Empress is His Majesty's White Moonlight

Chapter 1 That's 15 years in Wu'an

(A few chapters in inner monologue, followed by third person.)
It was 15 years in Wu'an.

I have suffered from claustrophobia since I was a child, and I only like to stay quietly in an inconspicuous corner alone. I dare not contradict anyone, including the eunuch and maid beside me.

Although I am the prince, although they treat me respectfully on weekdays...but my claustrophobia is still getting worse.

I don't like to talk to anyone, I don't like to be in a crowded scene, I don't like to hear their nasty things behind my back.

I remember clearly.

The day I met her was winter, a bitingly cold winter.

It was very cold that day.

The sky is full of goose feathers and heavy snow.

The queen mother had an affair with Liang Junwang, was deposed and demoted to the cold palace.

I, the prince of Qin, a ten-year-old, weak and cowardly prince, was imprisoned in the East Palace in a veritable name.

Rather than confinement, it is better to say that I, like my mother, will fend for myself in this extravagant and noisy city of Ying'an.

On the day I was imprisoned, the queen mother in the cold palace begged to see me.

She asked me to kneel and beg my father to prove her innocence with my own death.

She shook my arm desperately, her ferocious expression was even more terrifying than a demon.

She pinched me, it hurts.

I fled the cold palace hastily.

I know that as long as someone wants me to die now, I will definitely not be able to escape.

As heartless as the father and the emperor abandoning the mother, as heartless as the mother abandoning me.

No one will care about my life or death anymore.

Even a rat crawling on the ground can step on my head and wreak havoc on me.

So, that night, I was pushed down by a lotus pond in the palace.

The water in the lotus pond is very deep, and it is connected to the moat outside the palace. The water is very fast, and it is very scary at night.

The cold winter water, the cold that invades the heart.

I was terrified and kept struggling.

I clearly remember the feeling of being locked in a sealed dark room.

I don't know if it's because the water in the pool is too piercing, or because of the fear from the bottom of my heart, my whole body began to tingle and twitch non-stop.

The thick muddy smell and turbid water rushed to the eyes and nostrils, and the pond was full of darkness and nothing could be seen.

I desperately wanted to go upstream, because I was afraid of the darkness that I couldn't get out of, like a devil with claws and claws grabbing my feet. The hidden fear made me feel at a loss.

However, I swam up a few times, but I was beaten back with a stick on my body.

That night, blood gushed down from my head, and my eyes were bloodshot, and I couldn't see anything clearly.

Fear, like a disgusting water snake, wraps around my skin from my back, leaving me breathless and dying.

I think, just die like this.

That was the first time I wanted to give up my mediocre and cowardly life, the first time I wanted to leave this frosty world.

Just when I was about to give up struggling, I saw through the blood in my eyes that the eunuch who pushed me into the pool on the bank was suddenly knocked unconscious by the pool.

She is coming.

That was the first time I saw her.

A little girl of six or seven years old.

At that time, I didn't know what role she was going to play in my life.

Terrified, she threw down the stone in her hand, and when she saw me covered in blood by the pool, she immediately lay down by the pool and stretched out her hand to me.

"Give me your hand!"

I was terrified, tears mixed with blood filled my eye sockets, I raised my trembling arm hesitantly, and stretched it out to her.

I thought she was just another person sent to kill me, but unexpectedly, she really held my hand without hesitation.

I looked up at her.

Her eyes were full of concern for me.

That was the first time I saw that kind of caring eyes since I was a child, the kind of eyes that I have longed to envy for a long time.

But does she know that by the side of such a slippery pool, she is so thin, she is likely to be dragged down by me and die together.

But without any hesitation, she tried her best to pull me to the shore.

But her strength is too weak, and my gravity makes her fall into the bottomless pool.

I cried harder.

She gritted her teeth, and stuck her hand firmly into the ground on the shore.

After glancing at me, she closed her eyes tightly, squeezed my hand tightly and pulled me again with all her strength.

At that time, I wiped my tears fiercely, my veins bulged, I don't know where the strength came from, and I grabbed her hand and climbed up with the heart of death!
After some struggle, when my body touched the shore, I knew that I was alive.

She patted her chest and let out a sigh of relief, lying tired on the shore, looking at the snowflakes all over the sky, she giggled.

Her voice is sweet and glutinous, pleasant to hear.

For the rest of my life, I bent my knees in fear and hugged myself tightly, looking at her lying on the ground, my whole body was shivering from the cold, and my teeth chattered constantly.

