Chapter 111: Ending of the Main Story
As late spring arrived, the breeze began to carry a persistent heat, unsettling the mind.
Gu Zhen turned his head and met her smiling eyes. As threads of warmth coursed through him, his Adam’s apple bobbed before he finally nodded. “Alright.”
Their past might have been a mess of mutual suffering, but the road ahead was clear.
The various events of the past, though perhaps not fully forgiven, had to be let go one by one. During those days, neither of them had a good time; one was suffering, while the other was barely holding on.
“There are still decades left. I will… repay you slowly.” Gu Zhen closed his eyes and offered her a smile, a trace of tenderness overflowing from his expression. “But one thing at a time. The future is for the future. As for today’s account, when does Your Majesty plan to settle it with me?”
What account from today?
Zhao Yiyi turned back to look at the field, looking straight ahead and pretending not to know. No matter what the man beside her said, she simply cheered along with the crowd, turning a deaf ear to his voice and refusing to speak.
Gu Zhen stared at her profile and said unhurriedly, “Since Your Majesty isn’t speaking, I shall take it as your silent consent to follow my arrangements.”
At this, Zhao Yiyi suddenly turned her head, glaring at him with a mix of embarrassment and anger. Her chest heaved with indignation before she said with a dark face, “What nonsense are you constantly talking about?”
Gu Zhen pointed to the amber cup on the table and smiled without a word.
Zhao Yiyi’s face instantly turned deep red. She bit her lip, her eyes showing a hint of dissatisfaction. She had inadvertently fed him that Golden Tray Dew mixed with deer blood, but he was the one who drank it himself. Besides, hadn’t she already repaid him just now?
Thinking of how she felt as if her bones were falling apart earlier, Zhao Yiyi still felt a lingering fear. She said indignantly, “Wasn’t I already at your disposal just now?”
As she spoke, her voice grew quieter, taking on a soft, trailing tone. Her face was so red it looked like it could drip blood, and by the end, she could hardly speak.
Gu Zhen loved seeing her like this—embarrassed and anxious. His heart stirred, and just as he was about to speak, he realized the matches below had already ended. The crowd was surging everywhere like a tide.
Before long, Prince Yan squeezed through the crowd and returned, smiling at him. “Imperial Brother, Ming Chen blamed me for taking the field and ruining his luck. He said I made it so he couldn’t even touch the ball and wants to settle the score with me.”
Gu Zhen was too lazy to acknowledge him, only giving a brief sideways glance.
“I told him it was Imperial Brother who ordered me to go up, so he should take it up with you,” Prince Yan continued. “I figured he wouldn’t dare, and sure enough, he didn’t follow me back.”
Gu Zhen suddenly let out a laugh. He looked Prince Yan up and down and said calmly, “You certainly know how to deflect.” He glanced at the now-empty drilling grounds. “You still have time to laugh at others? It seems to me that you didn’t score a single goal either.”
Prince Yan hadn’t expected him to be counting. His expression stiffened as he laughed awkwardly. “Imperial Brother knows I was never good at—”
Gu Zhen said, “That wasn’t what I heard you say back in Chang’an.”
Prince Yan was stunned. For a moment, he vaguely recalled telling the Empress back in Chang’an that as a youth, he didn’t care for his studies and only loved games like polo.
That was so long ago, yet Imperial Brother still remembered. Although his brother’s memory was legendary, Prince Yan felt that the calm voice carried more than just memory. There seemed to be a hint of irritation.
“Never mind,” Gu Zhen waved his hand and said solemnly. “You may leave.”
As the crowd below chatted in small groups, Zhao Yiyi was about to stand up when Gu Zhen squeezed her wrist. He said with a faint smile, “Where is Your Majesty looking?”
Zhao Yiyi frowned and tried to pull her hand back but couldn’t break free. She gave up and said crossly, “What are you doing now?”
No matter what happened, he always had to make a scene, showing no regard for his status as the Emperor of Great Chu. He acted just like a jealous woman.
Gu Zhen grasped her slender wrist and leaned in. His voice carried a grit-toothed intensity. “Don’t think I don’t know the thoughts he harbors toward you.”
Zhao Yiyi lowered her head and remained silent.
Gu Zhen forced her to look at him. To say he didn’t know what intentions others had toward the woman he truly loved was naturally a lie. He just chose not to speak of it. As a man, even if he were different from others, how could he not understand those little thoughts? Gu Qi hid it well, but sometimes a person’s eyes couldn’t lie.
They certainly couldn’t lie to him.
“Then what do you want?” Zhao Yiyi suddenly asked him. “Even if it were true, what could you do?”
Gu Zhen suddenly lost his voice.
