Chapter 1 His Hesitation
Zhao Yan froze.
He seemed surprised that I had chosen Zhang Ruhua.
The man frowned. “This lady is too proper, too rigid.”
“This Prince does not like her.”
It didn’t matter.
I knew from my past life that he would like her soon enough.
In my previous life, on the day I died in the Phoenix Palace, he had said to me, “If there were another life, I would rather never have learned you were a woman that day.”
“That way, the one I married would have been Zhang Ruhua.”
Snapping out of the memory, I spoke.
“Prime Minister Zhang is the head of all civil officials. Marrying Zhang Ruhua will secure Your Highness’s position as heir.”
Zhao Yan lifted his gaze and stared into my eyes.
After a long moment, he said, “This Prince understands.”
He appeared to take my words seriously.
In my last life, he had originally intended to marry Zhang Ruhua anyway after considering his options.
Tonight had merely been a test, I suspected.
I had been his companion in study for five years. We ate together, lived together. I was truly a woman, with fair and delicate features, and I often offered him counsel.
Over time, I fell in love with him.
Even he had developed feelings for me that went beyond friendship.
But in his eyes, I was still a man.
So those feelings could only be buried.
He would never have the chance to voice them.
As I turned to leave, Zhao Yan suddenly sighed.
“Chu Bingzhi, it’s a pity you don’t have a twin sister.”
“If she looked and acted just like you, This Prince would marry her no matter the obstacles.”
Under the moonlight, I looked back.
His gaze carried regret and sorrow.
I smiled faintly. “Unfortunately, I don’t.”
From what I knew of him, once the betrothal was settled, he would cut off all contact with me.
If anyone discovered that he had fallen in love with a man,
his future would be ruined.
A ruler who could not sever such ties would only invite chaos.