"Are you OK……"

I was too guilty to look at her.

Only then did I hear my own voice, which completely changed its tone, stuttering under extreme fear.

"fine."

She sat up and looked at me.

At that moment, I slowly raised my head and saw her eyes, which were brighter than the stars.

After watching her, I instantly retracted my gaze with low self-esteem, dodged and lowered my head.

"Let's go first," she got up from the ground, and squatted down to pull up the trembling me. "If that bad guy wakes up, we're finished!"

She took my hand again.

In the cold and ruthless winter, it gave me infinite warmth and sense of security.

It is said that the ten fingers connect to the heart, and I felt a warm current in my heart spread slightly, and then spread along the blood vessels to the whole body.

Until now, I still remember the temperature of the palm, unforgettable.

I held her hand tightly, as if grasping the only hope, dragging a heart that beats a rabbit, dragging two legs that were already weak and weak, and ran crazily after her.

I don't know how long I ran.

"There is a cave there," she finally stopped panting, looked back at me with a smile, and pointed to the rockery in front, "I often go there to play, no one will find us!"

I looked at the cave in the distance, and then at the section of the road behind us that we ran so fast, I didn't know how I got here.

"Go, go, go."

She took my hand and ran into the cave behind the rockery, skillfully picked up a pile of dry straw and branches and put them in the middle, took out the torch on her body and lit it.

I was suddenly terrified of the flames, I was almost suffocated by the brightness, and she would be disgusted to see me.

I can't help but take two steps back.

Looking down, my boots were already soaked in dirty muddy water, and I was in a mess. I must have looked like a street mouse.

Yes, I'm just a disgusting rat.

I glanced at the dark outside.

The heart is ashamed.

I'm really desperate for everyone.

Including myself.

Big tears scalded the back of my hand.

I no longer have the face to breathe air.

A strong sense of suffocation oppressed every nerve of mine.

So I wiped the muddy water off my face and prepared to run out.

As long as I jump off that lotus pond, I will no longer have to live in such a humble way.

"Give--"

She looked at me with such clear eyes, and stretched out her little hand to me, inside were a few long-lived fruits that she had peeled.

I was dumbfounded, the way she looked at me in front of such a bright firelight, she didn't have any disdain.

Moreover, give me something to eat.

"Don't be afraid, the bad guys can't find us."

She approached me covered in mud and water, raised my trembling hand, wiped it off with her sleeve, and put the longevity fruit into my curled palm.

"Aren't you hungry, this is delicious!"

I immediately withdrew my hand, retreated to the corner and stood, clutching the fruit tightly, not daring to look at her.

Seeing that I was afraid of her, she went to fill firewood.

I leaned against the cold wall weakly, the piercing cold spread from my back to my whole body, and my hands kept rubbing my arms.

The little fruit was swallowed by me in one gulp.

I am indeed very hungry.

My legs were shaking non-stop, very violently, and I still haven't come out of the fear just now.

Night, is strong.

The dark sky seemed to be smeared heavily with boundless thick ink, and the gleam of the stars was faintly obscured by the woods outside the rockery.

She looked at the burning fire, patted the dust on her hands, and stuffed the fire bag into her arms again: "It's all right now, come here, it's warmer here."

Piles of straw and twigs burst into flames, with red flames spreading and faint yellow outlines.

The flames jumped up, sharply, up and down.

The cold wind roared recklessly, and it hurt like a knife cut on his face.

I was so stiff from the cold that I felt a layer of frost on my brows.

Numbly, I walked to the fire and sat down slowly.

I stretched my trembling hands over to warm the fire, only to feel the warmth on my face, I think it should have melted the frost on my face.

She took out some longevity fruits with husks from her bosom, held them in both hands and handed them to me kindly. Maybe she was afraid of scaring me, so she spoke softly: "I'll give you all."

I only secretly raised my head to glance at her, then lowered my head and shrank in place. I looked at my ugly hands, but I didn't have the courage to pick up those longevity fruits.

She didn't speak, and I lowered my head not knowing what expression she had.

I tightly closed my eyes, waiting for her to smash all those little fruits on my face, and then let me get out.

To my surprise...

"Give--"

She peeled two long-lived fruits slowly by herself, and handed them to me without any sign of boredom, waiting patiently for me to take them.

I still didn't look up, I took the two longevity fruits very quickly, stuffed them into my mouth, chewed them carelessly, and swallowed them.

