Chapter Text
Prince Gaoyang suffers in custody for two days and two nights before Li Weiyoung seeks an audience with Prince Nan'an. He prides himself for his patience, but the length of time that Weiyoung lets her lover languish in prison has him worried, wondering if maybe she thought of a different way to save him.
But there she is, waiting in his study, unchaperoned. He presumes the bodyguard and the handmaiden are waiting somewhere nearby.
She comes to him fairly late in the evening, teetering on the edge of an appropriate time for an unmarried lady to be calling on anyone, let alone a prince. Is it due to reluctancy, or to entice him? It is not like Li Weiyoung to act indecisively, but then, she is never enticing on purpose, either.
He also notices that she is wearing the same pale pink hanfu as when he first proposed marriage to her at the Li estate. Weiyoung wears fewer dresses than most noble ladies, but the choice could still have a meaning to it.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Her tone gives nothing away.
"Drop the formalities," he smiles. "What brings you here, Princess Anping?"
She wears her mask of neutrality as she rises from the stiff bow, settles into her usual prim pose without a hint of fidgeting. Her knuckles, however, are white with tension.
"I have come to make a proposition," she starts. Tuoba Yu raises an eyebrow and inwardly tempers his excitement. A proposition.
"I presume this has to do with Prince Gaoyang?"
"Yes."
He stands up and turns his back to her, feigning interest at some scroll on his bookcase. He tilts his neck to one side until it cracks with a satisfying crunch.
"Jun has really attracted father's ire this time," he says, his tone light. "What makes you think I have the power to change his situation?"
"May I speak plainly, Your Highness?"
He steals a glance at her. Li Weiyoung stands at the same spot by the entrance, her posture completely rigid, her gaze fixed stubbornly to his right shoulder.
"I hoped you would," he says.
She inhales deep and takes three steps into the room, probably to reduce the likelihood of someone eavesdropping through the door. Yu's fingertips tingle with anticipation as the object of his desires draws closer, almost close enough to grab.
I always get what I want.
"Tuoba Jun did not commit the crimes he stands accused of. Both of us know this," she says. Yu has to suppress the sting of jealousy that arises, when she addresses his nephew so casually with his Han name. To her, he is always "Prince Nan'an", while his nephew is "Tuoba Jun", most likely because of this strange and secret history they share. This inexplicable intimacy between them.
She continues: "Whether you were the one who framed him, or Chiyun Nan, or Prince Dongping, the fact remains that we both know he is innocent, and-" she pauses to swallow, like she has a bitter taste in her mouth, "-and you're the only one I can turn to with the means to save him."
"Oh?" His eyebrows rise and he lets some of his delight filter into his expression. "I never knew that Princess Anping thinks so highly of my capabilities. I feel that you have been rather cold towards me when I have offered you my assistance before. Why the change of heart?"
Her temper flares up at that. A tint of pink washes over her delicate, noble cheekbones, her bright and keen eyes ignite with that charming fire. How anyone was ever fooled to think that she was truly the bastard daughter of a maid escapes Tuoba Yu. Even before he learned of her true identity as the Princess of Northern Liang, it was obvious to him from the start that there was more to her than that. That her hand was worth much more than that.
"You may gloat if you wish," she says in a clipped and willful tone, drawing Yu out of his thoughts. "I can bear gloating. I live with Chiyun Rou and Li Changle. Humiliation is nothing to me. I have come here today expecting ridicule, but-"
"Ridicule? Never." Tuoba Yu takes a few slow steps towards her, circling around the desk that separates them. She does not flinch or step back as she usually would. She must really be serious about this. "But I am wondering, since you came here to beg, why are you not on your knees? I don't expect you to hit that pretty forehead of yours against the floor, but most people do that, at least," he says, smiling.
She is not entirely wrong. Tuoba Yu did not frame his nephew per se, but he is not entirely blameless in this matter, either. And he does have the means to save Tuoba Jun, even to benefit from doing so.
The fire in her eyes is scorching enough to burn a hole into his robe. "I did not come here to beg. I know Your Highness would never be moved by that,” she snaps. “I was fooled for a moment, but I see what kind of person you are now. As I said, I came with a proposition."
She refers to their time on the road, to Huatai. To those weeks of play acting at comrades, she the devoted lover of Prince Gaoyang and him the concerned uncle.
That did not last long.
He leans on the edge of his desk. He then smiles and gestures with his arm, beckoning her. "I am all ears."
She closes her eyes and inhales through her nose. Perhaps she offers the heaves a prayer, or an apology, in her mind. The heavens or Tuoba Jun. The flickering oil lamps cast a warm glow over the pale skin of her face, flushed with pink.
"Save Tuoba Jun, and I will help you become emperor. I will-" she falters, but spits the words out anyway. "I will stay by your side, as long as he lives. With the condition that we destroy Chiyun Nan and bring justice to my people."
Surprise cuts through the delirium of victory nearly overwhelming him. Destroy Chiyun Nan? Her hatred for the killer of her clan runs deep enough that even now, while bargaining for the life of her lover, she holds onto revenge?
He did pick her for a reason.
"You do understand what staying by my side entails, yes? I will not settle for a friendship," he says.
"Yes," she responds after a small pause, meeting his gaze. His fingertips have that tingle again. Patience.
"What makes you think I need you to become emperor?," he asks, examining his nailbeds. It is treasonous to even speak of, but in her position she gains nothing from reporting his sentiments to the emperor. Intelligent as she is, she must have figured out his true ambitions long ago. "Letting Tuoba Jun perish only brings me closer to that end, and with my rivals eliminated I can seize power and have you anyway."
