Part 3
“How could that be,” someone smiled. “His Majesty came along today; how could she dare? Besides, if she came and was the first among the Princesses to sacrifice, wouldn’t that be better?”
A noble lady who hadn’t spoken beside them signaled for them to lower their voices, then said, “It’s not that she didn’t want to come; she simply couldn’t come!”
Everyone was shocked. It was obvious to all that Grand Princess Linchuan had arrived at the Altar yesterday. Why couldn’t she come today?
The noble lady said, “I passed by her residence this morning and saw people guarding outside. They seemed to be Imperial Guards.”
Everyone felt their hair stand on end, feeling that something significant had happened. They were inevitably curious, but no one knew the specific details.
After the sacrifice, Zhao Yiyi didn’t even eat lunch; she fell directly onto the couch and slept.
Yunzhu estimated the time, thinking she should have slept enough, before waking her for lunch: “Your Ladyship, eat a meal first before sleeping, lest sleeping too much be bad for you.”
Zhao Yiyi nodded woodenly, letting the maid clean her face. After eating the morning meal (served late), she fell asleep again.
She was indeed very tired.
She knew what Yunzhu said about His Majesty sleeping in the outer room last night. She recognized beds; sleeping at the Altar for the first time, even though the bed was soft and comfortable, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Therefore, she naturally knew he hadn’t left, and she had vaguely heard his voice giving orders to the attendants in the outer room.
Yet she felt no joy or any other emotion, only a little bit of annoyance remaining.
The two of them—it was best to stay far apart now. The farther, the better. If they were far apart, perhaps one day she might remember a tiny bit of his good points.
Like now, she only felt more and more annoyed.
Sleeping for another two hours, Zhao Yiyi finally felt much more comfortable physically. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she ordered, “Go prepare. I want to go out riding.”
“Eh,” Yunzhu teased, “Your Ladyship didn’t want to go yesterday and was quite disdainful upon returning. Why do you want to go again today?”
Zhao Yiyi glanced at her, stood up and shook her wrist, scoffing lightly: “You talk too much.”
When the attendant reported that the Empress had gone out riding again, Gu Zhen smiled and simply said, “Let her go. Send some people to follow; don’t let any mishaps occur.” It was good for her to find something to do; that way, her mood might improve.
He didn’t take the matter to heart. However, after reviewing memorials for a while, he ultimately couldn’t rest easy and rode out to follow her.
But he saw a scene that made his heart tremble with fear.
That figure, leading a jujube-red horse, stood on the cliff they had visited yesterday, looking down into the depths of the precipice.
Her red dress fluttered in the wind, and her loose black hair swayed with the breeze—beautiful enough to break one’s heart.
His heart began to beat wildly uncontrollably. Gu Zhen didn’t have time to scold the attendants; he just spurred his horse forward in a panic, jumped off the horse, and suddenly pulled that person back: “Yiyi.”
Caught off guard by his pull, Zhao Yiyi stumbled and almost fell into his arms. Barely stabilizing her figure, she looked back. Seeing his panicked expression, a trace of confusion flashed in Zhao Yiyi’s eyes.
Then she understood and pointed to the depths of the cliff, asking him, “Did Your Majesty think I was going to jump?”
Gu Zhen didn’t answer. His Adam’s apple rolled a few times, but his rapid breathing revealed his worry completely.
He was afraid. He was too afraid.
Just understanding that he liked her, just becoming clear about his feelings, and knowing she didn’t like him—he became even more afraid of losing. Afraid she would truly leave him, leave him behind, abandon him.
Zhao Yiyi smiled: “Your Majesty rest assured. This consort has just been in Luoyang too long. Hearing Your Majesty say that descending this mountain leads out of Luoyang’s territory, I wanted to come here to see what it looks like outside Luoyang.”
This simple sentence made Gu Zhen freeze abruptly. He asked her in a deep voice, “Is being in Luoyang not good?”
Pulling her arm out of his hand and pulling her sleeve out bit by bit, Zhao Yiyi replied, “Luoyang is very good, but it is not what this consort likes.”
She didn’t like Luoyang.
She had liked it before, but later, she liked it less and less.
“Then where do you like?” Gu Zhen softened his voice to ask her. “Zhen can take you there in the future, alright?”
Zhao Yiyi just smiled, glanced down the cliff again, then turned back to mount her horse, quickly disappearing among the trees.
A wave of desolation rose in his heart. Gu Zhen wanted to reach out and stop her. The hand reached into mid-air, but then forcefully shrank back.
He dared not stop her, nor dared he call her.
Their relationship was already terrible enough. If he added a few more strokes to it, it would probably plummet into the abyss.
The Sericulture Rite lasted three days. They departed to return to the capital on the afternoon two days later.
Before leaving, Zhao Yiyi remembered the matter she hadn’t dealt with yet. Intending to go back and settle accounts with Zhao Weimin, she asked softly, “Your Majesty, this consort has not returned home for a long time. Since we are outside the palace today, this consort wishes to visit home once before returning to the palace. Is that alright?”
Gu Zhen said yes.
Since he had agreed, Zhao Yiyi stood up to leave. But she couldn’t walk away; turning back, she realized her sleeve was caught by him.
“Does Your Majesty have a matter?” Zhao Yiyi asked him softly.
Although she hid it well, Gu Zhen was good at discerning hearts and still saw the trace of impatience between her brows. He gave a bitter smile and called her gently, “Yiyi.”
“You once asked Zhen if I ever liked you. At that time, Zhen didn’t answer.” He stared into her eyes, enunciating every word, “The words Zhen didn’t say to you before, Zhen wants to say to you today. Zhen, right now, likes you.”
Zhao Yiyi smiled. Her eyes curved into crescents, and the beauty mark at the tail of her eye tilted up along with them.
She laughed for a long time. Only when the sound of birds chirping came from outside did she say, “But this consort said last time—this consort, right now, no longer likes Your Majesty.”
No longer likes.
Even though he had heard it once, hearing it again still made his heart ache unbearably.
“Zhen…”
She asked again, “Moreover, does Your Majesty know what ‘like’ is? Does Your Majesty truly understand that the feeling you have for this consort now is ‘like’? Does Your Majesty know how to like someone?”
If it was affection, how could there be no reaction for nearly three whole years?
For the first time in his life, Gu Zhen experienced the emotion of fear.
“Yiyi.” He panicked and grabbed her sleeve, a tremor in his voice, endless panic emerging in his eyes. “Zhen didn’t understand what ‘like’ was before. From now on… from now on, you teach Zhen. You tell Zhen, what is true liking… You teach Zhen, how to like someone, alright?”
Author’s Note: It’s a bit late today, chirp chirp babies!!! There are updates every day; if it’s not posted, it’s just not finished typing TvT Today’s update, still 30 small red envelopes~
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