She stared long and hard at the silence that joined them. His figure stood by itself, and even his shadow seem to sheepishly hide behind him.
The sharpness in her eyes softened, and she took two steps closer to him. Her small, delicate hands reached up to cup his cold cheeks and brought his attention to her. The helplessness in her voice as she whimpered made Yu Jian's heart ache, "Am I not your wife, your beloved?"
He exhaled deeply and caressed her face in a similar manner. His Adam apple bobbled up and down as he swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, Rui-er. I was—ha, I still am terrified of your reaction. I didn't know how to tell you."
When she didn't respond, he lowered his gaze but it didn't conceal the anxiety hanging on the edge of his face. It was a first for her to witness this fragility. He was like a boy again: afraid to be misunderstood and abandoned.
"I didn't want you to look at me differently and certainly did not want you to get entangled with my family wars. I truly want to live a peaceful life with you." He explained desperately.
Still, she only silently observed him.
Yu Jian clicked his tongue in annoyance and grabbed the black leather that covered his left eye. Her stomach dropped, and her hands acted on its own as it lunged to stop him. Although she was quick, he was quicker. He clutched the leather eyepatch in his hand and tossed it to the side.
The scar ran down his eye. She could feel the pain cutting her own heart open. His eyes wrinkled as he winced from the sudden exposure of light. Nevertheless, he forced his glassy eyes to open.
"The doctor said to leave it on! Why did you—" Before she could finish, his face grew closer as his eyes bore into her soul. She was mesmerized; it was haunting, but she couldn't tear herself away from being entranced.
"I want you to look into my eyes. If I am lying, you can stab both of them." He vowed as he places a dagger, retrieved from his pockets, in her trembling hands. The cold blade was light, yet its weight was heavier than she could shoulder. She became rigid and her body refused to cooperate with her.
The gravity of his words left his lips like a feather, but it crushed her like a boulder. She was frightened by the length he would measure and the distance he would traverse for her trust. "Xin Rui, you drive me to the doors of death before bringing me back to life. I am crazy for you. I am foolishly in love with you. I didn't mean to keep it from you. In fact, I thought it was a silly fantasy to be with you."
The eyes are the windows to the soul. Her lips curled up with a hint of sadness, "I told you that I will be by your side; regardless of who you are, you're still my Yu Jian." Then a small breath of laughter escaped through her nose, "And I know you're mad for me. The people in your manor even accused me of being a witch for seducing you."
His eyes, still slowly adjusting to the light, darkened a little. He was angry. He grabbed her hands and brought her knuckles to his lips, "I will take care of them later."
She fell away like sand, and her back faced him. Her head angled back to challenge him, "So, Song Yujian, when are you going to talk?"
A small smile climbed its way to his pink lips. The guards and maids that were accompanying them had migrate ahead to give them some privacy. These people grew up with YuJian, so they naturally sense the message in the air.
"Can you handle it though, wife?" He teased with his head cocked to the side. Rui flushed red, and she averted her gaze. Even with the scar, he was just as handsome as she remembers him to be.
She scoffed, pointed her nose up, and her eyes rolled in her sockets, "What can surprise me at this point? Bring it on."
Her guts gave her an idea of his identity, but she couldn't quite place her fingers on the details.
The opening melody of his chuckle played for a few seconds before the curtains revealed its play. The air around him changed. He stood a little taller, and his shoulders pulled back to push the nobility out. He bowed his head ever so slightly towards her, afore erecting straight again. "In a sense, you can say that I am the Seventh Prince of the current emperor of Wu Jin. And that makes you, wifey, a wangfei."
The words seem to fly pass her ears like the annoying buzzes of a fly. She gave him a blank stare and blinked twice. She finally drew the lines between the dots, making the gears that held her jaws plummet down an abyss, "Oh, holy fucking shit."
His face scrunched up while his eyes narrowed at her. Her chin was grasped between his thumb and index finger. "Wife, foul words are spewing from your sweet mouth."
