Fear

Qiao Siyu waited patiently, and seeing that Ping An and Cui Shenzhi's relationship was gradually stabilizing, she finally chose a day when there was no morning court session to go to the palace to request an audience.

As far as Cui Shenzhi was concerned, although Qiao Siyu often did unexpected things, she was a great contributor to his and Ping An's understanding of each other, and now she was also his sworn sister, so naturally he would not refuse to see her.

After entering the Qianqing Palace, Qiao Siyu looked at Ping An, who was sitting on the throne with his legs crossed, leisurely eating fruit, and Cui Shenzhi, who was holding fruit in one hand and correcting memorials in the other, and remained silent for a moment.

She knew that Choi Shin-ji was a henpecked husband, but seeing this scene in person still made her somewhat unable to bear it.

Why can't Lin Yimo learn from this?!

Qiao Siyu took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down and prevent the bitterness in her heart from overflowing.

"Your Highness, Your Majesty, please dismiss those around you. I have important matters to report."

Cui Shenzhi and Ping An exchanged a glance and agreed.

After everyone had left, Qiao Siyu knelt down without saying a word.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness and His Majesty, for I have dared to commit such a deceitful act."

Upon hearing this, Ping An's face lit up with interest, while Cui Shenzhi straightened his back with a serious expression.

"What happened?"

"Your Highness is not pregnant. This matter was merely a scheme devised by me, Princess Shen, and Physician Lu, after I saw Your Highness suffering from the pain of being separated from His Majesty."

Both Choi Shin-ji and An Ping were stunned.

Ping An chewed twice and swallowed what was in her mouth. She then lifted her skirt and prepared to kick Qiao Siyu.

But as soon as she stood up, Cui Shenzhi hugged her from behind and started trembling.

Qiao Siyu quickly bowed and withdrew.

Ping An wanted Qiao Siyu to stop, but after glancing at Cui Shenzhi, she didn't say anything.

After the palace doors closed, she said to Cui Shenzhi in a tone that was a mixture of disappointment and disdain, "What are you doing? It's just that you don't have children. I'm not afraid of you, so what are you afraid of? You are the emperor, the founding emperor, can't you be a little more assertive?"

"Yes, the throne needs an heir. We are both not closely related to our families, so the heir is even more important. But we are not old. With Lu Fengping here, we don't need to worry about being plotted against and becoming like Cui Sugong. Why be so afraid?"

“I’m not afraid of that,” Cui Shenzhi’s voice was full of panic, “I’m afraid you won’t want me again, Ping An.”

“You lived so carefree in Qingshui Town, without any intention of turning back, until Fengping lied to you that you were pregnant with our child and you returned to the capital. You didn’t come to find me, but to find Lingxian. But now the child is gone, and I’m afraid you won’t want me anymore.”

Ping An wanted to scoff at it.

Putting aside the fact that she chose to fake her death and leave because she thought Cui Shenzhi was going to harm her, everything in Qingshui Town was under Cui Shenzhi's control. If she chose to abandon everything and go back at this time, what difference would it make from handing her life over to Cui Shenzhi to do with as he sees fit?

But seeing Choi Shin-ji's body trembling uncontrollably, she ultimately didn't say anything.

“What are you thinking about?” Ping An patted Cui Shenzhi’s hand, with a reassuring tone that she herself did not realize: “Yes, the reason I chose to come back was indeed because of the child, but in the end, I was the one who made the decision. Now that I’m back, I have thought it through and I will not leave again.”

"Besides, you said our fates are intertwined. I even had Qi Kang find someone to compile our story of deep affection and unwavering devotion to each other, and spread it far and wide. If I were to abandon you and run away again under these circumstances, wouldn't I be infamous for eternity like Cui Sugong? I can't fake my death again, can I? Otherwise, your claim of being intertwined would become a joke."

“So,” Ping An poked Cui Shenzhi’s head hard, “stop thinking about nonsense.”

Cui Shenzhi's fear lessened, but his worry increased.

“Ping An, I’m afraid you’ll leave me, but I’m even more afraid of making you suffer. If you really want to leave, I… I will never stop you. I will take care of all the things you’re worried about. Please don’t force yourself.”

Ping An looked at Cui Shenzhi's hand around her waist, which showed no sign of letting go, and didn't know what to say.

You didn't stop her? If you didn't stop her, then let go! You're squeezing her so tightly she can't even straighten her back, and you call that not stopping her?

She turned her head, looked at Cui Shenzhi's seemingly genuine fear, remained silent for a moment, then cupped Cui Shenzhi's face and gave him a long kiss, ending with a furious bite on his lip.

"Does that put your mind at ease now?"

Choi Shin-ji nodded blankly, then shook his head with a blush after regaining his senses.

“Peace,” Cui Shenzhi whispered, “isn’t enough…”

Ping An was surprised by Cui Shenzhi's words and couldn't help but widen her eyes. Then she forcefully pulled away Cui Shenzhi's hand and said angrily, "Not enough, huh? You wait, I'll call all the palace servants here to kiss you one by one until you feel you've had enough!"

