The Beloved One (1)

The moon was high in the sky, illuminating the wave of emotions below.

Zhao Zhi took her hand and placed it on his left chest. “You said before, you’re the only one allowed to have a place here.”

Song Caitang sounded a little sad, “But you… didn’t remember who I was then.”

Zhao Zhi’s gaze flickered like there was a storm raging inside. “But my soul remembered.”

Song Caitang had to admit that she was a fairly emotionless person. After studying forensic science and dissecting countless bodies, she had been exposed to all sorts of cases and knew how depraved humans could be. So, no matter how tragic the case was, she never cried.

But tonight, under the moonlight, as her hand pressed against his beating heart, her eyes reflected the passion in his eyes and his simple words echoed in her ears, she suddenly started to cry.

Tears were falling, but her lips were curled upward in a beautiful smile. “I’m surprised that you… can say sweet things too.”

But Zhao Zhi flew into a panic. “Don’t cry… don’t cry…”

Song Caitang’s voice cracked, “I didn’t… mean to…”

She really didn’t mean to cry. Crying felt so embarrassing.

Zhao Zhi’s thick brows were furrowed as he felt more and more helpless. He kept wiping her tears away and patted her back gently, but nothing seemed to stop her tears.

Song Caitang knew herself best. She didn’t cry easily, so when she actually did, it was hard for her to stop.

She wasn’t unhappy or anything, just that she couldn’t stop crying and felt rather embarrassed. “Don’t worry about me, I’m fine.”

Of course he was worried!

Zhao Zhi felt as though he was facing some great enemy. Ever since he knew Song Caitang, he had never seen her cry, except when her father passed away. What did he say earlier to make her cry? Which part should he not have said?!

The more anxious he became, the more cornered Song Caitang felt. She simply couldn’t seem to convince him that she was really okay.

He ran out of ideas, so in desperation, he suddenly held her head tightly and kissed her on the lips.

Just like his hands, his lips were dry and very warm, as though his higher than normal body temperature was able to move from his body to hers. But unlike his hands that were covered in calluses from years of training in martial arts, his lips were smooth and soft, and for some reason, had the power to comfort her.

Song Caitang was so shocked by his actions, she seriously forgot to cry.

He pulled his left hand tightly around her waist as his right hand held her cheek gently. He did not exert a lot of strength, but there was no room for her to turn away from him. His kiss went from a sudden and gentle one to a more resolute and passionate one, as though a wild beast that had been locked up in a dark corner all this time was let out, so it was filled with desire and an unstoppable, unbridled spirit.

Song Caitang not only forgot to cry, but she also forgot to close her eyes and forgot to breathe.

The tears on her face reflected the moon and the stars, making everything seem to glow. Time stopped at this moment, including every emotion, every bit of gentleness felt. It was a moment that she probably would never forget for the rest of her life.

She understood what Zhao Zhi was saying earlier.

Having something imprinted on one’s soul was not just something one said to sound sweet or to coax another person. It was real.

After he finished kissing her, he held her cheek with his warm fingertips and breathed a little heavily. “You make me so happy, Song Caitang. Marry me, won’t you?”

Song Caitang felt like her heart was about to leap out of her body. All sorts of strange and incredible emotions filled her entire body. These emotions were a little unfamiliar to her, but it also made her leap with joy. Feeling this way…

Perhaps that’s what it meant to feel bliss.

She always felt that she lacked gentleness and lacked womanliness because she was always so rational about things. But in this moment, for some reason, she suddenly felt a little awkward. She loved the feeling that Zhao Zhi gave her and she wanted more…

She was clearly overjoyed inside, but she still wanted to hold back a little to tease him.

“Hmm… I’ll have to think about that.”

She felt like she was being a little thick-skinned, but not shy. After all, she was a woman and she enjoyed being pampered and spoiled.

As she expected, Zhao Zhi got anxious. “You promised to do so before, so you can’t go back on your word!”

“Oh… is that so? But I’ve forgotten everything,” said Song Caitang with a sweet smile on her face. “Didn’t you promise to find me a nice man to be my husband? And you even said that you had the best judgment and you knew every man of marriageable age in Bianliang, so you’d definitely be able to pick a good one for me. You can’t go back on your word, right?”

Zhao Zhi was speechless for a second. So that was what it meant to shoot yourself in the foot.

But he had spent a good number of years as a playful and unreasonable man who picked fights and annoyed people a lot, and was even forced by the emperor to apologize to a lot of people. What was shame to him? He didn’t have any.

He could think on his feet well, so he quickly patted his chest and said, “The nicest, most talented and most handsome young man in all of Bianliang who’s the most suitable to be your husband is standing right here!”

