Chapter 112 I loved you, but if I had known sooner...
Fu Jun's heart trembled violently. It wasn't just a memory; it was etched into his heart.
The moment he looked up and met the Empress's burning gaze, his heart pounded like a drum again, and he was somewhat absent-minded: "I remember, you said that you hoped I could change my mind the next time we met."
Zhilan gazed at him calmly, her eyes revealing an indescribable tenderness and affection: "Is that all?"
Fu Yun was completely mesmerized by Zhi Lan's tender and affectionate eyes, and thought to himself, "How can someone's eyes be so captivating?"
At this moment, the surrounding houses and the occasional passerby seemed to become nothing more than empty decorations.
He just stared back at her, stunned, and subconsciously shook his head: "No, you still say that..."
He had only said a few words when a cool autumn breeze suddenly swept over him, jolting him abruptly from his dazed state.
His previously muddled thoughts regained a sliver of clarity, and the words he hadn't finished speaking suddenly stuck in his throat.
Zhilan said more than just that; she also said some things that shocked him so much that he was too embarrassed to repeat them.
She first said that she would protect him for life and not let anyone hurt him.
She then added that if anyone could harm him under her protection, there was only one possibility: she was no longer alive.
The shock and awe he felt from those words still stirred his emotions and moved him deeply whenever he thought about them.
He was so agitated that he became impulsive and desperate to understand the meaning of her words. Unable to see through Zhilan's thoughts or confirm her opinion of him, he impulsively wanted to ask her for an answer.
He hadn't even considered the other possibility: what if it was all just an illusion, his own overthinking and wishful thinking? How would he handle that?
People would probably gossip behind his back, saying that a merchant like him trying to climb up to the emperor is like a toad trying to eat swan meat, a pipe dream.
Fu Yun herself did not feel that there was anything shameful about being a merchant, but in ancient feudal matriarchal countries, the status and position of merchants were the lowest.
As a CEO who has been in the business world for many years, he naturally wouldn't fight a battle unprepared, nor would he do anything that would make him lose face or dignity.
But for the Empress, even knowing that there was likely to be no good outcome, she still wanted to take a gamble and do it, even though it went against her life philosophy that everything had to be planned in advance and that success was the only option. She never backed down.
Serving a ruler is like serving a tiger; he was fully aware of the risks involved, yet he still couldn't avoid them, focusing solely on being captivated by the empress's charm. Wasn't this a manifestation of being smitten without realizing it?
Zhilan pressed her advantage, a dark glint flashing in her eyes, giving Fu Jun no chance to back down: "What else did I say?"
Fu Junjun's face flushed, his ears burned, and the sound of his own irregular heartbeat made him even more flustered. He looked away in embarrassment, unable to say anything.
He couldn't help but feel annoyed: "What a spineless guy. A promising young man of the 21st century, yet he's not as composed as an ancient woman when she meets the man she admires. He's completely outclassed by Zhilan."
To put it bluntly, it's his fault for being so weak. Even if he's never eaten pork, he's seen pigs run. Back then, his mother dragged him to watch so many family dramas. He should have been able to remain calm and collected when faced with this kind of scene where they're trying to understand each other's feelings.
In practice, however, the opposite was true. Zhilan's few words threw him into disarray and made him lose his composure.
What a disaster! They messed up at the crucial moment. What should we do now?
"What? Can't you say?"
Zhilan's voice was gentle and melodious, with a pleasant laugh.
"Indecisive and rambling, your words are unpredictable; this doesn't seem like your personality?"
She spoke casually, her voice rising slightly at the end, as if hooked, plucking at Fu Jun's already unsteady heartstrings again and again.
Fu Jun felt utterly ashamed and wished he could disappear into the ground, but as a grown man, how could he be looked down upon by Zhi Lan? He immediately forced a smile and replied, "You also said that you hoped I would stay in the palace."
Zhilan's expression shifted slightly, her eyes gleaming with intense light: "Since you remember, do you know why I said that?"
"I..." Fu Jun's heart leaped into her throat, unable to resist the temptation to know the answer, and asked in return, "Why?"
Before Zhilan could respond, he asked incoherently, "Did you kindly give me a place to stay because you saw I had nowhere to live?"
Zhilan twitched her lips, looking at the blockhead in front of her, speechless for a moment.
She couldn't help herself and gently flicked Fu Yun's forehead, saying helplessly, "Are you stupid? If I just wanted to give you a place to live, wouldn't it be more appropriate to just give you a mansion? Why do I have to keep you in the palace?"
Fu Yun was instantly devastated. He couldn't hear his own heartbeat anymore; he only felt short of breath, and his throat trembled uncontrollably: "Then you..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Zhilan said directly, "Because I want to see you all the time."
Fu Yun opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word for a moment. It was as if a dazzling firework had exploded in his mind, making him feel dizzy.
He covered his forehead and took several deep breaths before he could barely compose himself, which was embarrassing because he was too excited to speak.
His voice trembled as he pressed on, "So, you like me?"
