Chapter 52: Zichen Palace Zoo
When I was a child, I had a simple wish, which was to open a zoo for exotic animals. After many years... no, it should be said that it was very many years, this wish was realized by Li Siyan.
Not only cats and dogs, Li Siyan also got me parrots, rabbits, goldfish and other small animals that girls would like. For two consecutive days, after court, he squatted in front of the rabbit house with me to watch the rabbits eat grass.
I held a leek in my hand and watched the rabbit smacking its lips with the emperor. I always felt that the scene was very strange.
"The Book of the Later Han says that Liang Ji built a rabbit garden west of Luoyang City and raised hundreds of rabbits. I always wanted to go see it when I was a kid."
"Luoyang has been in chaos for hundreds of years. Even if there was chaos, it would have turned to dust long ago," Li Siyan said. "...Besides, raising a few hundred rabbits would make the land look unappealing. Every step you take would leave a pit."
I was surprised: "Can rabbits dig holes?"
"Ordinary rabbits can do that, but it can't. It has been a pet for humans since its ancestors, and no one has taught it what rabbits should do."
I thought to myself, what a fucking palace! People have to be disciplined, and even rabbits can’t escape this.
Li Siyan picked up a leek and ruthlessly stuffed it into the rabbit's three-lobed mouth. He said, "It's very lucky. At least it fell into your hands. It doesn't have to sleep in the open air, nor does it have to be made into a rabbit fur collar."
The rabbit shuddered noticeably.
"Don't scare her." I quickly drove Li Siyan away: "Don't you review memorials? What's the point of staying here with me every day?"
Li Siyan said: "The court and the country are peaceful and nothing is happening. Of course I can do what I want."
He added, "The memorials you've received recently are meaningless. They are all urging me to spread my influence, expand my family, and have a crown prince soon."
"They're right." I picked up Da Mi who was passing by and said, "You look so energetic, but you don't even have a child. Aren't you afraid that people outside will think you're a coward?"
He turned his head and said, "We can discuss this later. I'm not thinking about it right now."
It was late autumn, and the weather was a bit bleak. The chrysanthemums were in full bloom, and the stamens were drooping. After watching the rabbits, we watered the palace maids' chrysanthemums, and then went for a leisurely walk by the Taiye Lake together. In the evening, we gathered around the stove to eat pancakes.
During the meal, I saw that the atmosphere was good, so I slowly made a request: "...I want to send a letter to my aunt."
"Okay." He agreed straightforwardly.
"Can I send a letter to Censor Shangguan Lanjiang and others?" I continued to ask tentatively.
"Sure." He said, "Let Hu Yue'er help you deliver it."
"You'll peek, won't you?"
He was very frank: "You can write, but I will definitely review it."
I said indignantly, "You are so stingy."
Even if he is branded as stingy, Li Siyan will never give up monitoring my letters.
I sat at the desk, writing furiously, while Li Siyan sat beside me, oiling and maintaining his precious dagger, and looked up from time to time to see what I was writing.
He may have never seen a serious letter from home. At first, he just glanced at it casually, and then he sat down at the desk and stared at me while I wrote. He was so focused that he didn't even bother to wipe his sword.
In order to reassure my aunt, I chose to write about interesting things, such as Li Siyan taking me boating and fishing, me teaching the palace maids to read, and the romantic gossip about Hu Yue'er and Chan'er... Finally, I grabbed Da Mi's paw and stamped the letter.
Li Siyan couldn't help laughing.
I glanced at him sideways. "Why? What's wrong with what I wrote?"
The latter laughed cheerfully, "...There's nothing wrong with that, but this is the first time I've seen such a rambling, mixed letter with pictures and text. I find it quite amusing."
"My aunt loves me. If I don't write this, she will always think that I have suffered a great injustice in the palace." I stacked the letters.
Suddenly he remembered that there was something he had forgotten to mention, so he picked up the pen and wrote a line of big words: If anyone hears any unbearable rumors, I will let the emperor punish them.
