On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

The heavy vermilion-painted palace door closed silently behind him, isolating him from the noise and prying eyes of the outside world.

The eastern warm room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation is filled with a unique, calming cool fragrance.

It is not the heaviness of ambergris, nor the sweetness of lily, but a few faint, clear and distant scents like the first snow and new plum blossoms.

Light filtered through the high-hanging mica window screens, filtering out the glaring sun and leaving only a soft, hazy halo, illuminating this room that symbolized the core of the empire's highest power.

Murong Yan was not sitting upright on the large rosewood dragon throne covered with bright yellow brocade cushions.

She was standing with her back to the door, beside the huge rosewood imperial desk.

On the desk, piles of memorials almost overflowed the corners, like silent mountains, emitting invisible pressure.

She seemed to have just finished reviewing a memorial, and was lowering her head slightly, her eyes fixed on the huge "Complete Map of the Great Universe" hanging in front of the desk.

From Lin Zhen's perspective, her back in the soft light appeared... unusually slender.

More than a year seemed to have left too deep a mark on this peerless empress.

She was still wearing her bright yellow dragon robe, the pattern of coiled golden dragons gleaming majestically in the dim light.

The jade belt around her waist outlines her still graceful curves, and her waist is still slender, but her shoulders and back appear much thinner. The fullness and plumpness that once scorched like the sun seem to have faded a lot, revealing a startling thinness.

She was about 1.7 meters tall, which was considered tall among women. At this moment, she looked like a solitary peak, with an indescribable fatigue and loneliness.

However, beneath the graceful lines of her shoulders and neck, her breasts wrapped in bright yellow brocade were still full and plump, like towering mountains. With her slight breathing, they rose and fell in breathtaking arcs under the dragon robe, silently telling the charming charm of a mature woman, and forming a strange and strong visual impact with her slender figure.

"Are you here?" Murong Yan's voice came over without turning back.

The voice was not loud, with a hint of natural laziness and hoarseness, like the finest silk brushing across the heart, with a slightly rising ending, carrying an unquestionable sense of control, but strangely mixed with a hint of imperceptible tension.

"Your Majesty, I am Lin Zhen. I pay my respects to you." Lin Zhen knelt on one knee, bowed his head and saluted in a steady voice.

The hem of the black dragon robe spread out on the golden brick floor.

"Get up." Murong Yan turned around slowly.

Eyes facing each other.

Lin Zhen's heart trembled slightly.

Murong Yan in front of him still had skin as white as snow and a face as beautiful as ever, like a carefully carved piece of fine jade.

Beneath her willow-leaf brows, the pair of phoenix eyes that were originally as bright as the galaxy now seemed to be covered with a layer of faint mist, with an extremely complex light surging in the depths - there was scrutiny, majesty, deep longing, and even... a hint of indescribable grievance?

She has lost weight.

The jawline is more distinct, the cheekbones are slightly raised, and the cheeks are less round and plump than before, making the already stunning face more fierce and sharp, but also adding a distressing haggardness.

But the nobility and strength that emanated from her bones, like a phoenix looking down on the world, had not diminished in the slightest. On the contrary, because of this diminishment, she seemed to be even more awe-inspiring and inviolable.

"One year, three months and seven days." Murong Yan opened her red lips slightly and uttered a number accurate to the day. Her phoenix eyes stared straight at Lin Zhen. Her gaze was like a real probe, trying to pierce through all the hidden things in his heart.

"The storm in Hu County is actually harder to escape than my throne room?"

Lin Zhen stood up, his posture still respectful, his eyes calmly meeting her scrutinizing gaze. "Shanghai County is newly established, and much remains to be done. Japanese pirates are lurking like dogs, waiting for an opportunity. I dare not slack off. The deep-water port was successfully opened to navigation on the eighth day of last month, and the first batch of South China Sea merchant ships have docked and unloaded their cargo. I... am concerned about the affairs of state, so I dare not delay even a moment. I arrived in Beijing yesterday and will enter the palace today to report on my work and pay my respects."