Song Caitang blinked at him in silence.

The more seriously he stared at her, the more she felt her face redden. She quietly looked away. “Don’t you have any shame?”

“I don’t think so? What’s that? Can I eat it?”

He pulled Song Caitang into his arms again and just quietly hugged her. He didn’t allow her to push him away, but he didn’t do anything else either, because he was afraid that he might upset her and get chased away.

But even though his embrace was comfortable, Song Caitang didn’t think it was a good idea to continue.

A young man and a young woman out alone in the middle of the night… usually spelled trouble!

And just as she thought about that possibility, she sensed a physiological change in Zhao Zhi’s body.

Her face turned even redder. “Let go of me.”

“Nope.” Zhao Zhi’s low and slightly hoarse voice resounded in her ear like the mighty pine trees on the mountain in summer, “I’m never letting go.”

Song Caitang couldn’t really remember what happened eventually because she fell asleep.

She was drowsy as Zhao Zhi carried her back to her room, carefully placed her on the bed and tucked her in. She felt something warm on her forehead, perhaps Zhao Zhi kissed her again.

She vaguely recalled that he had mumbled something about how he didn’t care if she agreed or not, she was destined to be his woman in this life and he wasn’t going to let go or let anyone come anywhere close to her.

He was going to make sure she married him and he was going to get an imperial decree from the emperor to make that happen.

Song Caitang wanted to remind him that there was still a lot of work left to be done. Fourth Missy Gan’s murder case had concluded, but there were many other mysteries left unsolved. For example, who was Jing Yan exactly? How was he connected to Zeng Deyong and Sang Zheng?

But sleep overcame her quickly and she fell into deep sleep.

The last thing that went through her mind before she slept was, she didn’t need to worry about any of this. Zhao Zhi would never forget to attend to these matters.

He would attend to them and settle them properly.

And she was right. He had been part of the investigation for all these cases and he held a higher office than Wen Yuansi and the rest, plus he had the most complete set of information. He was definitely going to talk about this when he met with the emperor.

He was going to analyze all of this, make suggestions and talk about what he was going to do about it.

And of course, he was going to talk about his marriage to Song Caitang.

But that last one didn’t go well.

Before he could even talk about it, the emperor instructed a subordinate to fetch a decree that he had prepared earlier. It was a decree that recognized everything Zhao Zhi had done so far and he was to be officially crowned a prince.

The emperor was very pleased to hand down this decree, since the position of prince belonged to Zhao Zhi in the first place. He had not given it to Zhao Zhi all these years not because Zhao Zhi was incapable or because he didn’t like Zhao Zhi, but because Zhao Zhi was very important to him and he trusted Zhao Zhi a lot. There were tasks he only trusted Zhao Zhi to carry out for him.

But Zhao Zhi was too young and didn’t have enough credibility. No matter how well he did anything, it was hard for him to have real authority over others. The emperor had no choice but to pretend to fall out with Zhao Zhi and refuse to give him the position of prince. That also made it easier for Zhao Zhi to get things done.

The political direction of the palace was more or less fixed and certain things were already set in place, so as long as everything went on as planned, nothing much could go wrong. There was no need to continue with this act.

This was an occasion worthy of celebrating and there was nothing wrong with it per se. Zhao Zhi should have been just as happy about it as the emperor, but this decree had been written because the empress was the one who reminded the emperor about it.

The empress reminded the emperor about it because the emperor mentioned Zhao Zhi the night before. The empress said she felt bad for Zhao Zhi, because the emperor had withheld his position of prince for so long, which did seem a little cruel.

On top of that, Consort Ping had offered incense at a famous temple and consulted a priest. The priest said that Zhao Zhi’s fortune was very bad this year and would run into many unlucky things, so he would need a lot of help from heaven. His life would be smooth sailing only the next year and would be filled with blessings.

The emperor and the empress shared a rather odd relationship. They were wary of each other about certain things and would think thrice before mentioning it, but this was not one of those things. The emperor immediately got this decree written out. Even if Zhao Zhi hadn’t come to the palace today, he would have summoned him and bestowed this surprise on him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care about Zhao Zhi’s marriage plans. But he was the ruler of a kingdom and had bigger things to think about. Even if he knew that Zhao Zhi and Song Caitang were very close to one another, he wouldn’t fully comprehend how devoted and determined Zhao Zhi was toward her.

Zhao Zhi immediately realized what was going on after hearing these words. He did his best to control his emotions and swallowed everything he wanted to say with regard to his marriage.

