Cold Moon, Bright Star

By bloodredrosez

December 26, 2017

Author's Note: The title here was actually inspired by Yuwen Huai's speech right before Chu Qiao's fake death. Yuwen Huai was trying to provoke Yuwen Yue into saving her and accuses them of having "secrets between them that cannot be said," implying that they were lovers. This part covers only Episodes 44 and 45 and well, what can I say, it's shamelessly XingYue all the way. This is my take on those scenes so it doesn't follow the drama exactly, although I've kept a lot of the important dialogue. I wouldn't say there's anything here worthy of an R rating, but it's not a G either. Chinese censorship is the stuff of jokes—like when all that money spent on 260 costumes for Fan Bing Bing went down the drain since the censors forced all cleavage to be cut out, meaning a lot of The Empress of China turned into awkward headshots. I also realized that Chu Qiao's backstory got changed probably because time travel dramas were banned in 2011.

I only wonder how Mark Chao was able to get away with being so amazingly sexy in Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms even in the short scenes they actually showed. If only Lin Geng Xin had taken some notes from his BFF! It still cracks me up that Zhao Li Ying said that she wanted to redo the XingYue kiss scene but he'd already "ran away" from her because he was too embarrassed. (And it's still really weird to me that the same voice actor did both Ye Hua and Yuwen Yue's voices.)


The Secrets Between Us


Sometimes there is bad luck, and then sometimes there is such exceptionally bad luck that one can only conclude that it's just fate.

It took Chu Qiao only a few minutes to come to this exact conclusion when she realized two things: first, the dancing girl she had knocked out had been getting ready to serve a man, and second, that man was Yuwen Yue. How could that even be? If she hadn't bowed before him and confirmed his identity with her own senses, she would never have believed such a coincidence could happen. Of course, this just reminded her again of all his nonsense about the red thread bringing together lovers.

What was he even doing here in this city and in this manor specifically, let alone getting taken care of by some slave girl? During her time at Qing Shan Yuan, she had done everything from serving him tea to enlisting in his spy corps, but never once had she seen him with a woman. Yuwen Yue had never once demanded that of her either, although he had heavily implied that she would serve him in bed when he had first chosen her as a bedchamber maid, though as Chu Qiao grew to know him better, she realized he had likely been trying to scare her to see her reaction.

Her annoyance over having her escape thwarted mixed with a strange feeling of unease. As he called her to come to him, all she could think was: did he know? Had he somehow recognized her, even in this unlikeliest of places? On one hand, she wouldn't be surprised if he had recognized her as easily as she had recognized him, even though she had carefully kept her face hidden when she had bowed to him. On the other hand, she could be overthinking things entirely.

Three years had passed, she had changed considerably and he could have as well. Perhaps he did spend all day idling and being served hand and foot by beautiful women now, especially after being away at the warfront. For some reason, the thought of this made her grit her teeth. But Chu Qiao attributed her wrath to the inconvenience of having to play this ridiculous role instead of leaving immediately.

Chu Qiao walked softly on bare feet towards him, debating what she could do. If he was relaxed enough, she could create enough of a distraction to get out before he could stop her. But this was Yuwen Yue after all, the man who sometimes appeared about as emotional as an iceberg. He wasn't the type to relax even when soaking in a hot water bath, no matter how many rose petals were scattered around.

She assessed the opulent furnishings around them with an eye for combat. Of course there was also a lavishly adorned bed nearby. She eyed the sheer drapery, her mind flashing back to a particular memory of hers from a night long ago, when she had watched him in secret and had heard him quite clearly call out in passion—call out her name. For a moment, Chu Qiao imagined the dancing girl in that bed with Yuwen Yue, and she suddenly felt the mean urge to wake up the comatose girl just so she could knock her out again.

But past the bed Yuwen Yue was waiting for her in hazy steam from the bath, barely dressed. She was quiet as she ascended the steps behind him, part of her mind wondering if she should be noisier. She had trained to be utterly silent as a spy, as an assassin. But what would the dancing girl sound like anyway? Would she have sighed coquettishly or swished her dress around her ankles, seducing him with the sound of its sheer layers on bare skin?

