Underneath A Thousand Skies ✔️

31 Favoring Qie Over Wife (31)

In a place where it appeared like a snow globe that had been turned over, swirling storms of silver howled, bringing wintry chill. The flakes fell slowly and the air was almost still, but the snow was so thick that it almost obscured the view completely.

In the darkest of the night, the crude outline of a tent could be barely seen, lit up with lanterns from within. The sound of hoofbeats came, and then hurried footsteps that sought to get out of the cold. The tent flap was lifted by a gloved hand and a soldier appeared, bowing his head to the man that was seated at the head of the table, studying a map.

"Your Highness, a letter from the capital had arrived."

Zhao Cheng's lips moved slightly. In the end, he could only ask, "Who is it from?"

"Your Highness, they said it was a letter personally written by Xu Qin Wang Fei."

Before the soldier could react, the bundle of package that he was holding out was quickly snatched from his hands.

"What are you waiting for? Want me to escort you out?"

When the soldier heard the cold voice that was filled with impatience, he immediately stammered out an apology and quietly withdrew.

Zhao Cheng placed the package on the table and opened it with slightly trembling hands. She was awake! How long had she been awake? What did she want to tell him in her letter? Did she miss him...

One could not blame his Imperial Third Highness for being so excited. In these past two months, all he could think about was his wife. Was she being properly taken care of, was she still mad at him, did she finally open her eyes that he wanted to see...Zhao Cheng took a long time to open the package because his hands were shaking too much. After taking a brief time to calm himself down, he finally managed to cut open the envelope and read the letter.

It was better to have no expectations at all. As he read the letter from beginning to end, his heart continued sinking until he could no longer hold himself up and collapsed into his chair.

Divorce.

He had almost forgotten. They promised to divorce after a year, didn't they? He thought at that time that it was a good idea since the one he loved was Bai Mei Lien and he wanted her to become his second wife. But why is it that his whole being was flinching, wanting to burn this letter to ashes and pretend she had never mentioned it?

She was his wife, and yet that bond between them would soon be cut...

He was happy that she was awake, but as soon as she opened her eyes, she wanted to leave him. This should not have affected him at all, but inside his heart, there was a continuous no, no, no, no that was screaming for her not to leave.

He forgot about their impending divorce, so he never thought that one day, she would leave him, that one day, she would create a new life with another man...

He was not prepared at all, and he was going to lose her!

Zhao Cheng clutched his chest, this unfamiliar emotion, seemed to be suffocating him. His eyes fell down on the beautiful script of the letter, telling him that Bai Mei Lien was pregnant.

He should be happy, but after reading that Li Jia might leave him, all thoughts of happiness fled his mind. He did not know what was going on, clearly the one he loved was Bai Mei Lien, yet a woman could affect him so much like this...

Zhao Cheng spat out to the shadow guard that was always with him, "Find Wen Heng Zhi and bring him into my tent!"

He did not know what was going on with his heart, and he could not talk about this to anyone. He knew that Wen Heng Zhi knew him as much as he knew himself, maybe he had an answer...

Wen Heng Zhi soon found himself limping towards Zhao Cheng's tent, nervously contemplating if that man decided to end his life after all. But he did not even do anything! From the moment they arrived in the northern border, he behaved well, treating injured soldiers left and right. So why is the third prince's shadow guard dragging him like this?

The moment Wen Heng Zhi entered Zhao Cheng's tent, he saw the man pacing back and forth, wearing out the thick rug under his feet into tatters. There was really a big gap between the treatment of soldiers and royals, even the commander did not have a tent as luxurious as this. Wen Heng Zhi felt a stab of envy before he mechanically performed his greetings.

"Everyone aside from Wen Heng Zhi, retreat."

Darts of shadows fled, along with the manservants. In a second, only the two of them were left inside the tent.

"Benwang's condition, do you know?" Zhao Cheng did not let him speak but directly asked him about his worries.

"...huh?" Being suddenly thrown a vague question that came out of nowhere, Wen Heng Zhi could only look at him with an idiotic expression.

"..." Zhao Cheng massaged his temples. He knew he had to elaborate, but he did not know where to begin. Even he himself did not know what was wrong with him.

As Zhao Cheng tried to think of a way for this fool to understand what he was going through, Wen Heng Zhi saw the open letter on his table. A spark of an idea was lit up in his mind and he guessed, "Is His Highness 'condition' related to Xu Qin Wang Fei?"

Zhao Cheng's expression cleared up. "Yes, exactly."

Wen Heng Zhi inwardly laughed. So it was this! He wondered how long it would take him to notice.

"Does His Highness feel that he behaves strangely towards Xu Qin Wang Fei? Does His Highness find himself thinking about her often?"

Zhao Cheng continued to nod. Inside, he grudgingly accepted that this 'old' friend of his was very astute. He already discovered what was wrong with him. Did Jia'er think that this kind of man was very admirable as well?

The gaze that Zhao Cheng directed at Wen Heng Zhi started to contain a bit of killing intent.

Wen Heng Zhi did not notice, because he was having so much fun. Broke his leg, broke his nose, it dropped points in his appeal towards the ladies okay? Seeing that Zhao Cheng was having some troubles with women himself, he found himself feeling extremely joyful.

"Does His Highness want her to always stay by his side? Does His Highness not want Xu Qin Wang Fei to ever leave him?"

Leave him?! Zhao Cheng's heart slammed against his ribcage. No, he never thought about her leaving him. He thought, since they were married, even if they weren't born at the same time, they would be buried in the same coffin. Even if she died, she would still be his ghost.

One had to say, Zhao Cheng forgot about their promise to divorce completely.

"Yes!" His answer that was filled with conviction startled Wen Heng Zhi. He studied his friend closely, and saw a flash of panic in the prince's eyes.

A lover, of course, would always hate for his loved one to leave him, but this kind of reaction...

Wen Heng Zhi shook his head. He must have seen it wrongly. Clearing his throat, he finally said out loud what he discovered when he saw how tightly Zhao Cheng held Li Jia in his arms from her jump on the peach blossom tree several months ago.

"Then His Highness' condition is very simple. His Highness is in love with Xu Qin Wang Fei."