Being officially crowned as prince was a good thing and it wasn’t the emperor’s fault that any of this had happened. But the empress’ little “reminder” had not come with good intentions. What was all that about consulting a priest and the talk about how his luck was down this year? This “reminder” wasn’t because the empress felt bad for him and thought he deserved the position of prince. She was trying to stop him from getting married!

He was not going to be able to talk about getting married for at least another year!

The higher one’s status, the more things one had to worry about. There were a lot of complex processes and tiny details to look into when a prince got married. People got into fights just trying to decide on an auspicious date, never mind the rest! A priest from a famous temple even said that his fortunes were very poor this year, so it was impossible to have any discussion about marriage!

The emperor, however, was exceptionally pleased. He said that he was sorry about making Zhao Zhi suffer all these years because this position belonged to him a long time ago. He was glad that he could finally put this matter aside and even got Zhao Zhi to stay for a meal. He was showing a lot of favor today.

Once the decree was announced and everyone found out, a celebratory mood filled the air. Anyone who saw Zhao Zhi would bow and congratulate him. Prince Ping’s residence was even livelier, as the household put up many decorations and got ready for a huge party.

Everyone was very happy, but Zhao Zhi himself was very unhappy.

This was his aunt, Consort Ping’s, stance on this matter.

She knew what he was going to do, so she took the first step to stop him!

Zhao Zhi threw fake smiles at everyone who congratulated him as he marched into Prince Ping’s residence. The further in he walked, the nastier his expression became. And when he finally saw Consort Ping, he looked ready to murder her.

“What are you trying to do!” The accumulated anger inside him could no longer be held back. He was like a lion that had gone mad and he kicked a stool aside with a loud bang. “So what if you’ve managed to stop me for one year! You think that would make any difference?!”

All the servants in the room fell to their knees instantly and kept their foreheads against the floor. They didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.

The room was completely silent. Nobody dared to speak.

But Consort Ping remained calm. Her hand didn’t tremble the slightest bit as she used some scissors to trim the flowers in front of her. The sound of the blades opening and closing as well as the snipping sounds of the thin flower stems being cut seemed so loud in this silent room. Tension grew every second.

This was a silent war between mother and son.

An almond blossom’s stem was trimmed to the shape Consort Ping liked and she gave a pleased little nod. “It makes a difference.”

Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes. His breathing was a little heavier and his expression was menacing.

Consort Ping turned toward him as her lips curled ever so slightly upward. “The way you’re reacting proves my point, no?”

She placed the freshly trimmed flower into the narrow, white vase and raised her hands. Her head maid came forward with a basin of water and a dry handkerchief.

Consort Ping took her time to slowly and carefully wash her hands, then used the dry handkerchief to wipe every drop of water off her fingers. She did everything very slowly with the elegance of an aristocrat as well as an air of superiority.

“I said before that I have the last say over everything in this household, including you.”

Zhao Zhi retorted, “You think you can do anything about me? I get to decide who I want to marry!”

After she finished wiping her hands, she applied a little fragrance, then waved a hand to dismiss the servants.

When they had all left, she turned to look extremely calmly at Zhao Zhi. “I’m doing all this for your good.”

When it came to a standoff, the one who got antsy or panicky would lose. The calmer Consort Ping was, the angrier Zhao Zhi should have become. But even though he had kicked a stool angrily earlier, he remained rational.

He was used to her pulling such stunts. She might be able to scare others, but not him.

“For my good.” He took a large step forward and came close to her. He stared into her eyes and said quietly, “Just like the bowl of medicine back then, right?”

The mention of “the bowl of medicine back then” made the consort’s eyelid twitch. Her fingers froze and she could not remain calm anymore. She stared at Zhao Zhi with a bitter look in her eyes. “That was also for…”

“For my good? And that’s why you fed me Millet’s Dream?”

This time, the consort remained silent.

She looked down and did not speak. She did not talk about or explain what she had done in the past, but she was also not going to change her mind about what she had just done.

Zhao Zhi scoffed. “I will remember everything you’ve done for me, Aunt. I wouldn’t dare to forget any of it. I will certainly repay you in the future!”

“Go ahead and repay me whatever. I won’t be able to live much longer anyway.”

She remained expressionless, but she started coughing violently again. She covered her mouth with a handkerchief and looked like she was having a hard time.

Zhao Zhi did not look the least bit concerned for her, but he did not press her for answers either.

This matter had already been set in stone. There was no point in venting his frustrations here.

