the princess weiyoung costumes: tang yan as li weiyoung (part 1)
Wen Kexing | 山河令 Word of Honor ep.02
Zhou Zishu x Fem! Widowed! Reader Request
* Young Lady (Name) of the well-renowned Xi Clan…That was your first title when you were the only granddaughter of Xi Song and the daughter of eldest son Xi Cheng and his wife (and also your lovely mother), Wu Di, better known as Lady Xi Di. Being the youngest in the family next to two elder brothers and one older, male cousin who was adopted by your parents after his mother passed away and his father died honorably in war as a general, you were regarded as the heart and glue of the family since you could keep the boys together and in line by acting like a second mother when the adults were away while at the same time, you could also be the little sister who could have fun with them and let them have their chance to protect you like chivalrous gentlemen.
* But since you were betrothed to a budding military officer from the Chiyun Clan when you both were only infants, your new title was to be Lady Chiyun (Name), the young military wife of Chiyun Zhang. However, from the start of your courtship as childhood friends and neighbor, Zhang was a true gentleman who genuinely loved you as you were, a kind soul who had a strong sense of justice and even stronger sense of wit and knowledge of the battlefield due to your militaristic background as the granddaughter and daughter of famous military officers. Zhang was also so sweet in nature when he wasn’t on the battlefield, always giving you handmade gifts that he carved from wood and even saving up money for the occasional big gift for your birthday or special festivals in your city. Therefore, you and Zhang had no internalized qualms about the betrothal since you and him got along just fine ever since you two first met, and more importantly, your families never had any issues since your parents and grandfather got along with Zhang’s parents and grandparents. In addition, Zhang was a perfect addition to the small group that consisted of your brothers and cousin since they all liked to hang out together in the woods to practice sparring or play children’s games in the lake. In fact, Zhang wanted you to have the best possible wedding, which was why he saved up so much money from his work with the military in order to provide enough so you could get the dress and other accessories you wanted. Though you and Zhang were so young, you both were involved in such a joyful marriage that eventually, you had no choice but to surprise your husband with the revelation that you were carrying his child. Oh, how you remembered the ecstatic shouts of Zhang, especially as he zoomed through the house at high speed before returning to your bedroom to gently lift you off the floor in a sweeping embrace that had you spinning in circles with the way he twirled you!
* Never before had you seen a man cry until the day you married Zhang and were allowed to be alone after the wedding ceremony. But when you suddenly told Zhang that you were pregnant with his child, you knew from his reaction alone that he was so excited to be a father as tears streamed down his face to match the joyful tears that gathered in your eyes. But you and Zhang shed the most tears during two events of your pregnancy: The first was when your baby first kicked your gargantuan belly enough for both you and your husband to feel it against your palms at the seventh month mark, which caused you both to giggle and kiss each other’s lips despite the nervousness of what would transpire during the actual birth. The second and most important was when your child was finally presented to the world and was revealed to be a son, which made you and Zhang cry tears of joy since the Chiyun bloodline would carry on through the clan’s surname while your bloodline would carry on since your son had all of your traits in terms of physical beauty alone.
* And, oh, how beautiful of a baby Chiyun Shao was! Zhang was constantly attentive to his son, from changing his diaper to feeding him when he knew you were tired to do so, even if he himself returned home from a full, tiring day of training with his men from the military. In the same breath, motherhood suited you quite well since your son was instantly attached to you from the first glance as he stared up at you while you held him in your arms after birthing him for many painful hours of labor. Even your brothers and cousin joked that dealing with them since childhood gave you a lot of practice for having a son; you giggled in agreement since your son was quite a handful due to his seemingly-endless capacity for energy and bubbling laughter.
