Ye Jinchi · Chat

【Wedding Night】 --- Red candles burn high, filling the room with gilded light. Luoxia Palace has never been this bright. New red silks hang from the beams, double happiness paper-cuts are pasted on the window frames, and even the candlesticks on the table were replaced overnight—gilded bronze, with patterns of mandarin ducks playing in lotus flowers. But this palace is too old, so old that even the new paint cannot cover the damp stains spreading in the corners of the walls. It is like a magnificent robe wrapped around a skeleton; no matter how it is dressed up, it oozes desolation. Ye Jinchi sits on the edge of the bed in his wedding robes. The python pattern embroidered with gold thread chafes his neck, causing a slight itch. He keeps his eyes downcast, his fingers clasped over his knees, trembling slightly—to outsiders, it looks like nervousness, but only he knows that he is counting the footsteps under the corridor outside the window. Three rough-service servants, one Eunuch Quan, and Xiao Zhi outside the courtyard gate. Good, there are no extra eyes tonight. The door is pushed open. The palace maids lead you in, say a few auspicious words, and withdraw. The door shuts behind them with a dull thud, and the bronze lock clicks into place. Ye Jinchi does not look up. He hears your footsteps—steady, the hem of your skirt brushing against the ground with a soft rustle, unlike a typical bride who is shy and timid. He notes in his mind: a daughter from the Prime Minister's estate indeed knows how to keep her composure. You stop in front of him, pause for a breath, and then gently call out to him: "Third Highness." His shoulders shake as if startled, and only then does he slowly look up. The candlelight reflects on his pale, handsome face, with his light-gold hair falling over his shoulders, a few strands catching a warm glow from the red candles. He blinks, his gaze landing blankly on your face, as if unsure of who is standing before him. "...Hmm?" He tilts his head, his voice light and airy. "You... who are you?" This is his first line of the night. He speaks it very naturally, with a childish upward inflection at the end, as if he truly does not remember bowing to heaven and earth in front of the Zichen Hall just this morning. Startled slightly, you reply, "I am the daughter of the Prime Minister, married to Your Highness today as your wife." Ye Jinchi's brow furrows slightly, as if straining to think. "Prime Minister's... daughter..." He repeats the words slowly, dragging out each syllable. "Oh... right, right... Imperial Father said... said a sister was coming..." As he speaks, he suddenly grins at you, his smile so innocent it borders on foolish: "Then sister... is sister going to sleep with Jinchi?" When he says this, his eyes are bright, like a child with a new toy, but his fingertips tighten secretly inside his sleeve—he is waiting for your reaction. Will it be annoyance? Disgust? Or that condescending pity? Whichever it is, he can adjust his performance accordingly. But you do not show any of the expressions he anticipated. You just look at him quietly. After a moment, you raise your hand to adjust his crooked collar, your movement very gentle, and say, "Yes, we will sleep together. Is Your Highness tired? Let me undress you." Ye Jinchi's smile stiffens for a split second. No one has ever treated him like this. The palace servants who come to deliver things to Luoxia Palace, the noble ladies who deal with him at banquets, the hypocritical relatives who come to visit him—without exception, they all look away immediately after he shows his foolishness, either with disgust or avoidance. They never initiate physical contact, let alone speak to him in such a natural tone, as if addressing an ordinary husband. Suppressing the brief strangeness, he quickly regains his naive expression. "Okay, okay..." He obediently opens his arms, letting you undo the jade belt around his waist, still babbling. "Sister's hands are so soft... much softer than Eunuch Quan's..." You ask, "Is Eunuch Quan an old eunuch of Luoxia Palace?" "Yes!" He nods vigorously. "Eunuch Quan is good to Jinchi, he gives Jinchi cakes to eat..." He suddenly clutches his stomach. "I'm hungry... Sister, is there food? Today... I haven't eaten anything all day..." You take out a packet of pastries wrapped in a handkerchief from your sleeve and hand it to him: "Taken from the banquet, to tide you over." Looking at the packet of pastries, Ye Jinchi's pupils contract imperceptibly. He quickly analyzes in his mind: Is it deliberate pleasing? Is it natural gentleness? Or is it an attempt to win him over on her father's orders?—But regardless, this "remembering" itself is already the first uncontrollable variable he has encountered tonight. He does not take it immediately. He lets himself daze for a moment, then slowly reaches out, pinches a piece of pastry with his fingertips, and pops it into his mouth. The sweetness dissolves on his tongue, and he narrows his eyes, showing a satisfied smile: "...Delicious." You sit down beside him, keeping an arm's length, not getting too close. The red candle crackles. With the pastry in his mouth, Ye Jinchi observes you from the corner of his eye. You are removing your phoenix crown, your fingers moving efficiently and calmly. He notices a pair of very small pearl drops on your earlobes. Normal noble daughters wear large gold and jade pieces when marrying, but you only chose plain ones—either to deliberately keep a low profile, or it is your personal aesthetic. Either way, it makes it impossible for him to categorize you as "simple" for now. Swallowing the pastry, he suddenly reaches out, gently and tentatively touching your sleeve. His pressure is well-controlled—light as a feather, not enough to feel offensive, but enough to make you stop and look at him. "Sister..." He looks up, his eyes clear and unfocused, his voice tinged with timidity. "You... you won't bully Jinchi, will you?" You look down at him, the candlelight flickering in your eyes for a moment, but you do not answer immediately. Ye Jinchi's heart tightens slightly—this pause is either her weighing her words or her being too disgusted to answer. He waits, still wearing that naive expression on his face, his thumb unconsciously rubbing the fabric of your sleeve like a child afraid of being abandoned. Then you speak, your voice flat: "Your Highness is a prince, and I am a minister's daughter. There is no such thing as bullying." Ye Jinchi's eyes curve into a smile, as if he understood, yet also didn't. Releasing your sleeve, he pulls his hand back and hugs his knees, curling himself into a small ball, turning his head to look at you: "Then... then can Jinchi sleep holding sister tonight? Jinchi is afraid of the dark..." As he says this, his mind is racing: If she agrees, it means she is somewhat resigned to this marriage; if she refuses, it means she still has resentment in her heart, which makes her even easier to use. You remain silent for a breath. Then you raise your hand, taking the last hairpin from your hair, letting your long black tresses cascade down your shoulders. You turn, lift a corner of the brocade quilt, and say to him, "Come up, it gets cold at night." Ye Jinchi blinks. Before he can even pull back his smile, he sees that you have already lain down, your back to him, leaving him with a quiet silhouette. He pauses for two breaths. Then he climbs up quietly, slips into the bedding, and lies on his side behind you, a fist's distance away. He stares at the back of your head, his gaze slowly darkening in the shadows—the daze fades, the confusion recedes, and at last, a hint of something truly belonging to Ye Jinchi emerges from the depths of those light-gold eyes. His lips move, making no sound, only silently shaping a word in the darkness: "...Pawn." Then he closes his eyes, his breathing gradually leveling out, turning back into that dull Third Prince. The candle wax drips; the night passes in silence. Until the next day, when you are supposed to enter the palace to offer thanks...