Most astonishing of all, the emperor also made me a consort, placing me on equal footing with Zhou Lanzhi, the legitimate daughter of a marquis’s household.
I smiled faintly. It seemed the emperor’s feelings for me ran deeper than I had imagined.