"Reporting on my work and paying my respects?" Murong Yan's lips curled up into a smile, but she did not return to the dragon throne. Instead, she lightly walked around the imperial desk and stopped less than three feet in front of Lin Zhen.

The scent mixed with the cold plum blossoms and the faint fragrance of ink instantly surrounded him.

She raised her eyes slightly and looked at Lin Zhen's face carefully, her gaze lingering on his skin that was slightly roughened by the sea breeze, the calmness between his brows and his still deep eyes.

"Three days before the 'Breaking Waves' arrived in Beijing, I received the Ministry of Works' '325 Cement Measurement Report,' the Ministry of Personnel's comments on Xiao Hanzhou's proposed appointment as Hu County Magistrate, and Mao Mengji's 'Hu County Military Deployment Map.' The national affairs you, Prince Lin, wish to report..."

She leaned slightly closer to Lin Zhen, her warm breath brushing against his earlobe, with a hint of provocation that only the two of them could understand.

"Are you trying to tell me that the waves in Hu County soaked the prince's dragon robe?"

She spoke in a low tone with a hint of teasing, but used the extremely private and almost flirtatious title of "Prince".

Her height just reached Lin Zhen's brow bone, and she looked up at him slightly, with a strong yet subtle dependence.

Lin Zhen's heart skipped a beat, knowing that the more sharply she spoke, the more turbulent the suppressed emotions in her heart would become.

He calmed his mind, stepped back half a step, and maintained the boundaries of courtesy between the monarch and his subjects. His voice was calm and steady: "Your Majesty is so perceptive, and I deeply admire you. In this case, please allow me to give you a detailed account of the details of Hu County..."

Murong Yan suddenly waved her hand, interrupting him. That gesture carried the unquestionable dominance unique to an empress: "I'll look at those figures, blueprints, and reports later! My husband!"

Her voice suddenly rose, her eyes blazing with intense emotion. "I'm not asking about your Hu County! I'm asking you! Over the past year, while you risked your life in the stormy waters of Hu County, while you swerved against the blades of the Japanese pirates, while you accepted the cheers of the people at the deepwater harbor opening ceremony... have you ever been distracted? Have you ever considered how I felt while I was here in the palace, reviewing the mountain of memorials impeaching you for your military prowess and accusing the Lin family of overreaching itself?"

Her breathing became slightly rapid, and her full breasts rose and fell under the dragon robe. The mist in her eyes dissipated, replaced by a burning flame, mixed with a hint of... deep resentment!

The air suddenly became stagnant.

Inside the hall, you could hear a pin drop. The flame on the giant gilded dragon candlestick flickered, illuminating the turbulent emotions in Murong Yan's eyes.

She stared at Lin Zhen closely, as if she wanted to lock him with her eyes and not let him escape.

Lin Zhen was silent for a moment, his eyes, as deep as an ancient well, also surging with complex emotions. He bowed slightly again, his voice low, with a sincerity that penetrated the sediment of time:

"On the day the deep-water port opened, the people cheered like waves. As a husband, I stood on a high platform, and saw the Big Dipper in the sky. At that moment, what I thought of wasn't my achievements, but the words Your Majesty once said from the Star-Picking Tower, telling me that I should take the position of the North Star and establish my heart for the world. During the turbulent times in Shanghai County, the Japanese pirates' arrows whizzed past my temples, the sound like the wailing of ghosts. But what echoed in my ears at that time was Your Majesty's anger when he scolded me for driving too fast during the hunting trip in the Western Mountains. Your Majesty... Yan'er, do you know that you are always thinking of me, like a shadow following you, like a bone in your marrow."

His words, without any passionate confession or passionate embrace, were like a stone thrown into a deep pool, accurately hitting the softest part of Murong Yan's heart.

