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Chapter 85: Longmen part 1
After extinguishing a basin of charcoal, the sleeping hall became much cooler.
Within moments, Zhao Yiyi felt a chill. She reached for a light gauze wrap from the wooden rack and draped it over her shoulders.
“Winter Solstice is fast approaching. Will Your Majesty hold a banquet this year?” Zhao Yiyi pulled her clothes tighter, turning her head to ask softly.
Today was a sunny day. The warm light shining in was incredibly comfortable. Zhao Yiyi had dressed lighter than usual when she went out, and after removing her outer robe, she wore only a moon-white, half-sleeve shirt with floral roundels.
The form-fitting shirt was made of thin, patterned damask. Even with the light gauze draped over it, it appeared sheer and airy.
A hint of goose-yellow could be faintly seen underneath.
At the mention of the Winter Solstice banquet, Gu Zhen’s brow twitched violently. The moment she looked over, his heart trembled, and his hands and feet suddenly went ice cold.
The thing he had deliberately forgotten for days was finally brought up again. The facade of balance he had carefully maintained was shattered once more, leaving him unable to parry the blow.
Looking at Zhao Yiyi’s quiet, smiling face, he was stunned for a moment before whispering, “Government affairs are complex this year, coupled with the drought in Henei, the earthquake in Chang’an, and the war with the Rouran. Let us dispense with it. In any case, New Year’s Day is coming soon; we can celebrate them together then.”
The Winter Solstice banquet had ultimately become a sore spot in his heart. He had never told anyone, but it was stuck there like a blockage.
Zhao Yiyi rested her elbows on the dressing table, tilting her head to look at him. “Are you really not going to hold it?” A smile curved her lips, and her almond eyes flowed with a certain light. “Your Majesty was so fixated on the pitch-pot game from the Winter Solstice banquet; I thought you certainly wouldn’t miss this feast.”
The window was open a crack, and dazzling light squeezed through the gap, sprinkling over half of her face, making it glow like jade.
He walked closer again, reached out to pinch her small earlobe, and laughed darkly. “You’ve learned to tease me now.”
“Who is teasing you?” Zhao Yiyi widened her eyes and brushed his hand away. Her hibiscus-like face froze for a moment before she said, “Didn’t you say those words yourself? You were the one who brought up the Winter Solstice banquet.”
Seeing her slight frown as she looked up, Gu Zhen knew she was uncomfortable. He bent down halfway to meet her gaze, speaking gently, “Yiyi, I always thought the Winter Solstice banquet was the day we first met, which is why I remembered it so clearly. You always say I don’t have you in my heart, but how could my heart not hold you? If I didn’t have you, why would I remember that Winter Solstice banquet?”
Only later did he realize that perhaps, in the beginning, there had been a fleeting moment of awe.
But due to various reasons, resentment and boredom had grown on both sides.
At that time, Yiyi’s heart and eyes were filled only with him, unable to hold anything else. Perhaps he had been slightly moved, but what occupied the vast majority of his heart was court politics.
“How could anyone forget Yiyi’s radiance that day?” Gu Zhen sighed low, his eyes filling with a gentle light.
With his familiar scent lingering around her, Zhao Yiyi looked at him and pursed her lips. “But that time in Chang’an, you didn’t remember.”
“That day in Chang’an was just a fleeting moment. Nearly two years passed between then and the Winter Solstice banquet.” His eyes reddened slightly. He slowly reached out to hold Zhao Yiyi’s hand, then slowly interlaced his fingers with hers. His eyes, however, filled with a smile that seemed to let in the light. “I remember that at the end of that day, Yiyi hit fourteen bamboo arrows, and I hit fifteen.”
Who could fail to be swayed by such a bright and radiant young girl?
There had been a moment of heart-fluttering, a possibility of mutual affection, but in the end, he had crushed it into powder with his own hands. The bright girl in his memory, radiant as spring light, was ultimately left covered in bruises by him.
