Chapter 3
Two months later, I arrived in the capital in a carriage covered with blue cloth.
The Wang household had prepared rooms for me, but I had no desire to be married from that house.
Perhaps the ritual officials had grown accustomed to the emperor’s absurd behavior. They raised no objection to my own breach of convention and obligingly pitched the female attendants’ tents outside the separate estate where I was staying.
The day of the ceremony dawned cloudless, with a mild and pleasant breeze.
Its only flaw was that I stood alone on the high platform.
The ritual officials scurried about in a panic.
“His Majesty! Where is His Majesty?”
After standing for an hour beneath a massive pearl-studded phoenix crown, I finally couldn’t bear it anymore.
“May I ask whether my status as empress depends on the documents or the ceremony?”
The officials exchanged glances. At last, they pushed forward a man with a graying beard to answer.
“Your Highness, it naturally depends on the formal investiture and the seal and ribbon.”
Relieved, I said, “Good. Then we may begin the ceremony. This crown is very heavy.”
The officials exchanged another round of glances.
In the end, the emperor’s youngest uncle, the Prince of Hexi, stepped forward and had me complete the ceremony alone.
The rites were lengthy, and we lost another hour to delays. By the time Yuanyuan helped me into Penglai Palace, dusk had fallen.
The maids removed my hair ornaments and helped me bathe.
Once my hair was dry, I burrowed under the covers with a sigh of contentment.
At that very moment, a pair of hands lifted the bed curtains.
“Yuanyuan?”
No one answered. Then my quilt was lifted too.
Instinctively, I caught the intruder’s hand. It was cool and broad-boned. Almost immediately, I knew it belonged to a man—but not a man trained in martial arts.
The thought flashed through my mind as I sprang up, pinned him to the bed, and pressed my knee against his legs to keep him still.
He struggled once, but he was no match for me.
I reached for the candlestick. Its flame flickered across a face as lovely as peach blossoms.
Our eyes met. The young man suddenly froze, and his struggles faltered too.
Only when I demanded an answer in a cold voice did he flare up.
“Release your emperor!”
Startled, I lowered the light. All I saw was a moon-white outer robe without a single ornament.
“You’re the emperor? Can you prove it?”
“I need proof? Who else could walk freely into Penglai Palace?”
Half convinced, I loosened my grip a little.
“Then why are you sneaking around?”
He went still. His handsome, narrow eyes fixed on me.
As if that weren’t enough, he pulled his right hand free of my relaxed grasp, brushed my cheek with his fingertips, and said with deliberate insolence:
“What am I here for? To see what my empress is capable of, naturally—”
Thump!
Instinctively, I shoved him down hard again.
“Wang Jingwan!”
He cried my name furiously, in pain. Yet he couldn’t free himself, and anger flushed both his cheeks, like a rosy glow through jade.
I did still fear his position and was about to let go when he half raised his face, shot me a vicious look, and suddenly slammed his head into my chin.
My vision went black.
The world spun. Soft brocade suddenly enclosed my body.
Slowly, my sight cleared.
And there before me was…
My own face.