* Sadly, your new happy family was about to become broken when another war threatened the homeland, with the battles becoming more bloody and gruesome and more impassioned men, young and old, enlisting to defend their families and country. Due to being a high-ranking general in spite of his documented youth as well as his naturalistic tendencies to help those in need (especially after the town close to yours and Zhang’s childhood home was decimated in one night by fiery arrows and savage attacks that even claimed the lives of women and children without mercy), Zhang had no choice but to return to the battlefield to quell the fury of war to allow for some form of diplomacy from the emperor and the leader of the other nation to take place. Although Zhang did not want to leave you and your son alone after only knowing his son for a year and even though you didn’t want your husband to leave for war, you knew that protecting his people was what he loved to do so you couldn’t take that away from him by choosing such a selfish way of life. However, Zhang reassured you with his embrace and words that he would return to grow old with you, help you raise your son properly, and live long enough to see his son get married and have a family of his own. And you believed this to be true as Zhang mounted his steed to head for the training fields where the new recruits would be before the next battle of the war…But this swift return was never meant to be…
* Within three months of fighting, a knock came at your door as your brothers, cousin, and all of their wives were visiting you and your son. Swinging the door open, you believed it was your husband coming home to keep his promise after he had helped win the war as a hero. You thought this was a surprise homecoming since letters from the frontlines indicated as such. As soon as the wooden door stood ajar, seeing the solemn albeit professional visages of two officers of the military, with their gold helmets removed and secured under the crooks of their arms, implied everything you needed to know before the words ‘Lady Chiyun, we’re so sorry to inform you that your husband, General Chiyun is deceased. We thank him for his service and he died as a hero’ left their lips. With a hand over your mouth as your one-year-old son was still cradled in your arms, your eyes wide as your pink lips gaped open, your knees went out from under you as a strangled wail exited your throat to match the perpetual tears that streamed down your face in heavy wave after wave. With your brothers, cousin, and in-laws offering comfort to you the best they could given the circumstances, you accepted their physical embraces and kind words even though it did nothing to quell your grief since you knew your husband was never coming back. But then your mind began to race with anxiety as you thought of Shao during your visual and auditory display of grief. Your infant son would never know his father aside from stories of old recounted from word of mouth or the solitary portrait that was painted of all of you together as a family, but your son would always grow up without a positive role model such as his father because you believed you would never get remarried since you and Zhang had so much history with each other despite being so young, a history of which that could never be replicated with just any man. Therefore, at age eighteen and just two years into your marriage, you were now a grieving widow and your son was now a fatherless infant.
* But exactly one year to the day after Zhang’s untimely death at the hands of an enemy general (where he died honorably to the last breath as he took the general down with him according to the anecdotal evidence of his men and comrades), your grandfather had a solution to the issue of you being widowed and Shao not having a father. According to your grandfather, Xi Song, there was a high-ranking official who was a cousin to the emperor in the North. By a stroke of good fortune, this male cousin before his untimely passing had a son around your same age, a prosperous male in his prime who was a famous martial artist that came from a good family but was without a wife or any heirs as of yet, making him a worthy candidate for marriage to you. With you coming from a militaristic background by virtue of your upbringing in the Xi Clan and your marriage into the Chiyun Clan, your grandfather saw a political advantage in this marriage since this young man, Zhou Zishu, was a high-ranking official in Prince Jin’s court due to being the leader of Window of Heaven, an underground assassination and espionage organization in service to the throne. In addition, the Zhou family also had a multitude of financial and political influence and power, especially since Zhou Zishu was the eldest and only son of a personal advisor to the throne on top of being the leader of his master’s martial arts home, Four Seasons Manor. Therefore, your dear grandfather’s solution to your grief and your son’s potential upbringing was to bring another man into the picture and that man was Zhou Zishu.
