My Liege And I

Leniency

This year has tested me as a writer. I have had to write happiness for others while in my life I felt the shadows of darkness. I have had to express joy while coldness is what I felt clutched me. It got me questioning. Is true writing all about when you feel like it or is it the persistent creation of an alternate world that is unlike your own and altogether falling for it as if you belong to it? 

In my life, looking at my own experience in past romantic relationships, I don't yet have the perfect romance story to write on. I think of myself as a hopeless romantic sometimes… A simple hearted girl who is just doing her best and reminding herself the world is her oyster.

You have loved and supported me on all my platforms. Thank you for this.

I was hospitalized and still recovering health wise. Thank God I'm starting to get back to routine and productivity. I like being a fighter, but updates will be according to the recovery journey. Thank you for understanding. I really am trying my best.

Chapter 30
Wei Li Lian
Her Highness Wei
Princess Elora

“Have you ever imagined what it is going to be like when we are old?” Yuwen Hong readjusted the large straw hat on Li Lian and strapped on the arms of the woven-basket-storage on her back. The sun was warm with beautiful tingles of the welcomed summer fast approaching, radiant in her life, her beloved's love for her always warmed hues of love and care towards her.

“I do not know. I tend to live according to the day, taking whatever life is offering me.” She didn't want to be too selfish, to desire too much, yet so much she did not deserve already.

“You are passive in life, while I am very hungry, selfishly seeking for more all the time. Li Lian, with you enough is not enough.” Yuwen Hong went on to exhale. “On my part I want it all.”

She distracted herself from his attention by examining budding herbs on the ground.

"Don't you want it too?" he added.

She cleared her throat awkwardly, knowing what he was directing it towards. "Want what?"

"I don't know… The simple things and everything… like growing old together?"

Promises.

He wanted commitment to forever and that she would always be there. The wedding and coronation, Yuwen Hong was doing it with all of his heart, hoping and trusting for their future. It was not just an event to him or something minimized to just him getting an empress.

She made a failed attempt to brush off the subject. “Who looks forward to the pains of getting old? We won't be as willful as we are now, getting old is limiting.”

“Yes.” He picked the walking stick he was using to trek down the mountain. Yu'er knew to choose his battles and this wasn't going to be one of them. And an even more sad reality is how less and less vocal he was becoming recently. He was realizing how deeply enraptured he was with her that turning around was becoming a little too late.

Li Lian had won, Mistress Ki's hard work paid off, and Huticah accomplished the seemingly impossible task of bewitching the great emperor. Now, her love had to go all blindly in and trust that she would always have him safe and protected. He was at her mercy and that burden for her was beginning to become an unwanted presence lurking in their relationship.

After a week of his return, Yuwen Hong organised a few days to escape the palace life with her. They did not have a specific permanent place they retreated to or any particular thing they planned in mind. The main purpose was to enjoy each other’s company, ease away from the stress they  faced due to their time apart, and to intimately know each other more than they already did.