Kangju sent many tribute gifts, among them the night-luminescent pearl Yun Yi had been longing for.
Her get-rich dream put her in excellent spirits.
Yun Yi strolled to the back room, her nose catching a wave of cosmetics fragrance.
It was the scent of women.
She peeked inside and her eyes went wide.
A room full of jade-eyed beauties, each one stunning.
The scene was like a large-scale beauty pageant.
Who could resist that?
In the hall, the lust-addled Emperor spoke: “Every eligible woman in Kangju territory—the county princess found them all.”
He even praised Kanghua’s capability.
Hmph. A common flaw of men.
Her brother was the same—couldn’t look away from pretty women in videos.
Yun Yi’s throat tightened. She couldn’t be bothered to curse him. She patted her rear and left.
She wandered all the way to the market.
The wind carried the aroma of street food, instantly dispelling the cosmetics scent in her nose.
The border town was utterly different from the capital.
The sky was a weave of blue and yellow, as if harshly washed by sand.
Yun Yi hung her homemade gauze mask on her ear and tugged it on. The stitching was plain, but it was practical.
“That mask is nice. Why didn’t you prepare one for me?”
Yun Yi turned and bumped into a noble face—the Emperor had somehow followed her.
Xiao Zhi had casually draped a wide outer robe over himself, covering the dragon robe underneath.
“I traveled for days and ate a mouthful of sand. The veil you gave me doesn’t work—it falls off easily.” As he spoke, he stared at her mask.
Yun Yi removed the mask, revealing slightly puffed cheeks. She said angrily: “This is called a mask. Two hooks loop over your ears. You didn’t learn properly, and now you blame me.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
The Emperor was quite humble.
Yun Yi sobered: “Are you off work?”
Pondering her fresh vocabulary, Xiao Zhi replied: “Mm.”
She retreated two meters.
“And this is for what?” Xiao Zhi used his eyes as a ruler, measuring the distance between them.
“Maintaining social distance.” Yun Yi said coldly. “You stink.”
Xiao Zhi raised his sleeve and caught a whiff of cosmetics fragrance. His expression immediately soured: “It’s from those women. I didn’t…”
“Which young ladies did you pick?” Yun Yi asked again. “Why not take them all? But let me remind you—I suggest six days on, one day off. Watch out for kidney failure.”
The Emperor said nothing.
Wang Delan, disguised as a servant, grew anxious. A year apart, and Miss Yun was firing on all cylinders—sweeping down a whole field!
Under the sunlight, the Emperor’s brows carried a hint of laziness.
This place was far from the capital. Added to the victory and the elimination of his sworn enemy, he had no morning court and no ministers to face.
Life was quiet. Even his smiles came from the heart.
Yun Yi took a step, and the annoying Emperor followed a step, like a large dog trailing her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something bulging in Xiao Zhi’s robe. Her mouth moved faster than her brain: “What are you carrying? You look pregnant.”
“You…” The Emperor’s face turned green.
Xiao Zhi, flustered and furious, shook open his cloak and yanked it aside—
Revealing the honeydew melon in his arms.
He bit out each word through clenched teeth: “Heartless thing—I saved it for you!”
Yun Yi let out a “yah,” scalded by the Emperor’s action. Remembering the flasher in a raincoat she’d encountered in school, she instinctively shut her eyes.
“You look like a pervert!”
“…”
The wild joy of reunion was completely washed away by this girl.
The dragon robe revealed, the surrounding commoners witnessed the imperial countenance. Like dominoes, they knelt.
And the one who shouted loudest was her: “This commoner pays respects to Your Majesty.”
Yun Yi thought: If I don’t go to Hengdian as an extra when I return to the modern era, it’d be a waste of this acting skill.
The dragon robe stirred. He had already pressed close before her.
Xiao Zhi stared at the hair whorl on top of her head. “Raise your hands.”
Hmph, what imperial majesty.
“This commoner obeys.” Yun Yi had just raised her hands when a honeydew descended from above. She was about to take it for a closer look when the Emperor said displeased: “Keep holding it up. Don’t let go.”
Yun Yi: “…”
Tyrant.
She was going to call the police.
Yun Yi hugged the melon and chased after him: “Want some melon?”
“Eat, eat, eat—all you know is eating.” Though he scolded her, he still instructed Wang Delan to cut the melon.
.
Starting from the border town, banners blotted out the sun as the carriages and horses formed a mighty procession.
Many guards had seen the young lady beside the Emperor.
She would jump down from the imperial carriage, squat by the roadside to gnaw on melon, and then be caught and hauled back inside by the Emperor.
Gradually, the young lady disappeared from view.
At the tail of the procession, the attendants lowered their voices and gossiped: “I heard the Emperor brought back a beauty. Once back at the palace, he’ll probably massively expand the harem, won’t he?”
Another whispered: “Watch your head.”
Perhaps because they were at the rear, the atmosphere wasn’t as tense as at the front. The attendant treated it as idle chat: “The one the Emperor holds in his heart—of course she’ll become a consort.”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” the other added, “That young lady’s health isn’t good. She seems to sleep all the time and never gets out of the carriage.”
“Ah, no consort’s fate.”
The carriage moved slowly. Green smoke rose from the incense cabinet. Wherever the imperial procession passed, fragrance filled the road.
The young lady in the carriage slept for several days.
The accompanying imperial physicians had examined her multiple times. There was nothing wrong with her body, but such excessive sleep was truly rare.
Emperor Yanwen returned to the capital with his troops.
Xiao Zhi’s smiles had all faded. His face was as heavy as water.
Yun Yi lay beside him, occupying most of the carriage. Though asleep, her hands and feet weren’t docile. If the cushion felt uncomfortable, she would kick it off—a common occurrence.