Either way, Yuwen Yue showed no reaction. Far too soon, Chu Qiao was gingerly loosening the thin white robe around his throat, exposing far too much smooth, damp skin. Her mouth suddenly dry, Chu Qiao tried to keep a healthy distance between them as she lightly placed her fingers on him just above the hard ridges of his collarbones. Even so, it was like she could feel the heat radiating off his body from where she knelt behind him, or perhaps it was just the curling warm vapors from the water.

She forgot to breath as she tentatively made some massaging motions with her fingers, trying to ignore how thrilling it was to even be touching a man so intimately. He seemed tense, or perhaps it was just that his shoulders were simply this muscular? She applied a little more pressure with her hands and he leaned back into her touch. His eyes were closed and she was behind him anyway, yet she felt a hot blush across her cheeks. There was a drop of water at the curve of his neck, above her fingers, and she suddenly wondered what it would taste like from his skin. Would it match the clean, masculine scent of him?

Brow furrowed over her wandering thoughts, Chu Qiao swiped away the tempting water with a fingertip. The light motion unexpected elicited a shiver from him, but his eyes remained firmly closed and he said nothing. Only the flutter of his pulse in the hollow of his throat gave him away. She leaned closer and reached to touch it without thinking, fascinated by the strength of it beneath her fingers. She heard his breath hitch just a bit as it quickened. She'd forgotten to even continue massaging his shoulders, but he was evidently enjoying her touch quite a bit.

So he was used to being touched like this?

Seized with an irrational annoyance, Chu Qiao decided it was time to end the playacting and reached for the tiny blade she had hidden in her hair. It wasn't like she could actually hurt him with such a toy but as a distraction, it would do.

His swift movement to block her strike was somehow just as expected as it was unexpected. What she hadn't fully taken into account was the water and the way it made her white clothing cling to her skin, nearly transparent. As always, it took only moments before the rhythm of their fighting synchronized and their movements flowed together, attacking and defending with all the grace of an improvised dance from master artists. Even though she had been the aggressor, he quickly became a step ahead of her, leading her from one position into another.

Yuwen Yue's utter lack of surprise told her that of course he had known it was her all along. How dare he let her roleplay as the dancing girl for so long! If she hadn't attacked, just how far would he have taken the act?

He hadn't said a word yet, but there was the tiniest curl of his lips, a certain gleam in his eyes that suggested he was laughing at her. He was so infuriating!

Distracted, she felt him tear away her flimsy outer robe, freeing her from the wet material. But she had only just caught her balance when Yuwen Yue's hand closed on the back of her corset and the thin material tore cleanly off her.

Chu Qiao ran from him and, thinking quickly, grabbed a hanging curtain to wrap around herself. She was flushed with exertion and embarrassment. Had he seen? She could almost feel his gaze hot on her back, not shocked at all, but lingering. Why had he… But of course it hadn't been a mistake; Yuwen Yue didn't make mistakes. Especially when it came to removing clothing from women. So then he had done it on purpose.

Chu Qiao's thoughts flitted in a confused circle even as they continued to fight, but then she realized that he had somehow herded her onto the bed, which only made her even more determined to come out on top. He clearly enjoyed their sparring, though she finally surprised him by returning the favor and tearing off his robe. It was only fair, after all.

But Chu Qiao realized almost immediately that it was a strategic mistake. Facing a half nude Yuwen Yue was overwhelming. His body was muscular and well defined, in top condition as might be expected from fighting male in his prime. It wasn't as though she had never in her life seen other men similarly unclothed, but she had trouble tearing her gaze away.

Flustered, she kicked at his legs to bring him down beside her, only instead of controlling his fall to land beside her on the bed, he...didn't. He let himself fall to his knees, trapping her legs between his, and leaned forward, his arms on either side of her shoulders. She had only a moment to register it all before he leaned even closer and kissed her.

