Page 45 of The Blood Orchid
I knew he meant his words to be kind, but they only made me feel rotten. I didn’t want anyone to die for me.
He squeezed my hand as if sensing my thoughts. “I would rather die a thousand times for you than watch you die even once, Empress.”
“I’m not the empress,” I said, regretting the words as soon as I’d said them. I never wanted to extinguish his hope, but I felt too drained to even pretend to be hopeful anymore.
“Of course you are,” Hong said, frowning.
I shook my head. “I promise I’ll get you out of here and become the empress one day, but right now I don’t want to think about—”
“Zilan,” Hong said, squeezing my hand. “You are already the empress. Didn’t we discuss this?”
“No,” I said, drawing my hand away from his. “I’m certain I would remember that conversation.”
Hong grimaced. “I’m sorry,” he said, gaze dropping to his lap. “I swore we already... My mind is a bit...”
I took his hand again. “No, it’s not your fault,” I said quickly.His mind was a mess because of what he’d given up for me, and that could never be his fault. “What were you going to say?”
Hong went very still in the way he always did when he got nervous. “Well, before I died, I might have already filed some paperwork.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What kind of paperwork?”
“It seems rather presumptuous in hindsight,” he said, looking away from me, skin tinged pink with embarrassment, a shade I didn’t know his face could turn after death. “I was trying to sort things out before we killed the Empress, since I thought we’d be so busy afterward and it wouldn’t really be an appropriate time for that sort of thing, so I... might have already signed our marriage contract.”
He winced as if expecting me to strike him, but I was too stunned to react. His words finally began to sink in, and heat rushed to my face. “You married me before you asked my permission?” I said, my voice far too loud for the silent forest.
“I would have withdrawn it if you’d said no!” he said.
“Aren’t I supposed to be present for that kind of thing?” I said, gripping my hair.
“If we were commoners, then yes, but government workers don’t tend to deny the Crown Prince what he asks for,” he said. “So, though there wasn’t a ceremony, if anyone checks the royal records, you are already the empress consort.” He dared to look up at me, still backed away defensively. “Am I forgiven?”
“Have you apologized?” I said.
He smirked. “For loving you too enthusiastically?”
I punched his arm. “Try again.”
He winced. “Okay, yes, you’re right of course. I apologize for marrying you without informing you first. But seeing as I now know you would have said yes, am I forgiven?”
I did my best to glare at him, but it was no use. It was like glaring at a baby duck.
“Only because you’re dead,” I said. “You should consider yourself lucky, because if Wenshu Ge found out about this, he’d kill you.”
Hong grimaced as if imagining. “Then perhaps we can keep this between us for the time being?”
I nodded. “I wasn’t exactly planning to go back to Chang’an and sit on the throne anytime soon.” I looked off to the horizon. “Though I do wish we could have brought the royal library up north. It sure would come in handy right now. I have no idea where to go next.”
The best course would have been to find the Empress’s puppet alchemist, to stop her from interfering at every turn. But that was just as much a mystery as Penglai.
“Do you know if your mother knew any other alchemists?” I said. “Someone must be helping her.”
Hong grimaced, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Zilan. She didn’t confide in me about anything.”
“You never saw or heard anything?”
“The Empress doesn’t make mistakes,” he said simply, as if it was an indisputable truth. He hadn’t meant anything by it, but the words still made me shiver.
Suddenly, the prince sat up straight, eyes wide. “Oh no,” he said. “I think... I think she might have a lot more bodies at her disposal than you think.”