* As soon as the suggestion even left your grandfather’s lips, you immediately protested because it felt like you were replacing Zhang as if he meant nothing to you as a husband and father to your son, Shao. In addition, you also retorted that your grandfather seemed to be more concerned with wealth, power, and prestige for the Xi bloodline rather than the true happiness of his family, and you were just a pawn in his scheme. As a swift counter-argument to you, your grandfather coolly reminded you of your duty for the good of the Xi Clan, as you were the only female of childbearing and marrying age due to your newly-acquired status as a widow and mother of a male heir to the Chiyun Clan. Not wanting to disappoint your precious Shao by refusing him the right to grow up with a father and not wanting to dishonor your family by turning down such an auspicious proposal, you decided to listen to your grandfather’s advice as you accepted the marriage to Zhou Zishu, your second husband. Nevermore would you be known as Xi (Name) or Chiyun (Name). From now on, you would be Lady Zhou (Name), the wife of the leader of Window of Heaven and Four Seasons Manor.
* On the day of your second wedding, you and Zishu seemed to be happy for this union alongside your respective families. Your grandfather would be satisfied with you marrying up to a youthful male with plenty of political, financial, and personal backing from his followers to go around, which would help the Xi Clan in the long-term. Your parents, brothers, cousin, and multitude of in-laws were relieved to see you happy again in another marriage so you couldn’t be lonely and lost as a widow and single mother without your precious Zhang. Even Zhang’s family (who kept in contact after losing their only child since they adored you and Shao) was happy for you because they believed that their grandson would have a good father in his life and that you would have a second chance at being a mother and wife with a complete family…At least, that was what your happiness appeared to be on the surface…
* But inside your already-broken heart, you felt like you were disappointing your son Shao and first husband, your first beau, Chiyun Zhang, by marrying Zhou Zishu. For one thing, it felt like you were replacing Zhang with Zishu like a family of parents and children who lose a pet before the parents insensitively buy another pet for the children without properly going through the arduous yet necessary experience of processing the grief. You had only lost Zhang months ago and your grandfather was now asking you to move onto the next marriage for the sake of the Xi Clan, as if your relationship with Zhang was not special. But if your family and Zishu’s were happy with the end result of you being Lady Zhou and your son being a member of the Zhou family, then what choice did you have but to swallow your feelings and go through with the marriage? Secondly, Shao would be growing up with a man who was not his blood-related father, which made you fearful that maybe he would never accept Zishu as his father even if you asked Shao to. Personally, you could understand where your son would be coming from in that situation since he was about to receive a stepfather from this new relationship, but that poignant understanding still failed to quell the anxiety in your heart in regards to the relationship between your son and your new husband. Thirdly, you worried about your marriage to Zishu and what kind of man he would be. What if, on the surface, he was a perfect gentleman to impress you and your family right now but then behind closed doors, he performed a three-sixty and suddenly became physically and verbally abusive to you and your infant son? If that happened, there wouldn’t be much that could be done on your end because your grandfather already commanded you to marry the young man for the survival of the Xi Clan and for the sake of Shao, the heir to the Xi, Chiyun, and Zhou families. All in all, you only had a few handful of meetings with Zishu, but from all anecdotes and personal experiences, he seemed like a kind-hearted yet somber, stoic individual. However, you couldn’t help the anxiety that stirred within you as your mind reeled around in circles of ‘what if?’
* During this current second wedding, sitting in that sedan chair on the way to Zishu’s home never felt so arduous and somber, almost as if you were being carried to a funeral chamber for a family member so your weary legs wouldn’t give out during the journey. Even walking down to the end of the aisle so you and Zishu could perform the formal rituals in front of close family and friends in a small ceremony made you feel like you had walked hundreds of thousands of miles barefoot without any rest, water, or food for days.
* But in your lonely mind as you remained in your own little world of numbing cold to block out all of the pain you felt in this short amount of time, you did not realize that your new husband showed an obvious air of concern for you after seeing something in your shining eyes that your lips and face would never express. While it looked like a bride’s joy to others who were unsuspecting, Zishu could see hidden sadness from you that indicated that you were a bride who had no choice but to give her son a father figure and to make a good name for herself and her family. As sad as it made him to see you, his bride, this way, Zishu could not do much to stop the ceremony since he understood the feeling of being forced to do something against your will, as he too was pushed into the marriage by his elder cousin without much of his own input about the topic. But if it had been in his power to stop all of this to prevent your suffering, as you were a young dame who had been through a lot and didn’t deserve this choice-less existence, Zishu would have immediately acted to help you since he cared even while only meeting you one time.