The taste of him was exactly as she had remembered from their one and only kiss at the training grounds in Qing Shan Yuan. But the rest was different. Then, it had been a surprise for both of them, a revelation between them followed by her swift, decisive denial. But this time the kiss felt as natural as breathing, as natural as their sparring, an obvious culmination of their strange dance from the bath to the bed.

It was heat, and desire, and slow combustion. He stopped only to murmur something against her neck that she couldn't catch, and then his lips were on hers again and her hands were slipping over the bare skin of his back, urging him closer. His hard body pressed against hers and he made a sound low in his throat. She understood only too well what it conveyed, the satisfaction of being close and the frustration of still not being close enough. He was heavy and so much bigger than her and—and he was unmistakably aroused.

Her inhibitions melted away and suddenly she was greedy for more. She had never in her life wanted like this. Their gazes met for a long, breathless moment. They hadn't said a single word to each other but whatever Yuwen Yue saw in her eyes made his darken even more. She arched up against him and in response he slid his arm around her, rolling them both in a swift movement so that she ended up on top of him.

Chu Qiao kicked out in reflex, thinking that she was sparring with him again. Something fell to the ground and shattered loudly. The outer doors to their chamber crashed open almost immediately after as both of them froze in position.

Yuwen Yue recovered before she did, throwing a cover over her just as she saw Yue Qi approaching. The poor guard was met with an angry shouted command to get out and by the time Chu Qiao peeled away the cover, she'd come back to her senses. Sudden realization of what exactly Yue Qi had just accidentally interrupted flooded her in the worst way. Yuwen Yue had hastily slipped his robe back on as well, though he'd tied it less securely than normal, so a triangle of bare skin extended down his chest.

What had they been doing? Her face burned with horrifying embarrassment as they overheard the guards' surprised reactions outside. They sat through the excruciatingly long conversation, although she stole a look at Yuwen Yue when they mentioned his abstinence for several years and how relieved they were that he was finally "getting back to normal." She felt like even her ears were hot with mortification.

He, of course, remained stoic as ever despite his guards' antics and their own compromising actions. In fact, Yuwen Yue didn't even look like he'd just been interrupted from…whatever they were doing. Chu Qiao firmly kept her eyes above his neck.

They sat in bed together and she looked at him, trying to imitate his expression of cool disdain.

"If the top beam is crooked, the lower beams cannot be straight," she said primly, using the proverb to blame him for his guards' vices. It was not much of an insult, but it was the first thing that came to her scrambled mind.

He snorted, looking at her up and down. "You're the one who climbed into in a man's bed. So proper. Such virtuous actions."

It felt like he was heating her with his gaze even as he laid on the sarcasm. Chu Qiao wrapped another layer of sheer curtain around herself like she was gathering the shreds of her dignity, and settled for glaring at him.

"What are you looking at me for?" he said with perfect calm. "You still want more? Come at me again."

She tried kicking him in response and he fended her off before getting up off the bed. Chu Qiao was so relieved that she didn't even think to warn him about the woman that she'd left inside the closet. He muttered about her lack of warning even as he put two and two together, realizing where the beautiful dancing girl promised to him had gone. She thought that would be the end of it but Yuwen Yue was not about to let her off the hook so easily. He was in a mood.

"Such a pity," he said with an exaggerated sigh, leaning against the closet.

"What's such a pity? I ruined your big plans for tonight?" She bit off each question like the words were tart. "Are you reluctant to give her up?"

"Of course. A great beauty is hidden in the closet," Yuwen Yue mused. "Meanwhile, a shrew occupies the bed. Any man would think it's a pity."

"So you are a man?" she retorted quickly. "Then why did I just hear the guards outside say that you haven't touched a woman for years and soon will be a monk?"

He really wouldn't give her the satisfaction of any reaction. It was almost a marvel that he was so thick-faced. Instead, he closed the distance between them with a few steps and leaned in close.

"If you keep trying to provoke me," he said with deliberate slowness, "you can come find out whether I'm a real man."

Chu Qiao nearly choked as he leaned in even closer. She had very much confirmed that fact tonight already. The way he was observing her made her shiver. "Pervert."

He gave her a skeptical look. "You dressed like this to seduce me first. Who's the pervert?"

