The capital was in the north, and winters were always freezing. The empress wrapped Emperor Jingren in a thick cloak. The contrast with its black fur made Emperor Jingren’s skin look even paler. Against that white skin, his eyes looked unbearably pure.

An emperor shouldn’t have such clean eyes. He was the most care-laden person in the world, and his eyes ought to have been filled with calculation. But Emperor Jingren’s will was too steadfast, and his mind was too clear. Without stray anxieties to clutter them, the eyes regarding the empress were more limpid than a child’s, with the beauty of simplicity.

The empress paused in the middle of fastening Emperor Jingren’s cloak. He couldn’t resist bending his head and saying, “Your Majesty, please close your eyes.”

Emperor Jingren scarcely hesitated. He trustingly closed his eyes. The empress leaned close and gently kissed Emperor Jingren’s thin eyelid, as if trying to make an impression of those beautiful eyes in his heart.

It was only a gentle kiss, but it made Emperor Jingren’s heart tremble. It was more intoxicating than their previous deep kisses.

The moment was too lovely. Emperor Jingren didn’t have the heart to bring up any of the worries that lay between the two of them. He gave the empress his hand and let him lead him out into the snow.

The empress had also changed, but compared to the bundled up Emperor Jingren, he was lightly dressed, having added only a quilted cotton jacket on the inside of his fighting clothes. He didn’t even put on gloves but went out just as he was. Though Emperor Jingren hadn’t seen the empress lately, he had kept track of what happened in Kunning Palace. Since the start of winter, the empress hadn’t been wearing especially heavy clothes. At first Emperor Jingren had worried and sent over many fur coats. But later he discovered that wearing these coats was a torment to the empress. They made him sweat incessantly and look very uncomfortable. Emperor Jingren understood that the empress didn’t mind the cold and didn’t force him to wear warm clothes again.

Though they hadn’t seen each other, they had still kept their attention on each other in this way.

Emperor Jingren was very generous toward the palace servants, and while the empress’s management of the harem was strict, he was also extremely indulgent toward the lowest level servants. With the winters so cold, the empress sent plenty of coal to each palace, and gave the servants special permission to return indoors to warm up and rest when their work was done. There was no need for them to freeze outside. Because of this, the imperial gardens were nearly deserted in winter. The servants had swept aside the heavy covering of snow, leaving a clear path. They had piled up the snow in the gardens, putting a thick coat over the ground. In the spring, when the ice melted and became water, it would nourish the earth.

But Emperor Jingren didn’t take the cleared path. Instead, he walked over the snow that had been deliberately left untouched beside the path. Very few people ever walked over the snow here, and it had fallen just yesterday. It was very new and crunched pleasantly underfoot.

Normally only children went out of their way to walk on snow, but here was Emperor Jingren doing it. He really was taking it very seriously, stamping his footprints into the snow.

The empress watched this for a while, then let go of Emperor Jingren’s hand and walked behind him, putting his feet where Emperor Jingren had left his footprints, enlarging the prints. Emperor Jingren’s original footprints vanished, and what remained were the empress’s bigger, heavier marks.

Emperor Jingren looked back at the empress. The empress smiled at him. “Your subject wife will do everything possible to protect Your Majesty, clear away all of Your Majesty’s tracks.”

“Nonsense,” Emperor Jingren said mildly, though he didn’t stop the empress but continued on ahead, allowing the empress’s footprints to engulf his tracks bit by bit.

The two of them walked in single file to the plum grove. This was located in a corner partitioned off from the rest of the imperial gardens. It was nothing to look at in summer, but in winter it was a lovely scene. The red of plum blossoms growing in spite of the snow amidst a world of pure white was the most brilliant of colors. Looking at the splashes of red, Emperor Jingren smiled in appreciation.

The empress, who had been following him, drew close and took Emperor Jingren by the hand. “To make this plum grove more appealing, I made sure the servants didn’t sweep up the snow here. It’s hard to walk over deep snow. Your Majesty must be careful.”

This was a blatant excuse to hold hands in the open, but there was no else around, so Emperor Jingren let the empress do as he liked. The empress’s hand was warmer than a glove, wrapped snugly around Emperor Jingren’s hand and radiating heat from the palm.