One was his wife, his sweetheart whom he couldn’t bear to hurt in the slightest. The other was his imperial brother, his right-hand man. Moreover, nothing inappropriate had actually happened between them.
As things stood, besides occasionally making life difficult for Gu Qi to vent his frustration, he had no other recourse. Even back in Chang’an, when Gu Qi occasionally accompanied Yiyi out, it had been by his own suggestion.
For the first time, Gu Zhen experienced the feeling of shooting himself in the foot. He possessed a rare treasure that he wanted to cherish and hide away, unable to bear having outsiders catch even a glimpse of her, let alone hurt her. He only wanted her to be a delicate flower under his protection.
Yet there was a wolf outside, eyeing that treasure with greed. And that wolf was one he had personally brought in.
Gu Zhen was so stifled he felt like he might cough up blood, but his face remained calm. He smiled at her. “Yiyi, I am capable of jealousy.”
He had said similar things before, but always regarding Lu Xianshan, and sometimes with a joking tone that made it hard to tell truth from lies. Or he would grit his teeth, his eyes red with anger.
She would empathize, worrying that Gu Zhen would eventually grow bored like she had and choose to escape. Gu Zhen felt the same. This was the first time he appeared calm and at peace while saying such a thing, even though he was clearly angry.
After a moment of silence, Zhao Yiyi said, “There is nothing between him and me worth your jealousy.”
Gu Zhen knew this too. She and Lu Xianshan could be called childhood sweethearts; with Gu Qi, they were nothing of the sort. Aside from their brief time in Chang’an.
In an instant, Gu Zhen felt comfortable again. He knew in his heart that what he sought—what he craved—was simply an attitude from her. Nothing more.
“Come with me.” Seeing the crowd moving below, Gu Zhen suddenly took her hand and led her down.
They passed through the drilling grounds, the crowds, the bamboo groves, and the palaces until they arrived before a palace that was somewhat familiar yet felt brand new. There were no palace servants behind them. In the gentle eastern wind, only the two of them stood side by side.
Zhao Yiyi looked around before shading her brow with her hand to look up. When she saw the words “Jiao Fang Palace” on the plaque, she was visibly stunned. She hadn’t seen those three words in a long time. They were both familiar and strange.
Seeing her staring daze-like, Gu Zhen gave a slight tug on her hand and led her across the vermillion threshold.
The cassia trees in the courtyard, the wisteria trellis in the corner, the pear blossoms as white as new snow, and the swing set nestled in the pear grove… everything was exactly as it had been.
After walking a circle, Gu Zhen led her into the hall.
The lotus bathing pool built of jade, the night-luminescent pearls embedded in the walls, the light gauze curtains like mist and fog—there was even the half-man-tall coral, the famous qins hanging on half a wall, and the curios on the display shelves. The layout was the same as before, but a certain indefinable quality told her it was different. It could be described as jade paving the floors and orchids filling the rooms.
In the past, though it had been majestic and grand, it only met the standard protocol for an Empress. It had nothing to do with such luxury.
“Do you like it?”
A gentle whisper came to her ear. Zhao Yiyi turned to look at him and asked softly, “When did you finish setting this up?” She had passed by a while ago, and the place was still surrounded by screens, seemingly unfinished. In the blink of an eye, it was already…
Zhao Yiyi took two steps forward, gently touching a seven-stringed qin in the “Waterfall and String of Pearls” style. She recognized it as the one she had personally started carving. She had only finished half of it before getting distracted by various matters and setting it aside.
Now, it sat here completely finished. She lightly plucked the strings; hearing the sound and seeing the color, she knew it was an excellent instrument.
“Fortunately, you left it at the Directorate of Construction back then, so it wasn’t destroyed in the fire,” Gu Zhen said, walking up and speaking in a low voice. “This task seemed easy, but once I personally took over, I realized how meticulous and difficult it was.”
Zhao Yiyi understood then—he had finished the other half himself. She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly stinging, and she blinked several times.
“It’s been finished for a few days, but I wanted to let it air out. There were many small details in the inner room that needed adjustment, so I didn’t have you move in immediately.” Gu Zhen’s powerful arm encircled her waist, and he asked softly, “Yiyi, do you like it? Move in today, alright?”
He knew she was used to her old palace and had many discomforts in Yande Hall, even if she never said it and only quietly had people change things. Every decoration and every arrangement here had been personally adjusted by him; he hadn’t dared to leave it to others.
Those words were half-truth and half-lie. Gu Zhen had always harbored a secret hope: that once they reconciled, he would bring Yiyi here. He wanted a chance to start over.
“Yiyi,” Gu Zhen called her in a low voice. “Everything is new. We can also start over.”
