CH 66

(22.2)

The sky had just turned dark outside, the man came stepping on the shadows of the night. He was wearing a dark-colored zhizhui today, his expression was cold and indifferent, it was impossible to distinguish whether he was happy or angry.

Zhao Zhi was standing behind her, his tall figure was reflected in the mirror, his natural controlling aura overwhelmed her so much she couldn’t breathe properly.

Ming Zhu clutched tightly her handkerchief, which ended up into a crumpled ball. She discovered, although unsure at what point in time it had started, that she was somehow a little bit afraid of Zhao Zhi.

In her previous life, she didn’t fear him as much as she did now. As far as she could remember, most of the time, he was a very gentle and amiable man, even if you did something that upset him, he would reason with you in a nice manner and tone.

She was afraid he would kill her again.

Afraid he would destroy her world.

The man placed his hands gently on her shoulders, the chill penetrated her skin through her thin jacket, she couldn’t help but slightly shiver, her throat was tense and she asked in a small voice, “Are you still going to lock me up?”

Zhao Zhi’s fingers curled up, and after a pause, he replied, “The door locks have all been removed.”

Ming Zhu didn’t feel very relieved, she lowered her head, parleying with him, “You can’t treat me like this again in the future.”

Zhao Zhi apologized to her and made her turn around. Looking at her face, he stopped breathing for a moment, then he said, “Zhu Zhu, at that time, I was under the heat of anger.”

He really was a loss as to what to do with her.

He could only use this kind of method to keep her in place.

Ming Zhu didn’t say anything, her hand was held tightly by him. She wanted to laugh when she thought of the status of concubine, he thought this was the “honorable title” she wanted, but in fact she didn’t even care for it.

In the future, even if Zhao Zhi wanted to make her a consort, she wouldn’t want it at all either.

(TL’s note : Princes and emperors have a lot of different kind of wives, there are concubines (qie), consorts (fei) above concubines, and then there’s the principal wife (wangfei), or more precisely in our case here, the crown princess (taizifei) which Sheng Ling was supposed to become but didn’t.)

The moon was as gentle as water, and in the front hall, Sheng Wenlin and Song Huaiqing found an excuse to slip away from the guest table.

Sheng Wenlin was not feeling good in his heart and pulled Song Huaiqing to the lakeside to get a breath of fresh air.

Song Huaiqing really didn’t understand why he wanted to come to the lakeside to suffer under the cold wind and he was about to persuade him to leave.

Sheng Wenlin suddenly asked him, “Have you seen that concubine’s face?”

Song Huaiqing shook his head and told the facts as he knew them, “No.” Turning around the conversation, he then went on to say to Sheng Wenlin: “But, it seems she’s the fifth young lady of the Ming family, I previously heard that she took after her mother’s appearance, and that she looks very beautiful.”

Sheng Wenlin hummed absentmindedly.

Song Huaiqing had heard those things from his younger sister. Young girls all looked down on low-born girls, adding to that the fact the Ming fifth young lady had a ravishingly beautiful face that would make people feel jealous and envious, her reputation really wasn’t too good.

An idiot beauty who was illiterate and uneducated.

Sheng Wenlin looked at the silent lake, then tilted his head and drank a large gulp of wine, “Then do you know her name?”

“Ming Zhu.”

“Ming Zhu?” Sheng Wenlin silently recited her name several times in his heart. In his mind, that face of hers  always lingered without going away, as well as that pair of deeply unforgettable eyes.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

Song Huaiqing casually said to him: “You know Wei Chiyu, right? This fifth young lady used to be Lord Wei’s fiancée.”

“It turned out to be her .” Sheng Wenlin knew about this matter, he just didn’t know that the fiancée who made Wei Chiyu unable to forget her for so long actually turned out to be her.

Song Huaiqing narrowed his eyes, it was unsure whether he was trying to persuade him with good intentions or if he was thoughtlessly speaking: “My younger sister at home told me a lot about this fifth young lady, she’s not some kind of innocent and kind person.”

Sheng Wenlin didn’t utter a sound in response. He used to be most averse to women with deep schemes inside their hearts, but it seemed that if those little schemes were done by her, he would actually be somewhat willing.

Song Huaiqing patted his shoulder, “It’s time to go back.”

“Hmm.”

The two walked through a long corridor and very soon returned to the front hall.

As soon as Sheng Wenlin looked up, he saw Ming Zhu standing behind Zhao Zhi.

She was not wearing a veil today, her features were even more beautiful than he had imagined, her eyes were as calm and clear as water, her body was slender and exquisite, she looked like a goddess out of this world.

Sheng Wenlin moved his eyes away and calmly walked up to them to say his congratulations.

Ming Zhu raised a faint smile and did not speak.

Zhao Zhi just brought her out to show her face, but he didn’t intend to let her stay too long, as for exchanging greetings, that was even more unnecessary.

Very soon, Zhao Zhi wanted to send her back to the backyard, Ming Zhu smiled at him, “Is it okay if I have some wine tonight?”

Thinking that she was in a good mood, Zhao Zhi’s heart softened instantly, rubbing her head, he was unable to say no, “Don’t drink too much.”

Ming Zhu was back to her previous obedient behavior that she used to put up in front of him, she nodded, “Alright.”

Ming Zhu now always did things with her own purpose. She held a wine jug, went to the pavilion in the backyard and sat there for a short while.

As expected, not long after, Ming Zhu saw a guest who had come to the backyard for some fresh air.

She knew Sheng Wenlin.