ATPnovel Chapter 352 The Empress of Liyang's Wedding Night!
Chapter 352 The Empress of Liyang's Wedding Night!
Xu Longxiang didn't say anything more, pushed open the door, and stepped over the threshold.
The moonlight poured in, engulfing his figure.
Mo Ya followed behind him silently, like a silent shadow.
Fan Li walked at the very back, his dark blue scholar's robe fluttering gently in the night breeze.
He was still holding the white jade porcelain bottle in his hand, the one Qin Mu had placed beside Xu Longxiang's pillow.
He glanced down at the porcelain vase; the moonlight shone on it, making the cloud patterns on the vase exceptionally clear.
He frowned slightly, then tucked the porcelain bottle into his sleeve and quickly followed.
The gate of the inn slowly closed behind the three of them.
With a soft "bang," the silvery moonlight was cut off, as was the imperial city that had nearly caused His Highness to collapse.
Outside the courtyard wall was a long alley.
Moonlight poured down from behind the clouds, illuminating the bluestone slabs until they appeared white.
The night wind blew in from the alley entrance, swirling up a few withered leaves, making them spin at the base of the wall, and then falling back to their original place.
Xu Longxiang stood in the middle of the alley, raised his head, and looked south.
You can't see anything there, just a dark, boundless sky.
Xu Longxiang took a deep breath.
The breath he inhaled carried the chill of early winter, making him feel several degrees colder.
He opened his eyes, and the light became even brighter.
He turned around and walked towards the other end of the alley.
........
The night was deep, and moonlight streamed in through the window, spreading a thin layer of silver frost on the ground.
Inside the sleeping quarters, the red candles burned quietly.
The large red wedding candles were as thick as a child's arm, their flames swaying gently in the night breeze, bathing the room in a soft, orange-red light.
The curtains were bright red, hanging down from the ceiling in layers, enveloping the large rosewood canopy bed in a hazy, dreamlike mist.
The brocade quilt was embroidered with mandarin ducks, and the gold thread shimmered slightly in the candlelight, like the ripples on the water.
Zhao Qingxue sat on the edge of the bed, her phoenix crown removed, but she was still wearing her bright red wedding dress.
The phoenix embroidered with gold thread shimmered in the candlelight, as if it might take flight from the hem of the garment at any moment and soar straight to the heavens.
Her long hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall, making her stunningly beautiful face appear even more aloof and unreal, like a painting hanging in the shadows—beautiful, but devoid of warmth.
Her hands were on her knees, her fingers slightly curled.
Her gaze fell on the candlelight, on the flickering, warm, orange-red light, but she didn't see anything.
The words Qin Mu had said to Xu Longxiang at the post station kept echoing in her mind.
"Your sister is now pregnant with my child. She will receive even more favor from me."
"I also like Jiang Qingxue, whom you presented to me."
"Minister Xu is truly thoughtful."
Every sentence was spoken lightly, as if it were about something extremely ordinary.
But every word was like a knife, precisely, slowly, and one cut at a time, carving into Xu Longxiang's heart.
She saw Xu Longxiang's face with her own eyes, saw his complexion turn from pale to ashen, and saw the abyss beneath the weak smile on his lips.
She saw his hand gripping the corner of the blanket, the veins on the back of his hand bulging, as if he wanted to crush the blanket.
She saw him swallow the mouthful of blood, swallowing it so quickly and so fiercely, as if he were trying to swallow all his anger, resentment, and despair back into his stomach.
To kill someone is to destroy their spirit. That's all there is to it.
Zhao Qingxue raised her head and looked at Qin Mu.
He sat on the embroidered stool beside her, his moon-white casual clothes loosely draped over his body, the collar slightly open, revealing a small section of his collarbone.
He held a cup of wine in his hand, the nuptial wine, the golden goblet filled with amber-colored nectar, gleaming warmly in the candlelight.
The corners of his mouth held that familiar, ambiguous smile, his gaze fixed on the wine, as if admiring its color, yet also as if he wasn't looking at anything at all.
"What you said to Xu Longxiang today,"
Zhao Qingxue spoke, her voice very soft, carrying a hint of emotion that she herself couldn't quite explain.
"Every word was like a knife to the heart. If I were him, I would be so enraged that I would spit out a mouthful of blood."
Qin Mu turned his head and looked at her.
The candlelight danced in his eyes, illuminating his deep gaze with exceptional brightness.
He smiled gently, a smile that contained neither pride nor boastfulness, but only a faint, nonchalant ease.
