Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Liu Cong’s eighteenth birthday happened to coincide with another victorious return by Xiao Chuo. The celebration of my father’s triumph was grander than the emperor’s own birthday banquet.
Liu Cong’s pride was fierce. I knew he would raise every quill on his body and stab anyone who approached.
Rather than invite his temper, I left the banquet without returning to Kunning Palace. Carrying two wine jars, I headed for the Emerald Pavilion in the imperial garden to admire the moon.
Halfway there, I found Liu Cong drinking alone beside the imperial river.
He saw me and ordered, “Xiao Lingyue, leave the wine.”
I contradicted him out of habit. “And who are you to tell me what to do?”
Instead of exploding and selecting an elegant insult from his storehouse of idioms, he merely said, “Oh.” Then he looked away and stared blankly at the thousand river lanterns drifting over the water.
I had always responded better to softness than force. Seeing him like that stirred an inexplicable sympathy. I sat down beside him with the jars. “Here. You’re the emperor. You’re the greatest. Whatever you say.”
Surprised, he paused before taking one and drinking. His smile was bitter. “Your father is the greatest. Everyone obeys him.”
I had no answer, so I poured some wine into my own mouth. It was unexpectedly strong and sent me into a violent fit of coughing.
Liu Cong watched in speechless disbelief. Only when I seemed on the verge of choking to death did he condescend to pat my back.
When I finally recovered, I complained, “What kind of awful wine is this? If it isn’t fruity and floral, it shouldn’t be allowed past anyone’s lips.”
He gave a derisive laugh.
I was never a strong drinker. I had sampled pear-blossom wine at the banquet and now taken a large mouthful of this unknown spirit. My thoughts soon grew hazy.
The thousand lanterns swayed with the current, scattering starlight across the river like a broken galaxy. I tugged Liu Cong’s sleeve. “Hey. Who released so many lanterns?”
“My aunt. Not… Mother.” His voice was low.
My wine-sodden mind took a moment to understand that both titles referred to the Empress Dowager.
“A birthday gift?”
“Yes.” His voice turned cold. “Mother knows the prophecy about you—that you harm your husband and sovereign. Every year on my birthday, she releases a thousand lanterns and begs the gods and Buddhas to protect me from you.”
Even drunk, I felt a little embarrassed by that icy explanation.
I sat there stupidly. Between the wine and the cold wind, I began to ramble. “It is your birthday, Liu Cong. I didn’t bring you anything, so I’ll give you a little secret.”
He did not react, probably because he had no interest in anything I might say.
I carried on regardless. “You said my father is the greatest and everyone obeys him. That isn’t true. I don’t obey him. I am always trying to ruin his plans. If he hadn’t taken Aunt Fang—the woman I think of as my mother—I would have run away years ago.”
“All I want is to rescue Aunt Fang and wreck every one of Xiao Chuo’s schemes.”
“You see? Xiao Chuo cannot even control his own daughter. He can’t be that formidable.”
For a long moment, nothing moved beside me. Then a hand closed around mine, so cold that I shivered.
Liu Cong’s eyes shone, and the desolation had left his voice. “Xiao Lingyue, I did not mean to insult you on our wedding night. It was the anniversary of my birth mother’s death. I hated Xiao Chuo for forcing me to marry on that day, but I could not oppose him, so I took my anger out on you. I am sorry.”
I patted his shoulder magnanimously. “It’s fine. Making you marry on your mother’s death anniversary was truly vile.”
I hiccupped and leaned close to his ear. “Liu Cong, here’s another secret. My name isn’t Xiao Lingyue. It is Nie Shuang. My family calls me Shuangshuang.”
Another wave of drunkenness rolled over me, and I pitched forward.
The next morning, I woke in the imperial bed at Kunning Palace with a splitting headache and no memory of what had happened. I remembered giving Liu Cong the wine; everything after that was blank.
I asked Wenzhu who had brought me back.
She covered a smile. “His Majesty carried Your Majesty back himself.”
A shiver ran through me. Impossible. Had a monster possessed Liu Cong? Why would he care whether I lived or died?
That evening, when he arrived wearing his usual cold expression, I tested the waters. “Your Majesty, did this consort say anything improper last night?”
He sneered. “My empress should avoid wine from now on. A few mouthfuls, and you clung to a person and refused to let go. A disgraceful spectacle.”
I knew he could not possibly have carried me back of his own accord. I must have locked my arms around him, leaving him no choice but to drag me all the way home.
It was a wonder I had held on so tightly in my sleep and survived the dragging without injury.