The Gentle Couple

Castration

At the palace the emperor held a meeting with the court officials.

The empress, taehyung and Yn waited for the emperor in the De Fang chamber.

The empress was forty years old, but she maintained her youthful appearance and looked no older than thirty years old. The empress wore an intricately embroidered silk dress and she was seated high on a platform next to the chair reserved for the emperor. She smiled politely at Yn. 'Little girl, I remember the first time I met you two years ago. I thought you were beautiful and I didn't know who would be blessed to marry you. If I knew back then you would marry little nine then I would have asked little nine to come back to the imperial city earlier.'

The empress' fake praises didn't enter yn's heart. Although in the past Yn didn't meet the empress often, it was clear to her that the empress' loyalty was reserved for Princess Kang Hua and Yoo-mi. Princess Kang Hua hated her so there was no reason for the empress to love her. Besides, everyone in the palace had years of experience of giving fake praises, especially someone of a high status like the empress.

'Imperial mother, you are too kind,' Yn said. 'I'm blessed to be married to ninth prince.'

Yn smiled politely at taehyung.

'Imperial mother, I'm the one who is blessed to marry yn right jagiya,' Taehyung said sweetly and smiled warmly at Yn.

Yn refrained from vomiting earlier when Taehyung called her 'wife' endearingly in front of the maids, but she felt more nauseous after hearing taehyung called her 'jagiya' too sweetly.

The empress' ears stiffened after hearing the newlyweds' loving exchange. It reminded her of the year she married the emperor. Except the emperor married her to secure the throne. She didn't know if the newlyweds' situation was similar to her and the emperor... it couldn't be, the deep love aura in taehyung's eyes were too clear.

Suddenly the empress felt taehyung's warm smile was too blinding. She picked up a cup, drank a sip of tea and hid her cold smile. She put the cup down and smiled politely. 'I'm happy to see the strong bond between the two of you. My heart was saddened when little nine was heartbroken after the little girl rosie... forgive a muddled elder like me, I shouldn't talk about the sad past. You two should start eating. The imperial cooks made many delicious food.'

The empress saw Yn frown like she expected and she smiled brightly. She glanced at Taehyung but his head was lowered while drinking tea.

Yn couldn't remember who Rosie was and frowned. She thought deeply and finally remembered six years ago when taehyung was eighteen years old, the emperor arranged a marriage between taehyung and a court official's daughter rose. Yang Yn was overjoyed and relieved Taehyung was going to marry rose, it meant he wouldn't look for her in Xuan Qing and trouble her anymore. Unfortunately less than two months after their betrothal was announced, rose became severely ill and died. Then taehyung asked the emperor to allow him to visit his former teacher's country home in Xuan Qing while he grieved for rose. The emperor consented and during Taehyung's grieving period, Taehyung bullied Yn in Xuan Qing.

Yn's heart laughed mockingly. The empress' intention to strain hers and Taehyung's relationship was too clear. The empress wasted her saliva, even if Taehyung married rose, she wouldn't be depressed.

'The emperor, crown prince and Consort Mu are approaching De Fang,' a guard announced.

Everyone inside the De Fang chamber stood to kowtow and greet the emperor.

While Yn kowtowed on the floor she felt the emperor's gold sleeve swept past and her anxiety surfaced. It was the first time she officially met her father-in-law who had the highest status under the sky.