Zhilan smiled and replied softly, "Yes, I like you."
Fu Yun's fingertips trembled, somewhat unsure: "Not the kind of affection one has for a younger brother, but rather romantic love between a man and a woman?"
So close to the truth, he dared not even breathe loudly, for fear that he was hallucinating.
Zhilan answered without hesitation: "Of course."
Fu Yun stared intently into Zhi Lan's eyes, stubbornly confirming once more: "You truly like me, and it's not just a passing fancy because I'm different from the men here?"
Zhilan was both amused and exasperated. She reached out and grasped Fu Jun's shoulder, her expression sincere and her tone solemn: "Of course it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather something that had been planned for a long time."
Worried that the young man in front of her was still overthinking, she continued to pour out her heart to him: "I love you, simply because it is you, for no other reason. Many people come and go in my life, but only you can enter my heart, and only you can understand what I think and worry about. Only you can move my heart. Do you understand?"
Fu Yun's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down at this moment.
So it seems that he and Zhilan developed feelings for each other over time, and their love blossomed into mutual affection.
Zhilan's heartfelt confession deeply moved him and excited him.
He felt very lucky that the person he admired also liked him.
Seeing Fu Yun's unusually dazed expression, Zhi Lan's eyes instantly lit up with a smile, as if all things were reviving and a hundred flowers were blooming, so dazzling that it made people dizzy.
Her voice was gentle, with a hint of regret: "I have tested you more than once, but you are too dull and can never understand the deeper meaning in my words. I can't push you too hard, for fear of scaring you away. If you stay far away, how can I come to see you?"
Fu Yun's joy seemed to be about to swell up. He belatedly realized, his eyes clear and bright: "So, the reason you came to see me time and time again was not because you had time to travel incognito, but because you took time out of your busy schedule to see me?"
Zhilan raised her eyebrows, her eyes filled with tender smiles: "Otherwise what? Why did I stay up all night dealing with those urgent memorials? Naturally, it was so that I could come and see you the next day."
Fu Yun was deeply moved, but also heartbroken. He couldn't help but reach out to hug Zhi Lan's shoulders, but found that she was the same height as him. He could only slide his hands down to her lower back and gently embrace her.
He gently rested his chin on her shoulder and neck. Her hair emitted a delicate fragrance, a faint scent of crabapple blossoms, almost imperceptible, only detectable when you were very close.
The faint, refreshing fragrance soothed the mind and body. Fu Yun was momentarily lost in thought, but when he thought of the person in his arms who had stayed up all night to handle official business so as to see him, he felt extremely guilty: "I'm sorry, I didn't know you had sacrificed so much for me."
I've always felt that with my current abilities, I'm not good enough for someone as outstanding as you. So I want to build a successful career, earn more money than I could ever spend in a lifetime, and provide you with the greatest support. Even though sometimes I can vaguely sense your special feelings for me, I don't dare to think too deeply about it, worried that I'm just imagining things.
The moment Fu Yun embraced Zhi Lan, her whole body stiffened. She remained silent for a long while before reaching out to firmly hug Fu Yun's back. Then, as if suddenly coming back to her senses, she pressed him tightly against her chest, her voice unusually gentle: "You are wise and outstanding, kind and honest. How can you be so self-deprecating? It is my own decision to come see you frequently. What does it have to do with you? Why should you apologize to me?"
Zhilan's hug was a bit too tight, and Fu Jun was a little out of breath for a moment. He quietly loosened his grip, wanting to end the hug silently.
Unexpectedly, Zhilan hugged him tightly, not letting him leave her embrace, and suddenly tightened her grip.
"Uh..." Fu Yun almost choked on his breath, and he said with difficulty, "I..."
Zhilan whispered, "Don't move, let me hold you a little longer."
Fu Yun: "..." I should have known better than to hug him.
He had no choice but to continue speaking in this suffocating position: "I apologize because I feel very bad that I made you go through so much trouble, and I feel sorry for you. If I had asked you earlier and gone to see you instead, wouldn't you have been spared such a tiring and troublesome journey?"
Zhilan gently patted Fu Jun's back and comforted him, "You're such a silly boy. As a man, you should naturally be more reserved than a woman. How can I blame you? It should have been me who expressed my feelings to you in this matter."
Fu Yun: "..."
Wait, it seems he's lost his temper again in front of Zhilan.
He and Zhilan had almost reached a mutual understanding, so wasn't the issue that he and Xiaoba had only recently discussed already blatantly obvious?
Zhilan held Fu Yun in her arms for a long time until she felt him suddenly fall silent, then slowly released him and widened the distance between them.
She gazed intently at Fu Yun, cutting straight to the point: "Now that you know my feelings, would you be willing to come with me to the palace and become my Phoenix Consort?"
Fu Jun was completely dumbfounded. They had just confessed their feelings to each other, and now he was going to enter the palace as the male empress?
Why is it so different from what I imagined?
Shouldn't two people date for a while to deepen their feelings for each other and go through a period of adjustment before discussing marriage?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com