I Am Not The Wangfei

Chapter 8

Entering the Palace

When Long Zi Xuan didn’t see anyone in the pavilion, he heads towards the peach blossom forest.

Xiao Duo is leaning on the vine of the swing; her eyes are closed, shadowed by her long lashes.  Her face itself resembles a peach blossom.  Seeing her asleep so sweetly, all traces of displeasure disappears from his heart.  He touches her face, this girl can actually sleeps here?  He sighs.

“Xiao Duo, wake up!”  He reluctantly wakes her, they are running out of time.

Who is interrupting my sleep?  I can hear the sound of someone calling me, I force my eyes open.  “Long Zi Xuan, why are you so close to my face?”  My face heats up.  Whatever is he so close for?

“Huh?  I remember being with Yue earlier on.  Where is he?  Why are you here?” I feel weird, was everything a dream?

“You weren’t in Hu Xin Pavillion, so I came here to look for you.  There was someone else here?”  Long Zi Xuan looks at that pink little face and that lips that wouldn’t stop mumbling, his heart feels weirdly at peace.

“Woah, Long Zi Xuan, you look like you’re in a good mood.  Anyway, didn’t you see anyone next to me when you came here?”

“No.”

And he is back to his cold tone.  I really can’t understand this Long Zi Xuan.  He is clearly such a handsome man, why is he always so cold?

I gets off the swing, fix the creases in my clothes and walks towards the pebbled path.  It’s acting time!

—————-

After walking through an arched door, we are greeted with a garden full of begonias.  That scene takes me by surprise.  There is only a small building inside the courtyard.  There is a simple wooden window and an opened door.  The emperor is in there?

I am really astounded by this begonia garden.  The peach blossom forest was shocking enough, but a garden full of begonias?  This is too much!  Not a pot, but a full garden!  They even have fragrances!  Only begonias from the west have fragrances.  I have seen the pictures on the internet before, but seeing the luxurious sea of flowers with your own eyes is really something else.  Looking at the clusters of begonia, they resemble dancing fairies!

I feel like I am in fairyland, traveling on a cloud.  I look at Long Zi Xuan who is in front of me.  His robes billows casually as flower petals fall on him, some even falls on his hair.  I uses my hand to clean my own head and sweep the pink petals away.  “Long Zi Xuan, is the emperor on that building?  And this begonia garden is really pretty.”

“Yes.  And the flowers didn’t even fully blossoms yet, what is so pretty about it?”

I feels a little sad.  I suddenly remember this one poem, ‘Once begonias blossoms, who owns the spring?  The flower plundered by the rain.’  Such a beautiful sea of flower, don’t know how one feels once they all fall to the ground.  How would the people who lives here feel?

(TN: I googled and that poem means the feeling of desolateness one feels when you sees what remains of a once beautiful flower blossoms after a rainy/stormy night.)

Before long, we reach the entrance of the building.

“Imperial father,” Long Zi Xuan says at the entrance.

“Xuan Er, come on in!”  the voice isn’t that deep.  Meeting the emperor, I still feels a little uneasy and put my guards up.