21- Another Chance

They are finally together.. hehehe I've waited for so long :))

"I must have made you suffer.." the sadness in his voice really disturbs the empress, " I thought this is the best way to protect you, but I just make it harder for you." He looks deeply at her eyes. "Yu-er I'm so sorry."

She was his home, he was her happiness. The empress remembers the quote on the painting he gave her back then, maybe 7 years ago. She starts tearing up, she now remembered the promise he makes her say, the one that she doesn't understand at the time.

(Flashback)

"Now, do you want to promise Gege something?"

"Huh?"

"Please wait for me." He looks straight to her eyes. "Our life as the parents of the nation will start in a blink of an eye, and it's no flowery path."

"..."

"Lu Yu, it may take a year, two years, or even five years. But trust Gege, I know what I'm doing." The emperor is now very serious.

"Lu Yu doesn't understand.. what does Gege mean?"

"Hahaha.. you don't need to think about it. Just remember that Gege will always love you, even when you thought Gege have totally forgotten about you." The emperor pinch her cheeks, smiling.

(Flashback ends)

The empress sobs, how stupid of her. All this time she only thinks about herself. She doesn't remember, it is the reason of her sadness.

The emperor quickly wipes her tears. "I'm so sorry to make you went through that."

"No.. it was my fault. I.." the empress now understands, he really is her happiness. And she.. she is his home, but she stupidly closed the door because her own misunderstanding, leaving him alone with all of the burden, making him has nowhere he can calls home, nowhere to takes shelter. "The one that needs to apologise is me."

"Yu-er, let's stop apologising. Give me another chance, this time I will not disappoint you." The emperor says with all seriousness.

The empress nods her head and hugs him tightly.

The emperor sighs, "Now I understand why you want to live a peaceful life in San Mountains."

"Huh..?"

"Yu-er, let's live there when we retire.." he hold her hand.

"Retire? Can we retire?" The empress is confused, she never heard of that.

"Technically we can, it's just no one has ever done it before."

"Why?"

"Because.. when an emperor retires, he will lose power, followers and impact, literally everything that he ever own."

"Then why do you want to do it?"

"I don't mind it, it's better than losing you."

Is he really dare to lose everything for her? Is she that important for him?

"Yu-er, I'm building a house near the San Mountains, next to He River, by the time the sun rises tomorrow it must be done already."

"Y-you remember?" The empress is shocked.

"Of course! I would like to watch the season changes when I'm old. Hearing the birds sings every morning, watching the sun sets, sitting on our yard and just living our life to the fullest."

"Zhang Long Gege... I-I never knew you are thinking about it." The empress knows she couldn't feel happier, this is her innocent dream and the emperor is care enough to fulfil it.

"Only if you are willing to live there with me." He flash a meaningful smile.

"Yes! Gege I won't ever make you feel alone anymore.. I will always stay by your side, listening to your complaints, bearing the same pain-"

"That's great!" He cuts her off and take her by her chin. Staring at her lips, is he going to kiss me? The empress thinks.

"Wait!" Just a second before he landed a kiss she stops him. "Gege, If we live there I wish to see the flowers bloom in the spring and watch leaves falling down in autum-n"

He cuts her by placing his lips on hers. His lips brushing hers lightly it makes her shivers, feels like all of her nerves are awakened. She feels her body moves by itself, like they have their own will and it is to embrace the emperor. At that moment she wants more, no, she needs more. The heat on her cheeks quickly turns into heats on her whole body, she's melting in his strong arms. She's reaching for him, she wants him all over her small body. But he suddenly pulls off. Leaving her confused and helpless.

"Yu-er, we are going to do whatever you want.." he says breathlessly. "If you want to watch the season changes we'll do it, if you want to harvest a cow we'll do it, even if you want to take a bath in pure wine I'll make sure it happens."

".."

"But tonight, let's do it the way I want." He says as he pulls her closer and kisses her. This time it is harder. Deeper. The empress is losing control, she responded to his kiss like her life is depending on it. His hand is touching her freely. They totally forgot they are the graceful royals as the night went darker.

He unties her only robe. Kissing her jaw and neck, she moans and do the same thing to him. She pulls him down, and the rest is just their little secret.

________

The empress rushes to the harem house, she needs to meet Lian Tian. This is the key of her happily ever after with the emperor. She needs to stop the war, at all costs. She is sure they can talk about it.

