Your love... is too light

At the Prince of Jin'an's country estate.

Claiming that she was "too grief-stricken and needed quiet rest," Qiao Shuyi had asked Qiao Nanyu for the estate, saying she wanted a change of scenery.

Qiao Nanyu was already distraught over Liu Jinyu's affair and couldn't wait to have his daughter far away, so he agreed at once.

Thus, she brought Zongzheng Heng with her and settled down amid the mountains and streams.

Three days had passed.

Zongzheng Heng still hadn't seen through this move of hers.

She had said she would avenge Liu Jinyu, yet in the past three days, she had done nothing.

Every day, she did nothing but eat, drink and amuse herself, admire flowers, listen to music and make merry, as though she really had come only for a change of scenery.

When they admired flowers, she pestered him to compose poems, thanks to the poetic skill he had shown that day.

Lines like "Of all these flowers, this one most resembles Shushu's face" and "A richly blooming branch, its fragrance held in dew" made her eyes curve with satisfaction.

When it was time to paint, she had him take up his brush, but all he painted was her.

When he finished, she made him inscribe a poem on each painting, then read it aloud to her. After listening, she would lean softly against him and say, "Zhigui, you're so good to me."

When it was time for music, she had him play a tune while she reclined on a couch and listened with her eyes half closed.

Afterward, she made him play pitch-pot with her. The loser had to drink as a forfeit, and after drinking, she would burrow into his arms, her face flushed.

Today, she said she wanted to ride on the back mountain.

The two of them shared a horse.

The steed galloped, the wind howled, and her skirts whipped and fluttered as her black hair flew, brushing his cheek.

She shouted into the wind:

"Zhigui-I like you so much-!"

The wind scattered her voice, yet it still reached his ears clear as day.

Zongzheng Heng sat behind her, one arm around her waist and one hand holding the reins.

He gazed at the mountain scenery flashing past ahead, his eyes as deep and dark as a pool.

Even he didn't know it, but his heart seemed always to stir quietly at her bold and unconventional words and actions.

Later.

The horse grew tired and slowed its pace, ambling through the mountain woods.

She leaned against his chest, her whole body nestled softly in his arms.

The mountain breeze brushed gently past, and birds chirped.

Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves, casting dappled light and shadow over them.

If anyone else had seen them, they would surely have sighed-

What a heavenly couple.

Suddenly, she spoke, lazily, as if asking on a whim:

"Zhigui, do you like me?"

Zongzheng Heng didn't hesitate.

"I do."

Before, he wouldn't have been able to say those two words.

But now they came so readily that even he could no longer tell whether he was only humoring her, or...

She curved her lips and asked again:

"How much?"

Zongzheng Heng fell silent.

How was he supposed to answer that?

Say he liked her very much? Too fake.

Say he didn't like her? He wouldn't dare.

Say he didn't know? That would be courting death.

He was weighing his words when she suddenly spoke again:

"If you don't know how to answer, Zhigui, imagine this: what if I were lying in another man's arms right now, just like this, acting spoiled, even... asking him for a kiss? How would you feel?"

Zongzheng Heng's dark eyes filled with anger almost instantly.

It came so fast and so fiercely that even he didn't have time to react.

"Shushu." His voice deepened, carrying a chill he himself didn't notice. "Don't joke about that."

He didn't know what expression he wore, only that her words just now had made his heart feel as though someone had gripped it hard.

He imagined what she had described, and surging up in his chest-

Were frustration, anger, and an irritation he couldn't explain.

And a powerful, almost instinctive urge: he wanted to kill that imaginary man.

He lowered his eyes, suppressing the emotions churning within him, unaware that his hand had already tightened into a death grip on the reins.

Qiao Shuyi hadn't gotten a satisfactory answer. She let out a cold laugh.

She swung herself off the horse, put some distance between them and leaned against a tree trunk, raising her eyes to him.

Her glassy eyes were red, as if something had hurt her.

"A joke? All you feel is that I'm joking?"

"Zhigui, let me tell you how I'd feel if you held another woman, coaxed her and kissed her."

"I'd kill that woman."

"I'd punish you."

"I'd tie you to my side."

"I'd make sure I was the only person in your world."

"I'd make sure your eyes... could see only me."

Her tears fell just like that, one after another.

"Zhigui, your love... is too light. I don't like it."

Zongzheng Heng's heart clenched.

Too light?

He liked Su Yunyan. He had always believed that.

He liked her innocence, her devotion, and the warmth she had once given him.

Yet in the two years since he had been made Prince Xuan, he had never once taken the initiative to see her.

All his thoughts had been on the imperial court, on winning over those who could help him ascend the throne.

He had thought he would treat her well once it was done.

And after he ascended the throne?

He had to eliminate his opponents and balance the factions, so he couldn't select consorts or bring her into the palace.