He had once disliked her for not knowing how to manage household affairs, but he never considered that Yiyi had lost her mother early, and her grandparents—the only ones who could back her up—had passed away one after another. Although she was the eldest sister, with a stepmother in the house, household management was never something she was allowed to touch.
No one taught her, and no one cared for her.
Gu Zhen’s heart soured slightly, as if someone had twisted it hard, bunching it all up together. It hurt so much that a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
His expression shifted several times, looking like he wanted to cry yet smile at the same time. “I also remember, that day you wore a lilac-colored shirt. It was very beautiful.”
Zhao Yiyi was suddenly stunned.
“If Your Majesty remembered, why did you never say so?” Her expression was dazed, as if shrouded in a layer of clouds and mist, appearing ethereal and indistinct, making it hard to see her clearly.
She gripped his lapel, her voice trembling. “For the past three years, what exactly did you consider me?”
“You say you care now, but what about the past three years?” She looked up, trying her best to suppress the moisture in her eyes, gritting her teeth. “That day when I asked if you had ever liked me, did you answer a single word?”
She had been drunk that day, but not to the point of losing her mind. In the end, it was just… using alcohol to save face.
Things she was too embarrassed to ask when sober became easy to ask once drunk. Even if the result wasn’t what she wanted, she could pretend to be drunk and gloss over it.
Pretend she remembered nothing.
But how could she not remember?
“At that time, I didn’t know my own true heart either.” Gu Zhen felt ridiculous saying it now; forcing Yiyi to listen to things he couldn’t even believe himself. “Only later did I realize that you were in my heart. I have regretted countless times that I didn’t answer you that day.”
In recent days, whenever the Winter Solstice banquet was mentioned, the two would inevitably have a big fight.
Yet it was a topic they couldn’t avoid.
“We won’t hold it this year,” Gu Zhen said. “On the day of the Winter Solstice, I will have people set off ‘fire trees and silver flowers’ for you to see.”
A voice as soft as clouds and mist startled Zhao Yiyi.
She remembered now. At the Winter Solstice banquet that year, she had taken first place among the young ladies, and the Late Emperor had asked her what she wanted. She thought for a long time and said she wanted to see a display of fireworks—fire trees and silver flowers.
The Late Emperor had paused, then said they weren’t prepared this year, asking her to choose another wish.
There were too many past events, so many that she could barely remember them clearly. She had indeed almost forgotten such a small matter.
Her fist resting on her knee clenched lightly. Zhao Yiyi stared at the man in front of her for a long time. Her lips moved slightly a few times before she said, “Even if you have them set off, what of it?”
Even if they were set off, the two of them couldn’t go back four years, nor could they return to that year’s Winter Solstice banquet.
Even if it was grander, it wouldn’t be the one from before.
Gu Zhen smiled. The pads of his fingers gently rubbed her soft cheek as he said warmly, “But I want to make up for everything I owed you in the past.” He straightened up slightly, gently embracing Zhao Yiyi’s slender shoulders and pressing her against his chest before asking, “Does Yiyi want to see it?”
The fire trees and silver flowers were beautiful. When the specks of fire leaped up, they shone like bright stars.
Who wouldn’t want to see it?
After a long silence, Zhao Yiyi nodded hesitantly, her voice faint. “En.”
Wisps of clear breeze blew in, carrying the unique chill of winter.
Gu Zhen pulled the corner of his lips into a smile. Pressing her against him, he whispered, “Wait for it. I will have people set them off by the Taiye Pond for you to see.”
The wind blew in gusts, causing the window to open and close intermittently, making several crisp clattering sounds.
When Gu Zhen came out, he glanced at Zhao Chen, who was still sitting in the outer room drinking tea, and said indifferently, “In the future, don’t cause trouble for your sister again. If there is a next time, I won’t spare you.”
Zhao Chen hurriedly put down his teacup and stood up to respond, “Chen will certainly keep it in mind.”
Gu Zhen didn’t take his words to heart, only saying, “Go in. Your sister is calling you.”
Walking back to Zichen Hall, the Prince of Yan was already sitting in the side hall waiting for him.
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