Chapter 4 Lost and Found
I had no wish to trail after them. I turned and went elsewhere.
In the past, whenever we went out together, Zhao Yan could never bear to be apart from me.
Now, he seemed indifferent to whether I followed or not.
He had Lu Yinchuan, he had Zhang Ruhua, and soon he would have palaces filled with concubines.
At least I was no longer the jealous, neglected empress.
I wandered farther, guessed a few lantern riddles.
I rescued a veiled girl from some thugs.
Her voice trembled with tears, muffled behind the cloth.
“I was supposed to meet someone on the lake today, but he never came…”
I didn’t pay much attention. I comforted her briefly.
But the moment we parted, I saw a large group of imperial guards approaching.
They seemed to be searching for someone.
I looked closer—the portrait they carried was of me.
Before I could react, someone threw their arms around me.
Lu Yinchuan hugged me tight and pounded my back.
I quickly grabbed his hands. “What’s going on?”
He huffed. “You vanished in a blink. We’ve been looking everywhere…”
I laughed. “It’s not the first time. I come from a military family. What could possibly happen to me?”
He said, “I thought the same, but His Highness was worried. When he couldn’t find you and heard thugs were about tonight, he nearly lost his mind.”
He stepped aside, revealing Zhao Yan behind him.
In the crowd, his face was taut, his gaze fixed on me without moving.
Only then did I realize how intimate Lu Yinchuan and I must have looked.
Lu Yinchuan hadn’t noticed.
He slung an arm tighter around my shoulders.
“Chu Bingzhi, why do you have a waist like a girl’s? I’ve seen the top courtesan at Cuihong Tower—she’s the pinnacle of beauty. Yet your waist is even softer than hers.”
“It’s a pity you’re not a woman.”
At his words, my body stiffened.
Zhao Yan suddenly let out a cold laugh.
He stared at me.
“With Chu Bingzhi’s looks, if he were a woman, no one would dare marry him.”
…
With that, he flicked his sleeve and walked away.