Chapter 20: Unraveling the Threads
The courtyard was filled with pine and cypress trees. Reflected in the moonlight and the candlelight from the hall, the shadowy trees outside swayed gently, casting distinct silhouettes on the window.
After giving his instructions, Gu Zhen fell silent, his phoenix eyes half-closed, his handsome face bearing a cold expression.
From Wu Mao’s perspective, she could only see the reflection of his thick eyelashes under his eyes. Having been by the Emperor’s side for many years, she could tell that he was in a bad mood.
She just didn’t know whether this bad mood was due to the ministers’ deliberate probing, the repeated offenses of the Marquis of Huai’an, or perhaps because the Marquis of Huai’an, as the Empress’s father, made it difficult for the Emperor to explain things to the Empress.
She immediately dismissed this thought. The Empress wasn’t that important to the Emperor, was she…?
Seeing the Emperor get up, Wu Mao asked, “It’s late. Is Your Majesty going to rest?”
“To Jiao Fang Palace.” After dropping these words, Gu Zhen walked out without stopping, his steps even somewhat hurried.
Wu Mao was greatly surprised. Suppressing her inner tremor, she quickly followed.
Zhao Yiyi’s琴弦 (qínxián -琴弦, strings of a zither) had broken a few days ago, and she had just had new ones put on today. She was holding her zither in the room, testing the sound and adjusting the pegs. After testing for a while, she softly said, “The middle string made in the palace is clearly inferior to the other strings.”
She placed the zither on her lap and said with a hint of nostalgia, “There’s a shop in the East Market of Chang’an that sells zither strings. The middle strings they make have a particularly clear and bright sound. When my grandfather was alive, he always bought strings from that shop. I wonder if it’s still open.”
“Since Your Majesty finds it good, why not send someone to Chang’an to check?” Mancao put away the remaining strings and smiled, “If it’s still open, buy more and store them.”
Zhao Yiyi smiled, lowered her head and plucked the strings, without responding.
It wasn’t nostalgia for the shop; she was merely reminiscing about the time she spent in Chang’an with her grandparents. Those were carefree days, filled with the love of her father and mother, when she was the enviable eldest daughter of the Zhao family.
In her memory, even the spring light of Chang’an seemed brighter than elsewhere.
It was also in Chang’an that she experienced her first heart-fluttering moment, meeting the person who had captured her heart for many years.
Even if that person had only smiled at her, she had fallen for him uncontrollably.
The palace doors were closed, and the clear sound of the zither drifted out from the window. Gu Zhen stopped outside the hall, carefully listening for a moment, recognizing that she was playing Yi Lan Cao (猗蘭操 – a piece of music).
“The Empress is in a good mood today.” Only after the song ended did Gu Zhen enter the inner hall, walking slowly to Zhao Yiyi’s side.
His sudden appearance startled Zhao Yiyi. She quickly got up to greet him, then softly complained, “Your Majesty came in without sending someone to announce it. This concubine could have come out to greet you.”
The palace maids had silently retreated when the Emperor entered. Gu Zhen stared at her slender hands that had been playing the zither, his brows softening slightly. “I heard you playing the zither and didn’t want to disturb you, so I didn’t have anyone announce my arrival.”
Because she didn’t know the Emperor would suddenly come, Zhao Yiyi wasn’t particularly dressed up. After washing, she only wore a ivory-white gauze shirt over a fitted top, and a gray silk pomegranate-patterned skirt.
A small green calyx velvet flower was pinned in her slightly damp hair.
It made her look especially elegant.
Gu Zhen shifted his gaze to the green calyx flower and said softly, “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard the Empress play the zither.”
“Your Majesty is busy with state affairs, you probably didn’t notice,” Zhao Yiyi looked up at him, then lowered her eyelashes again. “This concubine plays the zither every day. The palace servants in Jiao Fang Palace all know this.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Gu Zhen’s eyes suddenly darken.
He suddenly approached, and Zhao Yiyi had to retreat until her back hit the zither stand, leaving her nowhere to go. She timidly looked at him, “Your Majesty…”
Gu Zhen ignored her soft voice. He suddenly grabbed her wrist, leaning down, “Does the Empress mean that I’ve neglected you these days?”
She hadn’t thought that at all.
Zhao Yiyi’s face was somewhat astonished. Looking at Gu Zhen’s slightly sharp brows, she said aggrievedly, “This concubine has not.”
