"Take off."
Xiao Jingheng stood in front of the couch, his black python robe still stained with the chill of night dew. He had just returned from the northern Xinjiang camp, and his eyes and brows were full of dust, but he looked at her like he was looking at an artifact.
Shen Zhi lowered his eyes slightly and put his fingers on his shirt belt.
Three years. She has been Princess Jing for three years and has long been used to nights like this. He never kissed her, never called her name, he just wanted her to lie there, like a body without temperature, for him to vent the anger he brought back from the battlefield.
"Today..." Her voice was very soft, "can you light a candle?"
Xiao Jingheng paused in untying his belt.
He raised his eyes to look at her, his dark eyes showing no emotion, "Are you worthy?"
Shen Zhiwei's fingers trembled and his belt slipped.
Yes. She doesn't deserve it. She was just the most inconspicuous concubine in the palace of the Vice Minister. She was able to marry into Prince Jing's palace and become a concubine, all because she had a face that was very similar to Liu Wu's. And Liu Wu was the one he held dear to his heart. She was the woman he had made an engagement with when he was fourteen years old. She was the woman he would marry even if he disobeyed the late emperor.
But Liu Wu was weak, and the imperial doctor said she would not live to be twenty. The Pei family - no, the Xiao family, the Xiao royal family of the Zhou Dynasty, could not let a sick man become the princess.
So Jamel Xiao chose her among the noble ladies. Powerless and similar in appearance, they can be discarded at any time.
"Ah Wu received a letter today." Xiao Jingheng suddenly spoke without stopping, "She said it was bitterly cold in northern Xinjiang and asked me to take care of myself."
Shen Zhiwei was lying on the couch...
