CAPABLE OF PROVIDING FOR
Translation: JuniperBlue
A darkness as dense as mist swiftly surrounded the entire palace; from the enormous palace chambers to the seemingly endless stretch of roads and corridors, not one area could escape it.
The pearl curtain was lifted minutely, causing the beads above to collide against each other and create a crisp clanging sound. The maids and eunuchs who were on standby outside waited in silence. The quieter it was inside, the more worried the servants were.
Nights during June are not noticeably chilly. The basin of ice had already been removed and the turquoise gems embedded into the irradiant lamp glowed brightly. A breeze drifted in from the window and caused the delicate, sweet fragrance to waft away.
Perhaps it was because of the news that she was permitted to leave the palace, Tang Zhuo Zhuo’s eyes were full to the brim with laughter and was even especially attentive to Huo Qiu who sat in the master’s seat.
Huo Qiu skimmed over a few dishes before setting down his chopsticks, the tight scowl adorning his face was intimidating. His piercing eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at Tang Zhuo Zhuo, who was delivering food to her mouth in small portions at a time; it was then that a light smile gradually surfaced.
When Tang Zhuo Zhuo looked up, she saw that Huo Qiu and Zhang Desheng were both staring at her without blinking. While the former still appeared normal, the latter’s petrified expression could not be hidden.
She managed to direct a bashful smile towards Huo Qiu before turning her glistening apricot eyes away to glare arrogantly at the smiling Zhang Desheng.
What was the reason for looking at her like that? Why not try going to the Cold Palace to live there a few years? It was already admirable of her to be this restrained when she had been used to eating odds and ends of leftover meals.
Though she thought this way, she still huffed in resentment.
She stroked the jade spoon she held with her jade white fingers. The spoon lightly colliding with the bowl created a subtle crisp sound that broke the silence in the room.
She was too embarrassed to eat much more.
“What is Your Highness doing looking at this lowly consort like this?” Although she had spoken this with confidence, when met with Huo Qiu’s apathetic gaze, she still bit her lips as her cheeks slowly reddened.
For having only eaten more….. That still didn’t warrant directing such a serious gaze at her, right?
Huo Qiu pursed his lips in regret when he saw the young lady set down her soup spoon and soon, his sharp eyes floated towards Li Desheng, who could be passed off as a woodblock.
Li Desheng stiffened suddenly and subtly stepped back several paces.
“I remember that the pastries from your room were made quite well.” Huo Qiu’s gaze stopped at her smooth and pale wrist for a while as he asked this casually.
Tang Zhuo Zhuo paused for a moment and nodded, her eyes shining brightly like two little suns.
Huo Qiu became lost within that look and the light in his eyes became incomparably dim.
“This lowly consort had requested for someone to find a pastry chef the other day. The ones brought to Your Highness this afternoon were made by him. Would Your Highness like to try them again?”
Huo Qiu was moved by her brilliant, glimmering eyes and let out a chuckle, “Yes.”
With one look from Tang Zhuo Zhuo, the maid who was waiting upon her nearby immediately understood her meaning. She quickly bowed, parted the curtains and left.
“I remember you used to eat very little. Lately…. you are no longer dieting?”
Huo Qiu’s gaze fell on her small palm-sized face, down to her slender white neck and finally stopped at the slim and frail looking waist.
She had always been thin without much muscle mass on her body. Should she step out of her room on a windy day, Huo Qiu suspected that she would most likely be blown away; he just could not understand where the food she ate went to.
Tang Zhuo Zhuo became silent for a while before lowering her gaze. The sound of her voice flowed to Huo Qiu’s ears from behind her curtain of jet black hair. “This lowly consort has not… has not eaten more or less than usual.”
Her voice was a murmur carrying a fragral sweetness akin to thick honey. Huo Qiu closed his eyes as the delicate sweetness nestled deep in his heart flowed from this throat and out to his four limbs beyond his control.
It was virtually as if he had been enchanted.
She had only shown a little pleasantness and he lost his sense of proper restraint.
Tang Zhuo Zhuo rested her cheek on her hand revealing a glimpse of soft, dazzlingly white skin. The bracelet hanging on her wrist glowed softly, enhancing the attractive looks of a beauty, and her delicate, curved eyes were shapely. Her words became more bold and straightforward, “Besides, even if this lowly consort had a bigger appetite, Your Highness is surely capable of providing for that.”
Huo Qiu’s tall figure subtly tensed up but he quickly recovered himself.
She didn’t need to use honeyed words and flattery at all if this Tang Zhuo Zhuo wanted to treat him well. With just a simple smile and he would bring the best of everything before her.
The color in Huo Qiu’s eyes sank as if carrying in the initial haze of a tempestuous storm within which many emotions intermingled. In the end, it was reduced to boundless fog and snow, dispelling his dangerous emotions.