The pile of small mound-shaped cushions beneath the couch was evidence.
Xiao Zhi bent down and picked up a cushion.
The person beside him unconsciously turned over and nearly rolled off the couch.
He raised his leg to block, stopping someone’s free fall.
Yun Yi stirred, found a more comfortable spot, and pressed her cheek against Xiao Zhi’s leg.
He didn’t move his leg away. Instead, he shifted toward her so she could sleep more comfortably.
“Why still not awake?”
“Mm…”
“Are you a pig?”
“Mm…”
“A melon-loving pig.”
“Mm…”
The Emperor deliberately led her along with her sleep-talk. Dazed, she answered every prompt, falling into every trap.
Raindrops ran down the curved railings on all four sides, pattering softly.
Xiao Zhi was dazed for a moment. He held Yun Yi’s hand—warm and soft, completely unlike the fist that had punched him when she was angry.
“Promise me, don’t come again, alright?”
“Mm.”
“Wang Delan, change the route. Go to the Guixu Temple.”
“As you command.”
.
Yun Yi slept the longest sleep of her life.
When she woke, they were only a hundred li from the capital.
She gave a big yawn, not treating the Emperor as an outsider.
The well-rested, energetic girl launched into complaint mode: “Aiya, this distance—by plane it’d take two hours.”
Outrageous. Xiao Zhi glanced at her: “Even a thousand years later, can one travel between the border and the capital in a single day? Can you really ride clouds and mist?”
The carriage swayed. The girl smiled faintly: “Things that run on the ground can’t, but a big bird that flies in the sky can.”
She lifted the carriage curtain. Outside, the sky was clear for thousands of li. Mountain birds flapped their wings and swept across the sky.
In the spacious imperial carriage, the Emperor insisted on squeezing into her corner. His jaw brushed the soft hair on top of her head, and a clean, woody fragrance drilled into Yun Yi’s nose, melting into threads of intoxication.
“All nonsense,” he said, revealing a long-absent smile.
Yun Yi’s scalp burned. He slowly squeezed her into a cramped corner, unable to move an inch. The distance between them was far less than social distance.
She could only defend herself softly: “An airplane—a big bird that flies in the sky. If you come, I’ll take you on a plane.”
“But you don’t have an ID card,” her fingertip hooked the tassel hanging from the curtain.
The hem of her dress was pressed into deep creases by the dragon robe. If anyone lifted the carriage curtain now, they would surely think the Emperor was bullying a poor, weak woman.
Her body pressed softly against him. On her fair face were set two luminous eyes, like the night-luminescent pearls Kangju had offered as tribute.
Her eyes, nose, mouth… seemed no different from those beautiful women.
“Or maybe my brother’s ID card for you? No, no—that’s against the law.”
“Mm.” Xiao Zhi sat back, letting her breathe.
The window view was bleak. Withered leaves drifted gently toward the road.
“Aiya, things always work out in the end… anyway, I’ll figure out a way to take you on a plane!”
“Alright.”
“Promise? Pinky swear, hang yourself, for a hundred years…”
She cheerfully taught him.
Their fingertips stuck together. In that instant, a clear, crisp voice drilled into Xiao Zhi’s ears.
“…No changing! Seal it~”
In the moment of his daze, Xiao Zhi caught her slightly lowered eye corners, the curved smile revealed in her bright pupils.
So unrestrained and free—search all of Great Yan’s capital and you wouldn’t find a second one.
Xiao Zhi forcibly steadied his breath and restrained himself, sitting back in his seat.
But his palm was grabbed tyrannically by Yun Yi.
She spread open his palm. The previous wound had become a scar.
“There’s a scar.” She stroked it with her fingertip.
If this injury had happened in the modern era, cosmetic injections and scar patches would have prevented such a prominent mark.
His palm tingled and numbed, forcing Xiao Zhi to curl his fingers, loosely enclosing hers.
Fingers as fine as scallion whites—one more ounce of force and they would snap in his palm. He could only hold them gently, like a child holding a kite string—focused and careful.
In the instant a few withered leaves fell to the ground.
Yun Yi’s mind went blank. She unconsciously curled her fingers.
Xiao Zhi turned his face to the other side, but his mouth couldn’t stop wanting to ask: What are you hiding from? Am I a stinging scorpion or snake?
Yun Yi met those dark, heavy eyes. They were like a whirlpool—she couldn’t help being drawn in, unconsciously pushing at his fingertips.
The road suddenly bumped. The romantic bubbles in the carriage popped one by one.
The Emperor had changed the route to Guixu Temple. This wasn’t the official road—there were several large pits along the way.
“Your Majesty, calm your anger.” Wang Delan said cautiously.
“No matter.”
Yun Yi’s rear hurt from sitting. She gazed at Xiao Zhi pitifully, her desire to get out and stretch her legs reaching its peak.
“Stop the carriage and rest for half an hour.” The moment Xiao Zhi spoke, the right side was empty—Yun Yi had slid out of the carriage like a fish.
“…”
Withered branches and fallen leaves were everywhere. Occasionally, a village was hidden in the distance.
The only scenery was a Daoist temple.
The previous Emperor of Yan had believed in Daoism, so Daoist culture flourished while Buddhism declined.
“Should we go worship the Bodhisattva?” Yun Yi gazed at the distant wisps of incense. “If you pass a temple without entering, you might as well not have come.”
“That’s a Daoist temple.” The Emperor corrected her.
“…”
Yun Yi bit her lower lip. Who understood the difference between temples and Daoist temples?!
Behind Xiao Zhi, the attendants and guards retreated to both sides, all lowering their heads in unison.
Yun Yi, rarely at a loss for words, turned and walked toward the Daoist temple.
The Emperor was amused. He picked up his feet and followed.
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