Chapter 3 Routes Through the Palace
Xie Linmu looked at my face, flushed red from holding my breath, and still asked out of curiosity, "When you married me, did you leave your head at home?"
Because I was "without memory" now, I did not dare act up. I answered with a very proper air. "I forgot. But I think I must have been sharp at the very top before. After I married you, some force I could not fight probably left me with only the top."
Xie Linmu burst out laughing. He held water out to me. "My Empress is truly amusing."
I took the water and drank a few mouthfuls. When I looked up again, Xie Linmu had already undone his clothes. A pale stretch of chest showed.
My head spun. I slapped him at once. "What are you doing?!"
The slap left Xie Linmu looking blank. His voice changed pitch. "This is my bedchamber. Can I not even take my clothes off?!"
"I am still here. Do you not know to mind yourself a little?"
"..." Xie Linmu bit down and grabbed the hand I had over my eyes. "You still know how to be shy. I never saw you read any less of that little Storybook."
"Put your clothes on, now. Do not come to my bedchamber again!"
"On what grounds?"
"On your divided heart! On your wandering eyes! On your changing from morning to night!"
Xie Linmu threw his clothes on in a mess. Veins stood out. "Song Huanhuan, if I step one more step into Duanyang Hall, I am a dog!"
"If I pay you any more mind, I am a dog too!"
That day, word spread that the Emperor and the Empress had parted ways.
The two of us even planned the routes, a plan where on the first, third, and fifth days I took this road, and on the second, fourth, and sixth Xie Linmu took that road.
The palace maids on both sides could hardly get a word out.
"Retreat, retreat, the Emperor is in the Imperial Garden!"
"Go, go, the Empress is heading for the Imperial Study!"
"Quick, quick, the Emperor just left the imperial kitchen!"