She couldn't believe her ears. "Who was seducing you?" After all, the only reason why she was dressed in sheer curtains was because he had undressed her piece by piece!

It was far, far past time to go and she turned to leave when he stopped her. They struggled as he wrapped an arm around her from behind. Try as she might, he kept her in that unyielding position, her back pressed against his front.

She couldn't even confront him face to face. "I'm leaving! Let me go!"

"Never," he said into her ear darkly. There was a strange tension in the way he had answered her. Chu Qiao stilled for a moment at the promise in his pained tone.

Before she had a chance to decide what to do, they were interrupted for the second time that night. She stayed quiet as she listened to Yuwen Yue's exchange with Minister Tian outside the door. When they were done, she took the opportunity to break out of his embrace.

So Wei Shuye was here, and as Yuwen Yue so helpfully informed her, the princess wanted her dead. Chu Qiao understood, to some extent—Chun'er had suffered and as the men who had raped her were already dead, the object of her vengeance had transferred to Chu Qiao herself. Even now, Chun'er couldn't bear to direct her anger at Yan Xun.

"So what are you doing here in the first place?" she asked Yuwen Yue. It couldn't be coincidence that they were all in this city. Had they all tracked her here?

"I was looking for you," he admitted. "The whole world is out for your head right now, everyone from local officials and the imperial soldiers, to bounty hunters."

"You needn't be so concerned for my sake." But Wei Shuye posed a problem. Chu Qiao couldn't leave now, with his men no doubt closely watching the entire area and noting who was coming and going. She would have to spend the night here.

"Stay in your bed," she warned. "I'll be over here." She pointed at the reclining couch farthest away.

Yuwen Yue merely looked at her and nodded. "As you like."


* O * O * O *


Chu Qiao had hardly been able to sleep all night, her mind too busy. The best she could get was a half doze, and even then she wasn't sure if she was dreaming or reliving the events of the past day. Every time she had closed her eyes, she had been all too aware of Yuwen Yue lying just across the room on the very same bed that now occupied far too many of her thoughts. Though he was quiet and didn't toss and turn the way she did, she wondered if he, too, had lain there on the bed awake all night. The strain of all her worrying gave her a headache.

So when Yuwen Yue confronted her over breakfast and reiterated the many dangers that lay before her, she did not have much patience, even though she understood what he was trying to do. He was doing the same thing he always did with her, the same thing he had done ever since he had found her alive again, hiding in the Oriole Courtyard. He was trying to persuade her not to go to Yanbei and not to follow Yan Xun, though he never put it in quite such blunt terms.

Even though he knew how she would respond and she knew what he would say, they still did the same song and dance, neither one willing to change their position. So he told her once again that she was foolish and crazy to make the entire world her enemy, and she told him once again that she didn't care and that she was afraid of nothing, not even death.

"Yanbei is Yan Xun's hometown. So it is mine too." She couldn't be any clearer than that. "Even if it costs my life, I will still go to Yanbei."

Chu Qiao could see him gritting his teeth and biting back words when she said that, his usual equanimity lost. He kept his hands folded behind his back as though he would otherwise reach out to grab her shoulders and shake some sense into her.

"Yuwen Yue…" Seeing him like that did not leave her entirely unmoved. But there was nothing she could offer him, no other words or promises. Chu Qiao had made her choice long ago. Whatever thing was between them wasn't meant to be. Why couldn't he admit that? She didn't believe in fate, or red threads, or destiny. She had come from nothing—she was a girl with no past, and thus even when she had been a slave, she had always known that her future was free.

He was looking at her in that same way as last night, when he had told her he would never let go. "Fine. If you want to go, you may." When he saw that she was looking intently at him, he purposely turned away. "If you are caught by others, if you are hurt, or if you die somewhere…none of it matters. Just don't let me know. Let it be somewhere I can't see, somewhere I can't reach, some place where I can't help you…"

He finally met her gaze and his bleak expression rendered her speechless. "Or else I won't be able to bear it."