* After the formal ceremony and surface-level joy of the festivities were completed, you and Zishu retired to the privacy of your bedchamber so you could lay your infant son down to sleep for the night in his cot while you politely asked your personal servant to retire for the night since you were pretty low-maintenance despite always hailing from an upper-class military clan. With a kind smile and a whisper of ‘Wǎn'ān, (Name)-Xiǎojiě (Goodnight, Miss)’ exchanged with you as your offered the same, the only difference being that you addressed your handmaiden by name out of respect for her sweet nature towards you, the young lady departed from the room to return to her chambers so she could get well-deserved rest after assisting in the preparations for your wedding today. In the meanwhile, after kissing your son goodnight, you sat down on the edge of the mattress so that the formal ritual of Zishu lifting your sheer, vermillion veil could be performed to finally complete the wedding ceremony. Once the veil was lifted, Zishu gazed upon your face for the first time in months since he last saw you for the first time for only a few seconds, and with all things considered, Zishu believed that you were very pretty even though he could tell that you were faking joy long enough so you could quickly retire to bed and shed your growing tears in peaceful silence.
* With a soft smile towards you as he sat down beside you on the bed, Zishu was ever so polite with you as he asked, “Would you like me to pour you a drink of the marriage wine? It’s okay if you don’t, but I just wanted to offer in the event you did.”
* “Ummm…Yes, please…” You nodded as Zishu nodded back to you before turning around so he could reach for the wine and cups. Pouring both beverages slowly, Zishu handed you your cup first before gripping for his cup, which led you both to maintain shared eye contact with soft nods as you both gave a whisper of “Gānbēi (Cheers).” Sipping the cool beverage quickly, you and Zishu savored every bit of sweetness in the marriage wine as you maintained your façade of completing all of the wedding rituals until your second husband surprised you with a subtlety in his voice that put you at ease as he shook his head softly, “Xi-Gūniáng, you don’t need to put on an act for me. I know how you truly feel about this union, and I don’t blame you…”
* At this revelation from Zishu, your doe eyes of brown blinked rapidly as you lifted your head and thin brows so you could properly gaze at your second husband. With a rapidly beating heart as Zishu’s eyes of shining expresso brown-black remained glued to yours, somehow, you felt more at ease with this young man because he understood you and your feelings. Rather than discount or diminish your feelings in favor of making the Xi Clan more prosperous in the future, Zishu adequately acknowledged your true beliefs and feelings as he uttered out loud what you could not to avoid rocking the boat or dishonoring your family. For what it was worth right now, Zishu actually seemed to comfort you with his words as he reminded you of your first beau, Chiyun Zhang, because he quelled all of your anxieties and allowed you to be your true self with all its positive and negative traits and other qualities. Instead of coming across as patronizing with his suggestion that you didn’t have to lie to him, Zishu actually incited a feeling of relief for you because you felt like you could put everything out on the table and just be honest with yourself and others for the first time in months since your husband died on the battlefield. But it was only because you and Zishu were now away from the judgemental eyes of others, so you both never had to answer to anyone else except each other in this marriage. Therefore, you had no problem listening intently with all honesty towards Zishu as he continued with his observations of what he believed you were really feeling but could never utter, “Xi-Gūniáng, I know I can’t do much about this current situation right now, but what I can promise is that from now on, I will protect you and your son with my life if I have to.”
