Chapter 444: What Phoenix Palace? It’s Nothing But a Gilded Cage

Ji Qingwu’s statement came out of the blue. Zhao Mingyan was momentarily baffled, but he quickly understood what she meant.

His chest rose and fell as he asked, "What one hundred and twenty-four characters?"

"The imperial edict making me empress that Your Majesty gave me. It has a total of one hundred and twenty-four characters."

The words that tumbled from her lips, tinged with the grit of the Northern Border’s wind and sand, were more intoxicating than the apricot wine of Jiangnan.

Fearing he wouldn’t believe her, Ji Qingwu spoke in a rush, "I’ve already memorized it. I can even write it out from memory. I might not be able to recite it backward fluently, but I don’t think that would be too hard either."

"Ah Wu."

Zhao Mingyan called her name, his voice filled with a tender sense of gratification.

Every character he had painstakingly deliberated over in the Diligent Governance Hall, she had committed firmly to heart. That she cherished it so was enough.

"Don’t talk yet."

Ji Qingwu stopped him again. She licked her dry lips, her eyes shining with astonishing brightness.

"I’m not finished talking."

Zhao Mingyan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. For the first time, he felt a sense of apprehension about what she was going to say. But because he couldn’t guess, a hint of anticipation also colored his gaze.

Ji Qingwu took a deep breath and looked back at him.

"You never tell me what you’re thinking or what you’re planning to do. I’ve wondered why, and the only reason I can think of is that you think I’m useless."

Instead of the words he’d hoped for, he got a crushing accusation.

He immediately denied it. "Of course not."

Ji Qingwu continued with her second guess. "Then it’s because you don’t see me as one of your own."

Zhao Mingyan’s denial was even quicker. "How could that be possible?"

Ji Qingwu threw out her third guess. "Then it’s because you’re worried I’ll be in danger, afraid I’ll get hurt."

Zhao Mingyan didn’t deny it this time, looking at her with dark, heavy eyes.

Ji Qingwu pressed her lips together again and said, "In the end, no matter how you try to pretty it up, it’s because you think I’m too weak, and that’s why I’d get hurt so easily."

Seeing her stubborn defiance, Zhao Mingyan thought of how she had been covered in wounds when he last saw her.

His tone was cold as he said, "And aren’t you? In front of the granary, what state were you in when you appeared? Your knees and hands were all scraped up."

Ji Qingwu’s gaze fell on his neck. "Wasn’t Your Majesty also injured?"

Seeing the crease between his brows deepen, she said indignantly, "Accidents are unavoidable. If you don’t do anything just because you’re afraid of getting hurt, then what’s the point of living?"

Zhao Mingyan was provoked to anger by her last line, "what’s the point of living."

"Ah Wu!"

It was the first time Ji Qingwu had heard him call her name in such a fierce tone, but the light in her eyes only grew brighter.

She reined in her thoughts, which he had nearly scattered, bit her lip, and said, "Your Majesty’s imperial edict to make me empress—I didn’t just memorize it, I also carefully considered its meaning."

As he listened to Ji Qingwu circle back to the edict, Zhao Mingyan tightened his grip on the decree she had thrown back at him.

The anger in his chest wouldn’t dissipate, yet he couldn’t unleash it.

Zhao Mingyan turned his head to look at the tent flap and said coldly, "And what meaning could your wooden head possibly understand?"

Ji Qingwu said, "Beili’s Imperial Palace is named Phoenix Palace. But an Imperial Palace without Your Majesty—how could that be called Phoenix Palace? It’s nothing but a gilded cage!"

"My place to roost is by your side, not in that damned Phoenix Palace."

Zhao Mingyan’s pupils contracted.

Ji Qingwu wasn’t finished, as if she were about to pour out everything in her heart all at once.

"If I were afraid of getting hurt, I would have stayed far away from you, not tried everything to appear before you."

Ji Qingwu relaxed her fist, which her nails had dug into, leaving white crescents in her palm.

"I’m not afraid. I’m not afraid of anything."

She stared at him with glistening eyes.

"I just want to be by your side. Am I being unreasonable? Am I being disobedient? Did I do something wrong?"

Zhao Mingyan froze. When he came to his senses, he shook his head repeatedly.

Her three questions had left him speechless.

Ji Qingwu took a step forward and reached out her hands to him. As Zhao Mingyan raised his arms, the corners of his lips curled into a smile.

But Ji Qingwu dodged his arms and picked up the imperial edict that had fallen on his lap.

"This is mine. I just lent it to you for a glance."

Zhao Mingyan’s anger completely vanished.

The part of his heart that had been filled seemed to overflow with a nectar even sweeter than honeyed water. This sweet sensation enveloped his entire being.

As Ji Qingwu turned to put the edict back in her luggage, he stood up and wrapped his arms around her slender waist from behind.

"Then whose am I?"

Ji Qingwu was locked firmly in his embrace, her hands held in his.

She could feel that his palms were sweating too, warm and damp just like hers.

Ji Qingwu tilted her head, the hair at the back of her head brushing against the bridge of his straight nose.

"It’s not written in the edict, so I don’t know."

Zhao Mingyan kissed her playful strands of hair, his lips then moving to the shell of her ear. His deep voice coaxed her, "Ah Wu is hugging this edict like it’s a treasure."

He sighed contentedly. "What a coincidence. I’m holding my greatest treasure too."

Even though Ji Qingwu tried to press her lips into a thin line, they uncontrollably curved upward.

Zhao Mingyan felt her body soften, and her lower back began to relax against him.

He suddenly nibbled on her right earlobe, grinding it lightly between his teeth.

Ji Qingwu’s right ear instantly turned bright red, the tip a rosy pink like a vibrant peach blossom.

She turned her head to look at him, lifting her chin and chiding, "Is this how you treat your greatest treasure?"

Ji Qingwu poked his chest smugly. "If you break it, you’ll have to pay."

Zhao Mingyan nuzzled her neck with the tip of his nose, his hot breath ghosting over her delicate, sensitive skin.

"I’ll pay. I’ll let you bite me back."

Ji Qingwu laughed out loud, partly from the tickling and partly from being amused.

Outside the tent, the she-wolf heard her cheerful laughter and stopped digging its hole. It perked up its ears, listening to the sounds inside the tent, its fluffy tail starting to wag.

Li Yuzong let out a long breath. He too had just thought for a moment that Miss Ji was about to abandon their Holy Emperor and run off with her bags packed.

He looked at the freshly dug pit the she-wolf had made in front of the main tent, shouldered a shovel, and went to fill it in, humming a soft Jiangnan tune.

Seeing the hole it had just dug disappear, the she-wolf immediately started digging the next one at a faster pace.

Inside the tent, the atmosphere grew heated. Ji Qingwu’s smugness didn’t last long; she quickly realized something was wrong, because her hands were being tied by a strip of cloth that had appeared from nowhere.

"What... are you doing?" she asked, surprised.

Behind her, where she couldn’t see, Zhao Mingyan’s expression darkened as he said, "Ah Wu, does this look familiar?"

Ji Qingwu saw him conjure up a plain, light green handkerchief.

Her eyes widened in alarm, and she stammered, "That’s... that’s mine... Why did you still have it...?"

This strip of cloth wasn’t just any ordinary strip, either.

It was the one that had once been used to tie his hands and feet.