Chapter 13: Young Silkworms
In the quiet palace hall, her anxious and restless voice filled the air, the mournful tone enough to break one’s heart.
Husband, husband.
Although this term had long been hidden in her heart, this was the first time she had openly uttered it.
He was clearly her husband, why, why could she only call him Your Majesty like everyone else?
“Husband,” she couldn’t help but call out again.
These two words were extremely unfamiliar to Gu Zhen. He had only seen them on paper and occasionally heard others use them, but he had never personally experienced it.
It wasn’t until a few burning drops fell heavily on the back of his hand that Gu Zhen suddenly came to his senses. He frowned and turned his head, only to see the tears she had been holding back finally flowed down.
Having received no response on Northern Floating Mountain, Zhao Yiyi had not dared to ask again. Perhaps the alcohol emboldened her, and she gradually gained the courage to repeat the question, tilting her head with a full heart of anticipation.
In fact, she seemed quite well-behaved.
Even after getting drunk, she hadn’t acted out excessively; she merely persistently pursued answers to her questions. In his eyes, her current actions were no different from a child throwing a tantrum.
She had been asking this question from morning until now. Gu Zhen had never known that his Empress could be so stubborn, so stubborn that he almost couldn’t cope.
“I shouldn’t have let you drink,” after a long time, Gu Zhen lowered his head and turned his head to avoid her gaze. He suddenly reached out and stroked her hair, saying softly, “It’s getting late, you’ve finished the hangover soup, Empress, you should rest early; we have to return to the palace tomorrow.”
His voice was as gentle as ever, just as people described him—gentle and refined like jade. But when it reached Zhao Yiyi’s ears, it made her heart ache even more. The calm voice that usually brought her comfort now felt like sharp blades piercing her.
The question she hadn’t dared to ask for years, finally mustered the courage to ask today, but received no response.
Wouldn’t he even lie to her?
Even if he lied to her, she would believe him without hesitation.
Her body trembled slightly, and she bit her lip hard, unwilling to let her whimpers escape.
“Go to sleep, I have something for you tomorrow,” Gu Zhen watched her try to curl up into a ball, saying solemnly.
After Gu Zhen left, Zhao Yiyi’s strength was completely drained, and she leaned listlessly against the couch until the palace maids prepared hot water and asked her to bathe, at which point she gradually recovered slightly.
Leaning against the edge of the bath, Yunzhu added fragrant dew to the water, saying distressedly, “Your Majesty, why do you bother yourself so?”
After getting drunk, Zhao Yiyi’s reactions were slower than usual. After an unknown amount of time, she submerged her body entirely in the water, “You don’t understand.”
That year, the spring in Chang’an was beautiful, more beautiful than any other time, with white pear blossoms blooming all over the branches. A young man stood under the tree and smiled slightly at her.
The young man’s smile was more beautiful than all the pear blossoms in the garden.
Although he had only asked for directions and immediately left, she had firmly imprinted it in her memory.
She had kept it in her heart for so many years, and she was finally unwilling to give up, wanting to receive even a little response.
But that young man didn’t like her.
After waking up the next morning, Yunzhu was leading the people in tidying the room. Seeing that Zhao Yiyi was staring at her slightly swollen ankle, she approached and smiled, “Your Majesty, don’t look, it was even more swollen last night. His Majesty applied the medicine himself, and we need to apply it again later.”
“He applied the medicine?” Zhao Yiyi looked up at Yunzhu, still with bloodshot eyes from the previous night’s drinking.
Yunzhu was stunned, saying, “Last night, Your Majesty went horseback riding and the injury recurred, swelling up. Although His Majesty’s expression wasn’t very good, he still applied the medicine himself.”
Seeing her still looking puzzled, Yunzhu said in surprise, “Your Majesty doesn’t remember?”
Zhao Yiyi looked at her for a long time, perhaps just a moment, or perhaps a quarter of an hour.
After pinching her fingertip hard, she finally nodded, softly saying, “Mm, I don’t remember.”
Yunzhu was only surprised and sighed, but didn’t think there was anything wrong. Your Majesty was drunk last night, she probably didn’t remember what she did.
Having stayed at Xianong Altar for three days, it was time to return to the city. When the palace servants had packed their luggage, the carriage was already waiting outside.
Zhao Yiyi looked unwell, appearing quite listless. As Yunzhu helped her into the carriage, Wu Mao brought a small box, bowing and smiling, “Your Majesty, this is sent by His Majesty.”
