The next day the Zhu Emperor ordered his servants to decorate the main hall for the wedding ceremony. The palace was filled with chaos and uneasiness especially from the elder who’s in charge of handling the wedding. Inside the room, I stared out of the window looking at the servants bringing objects from Ke Qiang’s room to the wedding chamber that is placed south from the royal guest residence. I exhaled as A’Li enters in quietly.

“Crown Princess” A’Li gestures to the herbal medicine in her hand. I nod and signal her to close the door for more privacy. I closed the window in front of me and unknot my robe so that A’Li can apply medicine on my wound.

“Is Crown Prince still resting?” A’Li asks, curious.

“He is; he hasn’t slept the whole night due to the pain and just managed to sleep this morning” I explained as I glared at my reflection from the mirror.

“Is something wrong, Crown Princess?” A’Li finished applying the medicine, “You seemed like you’re bothered by something”

“I am” I admit, “I think. . . I am confused”

“Confused?” A’Li raised her eyebrows as she helped me dress.

“Yes, confused. Maybe with everything happening so fast, I haven’t actually sat down and thought about why I’m here. Or why I even decided to follow him”

A’Li smiles, “Crown Princess, no need to think so much. Sooner or later, you’ll understand why you’re behaving like this”

“I hope so” I sigh as I tied my belt.

Knock knock.  

“Who is it?” A’Li asks, turns to the door.

“It’s me. Ruo Xie”

“What is it, Ruo Xie?” I ask.

“3rd Prince wanted you and Crown Prince to join him for breakfast” Ruo Xie answers.

“Tell him his brother isn’t awake, but I’ll join him after I’m done”

“Okay” he dismissed himself.

In Ke Qiang’s room

           As soon as I reached Ke Qiang’s room, I stopped at the entrance to see him finish putting on his outer wedding robe. I finally understood and lowered my head. He was facing the bed, so he didn’t see me at the doors. Not entering, I stood by the doors until he was done changing or else it wouldn’t be proper to enter. One of the maids tied the red belt for him while the other maid grabbed his clothing to leave the room. She saw me at the entrance and bowed to greet me. “Crown Princess” she politely said. I signaled her to leave as Ke Qiang realized that I was waiting.

“Ah Yun” Ke Qiang strangely smiled at me and dismissed the maid.

“Morning, 3rd Prince” I greeted him.

“Come. Join me for breakfast before I become a married man” he gestures to the table.

“Thanks” I spoke softly and sat as he did too, sitting across from me. “I thought it was Shen Qing, the one who was supposed to marry the Zhu Emperor’s daughter” I suddenly ask.

Ke Qiang laughs, “No. Imperial Father wanted me to be married with their daughter” he clarifies.

“I see” I nod.

“You seem tired” he points out.

“Couldn’t sleep” I forced a smile, “Your brother was in pain all night and it kept me awake too”

“Sorry to hear” he nods, sympathizing with me “Eat. It’ll restore your energy” he smiles and tried putting a piece of chicken in my bowl.  

I pulled away and stared at him, “You’re awfully nice today”

“It is my marriage today, so can’t I celebrate my remaining freedom with you?”

I didn’t suspect more and accepted his generosity.

           We ate in silence for a while until Ke Qiang constantly asked me questions about how to satisfy a lady. I answered him sincerely, but something seemed odd to me. Usually, he is always trying to flirt with me but today he seemed rather suppressed. After our breakfast together, I excused myself. He insisted that he escorted me back to my room, so I didn’t deny it. Walking back, he rambles on about how he will have a family full with kids. He angles his head to me and asked,

“Didn’t Imperial Mother tried to make you and Shen Qing consummates the marriage?”

“What?” I stopped and glared at him.

“D-did I say something wrong?” he seems taken aback.

“Don’t speak of it” I pointed at him with my index finger, “Especially when it’s none of your concern”

“Okay” he answers.

I turned back to the front and stepped forward onto an uneven ground causing myself to twist my ankle. I fell down immediately and Ke Qiang reached his arms out to me.

“Are you okay?” he asks, held on my waist.

“I’m fine” I lied and pushed his hands off of me, “Don’t dirty your wedding robe” I reminded him as I tried to get up but fell back down.

Ke Qiang exhales, “Is that all you worry about?” he lifts me up at the same time Shen Qing stood a few feet away from us, facing our direction.

“Crown Prince” I said, surprised. He stared directly at me without blanking. He seemed mad, but I couldn’t tell since he had an expressionless face.

“Brother” Ke Qiang wasn’t bothered by the fact that Shen Qing saw us together; he holding me. Shen Qing didn’t say anything and walked forward. He reached his arms out as a sign that Ke Qiang should hand me over to him. He did.

           As Shen Qing carried me back to our room, he didn’t say anything. He quietly looked forward while I had my attention on him trying to detect any sign of anger or even jealousy. None of it was there. Once we arrived in our room, he kicks the door closed and plant me down on the stool. I stared at him as he did the same before bending down on his right knee. He grabs my injured ankle and leaned it on his right thigh so that he can re-align the twisted ankle.

“Be gentler” I said, grab his shoulder with my right hand as he pulls my ankle upward to release the tension of the pain.

“Ah” I groan as he sets my foot down. “Thank” I added as he continued to look at me. I looked back at him in the eyes.

“Sorry” he out of the blue apologized when it was supposed to be me to apologize.

“What for?”

“Everything”

“What do you mean by everything?” I felt my eyes starting to burn.

He exhales with frustration, “Sorry for the scars. Sorry for the pain. Sorry for not being able to protect you. And sorry for not being able to love you”

I chuckled, “I knew that one day you would be on your knees and apologized to me. I just can’t believe that out of all the days, it had to be today” I pushed him aside and stood up.

“Ah Yun” he grasp my hand.

“Let go”

“No. I’ll never let go”

“Let go” I demand and turned to faced him as he suddenly lunged forward. He wrapped his arms around me, not letting go even when I started to pound on his back with my hands.

“Let me go” I continued to hit him with all my might.

“No” he insisted to hold me.

“I hate you” I gradually stopped hitting him.

“I know” he embraced me tighter.

“I hate you” I repeated.

“I hate you too”