Moral Principles

Zhao Fanghua held the wet-ink note between her fingers, the corners of her lips curling up in a way she couldn't suppress. She read and reread the paper against the candlelight, shaking it with pleasure. The crisp sound brought a sense of peace to her heart.

She carefully folded the note into a square and hid it neatly in the exquisite mother-of-pearl dressing box beside her pillow. She patted the precious box and then closed her eyes and fell asleep contentedly.

In stark contrast to her peaceful sleep in Lirong Courtyard, the lights in Wanhe Hall were still brightly on.

Zhao Qinglan sat alone behind a large rosewood desk, unconsciously fiddling with the jade ring on his thumb, a turbulent undercurrent surging in his calm eyes.

It was definitely not his intention to attack Zhao Fanghua today.

He had just come out of the Empress Dowager's Ci'an Palace, and the nausea and anger that were surging in his chest had not yet been suppressed when he saw her chatting and laughing with the man named Duan, and he lost control for a moment.

Ci'an Palace.

He greeted her politely and had just sat down when the empress dowager couldn't wait to call the girl named Linglong over.

That child should be his cousin in terms of seniority.

A child, less than ten years old, with eyes and eyebrows still undeveloped, was meticulously dressed to look like a young girl, with her hair in a complicated bun and a palace dress that was too mature. She held a cup of tea and respectfully presented it to him, "Your Majesty, please have some tea."

Zhao Qinglan's gaze swept across the girl's eyes, which were so mature and dignified that they did not belong to her age. All that was left in his heart was disgust towards the Queen Mother.

The Empress Dowager's thoughts have long been an unspoken secret in the harem, but she used to cover it up by claiming she "loves the hustle and bustle". Now, she is too lazy to even throw away this fig leaf.

Ultimately, it was simply because her unborn child had no chance of inheriting the throne. Even after all these years, this worry still lingered. Since she couldn't give birth herself, she had to ensure that the next generation of emperors would carry the blood of the Xiao family.

Zhao Qinglan had no intention of harshly criticizing a chess piece. He simply waved his hand, his voice devoid of emotion: "Go down."

Xiao Linglong subconsciously turned her head to look at the Empress Dowager, and after receiving her approval, she bowed and withdrew. The palace attendants also filed out silently, leaving behind a deathly silence.

"She's my cousin," Zhao Qinglan said, her knuckles whitening from pinching the tea in her cup. Her voice was icy, "She's just a child!"

The Queen Mother picked up the teacup beside her and slowly blew away the foam. She said calmly, "So what? Is the daughter of my Xiao family not worthy of the position of Queen?"

"Mother!" Zhao Qinglan took a deep breath, anger burning in her chest. "Do you really have no regard for human ethics?"

The Queen Mother heard this, as if she had heard a huge joke. A hint of sarcasm curved the corners of her lips and said, "Human ethics? You covet your own sister, so you consider human ethics?"

"She and I have no blood relationship!" Zhao Qinglan flatly denied it.

"Oh," the Queen Mother sneered, putting down the teacup. Her voice was low, but every word was piercing. "Then you and Linglong have nothing to do with each other, don't you?"

She suddenly leaned forward slightly, her well-maintained face close to his ear, and her tone was full of coldness: "I tell you, as long as you wear the dragon robe and sit on the dragon throne, Zhao Fanghua will be your imperial sister. Between you, there will always be a separation between the monarch and the subject, sister and brother. You will never, ever get her!"

After she finished speaking, she suddenly stood up, ignoring Zhao Qinglan's suddenly scarlet eyes, and burst into laughter. The laughter echoed in the empty palace, extremely harsh.

"As long as you are the emperor, she will be your sister. You will never get her!"

"Even if I don't get married, I can't be alone all my life. I have to find a concubine, just like you. One day you will have a queen and concubines, right?"

The empress dowager's malicious laughter and Zhao Fanghua's questions during the day were intertwined, roaring repeatedly in his ears, almost tearing his sanity apart.

Just at this moment, there was a "crackling" sound, and a flower of light exploded from the candlestick. The suddenly lit light made his angular profile half bright and half dark. In those bottomless eyes, all the churning pain, unwillingness and possessiveness finally settled into a kind of almost paranoid madness.

He stared at the dancing flames for a long moment, then a slight curve appeared at the corner of his lips as he sneered:

"Everything depends on human effort."

He wants this supreme position.

He will never let go of people.

In the afternoon, Lirong Courtyard was quiet, with only the occasional chirping of cicadas coming from outside the window.

When Zhao Qinglan entered the palace, Zhao Fanghua was fast asleep. He waved away the maids who were waiting on him, then drew aside the gauze curtains and stood beside the couch, watching her quietly.

Zhao Fanghua had no sleeping posture at all in her sleep. She was lying on her back with the thin blanket kicked aside. Her pajamas were slightly spread out, revealing a large area of ​​snow-white skin under her neck.

Zhao Qinglan's eyes met and he hurriedly looked away, his ears slightly hot.

He paused for a long while, then finally turned around, picked up the corner of the quilt and gently covered her belly button.

