Tears Of Kai Yuan

-14- (edit)

14.

Li Wuji

It'd be a lie to say I hadn't thought of it before...of marrying Tang Zhen-Ting.

Releasing my grip, I let go of her after saying those words, resting against the table behind me and studying her reaction. She still kept the same blank expression, turning to stare at me in the eye as she tried to find out my motive.

What...was my motive exactly? Simply to give Zhen-Ting, no, Adila, the escape she needed while gaining a wife to at least quiet down the rumors spread throughout Chang'An capital about me.

And to gain some more credit in both my uncles' eyes.

It would benefit the both of us, wouldn't it?

"You plan on taking me from here by marrying me, and meanwhile helping yourself in the sight of Wansui. But how is it better for me as the wife of a Li then? Don't you think it would be just as bad a fate?"

That...now that was why I needed her all the more. This, Tang Zhen-Ting, managed to read me as though I were an open book laid out in front of her.

I looked at her in amusement. "I wouldn't allow you to get hurt."

She only huffed, crossing her arms tightly against herself while looking out towards the night sky. "And how would you do that General? By taking the blows for me while taking those of your own? I'm sure that living a life like this wouldn't benefit you at all." She sighed. "Find a noblewoman to marry, a cousin of yours or something like that. We'll only be anchors to each other that will cause us to sink."

"Better to sink together than alone, don't you think? Also, you'll be closer to Jiayi and won't need to leave her side. She was the only thing keeping you here wasn't she...and your brother? Don't leave them then. And trust me when I say that no noblewoman would be able to bear being my wife."

They'd make a run for it.

A small smile cracked her sullen expression. "And why would you think that I would?"

It was my turn to smile at that. "You haven't run off yet...have you?" When she didn't respond, I continued. "Both you and I are in desperate situations in which we have nothing to lose. Let's gain something then, Adila. And anyways...wouldn't we make an interesting couple?"

I found my chest tightening as she lost herself in her thoughts.

A cricket started to sing it croaky tune before she answered.

"Hao la...let's get married."

Yang Yuhuan

The brass basins in the palace were twice as heavy as any basket I ever had to carry back at Luoyang, and I was definitely struggling under the weight of it.

All my groaning wouldn't do anything however, I was alone in the kitchen as punishment for nearly burning the place down that morning from a lack of sleep.

It had not been my fault that the Miss had made us stay up the entire night practicing bows and kou tou to perform before the royal family.

With a sigh, I poured the water in the basin into the well, dropping the heavy thing down without a second thought as to the noise it would make. I nearly screamed when a grunt startled me. "Ni...Who are you? Come out and tell me who you are."

I quickly reached for the wooden broom on the ground behind me and held it out as if it would be enough to ward the stranger away, stepping backward cautiously when a shadow was first seen, then a man's figure.

The hanfu he wore was not that of a common thief, no...it was that of a prince. And as the moonlight enabled me to sketch out his face, I realized that he had no common look about him either. Even with his mouth stretched wide by whatever food he had been stealing, even with his eyes playfully wide and staring at the makeshift weapon in my hand, if I would call it such.

He was a prince...there was no doubt about it.

The man pointed at the broom with his hand grasping a dumpling, swallowing the food in his mouth before he spoke. "Are you planning on killing me with that?"

I waved him off dismissively and continued to hold up the broom. "Ni shi shei?"

He chuckled before taking another bite of the dumpling, this time answering with his mouth slightly full. "Li Mao Wangye....and you?"