Mo Xingzi wrote too hard, and the brush slammed onto Li Siyan's sleeve. Li Siyan showed no sign of surprise, "Only you dare to order the emperor around so rudely."
This brought back my animosity, and I glared at Li Siyan fiercely, then launched into a tirade: "If not you, who else should I order around? You willful evildoer, you've wrongly earned me the nickname 'The Witch Concubine Who's Causing Trouble to the Nation.' Even upright and honest officials are unwilling to associate with my family, fearing that word will get out that we'll be accused of clinging to the rich and powerful!"
"In this way, the area in front of your house will be a lot quieter." Li Siyan seemed to think that he had done a good thing.
I angrily slammed him in the face. "What good is there?! All my relatives and friends avoid me. How can I live with this empty facade? I don't know how many times my aunt and the others have given me the cold shoulder."
Li Siyan thought for a while and said, "If you want the inside, then why don't I just confer a title on your family and raise your status to shut these people up."
"My family isn't short of money or reputation. What we lack most now is respectability." I said coldly, "It's a moral principle to accept no reward without merit. If you grant a title for no reason, what will others think? Did the Shen family gain wealth and glory by selling their daughters?"
Li Siyan was well versed in the balance of power, but he had little understanding of the complex etiquette, rules and styles of behavior among the aristocratic families. Every time I mentioned the word "etiquette", he looked troubled.
This time was no exception. Li Siyan's eyebrows were twisted into the shape of a "川" character. He proposed several compensation methods, but I rejected them one by one. In the end, he also understood that I was making a roundabout request to him, but this time the request was more excessive, so so much preparation was needed.
"Go ahead," he said, "it seems you won't give up until I agree to something."
When I heard there was a way, I immediately came over and said eagerly, "I want to move out of Zichen Palace and become an ordinary little talent. That way, they won't think I'm a demon concubine."
"no."
Li Siyan glanced at me and said ruthlessly, "Come on, stop pretending. You look cute and adorable on the outside, but you're actually full of evil intentions inside."
He smiled faintly and took me into his arms again.
I shuddered all over, feeling his breath, faintly filled with anger, across my neck, finding the location of my blood vessels and taking a gentle bite.
The bite didn't hurt; it was more of a warning than a punishment.
His emotionless voice whispered in my ear, "I told you that you can act recklessly, tear off the roof of the Purple Palace, and rip the finest fabric to make noises, but you can't even think of leaving."
He said, "Although I don't know what you are planning, you have a family, close friends, and a former lover. You are much easier to control than a lonely man like me. How could you possibly defeat me?"
I leaned gently in his arms, but I knew clearly in my heart that it was because I couldn't fight him that I had to coax, control, play hard to get, and pretend to be coquettish and naive.
I turned my head away fiercely and pushed his dog face away. Li Siyan licked his lips and looked at me straight. The next moment, he was pushed onto the writing desk by me unexpectedly, and the letter he had just written flew everywhere.
I raised my chin and said, "Li Siyan, do you think I haven't studied how to escape? You're wrong. I've looked at the map no less than a hundred times. Counting from here, I have to go through almost ten heavily guarded gates before I can barely leave Chang'an. And what happens after I leave Chang'an? Without a travel permit, household registration, and gold and silver, I won't be caught before I can move a mile. You're so afraid of me moving out. Are you not confident in the security of your palace? Is there a loophole? Tell me."
He laughed: "There is no flaw, I just don't want to travel far to see you."
I said, "You're not even willing to walk an extra mile for me, and you still say you like me."
"I don't want to be too far away from you," he answered in a hoarse voice, while putting his arms around my neck and letting me lie on his chest.
His heart was beating fast and his body was hot.
"I always feel that you are too ethereal, untouched by the earthly dust. So only by seeing you before my eyes can I feel at ease." He hugged me and murmured dreamily, "Maybe I'm afraid."
