fate, destiny, & love

39 | appassionato

39

appassionato [it.] — deeply
emotional; impassioned (used
as a direction of music)

cw(s)/tw(s): coarse/foul/strong
language is used and mature themes
are hinted at and used in this chapter.
viewer discretion is advised.

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when quqi opened her eyes, she realised that she, along with two other men, were seated under the shade of a pavilion. there was a table set up in front of them, one full of biscuits and the like, as well as cups of tea. she looked at the two men: the first man had plump cheeks and a well-fed body was dressed in red robes that had intricate gold designs of a dragon across his chest, with a gold headpiece on his head. the second man was skinnier than the first and was dressed more humbly — he was wearing blue robes made of silk.

"i summoned you here not for mere, idle chit-chat," the fat man spoke, and based on the choice of chinese words he had used to address himself*, quqi immediately knew that this man was the emperor, the most untouchable man within the country.

the emperor looked at quqi and she quickly turned her head to the side, as if it was based on reflex and instinct. something about this man instilled fear and anxiety into her heart, and she had no clue why it was so.

"your daughter is of age, is she not, brother?" the emperor changed his target — quqi watched from the corner of her eye as the emperor now spoke to the man dressed in blue.

'brother'? 'your daughter'? quqi lifted her head so that she was now looking at the other man, her brows furrowing together, this guy's my dad?!

"indeed," her father spoke after a slight pause, as if he had been wondering whether or not he should answer, "meihui turned eighteen three months ago."

so 'my' name is meihui, quqi noted as she eyed the plethora of snacks in front of her. she wanted to grab one of them to eat, but her arms remained glued stubbornly on her lap, as if meihui's conscience was there to restrict her from making any unnecessary movements.

"wonderful," the emperor laughed, and that horrid sound told her that he meant anything but. he picked up his cup of tea and brought it to his lips, "she is at the ripe age to marry."

'ripe age to marry'? she was beyond livid and a part of her was close to flipping the table to protest, does this guy think that i'm a pig to be reared and sold off as livestock or something?!

"she will be wedded to the prince of japan," the emperor announced, taking a sip out of his porcelain teacup, "it serves as a great political alliance and we get to keep that bastard of a king in check, too."

he looked over at her, and she ducked her head down to avoid making eye contact with him. she felt like a hapless rabbit cornered by a hungry lion, waiting for its imminent death by its predator's sharp claws.

"she still does not look at me in the eye," the emperor clicked his tongue, "what an insolent wench. i see that the apple does not fall too far from the tree."

"please do not pay my daughter any mind," her father spoke up, trying to soothe the emperor's nerves (and how she wished that her father would keep quiet for a second), "you know that she has always been on the quiet side."