Chapter 48

Chapter 48 – Doubts (2)

“This wang fei greets the Emperor.” Lu Wushuang walked into the imperial study and curtsied.

Suddenly, her bright smile conformed into a frown.

“Your Majesty, you said you would accompany this wang fei to dinner tonight, but you were too busy to even leave this study.”

“I forgot.” Mo Rongzhan smiled, stretched out his hand, and took Lu Wushuang’s hand “But I’m glad that Wang Fei visited to remind me.”

Lu Wushuang’s gorgeous face lit up. “I personally cooked some of Your Majesty’s favorite delicacies.”

With a little tug, Mo Rongzhan was able to pull Lu Wushuang’s delicate form towards him. They were so close, just a hair’s breadth between them. Inhaling deeply, the scent of Lu Wushuang filled the emperor’s nostrils.

The scent from the rouge had always been on Lu Wushaung’s body, Mo Rongzhan realized.

It was not the sweet, fruity fragrance of childhood which reminded him of the little girl who broke bread with him in the middle of the forest.

“Your Majesty.”

Lu Wushuang thought that Mo Rongzhan wanted to have a warm and affectionate moment, so with a charming voice, she let out a cry. “How about having a meal first?”

Smiling slightly, he naturally loosened his hold on Lu Wushuang’s hand.

All his life, he had never paid much attention to food, none of the delicacies the palace offered was remarkable.

Though, there was one food that he could never forget. It was a piece of sweet and sour cake with a cherry taste given by a little girl named Yaoyao.

Due to his temporary blindness at that time, he didn’t manage to have a glimpse of her face.

“Have you ever had a nickname, Wang Fei?” Mo Rongzhan asked Lu Wushuang in his usual voice.

Lu Wushuang laughed. “My family used to call me Shuang’er. Even the emperor addresses me the same.”

Shuang’er…

The girl said her nickname was Yaoyao!

Lu Wushuang was not the little girl in the woods in those days! 

Mo Rongzhan felt sure for the first time that he had mistaken one for another– but what happened to that piece of jade pendant?

Mo Rongzhan ate something without savoring the taste and let Eunuch Fu in to take everything from his sight.

“Didn’t the food prepared by this wang fei satisfy the Emperor?” Lu Wushuang asked with a hint of hurt and confusion.

Although in the eyes of many, she was the emperor’s beloved, Lu Wushuang didn’t dare to be too presumptuous in front of this man. He was kind and gentle to her only because he believed that she was the innocent girl who saved him.

The emperor held his temples while he said, “It’s just that I find the uneven border crossing disconcerting. The food was excellent as always.” Then he added flatly. “I’ll send you back to the palace later.”

Lu Wushuang’s face was filled with joy. “All right.”

Back in the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, Mo Rongzhan wished for alone time with Lu Wushuang before they parted. Thus, the wang fei’s maid-in-waiting stood outside Lu Wushuang chambers, leaving the couple inside.

Mo Rongzhan sat on a plush seat and said inadvertently, “Is the jade pendant I gave you back then still there? The last time I saw it, it was broken and old. I was thinking of giving you a new one.”

“This wang fei is afraid of damaging the pendant further, so I tucked it away.”

Lu Wushuang quickly felt disgruntled at the mention of the pendant. Why did the emperor suddenly ask about it?

“Does His Majesty want this wang fei to fetch it?”

Mo Rongzhan nodded. “Well, let me see it.”

Lu Wushuang got up hesitantly and went to take out from a cabinet the golden box she had kept the pendant in.

While in the process, her heart beat painfully against her chest. Did the emperor discover something? No, it’s impossible! Everyone in the Ye Family is dead. No one in the world except her and her eldest brother knew that the jade pendant came from Ye Zhen’s hand!

“Ah!” Lu Wushuang cried out in horror when she opened the box.

Mo Rongzhan immediately got up and walked over to her. “What’s the matter?”

“The.. the…” Lu Wushuang tearfully looked inside the box.

With a tremble in her voice, she faced the emperor. “When this wang fei kept the pendant, it was still fine, just broken in half. I don’t know what happened!”

The jade phoenix pendant was not only broken but shattered to fragments! The phoenix design remained intact, but it had lost its vivid color.

Mo Rongzhan appeared stupefied as he gazed over the phoenix.

It changed, he thought. It looks a bit lonely.

The corners of the emperor’s mouth tightened, he took the box from Lu Wushuang.

“I’ll have someone check if it can mend this.”

But it was obviously beyond repair.

How else to repair it? This is indeed a bizarre happening.

The pieces were all in place, making the pendant look like it had broken by itself!

Is it because he mistook one person for another that the jade pendant broke into pieces?

“This wang fei is terribly guilty of not protecting the jade pendant well,” Lu Wushuang said, kowtowing in remorse.

Yet, deep inside, her heart was without remorse or guilt. In fact, she felt joy that the jade pendant, the last link between the emperor and Ye Zhen, was now destroyed.

With her by Mo Rongzhan’s side, he would sooner or later forget the heroic act the young Ye Zhen had done to a helpless young emperor.

“You should rest. My royal duties await me in the imperial study,” Mo Rongzhan said coldly and left carrying the golden box.

With a face of dismay, Lu Wushuang was left sulking inside her chambers.

Isn’t she as important as the jade pendant?