Thank G.o.d there are a lot of trees in the cold palace, except for a shortness of everything else.
Ah Zhao finds a rope and ties two knots on two trees.
She shakes the quilt sent by the Imperial Household Department open, disdain apparent on her face.
n.o.body knows how long the quilt has been left aside. It"s a little wet and light.
It"s already autumn. It feels alright during the day, but when night falls, coldness creeps upon them from everywhere.
What good could that do?
Ah Zhao once again curses n.o.ble Consort He for some time.
If she can walk out of this place alive, she thinks to herself, she is sure to let n.o.ble Consort He experience what it is like to be a worker.
Ah Zhao hangs the quilt on the rope. She turns around and sees the crude black clothes.
When Zhao Yin walks out of the chamber with his face streaming with sweat, he sees that Ah Zhao is crouching down by the well and scrubbing the clothes, exerting a great deal of effort.
For a split moment, the phrase "men plough and women weave" occurs to him.
He shakes his head and throws that strange ideal out of his mind.
Zhao Yin has had the feeling that this Princess of his has changed somehow after she was in the cold palace.
But he hasn"t figured out what exactly has changed about her.
When night comes again, the Palace of Happiness has changed a bit, if not taken on an entirely new look.
The sleeping chamber is empty except for a bed for sleeping and a soft couch. Zhao Yin has carried all the things that could be thrown away to the other unused room that"s beside the sleeping chamber.
Both the ground and the wall were carefully cleaned. Though they still look old and shabby, but at least they don"t look that dirty any more.
Ah Zhao is looking at the bed and soft couch with the light quilt.
It"s clear that the two of them are going to sleep separately.
As a man, Zhao Yin conscientiously walks to the soft couch and leaves the bed to Ah Zhao.
Both of them sleep with their clothes on. Then Zhao Yin blows out the light.
The chamber sinks into darkness in a split second.
Ah Zhao bursts out a short cry: "What did you do?"
Zhao Yin"s deep voice rings in the dark: "Light out. It"s time for bed. Anything else, Princess?"
Of course!
It"s so dark in here!
And this place is a wreck!
Besides it"s chilly in here!
Ah Zhao says, as calm as she possibly could: "Why did you put the light out?"
Zhao Yin is confused by her: "We don"t have a lot of oil for the lantern so we have to use it sparingly."
Something suddenly strikes him: "Are you afraid of darkness?"
Ah Zhao stubbornly refuses to admit that: "No, I"m just asking without thinking."
Zhao Yin therefore stops talking.
Ah Zhao keeps her silence as well.
With her eyes shut, Ah Zhao tries her best to sleep.
But all kinds of strange things are on her mind, like there"s a shadow looking over her by her bed or whether a hand would reach out beneath her bed.
She huddles herself up under the quilt, but she can"t fall asleep as she keeps thinking about those things.
It seems like someone sighs in the dark.
After that, a slightly yellow halo lights up this little s.p.a.ce.
Feeling the light, Ah Zhao opens her eyes cautiously.
She has a sigh of relief, turns around and sits up. Looking at Zhao Yin, who gets up to light up the lantern, she says with all seriousness: "Aren"t we saving the lantern oil? Why did you light it?"
Zhao Yin: "…"
He"s a man who practices martial arts. With the bed and couch so close, he hears her breath perfectly clear.
If he wasn"t worried that she was too frightened to sleep, he wouldn"t get up just to light up the lantern.
What a double-faced woman!
Zhao Yin glances at Ah Zhao and snorts slightly: "Couldn"t I be afraid of the dark?"
It turns out the male lead is also afraid of darkness.
Ah Zhao thinks happily to herself: "That is great!" Now she can take advantage of the light.
She looks at the male lead with a reserved manner and says hypocritically: "I see. Since you are so scared of the dark, we can have the lantern on during the night and come up with something else for the lantern oil later."
Zhao Yin: "…"