Hm?

Jian Li woke up the next morning with the echoes of his own cries ringing in his ears. Gasping, he swallowed down air desperately as he laid on the monstrosity of a pink bed.

He could still see her in his mind, laying there...

A knock on his door interrupted him, "Imperial Princess Yi, are you alright? Do you require any assistance?"

"No." he growled out, annoyed at the hoarse quality to his voice.

He could feel something wet fall from his cheek, and with a scowl on his face, he pressed his hands over his still stinging eyes. So now he was crying in his sleep? He wondered what his Empress would think if she could see it.

"I will return shortly with breakfast." stated the impudent servant from the other side of the door.

Jian Li scowled fiercely again. Even with the stone pressing down on his chest, even with the his tears still drying on his cheeks, he had no patience to sit around in bed. He needed to get up and moving, and eat his breakfast — he had the feeling the impudent servant wouldn't shut up about it otherwise. But he wanted to go and see his Empress as soon as possible, so he would put up with it, no matter how annoying it was. The things he would do for his Empress...

He pushed himself off of the bed, frowning a little when his much more daintier feet than he was used to hit the cold floor. Jian Li shivered just the slightest bit when he left the bed's warmth behind, as naked as the day he was born.

Sometime in the night, he had woken up in irritation as the clothes he was wearing to sleep almost strangled him repeatedly. Finished with it and thoroughly annoyed, he had torn them off of himself and thrown the broken mess of fabric on the floor. He stepped on them now, utterly uncaring about it.

There was a thin robe hanging over the separator to the bath. Jian Li snatched it up and had just tied it around his waist when his door was opened and the impudent servant walked in with a tray full of food.

When she saw him, the girl SQUEEKED! loudly and blushed all the way up to her ears, hastily turning away. He frowned, and chose to ignored it.

As the servant girl put the tray down on a low table in the corner of the room, Jian Li approached and demanded "Is Empress Lan and our-her daughter going anywhere today?"

"No." the girl got out, staring determinedly at the floor.

Jian Li's eyes narrowed in satisfaction. "I will go see them after breakfast."

"Yes." the girl nodded and then stepped back. Jian Li settled down on the pillow on the floor and dug into his breakfast, finding that he was unexpectedly hungry. To be fair, he hadn't eaten much yesterday, his mind to preoccupied with his Empress and their daughter.

Once he had eaten his fill of the breakfast — and the servant girl had somehow convinced him to wear a dress — he flew out of the palace as if he was being chased by fire. Jian Li stalked through the hallways, sneering at anyone that caught his eye. In his opinion, this was partly their fault too. If they had been more effective, his Empress wouldn't have died, as it was because of their inattention that their daughter had died.

Jian Li ignored the girl that was practically running to catch up with him, and blew open the doors when he arrived, not having the patience to wait for the guards to realize who he was.

Outside, the sun was shining. Birds were chirping. There was hardly a cloud in sight on the light blue sky.

The pond in the garden sparkled, lotus' riding the gentle waves spurned on by the small breeze. Flowers were blooming everywhere, a colorful rainbow edging the path through the bright green grass.

The cheerful atmosphere of the place was something that Jian Li didn't notice for more then a second, as he caught sight of his Empress and daughter walking on the other side of the garden. His Empress was carrying the tiny girl on her hip, cooing words at her that he couldn't hear. Jian Li's eyes immediately lit up at his immediate success. Without considering things like his dignity or the fact that his Empress didn't appear to know that they were married, he hurried over the garden along the path, until he stopped right in front of his Empress.

When she saw him, she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What do you want now, Imperial Princess Yi?"

"To spend time with you." he stated simply.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and even that looked breathtaking on her. Finally, she shook her head and said, "Just don't get in out way."

Jian Li beamed at her. Coming from his Empress, that was the same as an apology!

Overfilled with joy, he walked alongside her as she showed their daughter the entire garden, naming each one of the flowers and trees. Jian Li was dutifully impressed and told her so every other word.

On multiple times during their impromtu trip through the gardens, he saw her glaring at him. Most often, this was when she asked him what something was named, and he just guessed.

Apparently, he was really bad at it.

But he didn't care! It made his Empress laugh. Don't think that he couldn't tell when his Empress was holding back her amusement and laughter, after so many years married. Once, he even saw a slight redness on the top of her ears and was filled with pride, knowing that was her way of bursting out laughing from her gut.

Eventually, they settled down on a bench overlooking the pond.

Feeling his curiosity creeping up on him, he couldn't resist noticing, "You are more polite today, Empress Lan."

"I apologize." she said, refusing to look at him. Instead, her gaze was stuck on their smiling daughter. "I was in a bad mood yesterday, and took it out on you unnecessarily."

"That is fine." Jian Li assured her, his lips quirking up into a smile. "As long as you need me."

"Hm?" she turned to face him now, a look of bewilderment on her beautiful and cold face.

Jian Li pretended as if he didn't see it and asked, "How old is the girl now?"

A glare was immediately pointed at him. "You don't know how old your niece is?"

"Daughter."

"What?" her brows furrowed again.

Jian Li smiled at her, "I do not spend much time around children."

Her eyes were narrowed on him, and he was just glad that he didn't need to worry about someone taking away her attention. She sighed and finally said, "She is fourteen months old."

Jian Li smiled at his Empress, and before she could react, put his hand on his daughter's head. He still couldn't make himself touch his Empress, the fear still overwhelming even when they were sitting right next to each other. But he could touch his daughter, never having had much of a connection with her. Well, he was going to fix that now, and the first step was touching the top of her head.

When his hand made contact with Yun's head, he couldn't help staring, transfixed. Because it was so small.

He didn't understand how she was supposed to get older, when she was so very tiny.

The girl smiled at him, and her hands waved like they were trying to catch on to the flowing sleeves of his dress. He smiled uncertainly down at her, amused despite himself when she caught the sleeve in her mouth and starting drenching it in drool.

It was disgusting, and not something he would ever tolerate from his other children, but somehow he couldn't bear to tear it away.

Instead, he felt something gooey form in his stomach.

His Empress pulled his hand away from his daughter's head after only a few minutes. Jian Li frowned in dissatisfaction, but he also felt his heart jump in his chest, because his Empress had touched him. He couldn't remember the last time that she had done that voluntarily!

And she was warm.

She was so warm, not at all cold like when he had — regardless she was warm, like a living person was supposed to be. Her hand left a scorching impression on his wrist when she had let him go, and Jian Li was overwhelmed by his emotions again. He couldn't help it.

She was warm! She was alive!

Water dripped over his eyes, down his cheeks, to eventually fall on his clothes.

He stared at her, and he saw the moment that she realized that he was crying. Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened a little — adorably — in surprise.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked, way too rudely for addressing the Emperor.

Jian Li just smiled at her, tears still falling.