The two of them walked into the plum grove hand in hand. Now and then a petal landed on Emperor Jingren, and the empress plucked it off him. From time to time, he touched Emperor Jingren’s exposed cheeks. They were a little chilled and pleasant to touch.

“Let me warm Your Majesty up a little.” The empress put Emperor Jingren’s hands into gloves and put his own hands to Emperor Jingren’s cheeks. With his large, warm hands pressed against cool skin, he seemed to be thawing the ice in Emperor Jingren’s heart with his burning feelings.

A gust of north wind swept over them, and countless petals were shaken from their branches. Amid a swirl of flying snowflakes and flower petals, the empress kissed Emperor Jingren’s lips, and Emperor Jingren didn’t stop him. Instead, he dropped his gloves and seized the empress around the waist, helping him deepen the kiss.

White snow, red blossoms. The two people in this beautiful world had hearts free of distractions, nothing left but each other’s breath.

And a voice reciting poetry—

“Clearly this cannot be snow, for a faint fragrance this way blows.” The voice came closer as it spoke. “Baimei, gather some petals to bring back with us. We’ll make some pastries.”

The two of them were startled in the middle of their kiss and sprang apart. Emperor Jingren looked sullenly in the direction of the voice and saw that the former worthy consort, Lady of Bright Deportment Wang, was out gathering flower petals with some palace maids. The former worthy consort was dressed in a thin white robe, looking affectingly lovely amid all this pure white. When she saw Emperor Jingren, she knelt and kowtowed. Her hands sank into the snow beneath her, turning blue with cold.

“Rise,” said Emperor Jingren without expression, holding back his dismay.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Lady of Bright Deportment Wang slowly rose with the aid of a palace maid. Her figure was graceful. She was a tremendously moving sight.

She wasn’t a stunning beauty, but she had skin as white as snow. Now, in the plum grove, while she didn’t match up to the perilous loveliness of the former pure consort, she had a charm all her own. And Lady of Bright Deportment Wang had always been known as an accomplished woman. Her chill, lofty air became utterly crisp and cold when set amid the white snow.

“I’m sorry to spoil the mood, Your Majesty,” Lady of Bright Deportment Wang said. “It’s New Year’s Eve, so when I saw all the delightful snow outside, I thought of coming to the plum grove to pick some petals to make pastries to be used as offerings tonight.”

Only the empress could accompany Emperor Jingren to the New Year’s Eve banquet held for the officials. No one else had the right. The women of the harem had to make their own arrangements. Apart from the dinner delivered by the imperial kitchens, they would make some tasty snacks in their private kitchens and celebrate on their own.

In front of the empress, even the ranked consorts and concubines were in no position to speak, unless His Majesty chose to dignify them by having them accompany the empress in receiving the officials’ wives.

Lady of Bright Deportment Wang’s excuse was one to inspire pity. On top of that, this plum grove was a suitable setting for an accomplished woman like her, and her willingness to make the sacrifice of wearing so little clothing in winter added to her allure. The empress looked at Lady of Bright Deportment Wang with a false smile and didn’t expose her.

The two-person world had suddenly received the addition of Lady of Bright Deportment Wang and some palace maids; this put Emperor Jingren in a bad mood. There had been a knot in his heart concerning the empress, and today it had finally eased a little. He only wanted peace and quiet to enjoy the snow and plum blossoms with the empress. He didn’t want anyone else there. Unfortunately, Lady of Bright Deportment Wang had intruded upon their tranquility.

In answer to Lady of Bright Deportment Wang’s excuse, Emperor Jingren only nodded slightly. He didn’t say anything. He wanted to leave the plum grove and head straight to the empress’s palace. But just as he was about to speak, the empress seemed to realize what he was thinking and said to him, “Your Majesty, seeing the brightness of the fallen plum blossoms just now, your subject wife suddenly felt the urge to perform a sword dance.”

“But there is no sword here.” Emperor Jingren was very moved; an expression of regret crossed his face.

“No need for a sword. A tree branch will do.” The empress smiled, chose a branch of appropriate length and thickness, and stood in the center of the plum grove, lightly brandishing this sword.