* “But what about you? If I don’t give you an heir to the Zhou family, then-” You countered before Zishu stopped you with a gentleness in how he gripped for your hands so he could give both of your hands a reassuring squeeze, “Then what?…Like I said, I won’t let anyone hurt you or Shao, even if it means going up against my family or yours. Even if you will never love me or want to be with me as a wife under the title of Lady Zhou, I will respect your decision without complaint. I can tell from your eyes that you don’t want to be in this marriage as much as I do and that you felt just as powerless as me to stop it in the first place…In all honesty, I don’t expect your love in return and if you want to leave this place to be in peace with your son, then I’ll help you escape when it’s safe.”
* “Zhou-Gōngzǐ…” You gasped softly under your breath as warm tears gathered in your eyes at how kind-hearted this second husband of yours really was behind the scenes, which caused Zishu to reach out for your cheek to catch the cascading droplets as your whole soul poured out to him, raw and bare after years of bottling in your grief over Zhang and how you truly felt about this marriage to Zishu. Without having to say anything to offer any more comfort to you as your lips jutted out into a deep pout that started to quiver, Zishu pulled you into his muscular arms and just held you in silence as you gripped his vermillion and gold-embroidered robes, breathy inhales and exhales originating from your throat as you kept your sobs low while your shoulders quaked violently. With his dominant hand stroking through your waist-length tresses of ebony before stopping every so often on the small of your back to offer gentle pats to your emerald and vermillion wedding robes, Zishu allowed you the chance to let everything out in an environment that would not hold you to a high standard in order to be seen by others as a person who deserved basic decency and respect.
* Gripping tightly to Zishu’s robes as he continued to hold you in his arms, your soft cries persisted in the starry night while your son slept peacefully in his cot. The minute Zishu embraced you, you could have sworn that the tender-hearted spirit of Chiyun Zhang complimented the already-kind spirit of your second husband, Zhou Zishu. In all honesty, it was as if Zhang had joined the tender embrace with a telepathic whisper in your ear that it was alright to let him go and even urge yourself to love Zishu on your own if you so chose, all so that you could be happy for yourself and for your son. And with that small gift of permission from Zhang for you to find happiness, a sense of tranquility filled your heart as a gargantuan weight was lifted off your shoulders, which allowed you to inhale and exhale harder than you had ever done before since losing your first husband and marrying your second husband.
* With a soft smile against Zishu’s shoulder as he continued to hold you and ask if you were alright, you eventually lifted your head to acknowledge him as someone worthy of your respect. Nodding towards him solemnly to indicate your response to his inquiry of your well-being, you remarked that you felt better now that you knew you had an ally like him on your side before the young man smiled at you and pecked your forehead sweetly with a tender kiss, “Then, if you’re alright, I shall leave you alone so you can sleep for the night.” Getting up from the mattress to secure extra bedding, blankets, and pillows, Zishu pulled everything from a wooden trunk at the other side of the room before you shuffled around on the mattress in your wedding clothes as you questioned, “Wait…If you’re going to get all that from the trunk, then where will you sleep, Zhou-Gōngzǐ?”
* “I’m used to sleeping on the ground for missions on behalf of my cousin. You can take the bed since it’s more comfortable, Xi-Gūniáng.” Zishu shrugged as he played off this idea as nothing more than business as usual since he knew you both didn’t want this marriage but had to play along in front of others to avoid aroused suspicions of you trying to escape from your family with Shao or Zishu disobeying his cousin by refusing your hand. However, you could not stand by and let Zishu choose your comfort over his own as you protested, “Zhou-Gōngzǐ, can you please stay with me tonight?…It’d be unfair for you to sleep on the floor while I sleep on the mattress since this was your room first before marrying me. As much as I don’t want this marriage with you, we both have no choice right now, so it’d be very rude to take your things as my own without permission. Besides, you comfort me a lot more than most and I trust you, so please don’t sleep on the floor for my sake.”
* “Are you sure? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable at all.” Zishu asked kindly to reassure you that he would respect you regardless of your decisions in regards to him while you shook your head with a closed-mouth grin, “Quite the contrary! You’re a kind individual who genuinely cares for the real me, and you’re a true gentleman who respects others, especially women.”