He can no longer trust her.
“Hm, capable of providing indeed.” Huo Qiu’s voice was habitually deep and unmoved so that people would feel chills running down their spine when hearing it. But now, his voice held a sliver of indulgence which diluted the sharp aura emanating from his whole body.
Tang Zhuo Zhuo’s heart quivered and even the fingers gripping her cup of light tea shrank back a little. It was unclear whether she had been taken aback by the affection in his words or by the scalding hot tea, only in that moment, she began to take tentative, small sips from the cup at a loss for a conversation topic.
Certainly, what Huo Qiu needs from her may not be some superfluous assistance but for her to reciprocate deep feelings of affection, to repay for the things that happened in the past.
The amount of love he has for her self, she had personally witnessed in her past life.
Taking advantage of her second chance in life to provide him with little hints is the only thing she can offer him now. But even without her circuitous prompts and hints, he would be able to overcome heaven and earth.
*** 乾坤- here, it is being used ambiguously as the two words literally translate as ‘the Universe/Heaven and Earth’ almost in a spiritual sense- quite like how Yin and Yang is used. I’m assuming by context that the translation is what she means.
A white mist alighted before Tang Zhuo Zhuo’s eyes, blurring her vision and quickly became a single, uniform bead of crystal-like tear hanging on her eyelashes. She blinked and raised her head to smile at Huo Qiu, “Your Highness’ trip to Xijiang, will there be others brought along?”
“I go to do serious work- who else is there to bring?” His sword-like eyebrows knit together in befuddlement as he drank lightly.
“Did Your Highness not bring Zhong Liangdi along to Chai District previously?” She whispered as she gently set down the blue-patterned white porcelain cup in her hand to conceal the chalky whiteness of her palms.
Huo Qiu naturally heard her. He languorously rose from his seat and came to stand before Tang Zhuo Zhuo with measured steps. His tone was apathetic with a hint of mockery, “When I asked you at that time, you replied that being alone in a room with me was repulsive. Those who want to go simply shall go.”
Though he clearly said those words with calm, Tang Zhuo Zhuo felt a deep chill flow from her heart, up from her back and into her forearms; goosebumps formed on her smooth white forearms as a result.
She finally remembered that particular scene.
She had just married into the East Palace for a month at the time. Huo Qiu would, during his leisure time, go to Yiqiu Palace to accompany her on a daily basis; yet the person Tang Zhuo Zhuo most wanted to avoid seeing was him.
All sorts of verbiage were used, even abuses and expletives. He eventually came less frequently over time: handling political affairs at court by day and resting at the Main Palace at night.
It wasn’t until one when the court had just been dismissed that he immediately went to her, before even changing out of his court clothes, to tell her to make preparations to head to Chai District. He originally thought that this made for an easy excuse to bring her for a fun trip and simultaneously make effort to deepen their relationship.
Yet she sat at the edge of her bed, not even bothering to move her body, and in that moment, directly spoke such bitterly viscous words.
Tang Zhuo Zhuo’s eyes widened all of a sudden as she finally returned to her senses. In seeing Huo Qiu’s gaunt and cold profile as well as the sinister look on his face, her body trembled.
It’s…. It’s over!
“This…. This lowly consort was joking at that time.” Tang Zhuo Zhuo was silent for half a moment before she managed to spit out an excuse she found unbelievable herself.
Sure enough, a low sneer came out of the man next to her. Tang Zhuo Zhuo wound up the silver-embroidered handkerchief around her stark, white fingers until the tips of her finger became a sickly blue color.
“I will not be bringing her.” Huo Qiu’s expression was a bit complicated. His voice halted before he continued on with a hard voice. “There are still matters to attend to at the hall- I will not be accompanying you longer.”
By the time the plates of pastries arrived, Huo Qiu had already left for some time. Tang Zhuo Zhuo let out a breath, then instructed the servant beside her, “Move these to the pavilion. The chambers are a little stifling.”
The small courtyard in Yiqiu Palace was not large but the value lay in the vast variety of exotic flowers and shrubbery. Lamps were being hung as the darkness of night became deeper and the cool night breeze blew softly against the face. The silver bells hanging at Tang Zhuo Zhuo’s ankles rang in motion with her steps, the sound carrying into the distance.
She had only taken a seat in the pavilion when Tang Zhuo Zhuo discovered that An Xia was missing. It was upon inquiring the maid by her side that she knew An Zhi would be leaving the palace the next day. An Xia had gone to An Zhi’s room.
She was silent without uttering a sound for half a moment before finally speaking. “Bring me to go take a look.”
She had just arrived at the door of An Zhi’s small room when she heard the suppressed voices of the two people in the middle of their dispute. In the quietness of the night, it was clearly distinguishable.