The empress checks the swords he left yesterday as soon as she arrived at the pavilion. It is still there.. the empress somehow feels relieved, that means he will come.

At that moment she hears moving sounds from the peach tree, she smiles, he's here. Niao Niao takes out the chess from her hand bag and starts placing the pions it all together. She knows that Lian Tian is up there focusing on her, so she feels a little uncomfortable. And then she places the sword on the table.

"What is the crown prince of Lian doing here?" She talks to the thin air.

"You know I was here the whole time, don't you?" Lian Tian hops down from the tree.

"Maybe.." Niao Niao smiles meaningfully. "You left this yesterday." She throws the sword at him. Lian Tian catches the sword with his left hand and put it at its place. Niao Niao secretly watches him and smiles understands.

"You didn't tell the emperor you saw me here, why?" Lian Tian walks closer to her.

"Crown prince, the emperor is not in a good mood because of the fallen princess.This lowly concubine doesn't dare to make it worse by telling him that you are here."

Lian Tian knows that it is only an alibi, she purposely didn't tell the emperor. "You are really good at talking.." Because Niao Niao acts so humbly, he can't get any information. This girl.. she knows how to do politics. When one talks or place themselves so low, even if the opponent know they hide something, he can't do anything to force them. This is a higher level of political move.

"Anyway Crown Prince, since you already here, why don't we play some chess?" Niao Niao asks sweetly.

Lian Tian quickly agreed to play, he can't miss the chance to be closer to his dream girl right? However, chess is actually a dangerous game. Person who is an intelligent can read other person by watching they play. It's not only about winning or losing, but more about seeing what the opponent will do in such situation, and observe others way of thinking and strategies.

But what could go wrong when you play with a mere concubine, right?

Lian Tian sits in front of her. This is the closest they have ever been. He secretly smiles and getting ready to play.

When Lian Tian saw the chess board he stared at Niao Niao unbelievably. He frowns at her, who is looking straight into his eyes.

The chess in front of him is arranged weirdly. On Lian Tian's side, all of her soldiers are already next to the river, his general (king) is on the other side/ in Niao Niao's territory. As for Niao Niao' side, there's only two soldiers out of five in the board.

She knew everything. This arrangement is actually the reality. Lian soldiers who is 50 miles away, Lian Tian being a spy in the forbidden city, and Zhang soldiers who is not present to defend the kingdom. It is like a warning to him, that she already know his plan. And also an answer why didn't she tell the emperor.

After making sure Lian Tian gets her message, Niao Niao laughs and blames herself.

"This low concubine feels terribly sorry to confuse Crown Prince. I haven't played in a while that I forgot the arrangement for it. Please forgive my incapability." Niao Niao rearranged the pions, leaving Lian Tian speechless.

They finally played for real. It took them two hours to finish a match, and Niao Niao just won against the crown prince.

"Aaah.. I got so lucky!" She says.

Lian Tian only smiles at her fake acting. This is the first time in his whole life, he loses in a chess match. And it is to his love-one.

"I'll grant you a wish!" Lian Tian declares. It's not a big deal for him, he can grant everything that she asks for. He'll do everything for her.

"..?"

"You heard me." Lian Tian stands and walks away gracefully.

It is a very risky move of him, Niao Niao thinks. But she realises, a concubine won't ask for anything that will cause a crown prince trouble. Maybe some gold or silk, carved jade or jewels, and it's not hard to grant.

"I can ask for anything?" Niao Niao finally speaks up before he left.

"A man never goes back on his words." He keeps walking without sparing her a glance.

Emotions pills up on her chest, she couldn't resist it no more. She doesn't want anything else but to see her subject live a peaceful life.

"What if I ask you to stop poisoning the river? What if I ask to command your army to retreat?" Niao Niao feels the burden of being the mother of The Great Zhang. She runs towards Lian Tian, preventing him to leave. Her chest is heavy and her eyes are teary. Lian tian is about three meters in front of her, still walking further away from her. Niao Niao stops to catch her breath. "What if I ask you to stop the war, sign a peace treaty and leave people of the Great Zhang alone? Will you be able to do it? Can you give it to me?!" She let out her frustration, making Lian Tian stops.

He finally turns around and face her, Lian Tian sees her teary eyes. But he couldn't help it. This..

"Niao Niao, for that, you need to marry me."

Well, I have nothing to say..

Thank youu for reading.❤️

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