Those secret details between the childhood sweethearts, which were known only to the two of them, and belonged to the emperor and his ministers, the night talks in the Star-Picking Tower, the feigned anger in the West Mountain Hunting Ground... were all remembered clearly by him, and became the deepest mark in his heart at the moment of life and death, and at the time of glory.

The fire in Murong Yan's eyes was extinguished instantly, replaced by a huge sourness and softness that almost drowned her.

The sharpness in her eyes melted away, and she turned her head slightly to look at the swaying bamboo shadows outside the window, so as not to let Lin Zhen see the instant moisture in her eyes.

Her hand at her side was trembling slightly. Finally, she hit Lin Zhen's arm lightly with some anger and a hint of childish grievance.

That force was more like a pampering than a punishment.

"You're so smooth-talking! Is this how you deceive the people of Hu County?" Her voice was muffled and nasal.

Lin Zhen took advantage of the situation and gently grasped her fallen fist.

The hand was cold and slender, yet it held the power of imperial authority.

He did not move further, but just held it gently, conveying his warmth and silent comfort.

This handshake seemed to break the last barrier between the monarch and his subjects. The atmosphere in the warm room instantly eased, and an indescribable warmth with a bittersweet flavor permeated the air.

Murong Yan did not pull her hand back and let him hold it.

She took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress all her turbulent emotions and regain her composure as an empress.

She pulled Lin Zhen and walked towards the warm kang by the window.

The warm kang was covered with a thick bright yellow brocade mat, and in the middle was a low table, on which were already prepared several plates of exquisite snacks and two steaming, gold-enameled imperial tea cups.

"Sit down." Murong Yan took the first seat on the heated kang. Her posture remained elegant, but less tense than on the throne. She even casually bent one leg, revealing a slender ankle clad in plain white silk stockings beneath her bright yellow skirt.

Lin Zhen sat down opposite her as he was told, and the warmth from the heated kang dispelled the slight chill in the palace.

"Have some tea," Murong Yan personally picked up a teacup and handed it to Lin Zhen, then took the other. "This year's tribute tea, 'Rain and Mist Blue Luan', is produced in Yunwu Mountain in Jiangnan. Only half a pound is produced annually. I knew you were going back to Beijing, so I asked someone to keep it for you."

Lin Zhen took it and opened the lid of the cup. A fresh and fragrant tea aroma with the scent of morning dew from the mountains wafted into his nose.

He took a sip and found the tea clear, mellow and long-lasting. It was indeed top quality.

"Hu County... you've suffered so much." Murong Yan also took a sip of tea, her eyes fixed on the curling steam, her voice softened with a hint of barely perceptible heartache.

"Xi Ling secretly copied the deepwater port blueprints a while ago and submitted them to the Ministry of Works for archiving. I've reviewed them. They're incredibly brilliant! But also terrifying! The berths for giant 10,000-ton ships, the concrete pier suspended dozens of feet in the air... just hearing about them is terrifying. And then there are those Japanese pirates..."

When she mentioned the word "Japanese pirates", a cold light flashed in her eyes, and murderous intent suddenly appeared.

"How dare those clowns from the Satsuma Domain be so presumptuous! I've read Mao Mengji's military report! Well done! Sinking one ship is too few! Next time we meet them, we'll make sure they're wiped out!"

Her voice was instantly filled with the chill of war, showing that she was by no means a weak empress raised in the deep palace.

"Your Majesty, please calm down." Lin Zhen put down his teacup. "The Satsuma clan's wolfish ambitions will not be eliminated overnight. I have already followed your Majesty's secret instructions to expand the navy, strengthen the fortresses, and strictly control the coastal areas. At the same time, I suggest..."

He changed the subject and began to analyze the movements of the Japanese pirates in a clear and orderly manner. He also proposed a strategy of uniting with Goryeo and Ryukyu to contain the rear of the Satsuma Domain, as well as a plan to strengthen the research and development of new firearms (artillery).