When the Bright Moon Shines on Zhaohe - Chapter 6

I didn’t particularly mind becoming Pei Ye’s personal hand warmer. With him around, I saved half the money I used to spend on charcoal. As a miser, I could hardly stop grinning.

But lately he was coming a bit too often. He’d even moved his memorials onto my desk. Clearly, he intended to make himself a permanent guest.

One evening, after being ordered to refill his water and grind his ink, I grew tired of being at his beck and call.

“Pei Ye, you have three thousand women in your harem. Can’t you make someone else do this? Don’t you ever get tired of hanging around here?”

His brush swept across the page. “No. And I don’t know any of those three thousand women. Which one am I supposed to ask?”

“You don’t know them? They’re your wives. You married them. How can you not know them?”

His brush stopped. He set it down with a click and gave me a chilly look.

“Pei Zhaohe, I knew you never paid attention to what happened in this palace. But you are a princess. Couldn’t you at least spare a thought for your brother? I didn’t choose to marry a single one of those consorts. The Minister’s household pushed one on me, then the General’s household pushed another. At every festival, someone sent me one more. And the princesses from neighboring states kept arriving one after another.”

“I know some of them may not have wanted to be sent here as political pieces. So on each wedding night I asked whether she loved someone else, whether she needed anything. I would help with anything except the throne or my favor. I sent some away. I helped others fake their deaths. Those who remained either refused to give up or wanted nothing more than a quiet retirement in the harem.”

“I can only let them stay. Being emperor keeps me busy enough. I cannot care for everyone. As for Wan Rong, I knew her attendant was no eunuch from the moment she entered the palace. I warned her discreetly more than once. Yet she and her father continued dreaming of seizing my empire. How could I tolerate that? Especially after she dared to harm you.”

He scoffed. “Three thousand beauties? They are vipers who want me dead. Which one can I trust? When I count the people I can still be close to, there is only you. And you keep trying to drive me away. Pei Zhaohe, do you have a heart?”

Candlelight washed over his pale profile. His features were beautiful, but his eyes looked desolate. I had no answer.

Then I noticed something else. In front of me, he rarely called himself “this emperor.” He said “I,” “we,” “they.” Something in my chest tightened, sour and aching. I couldn’t meet his eyes. I looked down and worried the ribbon of my skirt instead.

“Oh, come on. It’s not as if we’re that close. You shouldn’t rely on me so much. I’ll be leaving the palace soon, remember? I think you ought to find someone else to sit beside you while you work. Noble Consort Shu seems nice, or—”

I broke off. A chill seemed to run across the back of my head.

“We’re not close, are we?”

I trembled. His long fingers reached over and snatched the skirt ribbon from my hands. A draft extinguished the candle. He pulled me down onto the couch, his narrowed eyes inches from mine.

“I leave you alone for a few days and you forget yourself. We’ve shared a bed for days. We’ve done everything there is to do. What part of me are you still unfamiliar with? Tell me. I’ll make sure you get to know it very well.”

There was already something insistent pressing against my waist. I had no chance to argue. Strangely, doing this with him while we were both perfectly clearheaded didn’t embarrass me at all. It felt almost… natural.

What a terrible thing, to lose one’s sense over a pretty face. It was all that damned man’s fault for being so handsome.

He bit my ear. “Pei Zhaohe. Pay attention.”

I snapped back without thinking. “Why are you so fierce? It’s your fault you’re so bad at this.”

The moment I said it, I regretted it. The moon had sunk far into the west, and he was still turning me over and teaching me a lesson. As though he could never have enough.

The newly promoted Noble Consort Shu was not a simple woman. After failing several times to win Pei Ye’s favor, she somehow fixed her attention on me. She found excuses to visit Shaohua Residence, making idle conversation while her eyes searched my rooms. Luckily, Eunuch Hong had already removed Pei Ye’s memorials. Otherwise there would have been plenty of traces to give us away.

Watching her serene, gentle face, without a crack in the mask, I knew I was no match for palace intrigue. After thinking it over, I decided to leave the palace until things calmed down.

Eunuch Hong brought word that Pei Ye had agreed. I could stay at Drunken Delight Hall for now. Work on my princess’s residence would be hurried along, too, so I could have it as soon as possible.

I was thrilled. Chunxi and I ran off that very day. I felt a little guilty toward Pei Ye, of course. But how did that famous saying go?

An illicit affair is precious, freedom more so. When your very life is at stake, throw them both away!