"Oh, darling, hell awaits behind this face." She taunted with an angelic smile. Yu Jian smirked in response as his thumb rubbed her plump lips. Rui leaned in and brought his face closer, "Yu Jian-ah, you are so reckless. What kind of prince poses as a medicine merchant in another country, and proceed to marry a foreign girl in secrecy without his imperial father's blessing?"
His hands shifted to rest on her hips and he smiled in their kiss, "A reckless one."
Rui rolled her eyes again before stepping back. Her cloudy eyes lowered as her cold hand reached out for his comfort, "Yu Jian-ah...I am scared that your imperial family would not accept this. Will we be punished?"
The couple slowly caught up with the servants. Yu Jian was given another leather cover for his eye. He kept Rui's hand in his warm grasp, and he foreshadowed his parents' disapproval. He solemnly admitted, "...Yes. Imperial Father values tradition. However, I am a different case. I will explain tonight."
Rui frowned; she noticed the same lines between his brows forming from stress. She held his hand tighter, hoping to send some sort of strength to his depletion of energy.
The two finally arrived at the last gate. Death radiated from the doors. Rui wasn't sure if it was from previous executions that polluted the air, or the ghosts warning her about the approaching omen. They were screeching and wailing in blood tears, telling her to run far away from this nightmare. But she couldn't hear them. Her foot stepped in.
Fate smiled a wicked smile. Her crimson red lips curled from ear to ear. There is no return now.
Rui and Yu Jian were guided to the imperial court room after a eunuch announced the Seventh Prince's return. They made their way below the enormous golden throne, where it could stare down at the inferior beings and interrogate them at its will. The emperor, gold from head to toe, served as the heaven's eyes and mouth—or, so they say. The room lavished in glory and luxury. It made her feel small; she was a tiny speck of dust compared to the gigantic monstrosity here. It wasn't too far off from the truth—at least—in the eyes of the imperial family.
Every shine and bling choked her with its brilliance. She was turning blue, but she held her head high anyway. Yu Jian's warnings echoed inside her head, "Do not drop your facade."
Her head was up, but her eyes were not. They were glued to the top of her cheeks—not the nose—on the bottom of her vision. Her hands folded elegantly in front of her waist, just like she had train to do. The foreign clothes accentuated her curves.
She found it strange that her shoulders were exposed while the belt strangled her waist, but she didn't express her discomfort. Based on her observations, this fashion is typically worn by noblewomen here. It could be inferred that a few inches of bare skin in Wu Jin is the norm. Her hair was also styled oddly. As a married woman, her hair should be completely up. Yet, half of her hair was down and brushed to the side.
Rui couldn't see well, so she only followed the signals and footsteps of her husband. When he saluted in ceremony, she silently lowered herself to the floor and greeted after Yu Jian finished. "Imperial Father, Imperial Mother, and Imperial Brothers, Yujian has returned."
"This lowly one greets the Emperor. This lowly one greets the Empress. This lowly one greets the royal princes." Her clear voice chimed in the large hall like bells. Silence fell afterwards, and she could only hear her heart pounding.
"Little Seven," the dragon's voice boomed, "you sailed the seas and crossed the mountains, but you brought back a woman?"
Rui tried to swallow the fear that was lodged in her throat. Fortunately, her head was still touching the ground, so they couldn't see her weaknesses. The emperor hasn't excused her to stand up yet.
A woman spoke from above with a sneer in her tone. It was the same false-motherly voice as Madam Li, her step-mother. Her voice brimmed with authority with a hint of sweetness, "Little Seven, you have grown thin over the past years. What happened to your eye? It breaks my heart! A prince shouldn't suffer like this. It must be because this servant didn't protect you well. However, Chen is glad that you finally accepted a servant to serve you. You had always refused my offers. However...isn't it odd that this servant girl dresses better than our palace maids?"
Rui gritted her teeth and endured the sizzling pain in her chest. The empress was implying that she was just a bedwarmer to climb the status ladder. She had pronounced the fears in her heart aloud. Her words were like a steel bar blasted in a blistering fire. It pressed upon her body, and seared the first layer off.
Like adding fuel to the fire, the phoenix made the dragon burn a deep red, "Audacious! Seventh, you're becoming more and more ridiculous!"