chapter 3
chapter 3
Qi Haoyan took one bite of pastry and said nothing for a long time. His expression revealed neither pleasure nor disgust.
I could not read him at all.
“Does Your Majesty not like them?”
“Of course I do. I used to envy Young Master Li whenever you made pastries for him.”
He looked up, eyes shining.
“I would think to myself, whoever marries Ah Zhao will be the most fortunate man alive. I never imagined that fortune would fall to me.”
His praise sent me floating so high that I forgot why I had come.
Qi Haoyan took my hand again and said carefully, “These pastries are a token of Ah Zhao’s affection, so I will treasure them. But you needn’t tire yourself so. It pains me to see you work. I am not like Young Master Li, who never knew when to be satisfied.
“Knowing you care is enough to make me happy.”
The words struck straight into my heart.
Young Master Li, the Grand Tutor’s son, had been famously aloof. Aside from delivering pastries, I had spent most of my time facing his stern little scholar’s expression. With no other way to please him, I had baked constantly and exhausted myself.
Of course, I did not know then that my pastries tasted so peculiar that every time he ate one, his face turned red from the effort of not spitting it out in front of me.
By comparison, Qi Haoyan was the sweetest little darling imaginable.
He praised me beautifully, spoke even more beautifully, and valued the fruits of my labor.
I basked in his compliments all day and, in a dreamy haze that night, indulged his complete lack of restraint.
Only the next morning did I jolt awake.
He had personally issued the marriage edict. He was the one planning to strike against my family!
Beauty truly did lead people astray.
Still, I had to remain close to the emperor if I wanted to find his weakness and carve out a path to survival for my clan.
So I returned to the imperial study under the noble pretext of keeping His Majesty company.
…
I had only reached for the inkstone when Qi Haoyan caught my hand.
“How could hands as delicate as Ah Zhao’s perform such coarse work?”
He moved the inkstone away. When his peach-blossom eyes settled on me, their tenderness could have drowned a person.
“The richest merchant’s son often made you help copy his account books, did he not? Every time I saw it, I thought that if it were me, I would never make you toil so.”
There it was again!
The handsome-man trap!
Run!
I tried to pull my hand free, but Qi Haoyan pressed a kiss to my palm.
“I have no wish to tire Ah Zhao. You need only do what makes you happy.”
Mother, I could not withstand this!
By the time I recovered my senses, I was sitting on Qi Haoyan’s lap, enveloped in his scent.
He lifted a strand of my long hair and tied it together with his own. Then he raised his eyes to mine.
“Ah Zhao, does this count as binding our hair as husband and wife, our love forever free of doubt?”
I was sorry, but it was not that my willpower was weak.
My opponent was simply too strong.
“Ah Zhao.”
Qi Haoyan softened his voice to a murmur and breathed my name.
No!
Do not fall for the handsome-man trap!
I snapped awake, shoved him away, gathered my skirts, and fled.
“Ow!”
In my haste, I ran straight into someone.
I looked up into a pair of clear eyes. More importantly, the stranger had a rather lovely face and a faint smile as refreshing as a mountain breeze.
Who was this pretty young gentleman?
He was quite handsome—exactly my type. If I ever escaped the palace, perhaps I could discuss his marrying into my family.
The pretty young gentleman spoke in a dry voice.
“My lady, your hand is resting somewhere it ought not.”
I blinked and looked down. My palm was planted squarely on his chest.
Hm?
Something seemed wrong.
“Young Master, you have remarkably sturdy pectorals.”
The pretty young gentleman said nothing.
“What are you doing?!”
The shout behind me made me spring away. I turned stiffly.
Sure enough, Qi Haoyan stood there, staring daggers at us.
This had gone badly.
Caught in the act, I could abandon all hope of a future with the pretty young gentleman.
“Taiping, what are you doing here?” Qi Haoyan demanded. “I told you to stop wandering around the palace disguised as a man.”
Disguised as a man!
It felt as if five thunderbolts had struck me at once.
I turned to stare at my refreshing young gentleman.
“This must be my imperial sister-in-law.”
She smiled, bowed to me, and drifted away, leaving me in utter disarray.
What was worse than being caught ogling a handsome young man?
Discovering that the handsome young man was, in fact, a woman in disguise.
“She is gone. How much longer does Ah Zhao intend to stare?”
Qi Haoyan tugged gently at my sleeve. Before I could answer, he lowered his head like a stray puppy abandoned on the street.
“I understand. Ah Zhao does not like me. Even my face disgusts you, does it not? It is all right. I understand perfectly.”
Seeing him so wounded made my heart soften. In the end, I spent a very long time coaxing him in the imperial study and had to offer several kisses before he finally recovered.