The plum grove wasn’t as spacious as the training field last time, and there were plum trees everywhere. The slightest fumble, and he would strike a tree trunk. But as the empress performed his sword dance in the plum grove, what was even more remarkable than his sword technique was his agility.

The empress and Lady of Bright Deportment Wang were both dressed in white, but one wore a thin robe that made her look movingly frail, while the other wore close-fitting fighting wear that made him look tall and upright.

The white form moved among the red blossoms of the plum grove, the tree branch taken for a sword cutting through the air with tremendous force, surprisingly no less than that of a real sword. In the path of this sword, snowflakes danced in the air, as if it were once again snowing. The whole world was white.

This time, the empress didn’t keep the snowflakes from falling on Emperor Jingren. The white snow fell on the black cloak, leaving pinpoints of frost. Soon, Emperor Jingren’s hair was white. In the swirl of snow, there was a lonesome beauty to him.

Snow always gave the impression that a person was all alone in the vast world, and Emperor Jingren truly was set apart from everyone by his position. Amid the snowflakes, he seemed a little desolate.

But this feeling lasted only a moment. The empress’s tree branch flicked lightly, and countless red plum blossom petals mingled with the snow. The red petals wrapped around Emperor Jingren, adding warmth to the pure white, and the empress’s figure appeared beside Emperor Jingren, so he no longer looked so solitary.

Amid the red blossoms and white snow, the empress was a blur of white as he wielded his tree branch, closely guarding Emperor Jingren, not letting anyone approach. The combination of his vigorous figure and the snowflakes and falling flowers made a beautiful painting of winter, in which Emperor Jingren in his black cloak was the most vivid splash of color.

Lady of Bright Deportment Wang was thwarted.

On hearing that Emperor Jingren was in the plum grove, she had immediately set her teeth, put on a thin white robe, and gone out. She was frozen to the marrow now, trembling all over. If she could have caught Emperor Jingren’s eye with this action, any sacrifice would have been worth it. But instead the empress had run out to perform a sword dance, and the snowflakes he had sent flying had slithered down the back of Lady of Bright Deportment Wang’s robe. Now she was really so frozen she could hardly speak. And Emperor Jingren hadn’t even looked at her. He was gazing soppily at the empress!

The force of the empress’s sword gradually slackened, and the snowflakes and flowers calmed, settling quietly down on the snowy ground. And just before concluding, with a bit of force, the empress sent a gust of wind past Emperor Jingren’s cheeks. All the snowflakes and flower petals still clinging to him were blown away.

And that wind was warm.

Seeing the empress toss the tree branch aside, Emperor Jingren was just about to praise him when he heard Lady of Bright Deportment Wang applauding. In this still atmosphere, the noise was very conspicuous, as if she were trying very hard to attract notice.

So Emperor Jingren had to look at Lady of Bright Deportment Wang. Frowning, he said, “Your spirit is good, Lady of Bright Deportment Wang, but you should take better care of your health. Maids, take your lady back to her palace and go ask an imperial physician to stop by.”

Huh? Lady of Bright Deportment Wang didn’t understand why Emperor Jingren would say this. She wanted to demur, but as soon as she opened her mouth, a string of snot fell to the ground. Another hung nearly frozen from her nose.

Lady of Bright Deportment Wang was appalled.

The empress looked haughtily down his nose Lady of Bright Deportment Wang, smiling faintly. Then he turned to Emperor Jingren and said, “Your Majesty, it is a bitterly cold day. However beautiful the scenery may be, we cannot overindulge. Let us go rest.”

Emperor Jingren’s gaze swept over Lady of Bright Deportment Wang’s snot. He understood perfectly. He nodded and said, “You’re right. Remember to dress warmly.”

“I have my internal force to keep me warm and do not feel the cold. But Your Majesty must dress warmly. If you should fall ill, it would be a great loss to the realm.”

The two of them left the plum grove with smiles and laughter, leaving Lady of Bright Deportment Wang with her frozen snot and her palace maids, all of them struck dumb.

“Atchoo! Atchoo! Atchoo!”

A few seconds later, the sound of sneezing reverberated throughout the plum grove. Sadly, Emperor Jingren was too far away to hear it.