Chapter 6

It was nearly time for my appointment with Xiao Yunlan. I had no wish to waste any more words on them.

“If you don't believe me, ask Second Master.”

I left with Cailian and Caiwei.

3

When we reached Cuiwei Restaurant, which belonged to me, Xiao Yunlan was already waiting in the finest private room.

“I pay my respects to Your Majesty.”

I bowed.

“There's no need for such ceremony, my little fellow pupil. Zhao Ye, help Miss Su to her seat.”

His chief eunuch hurried forward.

“Please sit, Miss Su. His Majesty has been waiting for you.”

Once I was seated, Xiao Yunlan ordered the food served.

When the dishes filled the table, I discovered they were all my favorites.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

He smiled.

“As long as you're pleased, Qingyue.”

Then he turned to Zhao Ye.

“You may withdraw.”

I signaled to Cailian and Caiwei. They left with him.

Only Xiao Yunlan and I remained.

He placed food in my bowl and asked with a smile, “Tell me, what would you like? Whatever you ask, I won't refuse.”

I looked up.

The affection in his eyes was too deep to hide.

“I want to divorce Du Cheng. I need an imperial decree.”

He went still for a moment.

Then delight lit his face.

“Good!”

It was dark by the time I returned to Lanzhi Courtyard.

After my bath, Cailian dried my hair, marveling.

“My lady, you're a beauty to bring a kingdom to its knees! Every time I see you after a bath, I feel as though I'm looking at a fairy.”

“You and your sweet tongue!”

“I can vouch for her! She means every word.” Caiwei turned from making the bed to agree.

I gazed at my reflection.

A flawless white face, growing more and more like my mother's.

For a moment, I lost myself in it.

Mother had been known as the most beautiful woman in Tianyu.

But her health had always been poor. She died of a grave illness when I was six.

While she lived, she saw that, even as a child, I was more beautiful than she had been.

She feared that the men who approached me when I grew up would want only my face. That I would never find someone who truly loved me.

So she placed a chastity mark on my face and told the world I had contracted a strange illness that would be difficult to cure.

From then on, a conspicuous mark marred my features.

It ruined the beauty of my face, and my reputation for ugliness spread throughout the capital.

My parents never kept the truth from me.

I knew it was their way of protecting me, the care my mother had taken for my future.

With Father's guidance as well, I never paid much attention to the rumors.

I had thought a face like mine would mean marrying late.

Yet barely had I come of age when a suitor appeared.

And he was the third-place graduate of the palace examinations.

What young girl has never dreamed of love?

A little more mature than other girls my age though I was, I too had imagined a handsome, graceful, exceptionally talented husband.

Du Cheng did not mind the mark on my face.

He said it was the person inside that mattered.

I was overjoyed.

Even Father was taken in.

When he sent me off to be married, his eyes were filled with joy and relief.

On our wedding night, Du Cheng drank himself senseless. Naturally, the marriage could not be consummated.

I thought he had simply been so happy that he had drunk too much. I never blamed him.

But the very next day, he announced there had been floods in the south.

A man of ambition must think of the realm, he said. He wished to help with disaster relief.

His mother, however, was seriously ill.

I would have to stay behind to care for her in his place.

I hated to part from him, but my mother-in-law was indeed in no condition to travel.