Her knuckles remain white, but clasped to her front. She swallows. "Perhaps. But if Tuoba Jun dies I will never, ever comply with you. I will surely find a way to meet him in our next lives after my other goals have been fulfilled, or in pursuit of them." The fiery way she meets his gaze is as audacious as ever. "I trust you know me well enough to know that I mean this."
He lets her wait for his response for a beat. "I thought you said a woman must marry for love."
"I have come to realize that this is my only way to do that in this lifetime."
Marrying him for her love of Tuoba Jun. Not the most flattering idea, but Tuoba Yu has always known that, given the opportunity, he can make her see that he is the right choice for her all along. He is the only man who can truly see her and love every facet her, including her darkness, her cunning, her thirst for revenge. Jun is too simple to even conceive of such qualities in the woman he loves, let alone to appreciate them.
"I have a condition, too," he says.
Weiyoung's eyes narrow in suspicion. "What is it?"
"If you are to become my woman, I will not tolerate infidelity of any kind. You will be loyal only to me, you will aid only me. You will not tell Prince Gaoyang that you surrendered yourself to save him, so that he can harbor notions about stealing you back from me." The very idea of being made a fool of while the star-crossed lovers steal away at every opportunity makes him grind his teeth in sheeting anger. Somewhat masochistic, to willingly take a woman so devoted to another. But he has made up his mind, so Li Weiyoung will be his or die. There is no other outcome.
Besides, once married they will have time. A lifetime to make her love him.
Her mouth presses into a thin line. "Naturally. Infidelity means death for a royal consort. I know this."
They stare each other down for a moment. The sounds of servants shuffling about outside in preparation to end the day are background hum completely separated from this world where only they exist. Only them, and this tension.
"Prove it," he says.
He knows she understands his meaning, from the way the pink of her cheeks deepens in indignation, maybe even fear. It is ungentlemanly, not how he likes to do things, but he must see now that Li Weiyoung is prepared to stand behind her words. That she really knows what she is getting into and is prepared to carry out her side of the deal.
The first step she takes towards him is jerky, like she's standing in a puddle of tar. The next one is more decisive, then the next. She walks up to him with the dignity of an empress walking to the execution block. Tuoba Yu straightens up and clasps his hands behind his back to stop himself from reaching out and grabbing her. She has to be the one to close the distance, after all those times of jerking her hand from his grasp, turning her back to him.
Finally Weiyoung stands before him, so close that he smells her jasmine perfume, the powder in her hair. She looks up to him, seemingly unsure what to do. He gives her no hints, forcing an unaffected expression on his face. Eventually she reaches up and her warm fingertips brush against his cheekbone, like the flutter of butterfly wings.
Tuoba Yu’s fingers close around her wrist and his mouth is upon hers, swallowing her shocked gasp. Her mouth is hot and supple and tastes sweeter than any honey, any delicacy. His other arm wraps around her waist and she does not resist as he pulls her to him, feels her lithe and slender form pressed against his. Do they not feed her in the prime minister's household? He makes a mental note to see that she gains weight once she joins him, she will need her health to destroy their enemies in the coming years, to bear him children, to stay by his side and keep the darkness at bay every night, every night for the rest of their lives.
One of her hairpins falls to the floor with a loud clatter and her hair tumbles down her back. Yu's hand finds purchase in it, weaves through the long, silky stands and turns into a fist at the base of her skull.
Weiyoung gasps into his mouth again and this time she does resist. Yu realizes they have ended up in front of his bookcase, Weiyoung trapped between him and the priceless scrolls and vases behind her. She moves quick and nimble and slips underneath his arm and out of his grasp. Yu barely stops himself from grabbing her hanfu and yanking her back to him. She scrambles wildly backwards until her back hits the door with a thud.
"Young lady?" her bodyguard, Jun Tao, calls from the other side of the door, clearly ready to tear into the room and rescue her mistress at the slightest provocation.
For a few seconds they just look at each other, chests heaving with labored breath. Yu has never seen the composed, perfect Weiyoung like this, the collar of her hanfu wrinkled, hair a mess, lips slick and slightly ajar. The wildness in her eyes is difficult to interpret, he has never seen her wear this expression before.
"Weiyoung-" he starts, but she cuts him short.
"Save him tomorrow, and you can have what you want."
And then she slips out of the door, gone before he can think of a response.
His legs carry him to his chair and he collapses into it. He lets out a delirious laugh and brushes his lips with his fingertips. Warm, and wet. His fingers move to his cheek, also wet. From her tears, presumably.
Cheng An slips into the room soon. Ever the devoted servant.
"Did she...?" he trails off awkwardly.
Tuoba Yu only smiles, and Cheng An gives a stiff smile back.
"Please take no offense, Your Highness, but I must express once more my misgivings about choosing a woman so devoted to another as your wife. Can you truly trust her?" he finally says.
"I would trust Li Weiyoung with my life," Yu says, twirling her hairpin between his fingertips and examining how the light hits it from different angles. "Making her fully loyal to me will be an arduous task no doubt, but nothing worth having comes easy in my view."
"You got everything you wanted, then," Cheng An says. "As expected from someone as astute as you, Prince Nan'an."
"Oh no, not even close. This is only the first battle in the war for Li Weiyoung’s affection,” the prince says, smiling to himself. “I shall look forward to it.”