Falling Dreams Of Fang Hua

Chapter 45 (Part 1)

The pale stone floors scattered with yellow tiles and the red walls covered with colorful, luxurious paintings combined with the solemn dignity of the palace to stifle me. I suddenly realized that everything here was unfamiliar.

Little Li supported my preoccupied self back to the main hall. I could see the cold and cheerless door from a long distance away, with no imperial carriage in sight. Not only did I let out a breath in relief, but I also gave the eunuch a look as I murmured, "You used the emperor to scare me off. If I'd known it'd be like this, I would've followed that Lord Hua straight back to the Cold Palace for some novel sights."

This guy actually said that the emperor would get angry if he came back from official business to find me gone. The emperor had lots of work to do, there was no guarantee he'd come back here even when he finished.

Seriously...

I gave him a glance and poked him with my finger. Little Li smiled with me, and lowered his head to bow. I pulled up my robes and took one step into the doors before bumping into something warm. Yah...what was this? I felt around clumsily with my hands around his chest until he caught me.

Little Li had already been frightened to kneeling on the ground. "May the Emperor live 10,000 years, 10,000 of 10,000 years!"

Recently, all I've been doing is running into people I shouldn't...

—

I raised my head to meet the fearfully terrorizing eyes of the man before me, uncertain of how I was feeling. Disturbed, anxious...they all came naturally. I started as I remembered I should greet him, but I couldn't move when he was holding my hands.

"Where did you go?"

"My body felt sluggish after lying in bed all day, so I went to soak in some sunshine."

His eyes seemed to hold some thoughts as his eyebrows furrowed. A hand rested on my elbow and pushed me to a corner against the walls as he looked me up and down with concentration. Head lowered, he came to stroke my hair before his lips quirked up. "You went to look for him, didn't you..."

He seemed to be extremely angry, but was trying his best to hold it back, intentionally lowering his voice to a soft and gentle tone. I felt a bit uneasy and looked to the side, appealing to Little Li for help. Yet I discovered that the kneeling eunuch had long since disappeared.

"What are you thinking about instead of speaking?"

"I don't know what I should say," I replied honestly, looking at the emperor.

Who was the "him" he mentioned? There was plenty of idle gossip within the court, so I couldn't bring up false charges against a person.

He gave a ridiculing smile. I frowned, feeling his hot gaze was examining me very closely. He didn't say anything else, but his body relaxed a bit. Still, I felt that something was wrong...

My line of vision went past his shoulders to the room beyond...as it turned out, the room was filled with broken porcelain, as if it had just went through a "reign of terror[1]."

"What happened here?"

He was quiet for a long while before suddenly breaking into a smile.

"General Qi's people were remonstrating about the empress selection issue again. Zhen was irritated and came to find you, but you weren't here. After seeing how outdated and old the furnishings in your quarters were, I decided to break a few pieces."

Old...

Of course the older the item, the more valuable it was. There was an eighty percent chance that this guy was too well-off and just felt snubbed. I stared at him with a grin, but he lowered his head and pulled me into an embrace, murmuring by my ear. "If you saw him, then it's fine. Break off your thoughts earlier. In the future, even if you spend one-tenths of your thoughts on me, I'll treat you well and take care of you for a lifetime."