The sun was setting right behind the imperial palace of china. Darkness engulfed around the air, chirping birds in their nests sleeping into silence. In the darkness, a faint shadow of a running carriage could be seen, a manly figure sat inside the carriage with his tired eyes gazing into wilderness.

"Nucai seeks forgiveness for his daring words but Huangshang looks horribly exhausted." Xian Xu said while walking beside the emperor's carriage, his downward gaze flickering worriedly at his master every now and then.

"Zhen needs sleep, Xian Xu. It is getting hard to find sleep these nights."

"Please behead these servants for our ignorance to your hardship, huangshang. The bed in the royal chamber must be not of your comfort, Huangshan. Nucai will change it right away!" Dong chun, another eunuch stood beside Xu Xian rambled, his head bowing again and again asking for forgiveness.

Zhu Zhen tsked at the eunuch's exaggeration and shut him up with a cold glare. But his stern eyes turned soft the moment his carriage passed by the palace of plum blossoms (the palace where G.Li was living in), his gaze stuck at the garden just outside G.Li's villa.

He still remembered Gongsun Li's red as beetroot face after he made love to her in middle of that chrysanthemum garden, not that she resisted his advances, she was rather enjoying their passionate act. After the act however, she was sulking, accusing his 'handsome body' that seduced her into this shameless act. She even vowed she would never let him get close to her again. However, all it took Zhu Zhen was a bowl of pork soup to get his hands on her again.

"How is she?" he whispered to no one.

"Nucai heard she is really avoiding food these days, all the meals were being sent back to the imperial kitchen." Xian Xu informed, sharply observing the emperor's reaction.

Zhu Zhen bolted in a upright position at his seat, his expression turning cruel cold.

"Is she not being served well? Are the servants ignoring her, not taking care of her?!"

"Huangshang, please pardon the servants!" Xian Xu and all the servants there dropped to their feet and started kowtowing.

"Huangshang, nucai interrogated all the servants there, furen is being taken care well, she seems to be too sad to eat these days." Xian Xu hurriedly rattled.

"Sad?" Zhu Zhen seemed genuinely confused. She should be happy, not sad. He left her because he made her sad, now without him, she should be on cloud nine.

"Yes, Huangshang. Nucai asks for forgiveness for his words but furen misses Huangshang so much that furen can't eat without Huang."

"Don't fret with me!" Although Zhu Zhen voice seemed angry and dangerous, his eyes light up with a childlike hope making Xian Xu's heart ache for his love stricken emperor.

"If huanghuang thinks nucai is lying nucai offers his head to huangshang."

Xian Xu could never know how much happiness his words brought to the emperor's thirsty heart, but he figured it out as he saw the prominent darkness disappearing from his master's aura as if it was never there.

"She misses me." Zhu Zhen whispered making all the eunuchs walking by the carriage smile at the childlike excitement in his voice.

..........

Two days passed since that evening and the emperor still did not visit G.Li. To say, Xian Xu was surprised would be an understatement. Although, Zhu Zhen seemed normal after that evening, his dark circles were still there making his lack of sleep obvious. That did not stop his work though, the emperor was working hard to prepare for the war, to save his state from all the calamities that would come during the war.

"Raise the amount of taxes from the merchants and deduct taxes of farmers. There can be a drought in the middle of the war." He ordered the finance management ministers while a courtier was reading out the reports.

"Huangshang, The Qin state sent their response to your message", an eunuch informed.

"What does it say?"

"They agree to help us in the war."

"En" Zhu Zhen looked somewhat relieved but the tension in his shoulder was still digging. He rolled his shoulders to gain some relief but to no avail. His eyes were hurting from reading all the reports from dawn.

"The meeting is adjourned." He announced leaning his head at the headrest of his throne.

"Huangshang seems tired and sick. A daifu should check on huang." a minister advised.

"En." Zhu Zhen mumbled incoherently messaging between his brows. God! He so badly needed to sleep, falling sick in the time of war can be proved dangerous.

Xian Xu started mumbling with a shaken voice

"If Huanshang would visit furen, maybe huang could sleep-

"No!"

"Pardon nucai, huangshang. Nucai was wrong to advise huang."

"Zhen does not need anyone to sleep. From now on, Zhen will only sleep alone."

However Zhu Zhen could not keep his words.

Gongsun Li was startled awake from her sleep later that night when she felt herself being pulled closer to a hard body. She was going to scream only if she didn't hear a familiar troubled whisper in her ears,

"I need sleep."

"La- Laoye?" G.Li was hyperventilating with all the happiness she felt and all the confusion at the events but mostly she felt relief when Zhu Zhen nuzzled his nose in her hair. His arms encircled her waist making her dive right into his body

"Make me sleep, Li'er. Please."

Gongsun Li's eyes burst into tears and she turned herself to face him and hugged him close. She stared at his face with tearful eyes to her heart's fill, her heart broke seeing his tired face. Lifting her fingers, she massaged the area between his eyebrows gently and then buried her fingers in his hair to massage his scalp. Zhu Zhen closed his eyes in pleasure as her fingers circled his scalp soothingly. Gongsun Li tucked his head at the crevice of her neck knowing how he liked to bury his face there and smell her scent.

"Sleep, ." she whispered kissing his ear lovingly and smiled when she heard him snore lightly just seconds after.