Chapter 7

Chapter 7

My hands were cold, but he held them tightly. He did not laugh at me. He only said, “Don’t be afraid. Open your eyes slowly.”

The Milky Way stretched across the sky, entering my sight like a painting, boundless and endless.

Following his instruction, I did not look down. Gradually, I relaxed a little.

Even so, I still sat very carefully, very tensely, afraid I might fall if I was careless.

Zhao Ling smiled. “Even if you did fall, We would be able to hold on to you.”

He leaned back with careless ease, half reclining with his arm as a pillow. His chin was lifted, the line of it smooth and elegant.

Zhao Ling had fine, handsome features, flawless as white jade, his eyes bright as stars.

He must have taken after his father. I had heard that the Former Prince of Yi had been a strikingly handsome man.

Back then, he had been quite renowned in Luoyang.

Unfortunately, he died young, and his eldest son inherited the princely title.

That night, Zhao Ling had drunk wine, and he told me some amusing stories from the old days at Prince Yi’s Residence.

His eldest brother had inherited the title as a child, and so he had grown mature beyond his years, rather stern and severe.

Zhao Ling and his second brother often opposed him. They would secretly put insects they had caught into his tea, then watch as he calmly drank it without batting an eye.

The two of them thought he had not noticed and were immensely pleased with themselves-until dinner, when they bit into a pancake and found half a fat worm inside. As they gagged with their fingers down their throats, they finally saw the faint smile at the corner of their eldest brother’s mouth.

On snowy days, their eldest brother would watch them playing in the snow inside the residence, then call them over and instruct them to fill a few jars with snow from the eaves to brew tea with later.

But once they climbed up, he would order the servants to take away the ladder and let them figure out how to get down on their own.

…

Their father had died young. Though the eldest brother inherited the princely title, one of his legs was crippled, leaving him lame, and so Emperor Xuanzong disliked him.

Emperor Xuanzong had many children, and he himself was an emperor without real power.

Originally, their eldest brother had taken them to their fief, where they kept several thousand private soldiers and lived self-sufficiently enough.

Until men from Luoyang came and seized his second brother.

The eldest brother loved and protected his younger brothers. He led the soldiers of the residence to resist, but he was no match for their forces.

They even cut off that crippled leg of his.

Before long, his eldest brother passed away.

Not long after that, word of his second brother’s death came from Luoyang.

It was said that Prince Liang and Prince Qing had fallen into disagreement over political affairs, and Zhao Ling’s second brother became the sacrifice, poisoned to death by Prince Qing.

Then Prince Liang killed Prince Qing, and in turn pushed Zhao Ling onto the throne.

This was the first time Zhao Ling had ever told me these things.

I knew what it meant. In his heart, I was no longer one of Prince Liang’s people.

In the third year after our wedding, he finally began trying to trust me.

After that, Zhao Ling began staying the night at Jiaofang Hall.

However, nothing happened between us.

Most nights, we played chess, discussed poetry and essays, and after the night deepened, I would grow drowsy and he would carry me to the bed.

As for him, he merely slept on the long couch beyond the screen.

Song Youshu also began coming to Jiaofang Hall.

Zhao Ling refused to see her, so she stood outside the hall, all alone.

The frost was heavy, and autumn was deep. After nightfall, it was still very cold.

I urged Zhao Ling to go out and see her, but his attitude was rather cold.

Though I did not know exactly what had happened between them, I could not bear it in the end. I ordered Bao Li to bring a cloak, then went out to try to persuade her.

Song Youshu was usually very deferential toward me. But this time, she was exceedingly proud and aloof.

“This concubine has nothing to say to you, Empress. Do you think His Majesty truly likes you? He is only angry with me, that is all. Once his anger fades, he will surely return to my side.”