This is the advantage of being a beautiful person. Even knowing he was not kind, I could not help but be moved.
“Regardless, we have paid respects to heaven and earth, become husband and wife. Even if you escape, whether you resent me or not, this is a fact.” He looked at me deeply. “In my heart, you are my wife. As for past mistakes, I will try to make amends.”
He took out a white silk from his sleeve and gently unfolded it before me.
The silk depicted a graceful dancing woman, signed “Lantern Festival Thirteenth Young Master”.
Having been soaked in water, the ink was blurred, and the woman’s original image was unrecognizable.
“I have kept this painting until now. Not for anything else, but because it is something you left behind.” He lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes lush. “A Yao, give me a chance, will you?”
This was the first time Xia Zhiyuan did not refer to himself as “this palace,” and the first time I truly looked at him. After a long look, I sighed and asked, “Isn’t this tiring?”
He looked up in confusion.
“You are like this, Xia Zhichun is like this, and Yan Or is also like this.” I gave a bitter smile. “For your ambitions, forcing yourself to please someone you don’t love, working hard to please, pretending to be deeply in love, performing such touching plays. Isn’t this tiring?”
His expression stiffened, and after a while, he curved his thin lips, laughing with a hint of bitterness. “Sometimes when people act for too long, they often become too involved and find it hard to extricate themselves.”
“Do you think I would believe you now?” I felt helpless. Why did I look so easy to deceive? Could the same trick still work after being used so many times?
The previous “it’s settled—” I was about to ask him to clarify his meaning when I heard someone announce.
“Reporting to the Crown Prince’s Palace, Grand Princess Zhao Hua, there is an imperial messenger seeking an audience with the Grand Princess.”
Seeking me?
I turned around and saw Mo Qu standing behind the reporting guard, bowing to me. “His Majesty invites the Grand Princess to the palace for a conversation.”