I felt very desperate when I heard that.
Fear... It's a psychological effect. So even if the imperial city is guarded tightly and I behave myself, he will still, due to psychological problems, continue to guard the treasure he has brought back like a crow...
At this moment, I felt like I had given up. I thought, why not just forget it and not even think about running away. I could just be his canary for the rest of my life. After a hundred years, I would go to the underworld and be cursed by my ancestors, and be a lonely ghost in the world from then on.
He almost took away everything from me, and I hated him extremely, but no one is heartless. When we were together, I was briefly shaken by his paranoid emotions. Now I have slowly become accustomed to this kind of life. We tried to tame and control each other, but in the end we were both influenced by each other.
In order to gain his trust, I have been pretending for too long, so long that I could no longer tell whether it was intentional or from my heart. Sometimes I would even naturally share with him a good poem I had just discovered, just like I did with Meng Xu many years ago. He also began to carefully study these poems and songs that he had disdained in the past. Because he is naturally smart and has a good brain, he has made some progress. Occasionally, he would express some interesting insights, which made me see some of Meng Xu's past.
Meng Xu's figure has begun to blur in my memory, but Li Siyan's is clearer. As time goes by, perhaps I will really forget the past and forget Meng Xu as he wishes.
I looked into his eyes and thought tiredly, forget it, life is just a blink of an eye, it will pass by in a muddle, just accept your fate, it's not shameful.
But if I accept my fate, what about the three lives in my family?
I was overwhelmed with grief and climbed up from his arms. My eyes turned slightly red. Without thinking, I opened my mouth and bit his shoulder hard. My sharp little fangs embedded in his muscles. Soon, the rusty taste of blood filled my mouth.
Li Siyan's expression remained unchanged, allowing me to bite and vent my anger, hissing an angry cry like a young animal from his throat. When my jaw could no longer exert any strength, my tears flowed down, mixing with his blood, staining his collar with clusters of deep red flowers.
"What's wrong?" He was silent for a while, then patted my back gently: "Have I upset you again?"
My eyes were still red, and I glared at him resentfully, using my hands and feet to struggle out of his arms.
But just as I raised my arms, a strong and thin arm suddenly grabbed my lower back. Li Siyan gently hugged me back, wiped my bloody lips with his other hand, and kissed me heavily, ignoring the tears on my face.
I was feeling angry and sad, so of course I wouldn't just be obedient and let him do what he wanted, so I bit the corner of his lips again.
The fishy and sweet taste of blood spread between his lips, arousing Li Siyan's instinctive hunting desire. He pressed me firmly against the wall and kissed me almost greedily, as excited as a hungry wolf.
Big Mi was watching us fighting in confusion on the top of the bed, with two entangled shadows reflected in his round cat eyes.
When he finally knew to let me go, I could hardly breathe. Being kissed by Li Siyan was definitely a strenuous job. This kind of kiss that seemed like he wanted to eat you up was something a girl who had never seen the world might not be able to withstand.
He slowly cleaned the wound at the corner of his mouth, with his eyes downcast, wondering what he was thinking.
I bent down, picked up the finished letters home one by one and put them away. I wiped my face with a towel in a huff. Li Siyan looked at me quietly from the side without saying a word.
It was not until I sat back down at the desk and unfolded a piece of snow-white letter paper that he slowly began to speak: "I remember you used to love writing legendary picture books."
Without even looking up, I said coldly, "Thanks to your majesty, I will stop writing."
"Why?" He said with a pleasant face, "You have a natural talent for this and write very well. When I sent someone to the bookseller to ask for your manuscript, he was terrified, but he still carefully asked who you were and whether you had any new works recently. If so, please publish them with him."
I was so angry that I almost crushed my pen. "Other people's troubles come from their mouths, but mine come from my writing. What's the point of writing well? I'll still get the bad luck I deserve."
He didn't get angry, but smiled and said, "I can't blame anyone else for this. It's because you wrote so sincerely that I was so jealous that I almost vomited blood."
