My heart skipped a beat, and I felt every inch of my body tense up instantly after hearing these words.
He looked at me as if he were admiring a helpless prey. Was this the side of Song Heng that looked down upon the world, the emperor? Or was it the side that galloped freely and unhindered across the battlefield?
"Your Majesty, you are drunk." I took a deep breath and pretended to be calm, but my body was already trying to shrink back.
"Yeah." He didn't deny it.
The hot breath mixed with the aroma of wine hit my face in waves. Although it was winter, I felt like my face was burning.
He loosened one hand, and his slender fingers gently hooked the casually tied straps on my fur coat, and the coldness of his fingertips faintly brushed across my neck.
I shuddered, suddenly realizing that he was really drunk now, and that what I had worried about a few months ago had actually happened.
I tried to calm my breathing, wondering what to do next. He was twirling the laces in small circles. "Why don't you wear the cloak I gave you?"
"Your Majesty, this fur coat is hanging on the rack. I can just grab it. It's more convenient." I tried to make each sentence have more words, just wanting to delay for as long as possible.
Where there is time, there is a turning point.
"Oh," he replied, "So Concubine Mu locked the cloak I gave you directly in the cabinet."
It is not a question but an affirmative sentence.
I was stunned, and just as I was trying to figure out how to respond without provoking anyone, he chuckled softly, "It's like locking that quilt in the closet."
"Right, Mu Zhaoyi?" He stared at me with his eyes fixed. His dark jade-like eyes were now less luminous than usual and more vague and unpredictable.
This is the fact. I felt guilty and wanted to avoid looking at him, but he was too close to me. No matter how I moved my eyes, I was still under his gaze.
His hands were still wrapped around the loose tie around my neck. He lowered his eyes and whispered, "After tonight, tomorrow, you will be Concubine Mu."
"Even later..." He murmured, and his dark eyes looked at me again.
I still stared at him blankly, my heart beating fast but I still forced myself to calm down and wait for what was to come.
He studied me for a moment, then raised his lips slightly, "Yes, Concubine Mu has long ceased to be interested in status."
"Then..." He continued slowly, "Tomorrow I will promote Lord Mu to the first rank. What do you think, Consort Mu?"
Song Heng was really drunk.
He glanced at me. "It seems it's all in vain."
He bowed his head slightly. "They say the emperor holds the country in his hands, and can turn clouds and rain with a flick of his hand."
"But right now, facing you—" His tone seemed to be smiling: "I don't even seem to have a few bargaining chips to exchange."
He seemed to be talking to himself, and I could only listen to him word by word with my body stiff, not knowing whether I should respond or how to respond.
"But..." He looked up at me, a hint of childish cunning flashing through his hazy eyes: "Just as Mu Zhaoyi once said."
"Concubines must fulfill their duties."
"And I want to expand the royal family and ensure that the country will be passed down from generation to generation."
"Then at this moment..." His brows suddenly turned cold, and he felt a sense of oppression: "Our identities are - that of king and subject."
"It's just - a man against a woman." He enunciated each word very clearly, and it hit my ears directly.
Immediately he held my face with both hands, the rich aroma of wine poured over me, and he kissed my forehead.
My whole body froze, and my mind instantly became much clearer -
I like him.
I am willing to do everything with him that anyone I like would do.
but--
Not like now.
With this means, with this identity, with this attitude!
My eyes were hot and I bit my lower lip with my teeth.
I thought of those humble maids who were beaten by Ajian, I thought of Wang Cairen’s helpless sobbing among the grass in the woods, and I thought of what Duan Xiao said to me before he left, “The palace walls are so high.”
Yes, I am a concubine in the harem now, and this matter would have happened more than half a year ago.
I just managed to hide for a while by chance, so I thought I could hide forever.
His cold lips were moving downwards, and suddenly I felt a light scratch on my neck, and my shoulders loosened - he pulled the straps, and the fur coat fell weakly to the wooden floor with a "clatter". I was only wearing my inner clothes and instantly felt the cold air around me rushing towards me.
I trembled unconsciously, and my breathing became uncontrollably rapid. My fingers were gripping the wooden board behind me, and I was extremely stiff.
"Song Heng..." When he opened his mouth, he found that his voice was almost sobbing, and he didn't know how to continue.
He paused, then murmured something like, "Hmm." I had already closed my eyes, feeling the rich aroma of the wine almost suffocating me.
He suddenly stopped, took a step back, and tightened his grip on me.
I opened my eyes with some pain, and he was staring at me, his thumb gently stroking under my eyes: "You are crying."
"Mu Zhaoyi...you're crying."
His voice was hoarse, his lips moved, and there was a turbulent wave in his eyes.
"You cried..." He paused for a long time: "I made you cry."
He frowned fiercely and rubbed my face with his fingers, then suddenly dropped his hands, turned around and strode away.
When he went out, perhaps because he was drunk or didn't notice the threshold under his feet, he swayed a little, and then he heard the hurried voice of Grandpa Afu.
The footsteps gradually faded away until they were silent. The wind seemed to be quite strong at night, and the door that was not closed made a creaking sound when it was blown.
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