Before Chu Qiao could reply, he strode quickly away. He was usually a man of few words and even fewer expressions, and yet he had said such things to her, had offered her a glimpse of how he truly felt. She stared after his disappearing form, left only with the gravity of his words and an uncomfortable twisting in her chest that she realized might be what was known as heartache.


* O * O * O *


She was supposed to go off on her own path, back to Yanbei. Yuwen Yue had said nothing more to dissuade her and had even agreed to send her off after the banquet with Wei Shuye. Perhaps it was because of that or perhaps it was because she couldn't seem to put aside his words or shake off the feelings they had produced, but she wore the rose pink clothing he had picked out for her, painstakingly applied the makeup, and even arranged her hair.

Yuwen Yue's subsequent commentary on how she looked like a woman after dressing up had made her feel as though she were back on more solid footing. It was with relief that she spit out a retort at him, expecting more of the same back, but then she had turned and come face to face with him. His gaze had seemed softer than usual and he had complimented her in his typical understated way, though a bit quietly.

The banquet had passed just as expected, though Chu Qiao's thoughts were far away as she planned out how she would rescue Liang and then leave on the back of a stolen horse. She rather thought that Yuwen Yue was enjoying parading her around as "his woman" right under the noses of all the very people intent on finding her. Wei Shuye was such an amateur—he was far out of his league and he should have known it, especially after the last scheme he was involved in got Wei Guan executed. In fact, Yuwen Yue had saved his life by intervening with the Emperor.

Though Wei Shuye almost certainly knew her identity, he simply didn't have the skill to outmaneuver Yuwen Yue. Yet he still tried. Love made people do crazy things, Chu Qiao mused. The spoiled princess didn't deserve his devotion, but then again, love was rarely about what one deserved.

"Xing'er, wake up," Yuwen Yue murmured, shaking her from her thoughts. She had planned on going off on her own path, and yet she had ended up here instead: poisoned by a needle meant for Yuwen Yue and now pretending to be his wife while stuck in cramped quarters with him while they traveled with the caravan troop. Yuwen Yue had implied that he'd taken care of her for those four days that she had slept, rendered unconscious by the poison in her system. She hadn't had the courage to ask who had changed her out of her clothes. She dimly recalled sleeping with her head on his lap, too.

"How are you feeling? Any worse?" He handed her some water and she drank. Her eyes felt like lead weights, so she closed them again.

"No. Just tired," she mumbled. "Why do you wake me up so often?"

"I told you the medicine I've been giving you only slowed the poison's damage, but it doesn't negate the effects. I don't want you falling back into a coma. Do you remember anything I said?"

She didn't, but she nodded anyway. Her body slid towards his as he leaned back on the cushions beside her. Normally she would have been alarmed that he was right next to her, but under the influence of the herbs, his proximity felt extraordinarily good. He smelled pleasantly of some woodsy scent. He was warm and his shoulder was a much better pillow for her head.

He put his hand on her forehead to check her temperature and then brushed some hair away from her face, but made no move to dislodge her. In fact, he secured her by slipping his arm around her waist, keeping her head from sliding off his shoulder with all the bumps in the road. "Next time don't be so silly. You shouldn't have blocked that needle for me."

"What was I going to do instead? Let you take it?" She meant to say it smartly, but she was so sleepy that it didn't sound that way. "That wouldn't make me a very good wife now would it, dear husband?"

His arm around her tightened momentarily and she felt the edges of her mouth curl up in the smallest smirk. The day she stopped baiting him would be the day she died.

"The amount of poison wouldn't have affected me nearly as much as it does you. I'm certain I taught you that before." Yuwen Yue sounded strangely pleased and yet also somewhat upset. The combination was so odd that Chu Qiao forced open an eye but saw nothing but the strong line of his jaw.

She yawned. "Maybe the real solution is to get assassins to leave us alone then. Now can we stop talking? Your 'wife' is still recuperating, isn't that the story?"

"Xing'er…"

"What?"

There was a long pause. "Nothing. Go back to sleep. I'll be here."


FIN

* O * O * O *


A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! Please review and let me know what you think, your interest and enthusiasm for the story means so much to me :3