He paused, and the smile in his words disappeared. When he spoke again, his voice was as calm as stagnant water, with a deep gloom hidden beneath the calmness.
"Do you know what this feels like? I sit alone in the empty imperial study, like a mouse in the darkness, spying on the past affection between you and Meng Xu."
I clenched my fists, forced to recall those painful days.
Perhaps that period was also painful for Li Siyan. He leaned against the window, half of his face hidden in the shadows, his slender fingers twisted, slowly crushing a piece of Tianxiang chrysanthemum petals, and said lightly:
"You and he have known each other since childhood, studying and writing together. Later, he took the imperial examinations, and you became a historian. On your days off, you went to the East Market together to play, and watched the sunset in the tavern. If it weren't for me, you would have gotten married, had children, grown old together, and finally shared a coffin a hundred years later..."
Broken petals fell at my feet, and Li Siyan's eyes fell on my face. He looked at me with a half-smile and said, "I am going crazy just thinking about these scenes, not to mention that you wrote them with such deep affection. The moment I closed the book, I made up my mind to snatch you away, even if it means using any means."
I had long since become numb to his perverted remarks, and whispered, "If I hadn't written this legend, and if you hadn't read it, would I not be here?"
"not necessarily."
He walked over to me from the window, a satisfied smile on his face. He rubbed my head, removed the fat bird hairpin from my bun, and whispered in my ear, "Don't blame yourself. Even if I hadn't seen this book, I wouldn't necessarily let you go. It's just that the time might have been a little later, and your seizure of a commoner's daughter would have turned into your seizure of my wife."
I closed my eyes in despair, but the guilt did not ease.
The pointed crescent moon outside the window has reached halfway up the mountain, and the top of the long palace wall is covered with a layer of clear sunlight. It is cold at night in Chang'an in autumn, and the north wind is blowing outside. Li Siyan comes over and naturally unties my bun for me, then takes the comb and starts combing my hair again and again.
A drop of rain fell on the tile, followed by the second drop, the third drop... This might be the last heavy rain in autumn. I looked up at the window. There was a heavy sound of rain outside, and mist was lingering between the sky and the earth. The sticky air was the best place for some romantic affairs to happen, because heavy rain could wash away all the dirt and entangled love and hate.
I suddenly wanted to write a letter to Meng Xu.
The day before my wedding, the rain was just as heavy, dragging on and on. I sat under the eaves and thought about many possible futures, but unfortunately, my fate was still heading slowly towards the worst path.
I missed him very much. I wanted to tell him that I had no choice, I wanted to persuade him to find another partner, and even more I wanted to apologize to him - the disaster was caused by me, what was his fault?
So, I held Li Siyan's hand holding the comb, turned around with my long hair draped over my shoulders, and whispered, "Your Majesty, I want to write a letter to Meng Xu."
Snap, the jade comb in Li Siyan's hand was broken into two pieces.
There was no expression on his handsome face, his long eyebrows reached his temples, and his eyes were filled with cold glints. He stared at me coldly, as if he wanted to cut open my heart to see how much ungratefulness was hidden inside.
Her voice was as frightening as if it had been pulled out of ice water: "As expected of the daughter of the Shen family, you are so loyal. Did you become so itchy after hearing me talk about Meng Xu that you don't even want to pretend to lie to me?"
Hearing this sarcastic tone, I sighed inwardly. As expected, Li Siyan was jealous again. He was an emperor, but he was jealous every day and was not afraid of being laughed at if he told others about it.
I had no choice but to explain patiently, "Listen to me, Auntie and the Meng family must have fallen out. Even if she knew I was safe, she wouldn't tell Meng Xu. That's why I wanted to write him a letter alone, telling him about my recent situation so he'd give up. Don't worry, I won't say anything presumptuous, I'm just letting him know I'm safe."
