The Amnesiac Blank Period - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Upon returning to Fengyi Palace, my personal maid, Fengye, began removing my heavy headpiece. She watched my reflection in the mirror with a look of deep concern.

“…Your Majesty, the Emperor has always been ‘diligent’ and rarely sets foot in the harem,” she said, choosing her words carefully to avoid the word ‘cold.’ “Now that he has lost his memory of you, will he be even more…”

She didn’t finish the sentence.

I knew exactly what she left unsaid.

In the past, Fengye’s worries would have been well-founded.

But now-

As night fell, I clutched a soft pillow and pushed open the door to the eastern side chamber of Qinzheng Hall.

Candlelight flickered, elongating Li Jingye’s silhouette as he sat with his head bowed, reviewing memorials.

“Your Majesty,” my voice was as soft and melodious as a mountain stream, “it is late. It is time to retire for the night.”

My tone was so natural it was as if I reminded him like this every day.

Li Jingye’s hand, holding the vermilion brush, froze. A plump drop of red ink fell onto the desk, blooming into a small, jarring stain.

He looked up in astonishment, his gaze meeting my smiling eyes.

“Retire… for the night?”

“You and I?”

“Tonight?!”

“Yes,” I said, gently placing the soft pillow on the inner side of the bed. “Your Majesty has amnesia and does not remember, but in ordinary times you sleep with Your servant every night-me-and you say it is the only way you can rest peacefully.”

I stepped closer to him until the tips of my embroidered shoes nearly touched his dragon-patterned boots.

I looked up at him and said, emphasizing every word:

“You said those words yourself.”

“Ah?” Li Jingye was dazed.

The harder he tried to remember, the more bewildered he looked.

“I would say such things?” His voice trembled at the end, caught in a moment of self-reflection.

No, you wouldn’t.

I answered him silently in my heart.

My expression remained unchanged as I raised my sleeve to lightly smooth the folds at his collar, my fingertips brushing his Adam’s apple as if by accident.

“Not only that, you also always liked to hold Your servant while you slept.”

The lies were coming easier and easier.

Upon hearing this, Li Jingye’s pupils constricted sharply, as if he had just heard the most outrageous tall tale.

Then that shock quickly turned into mortified disbelief.

His refined face flushed bright red, the heat spreading all the way to his ears and neck.

“H-hold… hold you while I sleep?!”

It was like his own words had scalded his tongue. His voice cracked, the ending trembling with disbelief.

“I actually did something so… so…”

He kept saying “so” as if he couldn’t find a word that both preserved an emperor’s dignity and accurately described such a rash, improper act.

In the end, he could only force out four words through clenched teeth:

“What kind of decorum is that?!”

“Your Majesty thinks that… lacks decorum?”

I tilted my head slightly, eyes full of confusion like clear autumn waters, my fingertips lightly skimming over his tightly clenched fist.

“But it’s the most ordinary tenderness between husband and wife.”

I leaned in close, so close our breaths tangled.

I could even see my own reflection in his pupils, slightly widened beneath his thick lashes from sheer shock.

Arched brows like distant mountains, bright autumn eyes, a delicate nose bridge, lips like newly opened cherry blossoms.

A candlewick suddenly popped, the faint sound jolting Li Jingye back to himself.

He retreated three steps in a rush.

With a clatter, the memorials piled along the desk’s edge were swept to the floor by his wide sleeve.

I looked at the distance he had put between us.

Lowering my gaze, I gave a quiet sigh, my long lashes casting a small shadow beneath my eyes.

“So now… you won’t even let Your servant touch you?”

My voice was thick with disappointment.

Li Jingye stared at the mess on the floor and averted his eyes-only to catch my aggrieved expression in the next breath. His Adam’s apple bobbed hard.

“…Empress, that’s not what I mean. Don’t think too much.”

“I just can’t wrap my head around it right away. I need some time to adjust.”

“And how long is ‘some time’?” I pressed.

“Ten days?” Li Jingye asked tentatively.

I pressed my red lips together and stared at him with wet, misty eyes, saying nothing.

A perfect picture of fragile pity.

He didn’t even last five seconds before his gaze softened in surrender.

“Five days-will that do?”