Choi Shin-ji quickly refused.

"Ping An, no one else will do, I only want you."

"...Then you'd better shut up and focus on handling your official duties, and don't even think about pushing your luck!"

Cui Shenzhi could only look like a pitiful puppy, drooping his ears as he continued to peruse the memorials.

Ping An stared at him for a while, and only after confirming that he wasn't causing any trouble did she turn around to go and cause trouble for Qiao Siyu.

But she had only taken a couple of steps when she felt her ears burning. When she turned around, she saw Cui Shenzhi looking at her back with pitiful eyes. When he saw her turn around, he lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong, pretending to be seriously flipping through the memorials in his hands.

She bit her lip and walked back angrily.

"I'm saying you..."

Before Ping An could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Cui Shenzhi, who raised his head.

"I'm safe and sound, I know what I'm doing, it won't cause any problems."

“…Forget it,” Ping An glanced at the palace gate with some resentment, sat down indignantly, and nudged Cui Shenzhi with her butt: “Anyway, with the Qiao family around, Qiao Siyu can’t run away. There’s no rush to cause her trouble now. Besides, Lin Yimo is still in the capital. For his sake, Qiao Siyu will have to obediently come back to me no matter where she runs.”

Smelling the scent of peace beside him, listening to Ping An's rambling voice, and feeling the warmth emanating from her, Cui Shenzhi felt a little more at ease, but…

He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then, while Ping An was relieving himself, he instructed Qi Kang to leave the palace.

****

Ping An stayed by Cui Shenzhi's side all day without leaving, thinking that this would prevent Cui Shenzhi from causing any more trouble. However, by evening she realized that she had been overthinking it.

She looked at the flickering candlelight in the bedroom, the light gauze that had been hung up while she went to the bathing room, and Cui Shenzhi, who was wearing a thin, semi-transparent dress loosely hanging under the gauze, and fell silent at the pot on the table that seemed to be either wine or water.

After a long while, she came to her senses and called out loudly, "Qiu Yan?"

No one responded.

"Think of danger?"

Still no one responded.

"Qi Kang?"

Still no one responded.

Without saying a word, she turned around and walked towards the door, but Cui Shenzhi grabbed her sleeve.

"Peace," Cui Shenzhi said with a hint of shyness, "Don't you like it?"

"Like...like what? Do you even know you're the emperor?! What kind of clothes are you wearing?!" Ping An didn't even turn her head, her ears burning red, and said, "I know, it's Qiao Siyu again, isn't it? It was her idea to send you these clothes, wasn't it? I'm going to go and cause her trouble right now!"

Cui Shenzhi did not loosen his grip on Ping An's sleeve.

"You misunderstood. This time it wasn't her; it was my own idea. You like going to Tingfeng Tower, right? So I had Qi Kang go to the owner of Tingfeng Tower and ask her to get one of their most popular dresses to send to the palace. Don't I look good in it?"

Hearing the dejection in Cui Shenzhi's voice, Ping An didn't know what to say.

"You...I...no, don't you know what kind of place Tingfeng Tower is? Are the clothes there something an emperor like you should wear?! If someone sees you there, what will become of your imperial dignity?!"

"oh…"

Cui Shenzhi replied with a sound of disappointment, followed by a rustling sound of clothes rubbing together, and then Ping An saw the semi-transparent dress fall to her feet.

She choked up.

Is that what she meant?!

But before she could speak, Cui Shenzhi hugged her from behind and whispered in her ear, "Ping An, you've been gone for three months and back for more than half a month. We haven't been intimate for almost four months. I miss you so much. Don't you miss me?"

Ping An felt the warmth of Cui Shenzhi's body behind her and his warm breath in her ear, and her face felt burning.

"You...you...speak properly, don't get physical!"

"Ping An," Cui Shenzhi ignored Ping An's words and lowered his head to kiss Ping An's ear: "We are husband and wife. If I don't lay a hand on you, who will I lay a hand on? Will you be gentle with me?"

"Oh no!" Ping An said decisively as she struggled to get away from Cui Shenzhi, her face flushed.

Seeing Ping An's resistant attitude, Cui Shenzhi sighed and let go of her hand, lowering his head like an abandoned stray puppy.

"I understand, I'll have them come in and clean up right away."

Looking at Cui Shenzhi's dejected figure, Ping An felt uneasy, but couldn't explain why. She tried to hold back, but eventually couldn't.

"…return."

Ping An's voice wasn't loud, but Cui Shenzhi heard it immediately.

He turned around decisively and returned to Ping An's side in a few steps, his eyes burning with determination.

Ping An looked at the expectant expression on Cui Shenzhi's face, gritted her teeth somewhat unwillingly, but still grabbed his belt and led him to the bedside. Then she pushed him onto the bed, and the people who were eavesdropping outside the door all blushed and walked away.