“Since you’re so certain, then I can tell you with equal certainty that one year doesn’t count for anything. My heart is with Song Caitang and I’m going to be with her for the rest of my life no matter what happens. I don’t care how long I have to wait, I don’t care if she agrees to it or not, I don’t care if others accept it or not. She is the only person who can become the wife of Zhao Zhi! As long as she lives, I will live. If she dies, I will die too! If I go against what I’ve just said, may lightning strike me dead!”

Consort Ping could no longer remain calm. Her hand trembled and knocked a teacup over, causing the tea inside to flow down the tablecloth and onto the floor.

“You… How could you say such things! How could you make such oaths!”

Zhao Zhi smiled icily at her. “Because I can. If you want to hear more, I have plenty more to say. I have enough for at least another three days.”

Consort Ping paled. She bit her lip hard and her fingers trembled in anger.

After that, she went into an even more violent coughing fit and couldn’t say a word.

“You’d better rest more and get well soon, since you’d need to witness my marriage to Song Caitang. Won’t it be such a pity if you end up dying from anger before that?”

He glanced at her, then marched out silently as swiftly as he came. He didn’t show her any concern or pity at all.

Consort Ping was about to cough her lungs out. Her eyes were bloodshot as tears ran down her cheeks and her voice trembled slightly.

“How could you… How dare you make such an oath… If anything happens to you, how… How is this household going to survive?!”

Immediately after Zhao Zhi marched out of his aunt’s room, he ran into Lu Yuxue outside the door.

He didn’t know if it was just a coincidence or if she had rushed over after hearing that he had arrived. He certainly had no idea how much she had overheard.

But he didn’t care. He just continued walking as though he hadn’t seen her.

“Cousin—” Lu Yuxue reached for his sleeve.

But Zhao Zhi was a highly skilled martial artist who wouldn’t allow his sleeve to be caught if he didn’t want to. Besides, he remembered what his precious girl had told him before…

Lu Yuxue ended up catching a fistful of air.

But Lu Yuxue was excellent at maintaining composure and adapting to every situation while finding a good reason for everything, so this situation did not put her in a spot at all. She was still able to look concerned as she tried to persuade him gently, “It wasn’t easy for Aunt to bring you up, so why can’t you sit down and talk things out nicely? You’re both reasonable people, after all. Arguing like that only makes both of you unhappy. Don’t worry, and don’t get angry. I’ll help you to persuade her. She’ll come round to it eventually.”

Zhao Zhi found her words very interesting. “You’ll help me persuade her? You support my marriage to Song Caitang?”

Lu Yuxue clutched her chest as though she was very upset and her eyes even teared up, but she raised her head resolutely and looked at Zhao Zhi as she said in a trembling voice, “As long as this is what you really want, as long as you’re happy…”

“So, you’re giving up on those unrealistic thoughts?”

It was best that she gave up on him. That would save him a lot of trouble.

“It’s not the same,” Lu Yuxue’s face reddened slightly. “You’re Prince Ping now, a man of high standing. How could you only have one wife? But… I won’t fight with Miss Song. If you would just look at me… that would be enough for me.”

She was saying that she was going to be exemplary in behavior, that she wouldn’t fight or be jealous. It was very hard for a woman of her standing to accept such an arrangement.

On top of that, she was also subtly attacking Song Caitang for being an easily jealous woman with no consideration for her husband. That was enough reason for a man of this era to divorce her.

In the past, Zhao Zhi had not known Lu Yuxue’s true colors and would have thought that she was saying such things from the kindness of her heart and was being truly considerate to others. But now, he knew better.

He took a few steps forward and came closer to her.

Her face reddened and her heart skipped a beat as he approached her but she did not move back. She bit her lip and looked timidly at him, “Cousin, you…”

“Are you still under the impression that I haven’t recalled anything yet,” Zhao Zhi narrowed his eyes as his voice dropped to a whisper, “and it’s just too bad that I’ve fallen for the exact same person?”

Lu Yuxue froze.

“Five years ago, you went to Qingxian disguised as a man and only brought a couple of close servants. Why?” Zhao Zhi stared into her eyes and emphasized each word, “Millet’s Dream… was hard to find, wasn’t it?”

Lu Yuxue’s pupils constricted and she felt cold all over.

“Cousin… Cousin, what are you talking about? Xue’er doesn’t understand.”

Zhao Zhi stared at her, then took two steps back. “It’ll be best if that’s really the case.”

Then he turned and left the residence without even looking back.

On that day, Zhao Zhi finally went from being Commandery Prince to Prince Ping. The residence was decorated with lots of lanterns and ribbons, and everyone was celebrating. But after the noisy party was over, there were some who simply couldn’t sleep despite how late it was.