* “Well, if you say it’s alright, I guess I can’t argue with my wife.” Zishu shrugged with a chuckle under his breath towards you as you smiled at the man, who was now removing his vermillion and gold wedding robes and taking down his hair from the leather guan that held it up in a topknot, all so that he was more comfortable in only his red under-robes while his hair was free to flow down his back. At the same time, you removed your emerald and vermillion, gold-embroidered wedding robes along with the cosmetics that accentuated the delicate features of your visage, with both of your hands later taking out your various wedding decorations for your hair so that you could loosen every individual lock and massage your sore scalp so your tresses could flow freely down your back. Once you were down to your red under-robes with your hair down, you slid into the mattress beside Zishu, which caused the young man to scoot over to the side in order to give you plenty of room so that there was at least twelve inches between your body and his. Laying on your sides so that you faced each other, you and Zishu exchanged cordial whispers of goodnight with each other before both falling asleep at the same time.
* At some point in the night, you could hear the familiar cries of a small infant in need of a parent. Since you had been a mother for at least one year, you could tell the difference in your baby’s needs based on such cries, especially since they were differentiated on the grounds of how many seconds separated one cry from another: 10 seconds apart meant that Shao was in need of something immediate in order to quell his hunger or thirst…20 seconds apart meant Shao was in need of a clothing and diaper change…30 seconds apart meant Shao was upset or scared and just needed comfort in the form of someone rocking him back and forth while a story or song was orated to this sweet baby. From Shao’s current cries, you discerned that your son was upset or frightened. However, after all that you had been through in the past few months since Zhang’s death, your body had been under much stress from being a recent mother who was grieved by her status as a widow who was forced to marry another man so soon. Therefore, even when you knew your son needed you and you always dutifully answered the call for help with no strings attached and no complaints, it really did take a toll on your body and mind since you did not have your husband around to help you around the house.
* As soon as you lifted your body to exit the mattress and tend to your son, your feet had not even swung over the side before Zishu immediately stayed you with his open palm as he shook his head with a grin, “No, you’re exhausted, Xi-Gūniáng. I can tend to Shao as his stepfather while you sleep. I got it…” With an immediate response towards Shao’s cries, Zishu dutifully took on the duties of fatherhood usually reserved for Zhang as he fluttered to the crib with the softest of coos under his breath and a genuine grin lighting up his youthful visage, “Hello, Xiǎo Shao (Little Shao). What seems to be the matter? Let’s get you situated so your wonderful mother can sleep.”
* With your doe eyes of brown gazing upon Zishu as he cradled your son against his bosom, you kept a careful vigil over both men as Zishu checked your son twice over to ensure that he did not require a clothing or diaper change. When that option was ruled out, Zishu began to rock back and forth on the balls of his light-weight feet with your infant son in his muscular arms as he continued to coo, “Alright, well, maybe you’re a strong, growing boy who needs some food. Let’s see if we can get you some milk.” However, you stayed your second husband’s quest for nourishment for your baby with a gentle wave of your hand and a revelation from your lips, “From my son’s cries, I know he’s not hungry. He’s probably scared or upset about something.”
* “Oh, I did not know that.” Zishu gaped with a chuckle under his breath as you giggled into the curled fingers that you placed at your bottom lip with a witty comeback, “Well, now you do, Zhou-Gōngzǐ.”
* “Well, if that’s the case, then I shall comfort your son so that you can rest properly, Xi-Gūniáng.” Zishu promised as he sat down with your son in the seat by the windowsill, cradling the infant against his bosom so that Shao’s head rested in the crook of Zishu’s elbow. Rocking your son back and forth as he continued to stare down at him just as he had done since first holding your son tonight, there was just something about Zishu’s gaze towards your son that held a warmth and gentleness, a love even, that you had not seen in a year since Zhang’s passing. But then, again, Zishu had always been gentle with you and his subordinates despite his outer appearance of cold indifference like a continuously-sneering feline.
