Chapter 106: Admission
Elm trees were planted in front of Yande Hall, their branches and leaves spreading out in a lush green in the spring. Listening to the rustling of the leaves outside the window, Zhao Yiyi woke up leisurely. Her eyes wouldn’t quite open, and as she turned over to sleep more, footsteps came from outside the curtains.
She frowned and rubbed her eyes. The crimson curtains were pulled open from the outside, and she met a pair of profound phoenix eyes. For a moment, she uncomfortably looked away.
“Are you awake?” Gu Zhen reached out to help the beauty with her cloud-like hair up from the bed. He brought a cup of tea to her lips and fed her bit by bit. “Be good. Moisten your throat before getting up.”
Zhao Yiyi’s eyes were still slightly swollen, and her face held the bewilderment of someone who had just woken up. She wanted to ask him why he hadn’t gone to court since he was already up, but her hands instinctively held the sky-blue glazed cup.
Having just woken up, Zhao Yiyi was indeed very thirsty. She drank a bit too quickly and ended up choking. She pushed the cup away and coughed violently, almost to the point of tears. Her eyes, which hadn’t fully recovered, were rimmed with red again.
Gu Zhen patted her slender back and said softly, “Slow down, don’t rush.”
After coughing for a while, Zhao Yiyi’s cheeks were flushed. Once she finally calmed down, she knit her brows and said, “I want to sleep more. Why didn’t you go to court?”
Hearing her soft, sweet voice, Gu Zhen felt his heart stir. He had been reviewing memorials at the desk nearby and only came over when he noticed movement behind the curtains. Hearing her question, he was so annoyed he almost laughed.
“What time do you think it is? Zhen has long since returned from the morning court.” He set down the cup but didn’t dare let Zhao Yiyi sleep any longer. He picked her up in his arms and said in a low voice, “Get up and eat breakfast first.”
After being coaxed and teased by him, Zhao Yiyi finally rose and washed up. She casually did up a “piled cloud” bun, inserted a gold bird hairpin, and went to the side hall for breakfast.
Though Zhao Yiyi hadn’t been restless during the night, she hadn’t slept soundly and had dreamed several times. She felt a bit sluggish and didn’t want to eat, so Gu Zhen had to coax her.
“Mandarin fish has few bones. Have a few sips of the soup first, then eat the fish.” He had a smile on his face, and his voice was gentle.
Zhao Yiyi didn’t really want to pay him any mind. She felt that having fish soup in the morning was too fishy, so she didn’t even taste a spoonful and didn’t want to move her chopsticks at all.
Gu Zhen smiled and asked softly, “Shall Zhen feed you?”
Seeing him actually scoop a spoonful of soup toward her, Zhao Yiyi’s expression changed. She said hurriedly, “I’ll do it myself.” But the spoon was already at her lips, and the fragrance of the soup entered her nose, so she had to open her mouth.
She swallowed that spoonful of soup and fish with a flushed face. For the rest of the meal, the blush on her face didn’t fade a bit, spreading all the way to her ears. She was so embarrassed she didn’t dare look up.
She had just scooped the last small wonton from her bowl when a palace attendant came to report that the Grand Princess had arrived. Gu Zhen’s face darkened slightly, but he said nothing, only looking at Zhao Yiyi. Since the person was already at the door, they couldn’t be turned away. Zhao Yiyi pressed her brow with a slight headache and finished her last bite of breakfast. “Let her in.”
Zhao Duanduan was wearing riding clothes today. Her crimson dress accentuated her slender waist, and she wore leather boots, looking quite heroic and spirited.
In the study, she reached out to touch the corner of Zhao Yiyi’s eye. “Sister, why are your eyes so red?” Glancing at the Emperor outside, she leaned in and asked in a low voice, covering her mouth, “Did His Majesty bully you? But it doesn’t look like it…”
With no one around, she couldn’t hide the smile at the corners of her mouth. “It looks exactly like when Sister returned home after the wedding.”
Zhao Yiyi gave her a sharp look and said crossly, “What nonsense are you saying?”
“I’m not saying nonsense,” Zhao Duanduan said, refuse to back down. “Sister should look in the mirror yourself and see if that’s the case.”
As she spoke, she picked up a bronze mirror with a phoenix pattern from the desk and held it before Zhao Yiyi. Even though she didn’t want to pay her mind, with a single glance, Zhao Yiyi saw her own appearance: her loosely tied hair was becoming messy, and the bird hairpin was hanging precariously. The corners of her eyes were rimmed with red, and her nose was also a pale pink, like a lotus crying tears.
Her face turned red instantly. For the first time being teased like this, Zhao Yiyi pushed the mirror away and said in annoyance, “You really are getting more and more daring. You even dare to tease your sister.”
Zhao Duanduan was pushed and took the opportunity to lean back against the chair, laughing so hard she couldn’t stand up. Seeing signs of her sister getting angry, she hurriedly pleaded for mercy: “I was wrong, Sister, don’t be angry.”