“Oh, really?” Gu Zhen gently caressed her smooth skin, then suddenly let out a cold laugh. “But I feel that the Empress is becoming increasingly less respectful of me.”
Her wrist was held a little too tightly, and Zhao Yiyi struggled, but couldn’t break free.
“Your Majesty is the Emperor of Da Chu. Who wouldn’t be respectful to Your Majesty?” Zhao Yiyi didn’t know what was wrong with him; it was as if he was inexplicably angry with her. Therefore, when she spoke, there was a touch of defiance.
When she needed him, she clasped his hand tightly. Once she didn’t need him, she immediately turned and avoided him, not even looking at him again. Like now, she had even forgotten what she had done.
Gu Zhen suddenly smiled, reached out and brushed her face, softly saying, “Yes, the Empress knows.”
She had really improved; she had even learned to get angry at him.
Before, the Empress would only redden her eyes and desperately explain that she hadn’t done anything wrong. That kind of demeanor only made him want to tease her even more.
Forget it if she didn’t understand. He couldn’t question her in an unbecoming way. Anyway, he didn’t really care about the Empress’s thoughts. It was just that he felt a little uncomfortable being treated like this during the day.
Well, it was just the discomfort of something that had been long accustomed to suddenly changing.
Zhao Yiyi bit her lip, looking at her wrist, which he had grasped red, and awkwardly looked away.
Today, it was clearly his unpredictable mood, his sudden change of heart. Even if he was angry, she should be the one angry.
“This zither isn’t very good,” Gu Zhen casually plucked a few strings, seeing that the zither’s surface was smooth and the lacquer was new. He lightly said, “I have several famous zithers from previous dynasties. I’ll have someone send them to you tomorrow, and you can choose one yourself.”
Old zithers should have cracks in their surface. This zither had an ordinary tone, and some parts were even roughly made, showing that it was at most a few decades old and not made by a master luthier.
Zhao Yiyi shook her head and softly said, “This concubine also has two good zithers. But this zither was made by my grandfather himself, a birthday gift for my tenth birthday, and it was my first zither. These old things are hard to part with.”
Just as she was thinking that she didn’t want to like him anymore. But facing the person she had fallen for the first time, those feelings were like tangled silk cocoons, slow to weave and slow to unravel.
“Your grandfather knew how to make zithers?” Gu Zhen raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat unexpectedly.
Zhao Yiyi nodded in response, looking up at him and asking, “It’s so late tonight. Why did Your Majesty suddenly come over?”
The moon was high in the sky; he should have been resting by now. Even in the past, he had sometimes arrived without prior notice, but never this late.
Gu Zhen looked down at her and softly said, “I suddenly thought of the Empress, so I decided to come and see you.”
The evening breeze was gentle, the moon was bright. At this point, Gu Zhen suddenly fell silent.
Why had he thought of the Empress?
He suddenly saw the edict he had drafted that day, the bright characters, writing the dismissal of Zhao Weimin from the position of Left Censor.
Perhaps out of some unclear thoughts, he had suddenly wanted to come and see her.
After a long time, Gu Zhen said lightly, “It’s late. Go to sleep.”
Zhao Yiyi didn’t move. She didn’t know why he changed the subject, so she pursed her lips and didn’t answer, but the next moment, her body was lifted into the air and carried by him to the sleeping quarters.
Her light and thin clothes were easily removed, revealing skin like mutton fat jade. The soft and delicate touch made Gu Zhen love to play with it.
He kissed her from her eyes down, Zhao Yiyi’s body trembled slightly, until later her eyes turned red, she pleaded a few times, but it didn’t stop him, and she was forced to endure even more.
The trembling of the red silk curtains gradually subsided. By the faint light outside the curtains, Gu Zhen turned to look at Zhao Yiyi’s sleeping face.
She was sleeping soundly, her breathing even, her expression soft, and her cheeks still flushed.
Gu Zhen suddenly remembered that during the day, Prince Yan had advised him that the Marquis of Huai’an was after all the Empress’s father, and asked him to hold back for a while and gather evidence of the Marquis’s crimes before taking action.
“To avoid harming the relationship between the Empress and the Emperor’s brother,” Prince Yan said.
Would the Empress be affected?
Gu Zhen looked at the canopy, several thoughts intertwined in his mind. He also wanted to know how she would react.
With her current temper, she would probably make a scene.
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