Translator’s Note: I would have loved it if you guys had commented about wanting the chapters edited or unedited. But alas after waiting for so long the Editor is still MIA, so I am just uploading the chapters unedited as the side stories are even better than the main story (everything is summed up pretty well) and for the happy ending lovers the last few chapters of side story are for you guys.

Also I would really appriciate if you guys share your thoughts about this novel in comments.

 

Chapter 116 – Extra 1: A Pomegranate Blossom Night

 

On the night of their imperial wedding, even the resplendent palace seemed to fall into a hushed slumber.

White clouds, scale-like in the moonlight, curled gently around a crescent moon suspended in the serene night sky. Its soft, keen light slipped quietly through the lattice of windows carved with epiphyllum and coiling dragons, casting a pale glow over the Emperor and Empress seated opposite one another.

The moonlight shimmered on the white robes draped over Li Zhi’s shoulders.

She gazed steadily at Xie Lanxu across from her, then slowly lifted her ceremonial nuptial cup.

Back when she had been sent into exile, Li Zhi had never imagined her life would be like a winding river—rising and falling, then finally flowing into the vast, endless sea.

She had never seen the ocean with her own eyes.

But in her heart, there had always been one.

It was born when her sister bent down to pick up a seashell, while gentle waves lapped at Li Zhi’s ankles. Those same waves had once comforted a grief only her sister had known that night. And now, after her sister was gone, they still comforted her.

Xie Lanxu was watching her too.

In the chamber, white silk banners swayed gently in the evening breeze. Beyond the gauze curtains, the silhouette of the ceremonial officer stood motionless.

Ignoring the prescribed rituals, Xie Lanxu suddenly drained his half of the nuptial wine in a single gulp.

He leaned in and cupped Li Zhi’s chin, guiding the warm, fragrant wine from his mouth into hers.

She could only brace herself against his arm, tilting her head back to accept it.

Perhaps it was because they had spent so many nights talking, planning, and strategizing that this night—free of words—felt unusually quiet.

Once the taste of wine faded from her lips, Li Zhi gently pushed him away. Under his watchful gaze, she lifted her own nuptial cup and drank deeply. Xie Lanxu guessed her intent, and a smile played in his eyes.

Li Zhi, wine still on her tongue, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him.

Her twelve-flowered bridal crown tangled with the twelve-beaded coronet of his imperial outfit.

No one knew when the flower crown slipped off or when the coronet fell.

In the inner chamber, only the sound of their breathing lingered, slow and heated.

The palace attendants had already withdrawn with tact. Even the ceremonial officer behind the curtain had vanished.

A wedding as pure as a blooming epiphyllum, consecrated not by toasts and rituals, but by an empress’s kiss pressing down upon her emperor. The two of them, not yet twenty, threw propriety underfoot.

It was rebellion, and they shared the same exhilaration.

His cool fingers traced her cheek and her jaw, then slid lower along the curve of her neck. His lips found the soft shell of her ear.

He took the tender lobe into his mouth, gently nipping it with his teeth.

A hoarse gasp escaped Li Zhi’s throat. Her head tilted back, eyes closed, lashes trembling.

“Do you love me?”

Her heart pounded wildly—she couldn’t answer.

“Do you know why the word ‘love’ is written with the character for ‘pain’?” Xie Lanxu murmured.

Then he bit down harder on her ear.

Li Zhi let out a soft, involuntary sound, like a kitten mewling.

To his ears, it sounded exactly like the answer to his question.

“Understood now?” Xie Lanxu laughed quietly.

He scooped her into his arms and strode toward the adjoining Melting Snow Pavilion.

Inside, mist rose in veils from the hot spring pool.

Pink-veined white qifu stone, cloudlike and delicate, that paved the floor. Moonlight poured through the foggy window and melted into the wide pool’s surface.

Xie Lanxu carried her down the warm stone steps into the water.

The golden-dragon embroidery on his pant legs was submerged first, then Li Zhi’s flowing white robes.

He leaned down to kiss her lips. She closed her eyes instinctively.

Warm water rose over her face, rushing into her ears.

Her heartbeat pounded like a drum.

She opened her eyes underwater, seized the initiative, and pressed him back by the shoulders, kissing him fiercely.

His hands moved over her body.

White wedding robes and imperial dragon robes—like fallen epiphyllum petals—floated across the shimmering pool.

Gold coronet, golden bridal crown—they slowly sank to the bottom, like long-lost treasures of a secret realm.

They writhed together beneath the surface.

Below the water, there was only their world.

The world consisted solely of the thunderous pounding of their hearts, intricately intertwined with the rippling water.

Such peace.

She studied his face closely, fingers tracing his cheek. She kissed his lips like they were the most precious thing in the world.

Tiny bubbles rose from where their mouths met.

Splash!

Water sprayed in all directions.

Li Zhi clung to Xie Lanxu’s waist as he lifted her above the surface. She gasped for air, hot spring water dripping from her temples in glistening rivulets.

He took her hand and pressed it to his chest.

Right over the raging rhythm of his heart.

“Joy and sorrow… it was you who taught me both,” he said.

Without knowing how, they ended up lying together atop the warm qifu stones.

Xie Lanxu gazed down at her face closely. Water dripped from his hair and splashed against her skin, making her tremble.

His eyes were deep as the sea. He said, slowly and clearly, “From this day on… life or death, I will follow you.”

“Lead me to paradise, or take me to hell—I will go wherever you are.”

Li Zhi stared into his eyes. In them, there had only ever been one reflection.

Hers.

She smiled.

“All right,” she said softly, meaningfully. “…But don’t you dare regret it.”

He kissed her forehead.

“I never will.”

The spring night lingered, long and gentle.

.