"Actually, after I became invincible, I was very lonely," he said, his voice very soft, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.
"Fortunately, Xu Longxiang usually keeps me entertained, which is not bad."
Zhao Qingxue was stunned.
She looked at him, at the smile on his lips, at the lazy, nonchalant light in his eyes.
She suddenly realized that she had never truly understood this man.
He wasn't saying it out of anger or to show off; he was speaking from the heart.
He genuinely felt lonely, genuinely used Xu Longxiang as a way to relieve his boredom, and genuinely didn't care.
She thought of Xu Longxiang.
I remember him standing in the corner at the entrance of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, hidden in the shadow of the dragon-carved stone pillar, his deep brown eyes fixed on the entrance, like a wounded wolf licking its wounds, yet still burning with resentment.
I recall his heavy steps as he turned and left, each step feeling like he was stepping on a knife's edge, yet he never looked back.
I remember him lying on the bed in the post station, his face pale and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, yet he still smiled and said, "I am a good match for His Majesty."
He regarded rebellion as the most important thing in his life, planning for it for so many years, waiting for it for so many years, and enduring it for so many years.
He staked everything on that gamble, thinking that if he just waited and patiently waited for the right opportunity, he could turn the tables in one fell swoop.
But he didn't know that from the moment he had that thought, from the moment he decided to be that man's enemy, he had already lost.
We did not lose because of insufficient troops, nor because of poor strategy, nor because of anything that can be calculated, measured, or compensated for.
He lost because of the most fundamental thing.
He thought he was fighting against an emperor, a dynasty, and an opponent stronger than himself.
He didn't know that the person he was fighting against had never considered him an opponent.
He was merely a source of amusement, something that could occasionally bring a smile to that man's face amidst his overwhelming loneliness.
Zhao Qingxue's fingers slowly tightened inside her sleeve.
A complex and indescribable emotion welled up in her heart.
"Alright." Qin Mu's voice suddenly rang out, carrying a hint of a smile and a casual nonchalance.
He put down his wine cup, and the golden goblet struck the sandalwood, making a very soft "tap" sound.
"Let's stop talking about that traitor. Tonight is our wedding night; let's not let others affect our mood."
Zhao Qingxue's eyelashes trembled slightly.
The trembling started from the eyelids, spreading out layer by layer like the surface of a lake being blown by the wind.
Her face suddenly felt hot, the heat starting from her cheekbones and spreading rapidly like paint scattered by the wind to her entire cheek, then to her ears, her neck, and finally deep into her collar.
She has experienced it before.
Those nights, those nights she thought she would forget, yet she remembered every single detail clearly.
His hands, his lips, the words he whispered in her ear.
Every time, she was half-heartedly forced to comply; every time, she had no choice in the matter; every time, she told herself—just bear with it, and it will pass.
But tonight is different.
Tonight, she is not a prisoner, not an empress forced to submit, not a woman being treated as a plaything.
She was his empress, the empress he married through proper channels, the empress he publicly declared to the world, the empress with whom he shared the Mandate of Heaven.
The wedding night is not about forced possession, humiliation, or something that can be endured.
It was her wedding night.
This realization stirred up a strange, unfamiliar, and indescribable emotion within her.
There was tension, trepidation, and an expectation that she herself was unwilling to admit.
She didn't know why she was looking forward to it, or what she was looking forward to.
All she knew was that when Qin Mu uttered the words "wedding night," her heart skipped a beat.
Qin Mu stood up, walked up to her, and stopped.
The moonlight shone in from behind him, obscuring his face in a faint shadow, making it impossible to see his expression. Only the slight curve of his lips and his eyes, which gleamed faintly in the darkness, were visible.
He reached out, his slender fingers gently touching her cheek, slowly sliding from her cheekbone to her chin, and then from her chin to her earlobe.
The movement was slow and gentle, like caressing a precious piece of porcelain, or confirming the ownership of an item.
Zhao Qingxue did not dodge.
She simply sat there, feeling the warmth of his fingertips.
The warmth seeped into her cheeks, spreading along her blood vessels to her heart, making her heart beat faster and faster, almost as if it would burst out of her chest.
Her face grew even hotter, the heat spreading from her cheeks to her ears, from her ears to her neck, and from her neck to her chest.
She felt like she was being roasted over a fire, so hot that her whole body went limp and her breathing became rapid.
Qin Mu moved his fingers away from her earlobe and onto her shoulder, giving it a gentle pat.