Lotus in a Bottle - Chapter 26

Section 42

The arm around my waist tightened.

“What gives you the right?”

The imperial bed was inlaid with luminous pearls the size of fists, their glow bright enough for me to see Tan Lian’s eyes clearly.

Those alluring eyes were filled with anger and confusion, yet they looked as though they might mist over at any moment.

But I knew he wouldn’t cry. He would only make everyone who upset him cry.

I caressed the eyes that had captivated me the moment we met.

“I won’t stay in the palace forever as your caged bird, and I don’t want to share the person I love with anyone else.”

That was also why I’d wanted a divorce on our wedding night after learning that everyone was destined to fall for him.

My fear of death was one reason, but my possessiveness was another I had never voiced.

If he couldn’t choose only me, then I wouldn’t choose him either.

But Tan Lian was far too clearheaded and calculating. Even if he liked me a little, could those feelings truly outweigh all the schemes and ambitions in his heart?

As an emperor, would he give up the simplest way to win people’s loyalty?

Tan Lian wasn’t a fool. Of course he wouldn’t.

And that was why I wouldn’t stay.

It was as simple as that.

Tan Lian was silent for a long time.

At last, he released me.

“I understand.”

Section 43

I had made myself perfectly clear, and Tan Lian finally stopped reopening his old wounds behind my back.

As the weather gradually warmed, I figured that once his injuries healed, I could take my newly developed scented balms to Jiangnan in search of business opportunities.

Then the Shangfu Bureau delivered the ceremonial robes Tan Lian was to wear at his enthronement, along with my phoenix robe.

Me: “???”

I stormed off to find Tan Lian. “This is what you meant when you said you understood?!”

At the sound of my voice, Tan Lian raised a hand and dismissed the eunuchs. Then, with one sweep of his arm, he pulled me onto his lap.

“Mm. I saw the finished robe from the Shangfu Bureau. Do you like it?”

Thinking of that priceless phoenix robe, I nodded instinctively.

“I do.”

Only after nodding did I realize what I’d done. “Wait, that’s not the point! Who said I was going to be your empress?”

Tan Lian finally looked up from the memorial in his hand. He turned his head aside and clicked his tongue.

The nerve of him!

The so-called wise ruler swept all the memorials he’d been pretending to read off to one side. Gripping me by the waist, he lifted me onto the desk and fixed me with a brooding stare.

Even when seated in a lower position, he never made anyone feel they could look down on him.

My heart began to pound.

I was about to shift into a better position for this conversation when he held me firmly in place.

“If you like it, then wear it.”

After a moment’s thought, he grudgingly added,

“In exchange, I’ll answer your questions today.”