Li Siyan said coldly, "It's very simple to report that I'm safe. I can just send someone to inform him. Why do you need to write a letter yourself?"
I also said in a bad mood: "After all, the Meng family has been my family's neighbors for decades. Even if we can't be relatives now, they are still half my brothers. If you don't want to, forget it. Don't be so skeptical and angry like a jealous woman."
He was speechless for a moment, probably realizing how ridiculous his behavior was. He was just like a pathetic and resentful husband, trying to grab my attention.
I glanced at him indifferently, got up and went to wash up behind the screen.
Li Siyan didn't say anything else. Holding the remains of the jade comb, he went to the study with a gloomy face.
I didn't think about coaxing him. I put down the tent and went to sleep. I thought I would let him deal with his anger on his own. Anyway, he liked me now, and he would definitely not be able to bear it for a few days and would come up to me again with a shameless face.
Sure enough, he had been angry for less than two hours before he successfully convinced himself. He returned to the inner hall silently in the middle of the night and lay down next to me.
I was sleeping soundly when suddenly I was hugged in his arms with the quilt.
In drowsiness, I opened my eyes a little and saw Li Siyan holding me in a very possessive posture, his knee against my right leg, his shallow breathing on my neck.
Seeing that he was fine, I felt relieved, closed my eyes and continued to sleep soundly. However, the person behind me seemed to be in a long insomnia. He said something to me, but I didn't hear it clearly.
The next day, for the first time ever, he didn't get up early for morning exercise, and slept with me until noon.
When I woke up, I found myself curled up in his arms, and the quilt under the corner of my mouth was slightly wet, which should be... saliva.
Li Siyan struck a pose commonly seen in love stories, supporting his head with one hand and resting the other on my shoulder, lazily observing my sleeping posture.
I was terrified. I let out a loud yelp and sprang two feet away like a spring, pulling my hair while yelling, "Why are you still here? Aren't you going to court?"
He smiled, his fox eyes curved into slits of pleasure, and the originally sharp features of his face seemed much softer. Still maintaining his sideways posture, he said leisurely, "You forgot, today is a day off."
"Rest...rest?" I finally realized what was going on, but then I felt something was wrong: "You can't just rest randomly during rest! The king doesn't even do his morning prayers, you idiot!"
It is said that a day's plan begins in the morning. According to ancestral rules, the emperor has no right to stay in bed. After getting up in the morning, he has to cultivate his character, exercise, and other procedures to follow. How can he sleep with his arms around a woman?
Li Siyan held me and lay down again: "...It's okay to be lazy for a day. I am the emperor, and they dare not say anything."
He added, "You look a bit like Da Mi when you're asleep."
We all know that Da Mi is notoriously bad at sleeping. Not only does she lie sprawled out, but she also loves to meow and talk in her sleep. Li Siyan said I resemble her...
"Did I...did I talk in my sleep?" I looked at the ceiling of the bed in shame.
"Yes," Li Siyan nodded, and then, under my despairing gaze, he sighed to himself, "As expected of a family of historians, I even recite the Thousand Character Classic in my dreams."
I confirmed that I wasn't talking nonsense in a dream and breathed a sigh of relief. "I've been teaching Xiao Jinlian and the others to read recently. I've been saying the Thousand Character Classic a lot. It seems that what you think about during the day will be reflected in your dreams at night."
Li Siyan laughed and said, "Not only that, you even cursed me as a dog emperor in your dream."
I rolled my eyes and said, "I'd curse you to your face just as much, you damned dog emperor."
Li Siyan stretched his legs comfortably, looking at me with a hint of excitement in his eyes, and encouraged me: "One more sentence."
Just a while ago, Li Siyan discovered that I was too well-educated and my vocabulary for cursing was seriously insufficient, so he specially taught me some common cursing words in the market and actively encouraged me to apply them in daily language.
I am speechless to the heavens.
He came excitedly to teach me how to swear just to listen to me scold him. The dog emperor is really seriously ill.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
