A few days later, during a break, the emperor summoned An Jin and me to the palace.
I knew it was about the marriage arrangement and felt somewhat nervous. However, as we ascended the dragon path in Yijing Hall, An Jin suddenly reached out and held my fist hidden in my sleeve. He interlaced his fingers with mine, palm to palm.
I looked at him in surprise. His features were blurred by the thin mist of the imperial city, but it made me feel at ease. In that moment, I understood his meaning: Don’t be afraid, I’m here.
Just thinking of those four words made my nervousness vanish. As long as he was by my side, I feared nothing.
The empress remained dignified, her expression unreadable. The emperor’s face was benevolent, his narrow eyes pausing momentarily on our tightly touching sleeves before his smile remained unchanged.
One was cold and heartless, the other cunning and sly—both equally difficult to deal with.
The emperor first exchanged pleasantries, praising our conjugal love as a model of harmony, then meandered through recent weather and popular spring outing spots in Yanfeng City. The irrelevant topics made me drowsy, and I would have been discourteous if I weren’t still standing in the hall.
This emperor was even more prone to digression than my own father.
An Jin appeared accustomed to the emperor’s meandering conversation, occasionally responding appropriately.
Feeling tired and hungry, my legs went numb. Was the emperor using fatigue as a tactic?
As the emperor continued rambling, An Jin interjected: “May I ask why Your Majesty has summoned us?”
The emperor then remembered: “Oh, right. Someone, bring seats.”
Being seated indicated the main topic was about to begin.
The emperor shifted from his verbose manner, speaking clearly: he wanted to bestow Xue Miaoyin in marriage to An Jin, while I would be demoted to a concubine after being childless for two years.
I felt angry. “At least the Empress has a ceremonial role, but I’m being demoted to a concubine?”
An Jin lowered his head: “Please forgive this subject for not being able to agree.”
The Emperor and the Empress exchanged a glance and laughed: “My dear official and his wife are deeply in love, no wonder he cannot accept. How about this: the two wives will stand side by side, without distinction?”