Seeing that I had eaten it, she began to peel it slowly again.

So she peeled off two and handed them to me.

I took it from her hand, put it in my mouth and ate it.

During this period, she has been very gentle and caring for my feelings.

I was still thinking, even if these small fruits are poisonous, I will continue to eat them willingly.

I like the way she cares about me and smiles at me.

Although I didn't dare to see her.

I wanted to say thank you to her a long time ago, but my throat was swollen and sore, so I hesitated and didn't say it.

Sitting next to me, she let out a low cry when she saw the blood on my face, then took out her handkerchief and approached me, intending to raise her hand to wipe off the blood.

I shrank back subconsciously, feeling my heart beating faster, and stared at her in front of the fire with wide eyes in bewilderment.

She saw me hiding back, humming and pressed my head down.

I bared my teeth in pain but didn't dare to speak, and looked at her suspiciously.

She lifted her veil, and I saw the bright red blood on it. It turned out that she wanted to help me stop the bleeding.

I lowered my head guiltily, twisting up the corners of my clothes with both hands, and just wanted to open my mouth but didn't know what to say.

The lips opened and closed and trembled, I thought, it must be from the cold.

"It hurts."

Her eyes were full of worry, and she carefully wiped the blood on my forehead, and carefully blew on it: "My mother said, blowing on it will make it better, and it won't hurt after a while..."

I clenched my fingers tightly and couldn't breathe.

Suddenly, I felt that the sockets of my eyes were hot and uncomfortable, and my eyes were blurred by something.

I raised my hand to wipe my eyes, only to realize that I was crying again.

Very wronged, bitter and uncomfortable in the throat, unable to make any sound.

Why can a stranger be nice to me, but my own biological parents treat me like nothing.

Since you don't want me, why did you give birth to me.

The moment she blew on me, I froze and my tears stopped immediately.

The distance between the two is so close, I dare not move, I can smell the faint aroma of herbs on her body.

"I..." I quickly wiped my eye sockets, and just about to muster up the courage to speak, but found that I was stumbling, so I simply closed my mouth again.

In fact, I really want to say to you, thank you.

Also, your mother lied to you.

I'm still a little sore.

But at that moment, I felt my face was scorching hot, and there was no trace of coldness in my body, and I could still hear the cold wind howling.

After wiping the blood from my face, she sat back by the fire.

Xu Shi saw that my body was still dripping water, and some places had already frozen, so she untied the fox fur she was wearing and handed it to me.

I looked at her extremely clear eyes, which seemed to be full of starlight under the firelight, shining with brilliance twinkling.

For a moment, I didn't know where to put my hands: "I don't want it."

In such a cold day, she actually wanted to give me the fur coat.

"Your clothes are frozen," but she forcefully stuffed the fox fur into my arms, then turned around and hugged her knees to face me, and said, "Take off the outer clothes and let them hang out to dry. It’s going to be bad if it’s cold.”

Looking at her thin shoulders, I held the fox fur tightly with my fingers, I don't know how I feel at this moment.

"You have to change quickly, when your clothes are dry, I will wear mine to go home."

I clenched the fox fur tightly, my nose sore, silently wiped away the tears from my eyes, and nodded silently, although I knew she couldn't see.

After I took off the drenched robe to dry and she finished asking me, she slowly turned around and added branches to the fire.

The cold wind blew into the cave, and I saw her shoulders tremble slightly sometimes.

It must be freezing.

I immediately stood up, picked up some dry straw in the cave and laid it by the wall, then sat on it and beckoned her: "Come here."

She was puzzled and didn't know what I was going to do.

I patted the pile of straw beside me, not daring to look at her too bright eyes, so I could only look at the hand holding the fox fur: "Cover it together, that way... it will be... warmer."

"Good idea."

She laughed, picked up a handful of twigs, filled the fire, and sat down beside me, leaning against the straw-stuffed wall.

Except for the maidservant, I have never been alone with a girl on weekdays.

At this time, she was leaning against me, and the root of my ear burned even more.

Unwrapping the warm fox fur, I leaned against the straw pile, covered us with the fox fur horizontally, and leaned against her to keep warm together.

The faint scent of herbs on her body was refreshing, as if medicine had been applied to my injured body, which made me feel at peace.

It would be nice if the heartbeat was slower. I was a little nervous because I was afraid that she would hear my pounding heartbeat.

(End of this chapter)