"Sister, sister..."
Jiang Xinyan tugged at Jiang Xinyue's clothes. "The Emperor is coming."
Dressed in a purple brocade robe embroidered with five-clawed golden dragons, wearing a darker matching jade-buttoned belt with a dragon-patterned jade pendant hanging from it, his movements bold and commanding, naturally exuding imperial authority - it could only be the Emperor.
Jiang Xinyue looked up, gave the Xuanwu Emperor a cursory glance, then pulled Jiang Xinyan away.
"Hey?"
The Emperor quickly chased after them. "Yue'er!"
Catching up to Jiang Xinyue was just a matter of a few quick steps for him.
Seeing the Son of Heaven blocking their path, Jiang Xinyan hurriedly knelt down to bow: "Your humble subject greets..."
"Rise, rise!"
The Emperor quickly grabbed Jiang Xinyue's hand. They stood in silence, their eyes locked in confrontation - one filled with anger, the other with shameless determination.
Caught in the middle, Jiang Xinyan didn't dare move, her eyes darting left to look at the Emperor, then right to look at her sister.
How could she make herself seem less out of place right now?
"Your Majesty! Imperial Noble Consort!"
A startled cry rang out as Noble Lady Jiang came running over with her palace maids. She immediately pulled Jiang Xinyan out from between the Emperor and Jiang Xinyue. "Isn't this Third Lady Jiang? You're here too?"
"Hehe..."
Jiang Xinyan smiled at her. "Greetings, Noble Lady Jiang."
"What are you all doing standing here?"
Noble Lady Jiang acted as if she couldn't see the tense atmosphere between the Emperor and Jiang Xinyue. She linked arms with Jiang Xinyan and spun around so suddenly that Jiang Xinyan almost fell over.
"Third Lady Jiang hasn't been to the summer palace before, right? Why don't I be your guide for the day? I know this Qinzhou Imperial Villa very well. What kind of scenery do you like? Would you like to go see the flowers in the Orchid Garden? It's the height of summer, and the garden is full of blooming flowers. Would Third Lady Jiang like to go there with me?"
"Whatever you say..."
"Third Lady is so gentle and obedient. I wonder which lucky young man will get to marry her in the future?"
Jiang Xinyue: ?
What did she mean by that?
She had arranged to play chess with Noble Lady Jiang here, but now she was acting as if she didn't see her and just took her sister away?
Oh! No!
She did see her - she had greeted her when she arrived, but that was it.
As usual, following convention, Wang Dequan dismissed everyone else. This time he had placed a hefty bet for ten days - not to make money, but to motivate himself to quickly help the Emperor win back the Imperial Noble Consort's favor.
Otherwise, life would be too difficult.
When the Imperial Noble Consort was angry with the Emperor and gave him the cold shoulder, the Emperor would take out his frustration on the palace servants - even their breathing seemed wrong to him.
Several young eunuchs had become constipated yesterday from being too nervous.
His old bones couldn't take much more of this. Heaven help the Emperor succeed!
"Yue'er, even if you're angry, at least let me know what you're most angry about? I promise to learn from it if I'm wrong and improve where I can."
He was the Emperor - no one had ever dared to say he did anything wrong. Even if he was wrong, those around him would say he was right.
The fact that he recognized his mistake and apologized to Jiang Xinyue was already an incredible thing, let alone that he was now trying to cheer her up.
If this were the Xuanwu Emperor of the past, encountering such an "unreasonable" consort, he would have already walked away.
Let whoever deal with it - he wouldn't put up with such a difficult person.
The "difficult" Jiang Xinyue put her hands on her hips: "Yesterday I asked Your Majesty to reflect, and this is all you've come up with? You still don't know what you did wrong?"
The fact that she was willing to say this much meant there was hope for reconciliation.
The Emperor raised three fingers to swear to heaven: "I did reflect, truly! I shouldn't have hurt you under the pretense of jealousy, distrusted you, and made you lose face in front of the other consorts. I... I was too insecure."
After much thought last night, he realized that truly loving someone wasn't about being confident and assured.
To love someone meant being anxious about losing them, thinking they're so wonderful and questioning what right you had to deserve them.
To love someone meant constantly remembering their good qualities and feeling insecure, wondering if she would have chosen someone else if he weren't the Emperor - someone closer to her age, like the handsome young Xie Chenghui or Pei Zhishuo.
He was in his early thirties, while Jiang Xinyue had just turned eighteen - he felt he was too old.
Jiang Xinyue was surprised by how candidly the Xuanwu Emperor admitted his lack of confidence.
He was the ruler of a nation, the master of this realm, possessing a vast empire - if he had no reason to be proud, then no man in the world had the right to be proud.
His lack of confidence was specifically about loving Jiang Xinyue.
The previously furious Imperial Noble Consort's eyes gradually softened as she listened to his confession.
The Xuanwu Emperor thought that, if he wasn't mistaken, there seemed to be a hint of sympathy for him in Yue'er's eyes.
He pressed his lips together and continued: "I don't want to use my background and childhood experiences to gain your sympathy, but the truth is that my life experiences and what I've been through have made me extremely guarded, unable to easily trust anyone. Besides being a good emperor, I'm worthless at everything else. That's where my insecurity comes from. Didn't you promise to teach me how to love someone? A good teacher never gives up on any student, no matter how slow they are. Yue'er, please don't give up on me, alright?"
Jiang Xinyue lowered her head without speaking, her shoulders shaking slightly.
Sorry, but every time the Emperor expressed his true feelings to her, she felt like his lines could have been written by Romance novelist Qiong Yao.
Not that there was anything wrong with Qiong Yao, but those saccharine lines made Jiang Xinyue's teeth ache from the sweetness.
The Emperor was essentially a player who only settled down after meeting her, a master of emotional manipulation. Now he was directing his endless stream of sweet talk solely at her. Sometimes life in this world could be quite helpless.
Jiang Xinyue's natural personality was to be straightforward - she really couldn't learn the Emperor's sappy... no, couldn't learn the Emperor's romantic style of sweet talk.
"Why is Yue'er crying?"
"Did I say something wrong again?"
She wasn't crying, she was trying not to laugh, you fool!
But to prevent the Emperor from realizing she was holding back laughter, she pinched herself hard on the inner arm, probably leaving a bruise.
This way she could make her eyes red and shed "painful" tears.
The Xuanwu Emperor hurriedly reached out to wipe her tears. Jiang Xinyue caught his hand and placed it over her heart: "My entire being, my whole heart already belongs to Your Majesty, so why do you lack confidence? In my heart, Your Majesty isn't just a good emperor, you're also a good husband and father! You're so wonderful, so many people love you - I'm the one who should feel inadequate."
"What does it matter if Your Majesty is older? Older men are more caring, and I prefer older men."
Well well, the Imperial Noble Consort certainly knew how to comfort someone.