Looking at the box in front of her, Zhao Yiyi was stunned for a moment before slowly reaching out to take it, lowering her head and softly saying, “Please thank His Majesty for me.”
“Of course,” Wu Mao replied, then added, “His Majesty went to a lot of trouble to get this. He has finally prepared it in the past two days and specifically instructed Your Majesty to take good care of it.”
After getting into the carriage, Yunzhu placed a soft pillow behind her, softly saying, “Your Majesty, rest for a while.”
Zhao Yiyi leaned against the carriage wall listlessly, the scenes from yesterday lingering in her mind. Although her eyes were half-closed, she had no intention of sleeping.
She took a deep breath, slowly opened her eyes and looked at the slightly open small box on the desk. Just as she was about to close the box carefully, she changed her mind and opened it completely.
“There are bugs!”
She quickly retracted her hand, almost throwing the box out of the carriage.
Yunzhu also saw what was in the box, looked at it in doubt for a moment, and hurriedly comforted her, “Your Majesty, don’t worry, they’re not bugs, they’re silkworms.”
Zhao Yiyi suppressed her fear and looked closely. She saw several small, dark brown things lying on a few emerald green leaves, only a tiny bit big. She hadn’t seen clearly before, but now she could see that they did look like silkworms.
Was this what he said he would give her last night?
“Newly hatched silkworms look like this, it’s not yet time. His Majesty must have taken a lot of trouble to get these silkworms,” Yunzhu covered her mouth and smiled.
Looking at these little creatures that she had been thinking about for so long, Zhao Yiyi suddenly lost interest and casually handed them to Yunzhu, “Then take good care of them.”
Halfway through the journey, the carriage stopped for a rest. A palace servant entered the Empress’s tent and announced that Marquis Huai’an was requesting an audience.
After Zhao Weimin was led inside, Zhao Yiyi had him seated.
Zhao Weimin was sitting aside, while Zhao Yiyi listlessly played with the jade bead string on her wrist.
After waiting for a long time, Zhao Yiyi became impatient and asked, “Father, what is it that you seek me for?”
“Lianzhi is getting older, she’s even older than Duan Duan,” Zhao Weimin sighed heavily, like an ordinary father worried about his daughter. “Duan Duan already has a family, but Lianzhi’s marriage has not been decided yet. I have been looking for suitable young men in Luoyang recently. If there is a suitable one, I hope Your Majesty can help to arrange the marriage.”
Zhao Yiyi paused her playing with the jade beads, the corners of her lips slightly curved, a smile forming. She knew that Zhao Weimin would not have any good intentions in seeking her out.
She glanced at Zhao Weimin and said with a smile, “I thought Father was so anxious to find me to discuss Achen’s matter.”
Zhao Weimin’s face flushed red, saying with a guilty conscience, “I already know about Achen’s matter, thank you, Your Majesty, for taking care of him. Lianzhi…”
“Achen is my younger brother, I will naturally take good care of him if I have the ability,” Zhao Yiyi interrupted him, calmly emphasizing the word “younger”.
Thus, Zhao Weimin knew that she had made up her mind and would definitely not take care of the matter of Zuo Lianzhi. Although he was unhappy, he simply got up and said, “Your Majesty, please rest well, I’ll take my leave.”
Zhao Yiyi responded, adding, “Don’t come to me for such trivial matters in the future.”
Not long after Zhao Weimin left, Gu Zhen entered the tent, holding a riding crop. He had just been riding, and his body was warm and slightly sweaty.
He had already heard about Zhao Weimin’s visit, raised his eyebrows and smiled, “He came to look for you last night, and he came again today? He is really…as persistent as the Empress.”
“Father came last night too? I don’t remember,” Zhao Yiyi looked dazed, saying softly, “It was only after Yunzhu told me that I knew that His Majesty applied the medicine for me last night.”
Gu Zhen suddenly frowned, looking at her for a long time, and softly asked, “Empress, you really don’t remember what happened last night?”
“I really don’t remember,” Zhao Yiyi lightly shook her head, “I was drunk last night, my head was heavy, and I forgot everything when I woke up.”
Staring at her slightly lowered snow-white neck, Gu Zhen slightly curled his lips, softly saying, “It’s good that you don’t remember.”
Author’s Note:
Gu Zhen is simply a dog, so he hesitates between being a good person and not being a good person every day.
By the way, I saw some treasures asking whether there is a harem or not. This book doesn’t have one, the reading guide also mentioned this. If there were, I would have written it at the beginning and wouldn’t have added it later.