Tears Of Kai Yuan

-15-

Dedicated to 

15-

Zhao Jiayi

I still had not chosen a name for that wolf pup I had adopted, watching in amusement as it paced back and forth around the porch where I sat with Zhen-Ting.

She, was still in shock. "You're telling me that Yuhuan is going to get married?"

I grinned and nodded. "Shi, to the eighteenth prince Li Mao. I still can't believe that little girl is about to get married now." Zhen-Ting chuckled. "The same way we couldn't believe that you would be getting married either."

"Or that you'll soon be doing the same."

Her chuckling stopped abruptly, and my smile faltered. "Are you sure you want to go through with this Ah-Zhen?"

My cousin sighed deeply before taking a sip from the cup of tea a maid had brought to us earlier. "Jiayi...you of all people should know that there's nothing at Qi Zhao Liang for me." I grimaced. "I know you never thought that you were a part of the family...but did you resent the Zhao that much?"

Zhen-TIng quickly shook her head, but it did nothing to settle the thoughts in my mind. "I never resented Uncle or any of my cousins...I'm a Tang Jiayi, not a Zhao...and I never wanted to be one."

"Do you resent Liangjie then for his decision?"

"Mei you." I pressed on further. "Then are you positive that you want to marry Wuji?" Zhen-Ting paused but said nothing.

"Should there be any doubt? I mean...she's an orphan, he's an orphan, they'll work perfectly together, won't they?"

It was Princess Dao.

Tang Zhen-Ting

How long had that woman been pestering Jiayi?

I forced myself not to glare as she walked up the porch to where we sat; looking to Jiayi as to whether or not I should get up and greet the woman.

She remained seated, her face tightened stoically to an expression I had only seen my brother use often.

Callous. "Dao gongzhu."

The princess ignored her greeting, her gaze falling on me as she squinted her eyes as if I were a fly she could not see clearly. "I already see that you've taught her your bad manners...we should fix that, shouldn't we?"

My jaw tightened but I continued to stay silent, Jiayi spoke up with her usual calm demeanor. "I taught her nothing, my cousin has a mind of her own gongzhu."

Dao scoffed at that. "Then is it that everyone in the Zhao household is a rude as you Jiayi?"

"I am not a Zhao."

She was caught off guard by my response, craning her head to stare at me as though her gaze would make me cower. "Excuse me?"

"I am not a Zhao; my name is Tang. And since when was being an orphan such a deciding factor on my fate? If I am not misinformed gongzhu, you just lost your mother a year ago...would that not make you one step away from being exactly like me?"

Her face reddened as she pointed a painted nail at my direction. "You...are exactly like that future husband of yours."

I smirked to myself. "I'll decide to take that as a compliment."

From beside me, Jiayi stifled a laugh, coughing silently as she grasped her cup of tea and took a quick sip. Princess Dao's expression was livid, the maids behind her kept their heads bent to the ground as she walked up the porch to where the two of us sat. Yet before she could say anything, another maid rushed into the scene. It was Jia-er, grasping her knees and attempting to catch her breath so that she could tell us the news.