Aside from keeping her from marrying anyone else, he had done nothing.

But what about the woman before him?

In a mere ten days.

Aside from consummating their marriage, he had done everything.

Kissed her, coaxed her, praised her, kept her company.

When she wanted poetry, he composed it; when she wanted to ride, he went with her; when she wanted a kiss, he lowered his head and kissed her.

In those ten days, he had done everything for her that he had never done for anyone else.

Even if he didn't like her, he would never again show a second woman the "love" he had acted out for her.

Yet she said it was too light.

Zongzheng Heng dismounted and walked up to her, taking her wrist in his hand. His voice was hoarse:

"It's not light. It's already very heavy."

It was the truth.

Qiao Shuyi raised her tearful eyes to him.

"It's not enough! I'll teach you how to love me, all right?"

Zongzheng Heng's eyes were full of complicated emotions as he nodded.

"Then come here and kiss me."

Zongzheng Heng went to her and pressed her against the tree trunk, bracing one hand against the bark beside her ear and lifting her chin with the other.

He lowered his head and kissed her.

They had already kissed many times.

He was practiced at it.

He knew what pressure and rhythm she liked, when she liked him gentle and when she liked him fierce.

With ease, he kissed her until she was breathless.

She went limp in his arms, her fingers clutching his lapel, her breathing ragged and her gaze hazy.

But just as Zongzheng Heng thought Qiao Shuyi was losing herself in it, she suddenly leaned back, avoiding his lips.

She raised her hand and clamped her thumb and forefinger tightly around his jaw.

"Not like that, Zhigui. Can't you feel it? Your eyes, your kiss, they're both too restrained."

"I want to see your possessiveness run wild."

"I want to hear your scorching breath."

"I want to feel your fierce love."

Zongzheng Heng's pupils contracted slightly.

She had seen through him.

But restraint was an instinct carved into his bones.

From an unfavored prince to the emperor who now sat on the dragon throne, he had restrained himself every moment.

Restraining his anger, his killing intent, every emotion that shouldn't be revealed before others.

When did he let go of that restraint?

On the battlefield.

When he was alone.

And... when he faced the dead.

Only then did he allow his true gaze to show-sinister, ruthless, volatile and vicious.

But the woman before him was only sixteen, and had spent a mere ten days with him. What gave her the right to see through him?

What gave her the right?

In that case-

He closed his eyes and let her words from earlier explode in his mind.

Leaning in someone else's arms.

Acting spoiled.

Asking for a kiss.

The image surfaced again.

This time, it was clearer and more piercing than before, and it made the beast that had been trapped in his chest for years break free of its shackles entirely.

He snapped his eyes open.

Not a trace of meekness or restraint remained in them, only a sinister darkness so thick it wouldn't disperse.

One hand dug into the hollow of her waist, the other clamped around her throat, and he slammed her against the tree trunk.

He lowered his head and kissed her.

It wasn't the lingering kiss from before.

It was a loss of control.

It was plunder.

His teeth split the corner of her lip, and traces of blood spread between their lips and teeth. There was no telling whether it was hers or his.

But Qiao Shuyi felt no pain. The taste of blood only excited her more.

She stood on tiptoe, her head tilted back, his grip on her throat leaving her barely able to breathe.

His hand kept tightening, tightening, as though he truly meant to cut off her breath.

But she wasn't afraid.

Instead, she smiled.

Her eyes closed, she let him take whatever he wanted, let him ravage her lips, let his hand steal her breath inch by inch.

Zongzheng Heng gazed at her little face, her eyes closed, a smile on her lips, a flush rising from the lack of air.

Madwoman.

But I'm going mad too!

When he went mad, everyone feared him.

Only she.

Only this madwoman smiled and savored it when he was most out of control.

As though she had waited a long time for this moment.

Zongzheng Heng let the darkness in his eyes surge forth.

A little more force, and this madwoman would die in his hands.

A little more force.

Her face flushed an ever deeper red, yet the smile at the corners of her lips only deepened.

But he didn't.

He suddenly let go.

At the very last moment, just before she suffocated, he let go.

The smile at the corners of Qiao Shuyi's mouth deepened.

Zongzheng Heng gripped her waist with both hands, lifted her off her feet, and pressed her against the tree trunk.

He lowered his head, his scorching kisses trailing down her neck, as though he meant to swallow her whole.

In broad daylight, the mountain forest was silent.

Only their panting mingled in the air.

They kissed for who knew how long, oblivious to heaven and earth.

Suddenly-

"Whoosh-"

A torrential downpour came pouring down without warning.

Zongzheng Heng's kiss came to an abrupt halt.

Icy rain poured over their faces and bodies, dousing the heat that had nearly burned them both to ashes.

He came to his senses.