That night, A'Sheng had drunk too much and fell asleep in the west wing of the courtyard. When I brought him f…
That night, A'Sheng had drunk too much and fell asleep in the west wing of the courtyard. When I brought him fresh clothes, I overheard him confiding in his servant. It was then, for the first time that I learned the truth: A'Sheng had carried me in his heart all along.
All these years, he had been quietly watching over me. Half of the rare treasures my father had bought for me had in fact been sourced by A'Sheng,
scoured from all corners of the land and then sold cheap so they might find their way into my hands. He had been protecting me in the dark. That was why he had appeared before me on that terrible night. That was why he had been so quick to propose to me. And these past days, his careful distance towards me was out of fear that my heart held no place for him, and that I would stay only out of gratitude. After all this time, behind everything lay his quiet, cautious, unwavering affection.
After that night, the distance between us began to grow closer. We would often play music, paint pictures, compose poetry, and trade verses. Sometimes, I would simply sit by his side, watching quietly as he practiced his swordplay beneath the sunlight. Day by day, I found to my astonishment that there was so much we could talk about, so many little moments of perfect chemistry between us.
When no one else was around,
we would share stories of our lives before we met, and tell secrets we had never spoken aloud to anyone else.