Catching the trace of a smile she hadn’t managed to hide, Zhao Yiyi didn’t intend to let her off so easily. She huffed, “Since you know you were wrong, then copy the books you’ve been reading lately twice and show me.”
The books she’d been reading?
Zhao Duanduan hadn’t read any books lately. Since after the New Year, no one had looked after her studies, so she had been playing wildly. Hearing about copying books now, a look of fear appeared on her face. She said pleadingly, “Sister, I was wrong, don’t punish me.” She looked up with a flattering smile, her eyes sparkling like stars. “Besides, I wasn’t wrong. Sister and the Emperor have been living together these days. If Sister looks like this, if it wasn’t the Emperor bullying you, then who could it be?”
Zhao Yiyi was so embarrassed her cheeks were beet-red, burning like fire. She said through gritted teeth, “You’re still talking!”
Zhao Duanduan wasn’t afraid of her. She pulled her arm and said softly, “Sister, I think the way you are now is very good.”
Since the incident of falling into the water with Linchuan, she had been staying in the palace, and she had seen many things. She could naturally see the gradual changes in her sister lately—the smiles on her face had increased so much. The faint sorrow in her brows had long since dissipated, leaving only the same gentleness as before.
Zhao Yiyi remained silent with her head bowed.
“Sister, why won’t you admit it?” Zhao Duanduan looked into her starry eyes and said those words almost one by one. They seemed to possess a power that could pierce through everything, striking directly at her.
Zhao Yiyi was suddenly stunned.
The wind from the window blew in with the fragrance of flowers. Zhao Duanduan didn’t say more. She rose and said with a smile, “Sister, I want to go out and play. I heard the peach blossoms at the mountain temple are in full bloom, so I want to go see them today.”
So she had come specifically for this. Zhao Yiyi said coldly, “You just fell into the water yesterday. Who knows if your constitution has fully recovered? What play?”
Zhao Duanduan panicked for a moment and pulled her arm, acting like a child. “Sister, just let me go. I drank the ginger tea obediently this morning. If you don’t believe me, ask…”
“Let her go.”
A majestic and cold voice came from outside. Gu Zhen stepped into the room and gave the girl a light glance before saying to Zhao Yiyi, “Just let her go.”
Zhao Duanduan was overjoyed. Before her sister could react, she rose and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty.” After saying that, she didn’t dare stay any longer and ran out in a flash.
Gu Zhen simply gave a faint glance, showing no further reaction. He was truly annoyed by her noise.
Zhao Yiyi was a bit annoyed. “Why did you agree?”
“She’s already so old; she should be able to tell for herself if she can.” Gu Zhen approached and put his arm around her shoulder, speaking softly and gently. “You can’t shield her from the wind and rain forever.”
Zhao Yiyi’s expression flickered. Gu Zhen smiled and coaxed warmly, “Just tell the palace attendants to follow her closely later; nothing will happen.”
Zhao Yiyi was stunned for a moment. She hadn’t expected him to care about Duanduan like this. Seeing her staring at him, Gu Zhen couldn’t help but smile. “What is it?”
“I thought you didn’t intend to look after her.” Zhao Yiyi stared at the man before her and unexpectedly met those profound phoenix eyes. They felt as deep as a cold pool.
Stroking her soft hair, Gu Zhen said, “She is also Zhen‘s sister. How could I abandon her?”
He spoke so magnanimously, but only Gu Zhen himself knew that in that moment, he was simply annoyed by her and wanted to send her away quickly.
Zhao Yiyi leaned against his chest, listening to the steady and powerful heartbeat. She knit her brows slightly. “I’m asking you—do the words you said yesterday still count?”
The voice was so light it was almost impossible to hear. Gu Zhen instinctively held her tighter and asked in a low voice, “What?”
The wind grew stronger and weaker, and Zhao Yiyi’s heart beat faster and slower. After a deep breath, she asked in a trembling voice, “I’m asking—do those words you said last night still count?”
Almost instantly, Gu Zhen’s blood became alive. A warm current seemed to flow through his entire body, yet he unconsciously stiffened. He held the beauty in his arms tightly, as if wanting to embed her into his chest. He asked in a trembling voice, “Which sentence is Yiyi asking about?”
Her small face was buried in his chest, her breath filled with the scent of his chenyu incense. Zhao Yiyi’s voice was muffled. Her hand tightly clutched his robes, wrinkling the originally perfect pattern. In a delicate voice, she said, “Every single one.”
What she wanted to ask about was every single word he had said. He said he liked her, he said he wanted to make up for it, he said he wanted to see her smile, he said no matter how he treated her, it was never enough. He also said he would spend a lifetime repaying her. Zhao Yiyi bit her lip, and even though her cheeks were already beet-red, she continued: “I’m asking about every single sentence.”
A smile gradually appeared on Gu Zhen’s face. He leaned down and said in her ear, “They count. Every word Zhen has said still counts.”
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