There was a storybook lying beside the couch. He leaned over to pick it up. The cover read, in large letters, "The Domineering Princess's Fierce Love." Zhao Qinglan felt his vision go dark as he silently placed the book on the bedside table.

When he looked back, he saw that she was sleeping soundly, with a suspicious water stain on the corner of her lips. She was mumbling something from time to time, as if she was angry with someone in her dream. He couldn't help but chuckle.

Unexpectedly, this smile disturbed her sweet dream.

Zhao Fanghua frowned slightly, opened his eyes dazedly, stared at him blankly for a long time, rubbed his eyes, sat up, and asked incoherently: "Why are you here..."

As she stood up, her nightgown slipped off, revealing a large area of ​​her shoulders.

Zhao Qinglan tilted her head slightly to look away, then reached out to carefully gather her nightgown that had slipped off. Her voice was soft, "Come and see Sister."

She had not yet fully woken up and just let him do what he wanted. After a while, she touched the back of her neck and yawned loudly.

"What did you dream about just now, sister? You seemed a little unhappy." He asked in a low voice.

At the mention of dreams, Zhao Fanghua perked up instantly. She quickly scooted forward and started talking. "Let me tell you, I read a storybook today called 'The Domineering Princess's Fierce Love.' Seeing the title, I thought it was about a princess forcibly seizing things, the kind where... well... the heroine locks the hero up, so good, so sad, hehehe."

She was so excited talking that she didn't even notice that Zhao Qinglan's ear clip had turned red. She just kept gesturing to herself.

Zhao Qinglan coughed lightly and turned away: "...and then?"

"The result!" Zhao Fanghua slapped her knee in anger. "That's not the case at all! The heroine has been trying to please the hero without mercy, giving him money and connections, and even offering to take a concubine. But the hero has always been cold and indifferent. In the end, it was only after his mother persuaded him that he reluctantly accepted the heroine. What kind of a naive plot is this? It's infuriating!"

"This book title is a definite scam! Scam! I need to download an anti-fraud app!"

Although Zhao Qinglan didn't quite understand the meaning of some of the words, she guessed the general idea and asked carefully, "Sister, do you dislike this kind of plot?"

"Of course I don't like it!" Zhao Fanghua said angrily. She was not a masochist.

He smiled slightly, his voice coaxing: "That's not difficult. If you don't like the plot, just rewrite it yourself."

Zhao Fanghua's eyes lit up, but then they shrank again: "But my handwriting is like dog crawling, and I can't think of any good plot..."

"That's fine." His Adam's apple rolled slightly, and his voice was low. "Alan can write with Sister... just like we did last night."

Zhao Fanghua shifted unconsciously, her ears slightly warmed: "This... isn't good..."

She originally thought that they would just practice calligraphy side by side like they did last night, but Zhao Qinglan said gently, "It's tiring to stand," and led her to sit on the chair in front of the desk. Zhao Fanghua's back was pressed tightly against Zhao Qinglan's chest.

This posture is almost like sitting in his arms.

"It's just writing together." He put his arm around Zhao Fanghua's waist and quietly led her in. Then he took her hand, gently put the pen between her fingers, and then held it firmly with his own hand. His breath brushed past her ear, "Father and son can do it, teacher and student can do it, why can't siblings do it?"

Zhao Fanghua had never had any brothers or sisters, so naturally she didn't know how siblings in ordinary families got along with each other in private.

Hearing him say this, I couldn't find any rebuttal for a moment. Maybe this is how siblings with deep feelings get along with each other?

I was making a fuss out of nothing.

Thinking of this, she instantly suppressed the subtle emotions in her heart.

Zhao Qinglan lowered his eyes to gaze at her gradually flushed face, his breath brushing against her ear as he spoke softly, "Sister, how would you like to revise it? Alan will guide you in writing."

After saying that, he leaned over slightly, his chin brushing against her hair inadvertently, and when he tilted his head, his warm lips brushed against the tip of her sensitive ear, intentionally or unintentionally.

Zhao Fanghua trembled and shrank subconsciously.

It seemed like something warm and wet touched her ear just now?

It must have been accidental, right?

They are just siblings.

They are just siblings with a very good relationship.

Can……

She began to feel the back of his hand, which was covered by him, become scorching hot, and even her breathing began to quicken. She could even clearly feel the steady heartbeat coming from the chest pressed against her. The unique aroma of ambergris enveloped her pervasively, making her dizzy and almost unable to think.

Zhao Qinglan noticed her stiffening, and the corners of his lips curved up, but he didn't retreat. Instead, he lowered his voice and whispered almost close to her ear, "Sister, where do you want to start? Should Her Royal Highness directly lock that ungrateful prince consort in the dungeon, or..." He paused deliberately, his warm breath caressing the side of her neck, "Clip his wings, exploit his weakness, and make him willingly submit?"

His words were bewitching, and every word penetrated into her ears.

Zhao Fanghua only felt his cheeks burning more intensely, and his heartbeat was so fast that it almost jumped out of his chest.

She tried to concentrate on the plot, but her mind was in a mess. All she could hear was his low voice, hot breath, and the hand that held her tightly, not allowing her to break free.