* However, Zishu surprised you the most on this night when he decided to comfort your son with a lullaby that was worthy of Chang’E’s praise. Rocking Shao back and forth in his arms as he sang, Zishu’s tenor vocals echoed in the room to put the sobbing baby’s mind at ease as your son reached for his stepfather’s face with a pair of chubby hands, a look of utter awe in his shining orbs of ebony at the marvel that was your second husband as well as the voice that soothed his innocent heart like Zhang’s voice once did for you and your little bundle of joy. And in this moment, you knew that everything would be alright because like Chiyun Zhang, your first beau and late husband, Zhou Zishu made you and your son feel no other emotions but those revolving around the idea of true peace. Seeing your infant son steadily drift off to sleep in Zishu’s arms as he continued to sing and rock him back and forth, it only made your once-heavy heart flutter with a warmth of love for Zishu and his kindness towards you and your son. All in all, in this moment, the actions of Zhou Zishu towards you and your son got you thinking about yourself and Shao in relation to the young master of Four Seasons Manor and leader of Window of Heaven.
* …Perhaps, maybe a marriage with Zishu wouldn’t be so bad after all…Perhaps it was all meant to be…Maybe, just maybe, a piece of Chiyun Zhang’s spirit resided in the autonomous spirit of Zhou Zishu in order to provide unconditional love and protection to you and Shao despite Zhang’s absence due to an honorable death on the battlefield…And as you saw the warm demeanor in which Zishu addressed your infant son in both speaking and singing tone, his chocolate eyes gleaming bright at the joy your son expressed in his round visage towards his stepfather attempting to comfort him, this fact of Zhang’s memory living on was confirmed by Zishu’s current kindnesses towards you and your son, especially on this wedding night.
* After lulling your son to sleep with his song, Zishu fluttered back over to the cot to lay Shao down with all gentleness to avoid jostling the peacefully-slumbering infant. Tucking the baby back in with the softest blanket before kissing his index and middle fingers so he could press the warm fingers against the baby’s forehead, Zishu wished your son a soft ‘goodnight and sweet dreams, Xiǎo Shao’ before he rejoined you in your mattress. With a soft smile that gave more gratitude to Zhou Zishu than words could ever express from your heart to your lips, your new husband accepted this outward display of warmth from you as he stroked your cheek with his index finger before leaning over as the mattress creaked, a gentle kiss from Zishu being planted onto your forehead with the exact gentleness that he had shown your son. With widened eyes at the sudden contact and a gasp bitten back by you forcing the sounds to remain deep in your throat, you eventually closed your eyes in response to the forehead kiss as you smiled to yourself at Zishu’s unconditional love for you before he wished you a ‘goodnight, Xi-Gūniáng’ under his breath before you stuttered out a whisper of ‘goodnight, Zhou-Gōngzǐ’ under your breath, which caused Zishu to chuckle at the cute nature of your red-cheeked bashfulness before you closed your eyes and pretended to fall asleep first. But as you cracked one eye open to sneak a peek at Zishu, you noticed the peaceful ebb and flow of his broad shoulders as he held you close to blanket you in a shield of protection and warmth despite the gargantuan amount of space between your slumbering bodies. At this, you grinned lovingly at Zishu as you felt completely safe around him before you eventually fell to sleep for the night alongside him.
* Perhaps, maybe a marriage with Zishu wouldn’t be so bad after all, and after seeing the young man’s actions towards you and Shao tonight, you knew for certain that he would always look out for you and Shao, regardless of whether you loved him or not. But after tonight, you felt a stirring warmth in your heart and it gave you hope…Hope that Chiyun Shao could finally have a father and a normal childhood, hope that you could finally be truly happy with a man who absolutely adored you after suddenly becoming a widow…With Zishu, you felt that love and safety existed, and due to this realization, you believed that staying with him as a wife would not be so bad. As long as you had him and your precious Shao, then all was perfect in the world for you…