Under the shimmering light, the man as handsome as a deity smiled at her, his deep phoenix eyes filled with endless warmth.
Outside the window was a field of snow-white pear blossoms falling in the wind. In a daze, Zhao Yiyi saw the spring day from years ago—it was that same person, standing under the pear tree and smiling at her. The blossoms fell on his shoulders, making him look as gentle as jade.
Between the two of them, even if there had been much unpleasantness and many conflicts… the mutual taunts and the despair in their hearts had been felt by both. Since they had decided to let go, they should look forward.
Since he had said that no matter how well he treated her it wouldn’t be enough, and that he would spend a lifetime making it up to her, Zhao Yiyi thought she should listen to him for once.
The light was suddenly a bit piercing. Zhao Yiyi’s eyelashes trembled as she looked up at him, nodding slowly. “Alright.”
With this “alright,” she finally let go of the past. The road ahead was long, and she decided to walk it with him. It wasn’t just because he had protected her with his life at the pagoda that day, nor was it solely for his stubbornness in risking his life during the Jiao Fang Palace fire. This time, what she wanted to respond to was him as a person.
Time was long, but after all the wandering, the person before her was still him.
Gu Zhen gave a low laugh and suddenly pulled her into his arms, one hand supporting the back of her head as he pressed against her tender lips, grinding and kissing incessantly. Zhao Yiyi was so overwhelmed she couldn’t speak. She could only press her hands against him, yet she couldn’t find the strength to push him away.
As the kiss continued, her body was the first to go soft, leaning limply in his arms. Her weak hands only clutched his robes. Having gone through an ordeal just this morning, her body began to tremble slightly after only a moment.
During a gap between kisses, Zhao Yiyi looked at him with misty eyes and whispered, “No more.”
“I haven’t finished settling this morning’s account with you yet.” Gu Zhen lightly patted her waist, but in the next second, he swept her up in his arms and strode toward the bedchamber.
They had toured all of Jiao Fang Palace today, only leaving out the bedchamber. Looking inside now, she saw that red candles were lit, and the items on the table looked familiar. She wasn’t a young girl anymore; she naturally recognized the wine, food, and vessels needed for a wedding.
Zhao Yiyi turned to look at him, the hands around his neck slowly losing their grip.
Gu Zhen said, “I hope Your Majesty will give me face and drink the nuptial cup with me.”
Since they were starting over, everything should be brand new. Today truly felt like their wedding day—a wedding between two people who were mutual in their feelings.
Zhao Yiyi’s face reddened. She pushed him hard and snapped, “Who wants to drink that wine with you?”
Despite her words, when she was placed on his lap and the white jade cup was brought to her lips, she couldn’t help but open her mouth and drain the peach blossom wine in one gulp. The wine wasn’t strong and had a faint fragrance, but Zhao Yiyi was not a good drinker. This one cup was enough to leave her leaning in Gu Zhen’s arms without any strength.
By the time she regained her composure, she realized the ties of her outer robe had been undone, and a large, rough palm had slipped inside. She flushed and twisted her body to escape, but was swept up by Gu Zhen again and placed on the silk quilt. Her body sank into the softness, as if wrapped in countless clouds.
“I said that I must settle this morning’s remaining account with Your Majesty clearly.” When he took her hand and made her touch him, Zhao Yiyi was incredibly embarrassed. Contrary to her expectations, however, her skirt was lifted first.
Gu Zhen pinched her waist and leaned down first, serving her with gentle care. Only after her interest was piqued did he dare look after himself. The flickering red candles and swaying shadows revealed the scars and marks on his body.
Zhao Yiyi was tossed around, changing positions and forms several times. By the time her voice was hoarse, she finally understood—he had never intended to let her off today. From the beginning, even if she hadn’t drunk that wine, he wouldn’t have. Those few cups of wine just gave him an excuse—a dignified excuse to use when she tried to escape or act spoiled.
In the end, it was always going to come to this.
“How can you lie to me?” she accused him weakly.
Seeing her soft and pitiable state with spring-like eyes, Gu Zhen leaned down to kiss the corners of her eyes, sucking away a stray tear. He coaxed her into calling him “Husband” twice before finally retreating with reluctance to carry her to the bathing room.
After washing up, Zhao Yiyi was already so exhausted she fell into a deep sleep.
Gu Zhen sat by the bed, wiping the last bit of moisture from the tips of her hair. Hearing her unconsciously call out “Husband,” his expression gradually softened.
The days ahead were long. He had decades to walk properly with Yiyi. He also had decades to make up for those three years.
Thinking this, Gu Zhen suddenly set aside the towel, leaned down, and pressed a whisper-soft kiss on the corner of her lips.
T/n: Side stories will follow
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