The big day then came. The day of the Emperor's birthday.
The dance was not done immediately. There should be a great feast first, one with all the officials, with the Empress and Emperor eating side by side.
After that, the Empress would prepare to get dressed and give the performance, and no one else was allowed to watch it. The Palace was emptied out and everyone must be outside.
But one Yin scholar snuck in while the Empress was getting dressed.
"I prepared the things for the fire, Empress." Ren Jidian said as he went through the window. "We just lure him into that room and then everything will soon be over."
He was wearing the robes Empress Wei bought for him. The one that matches what he will wear for the dance.
The Empress was behind a partition, decorated with pink skies and mountians surrounded by peach blossoms.
"It really would be over, isn't it? Ah-Guang."
He heard some sort of somberness in his tone. Was he suddenly having doubts?
Ren Guang walked towards the painted screen that divides them. "It would be. After this... If all was well, which it will be.... You'll be a free man."
"With me. I promise." Ren Guang said.
There was no response for a while. He had come to accept that his Yi-Yi would always be a man of mystery, always difficult to fathom like the wind.
And he actually like that about him. It keeps him up his toes.
But now it's making him a bit anxious.
What if he suddenly gets too scared to do it? What if he regrets doing this with him at all? What if---
"Ah-Guang..... Do I look beautiful enough to make a man not realize he was being killed?"
The painted screen suddenly parts, revealing the person inside.
Wei Wangyi was.....
In this dancing clothes, pink instead of red... He looked more like a flamingo.
So beautiful and mysterious, vivid colors making the watcher unable to stop looking at him.
Ren Jidian remembered watching flamingos a lot in the LED screens of malls. He had been fascinated with them, and ever since he saw Wei Sizhi's pink highlights...
He had come to associate him with these fascinating birds.
"Pink really suits you." He found himself saying out loud.
Wei Wangyi smiled. "I believe so too. Red is too.... extreme for me. Disingenuine."
He nodded in agreement. The bridal robes that symbolized joy felt so fake, too bright to the eyes.
But with him in this soft shade of pink..... He looked genuinely happy,
Ren Jidian went close to his painted face. He was wearing make-up too, but it was mroe subdued than what most performers would wear.
He liked it a lot, but at the same time.....
He wanted to see that makeup smeared. The colors smudging as he make a mess of his Yi-Yi.
Wei Wangyi smiled. "I know that look. It's the same you had for me during your cycle. Had it suddenly began again?"
"No..... You're just so beautiful in this dress, Yi-Yi." He lifted his chin up. "I want to kiss you...."
Wei Wangyi lowered his long lashes as he also looked piningly for Ren Jidian's lips.
"I would have to apply the rogue again, but I suppose you could... Mmm....."
Ren Jidian wasted not time in planting a soft kiss to his lips, the rouge passing onto him.
When they parted, Wei Wangyi smiled. "Rougue does not look bad on you either."
He touched his lips. "Ah, I do not like it. It feels weird."
He never liked makeup not because he found them as something only Omegas and women should wear, but because he does not like the texture or chemical feel.
But this rogue was not bad. Actually, it did not taste bad either.
"This isn't vermillon, right?" He noticed.
Wei Wangyi smiled. "Yes. I crushed red berries and mixed it with beeswax."
"It really does taste good...." Ren Jidian licked his lips. "Can I have some more?"
The soon to be not-Empress smiled and kissed him again. Then again, and again, until---
Knock! Knock!
"Yi-Yi, are you not done yet? I cannot wait anymore."
Both of them grumbled at the voice. So annoying.
Wei Wangyi took his rouge and reapplied it, and Ren Jidian went to hide behind the screen with peach skies and peach blossoms.
"I will be right there, my dear husband." Wei Wangyi answered sweetly. "Please be patient, I wanted to look perfect for you for this day."
"I see... I..... That is understandble, but please don't make me wait for too long."
Ren Jidian scoffed. Look at this stuttering fool, he had no idea what face Wei Wangyi was wearing when he called him husband.
Because deep down, there can only be one man who's his husband. And that's him.
Wei Wangyi had fixed himself up, and breathed heavily. He knocked on Ren Jidian's door.
He whispered, his cherry pink lips quirked up. "You still have not answered my question. Do I look good enough to get someone killed from my beauty?"
Ren Jidian nodded furiously. "Yes, yes, of course!"
He kissed the Empress' hand. "You look terribly and frighteningly beautiful."
Wei Wangyi giggled and placed a finger to his lips. "Say no more. Just wait for me on the other side of the burning door, Ah-Guang."
They parted ways, and he went to meet this husband fo his.
Emperor Zau was understandable stunned by his beauty, getting frozen in place like a statue. Wei Wangyi was like a Medusa that can petrify you with just one gaze.
"Y-You.... You look...."
Before he could make any comprehensible sentence, the sound of drums came.
It was Lady Shu playing those drums to a certain rhythm. Besides the emperor and empress, she was the only one allowed inside the Palace to play the music for this dance.
"You may now begin, Empress Wei." Lady Shu said.
Wei Wangyi took a pink sash and drapped it over Emperor Zau's eyes, whispering breathily:
"Let us dance, my dear husband."
And so, he led him to several rooms, dancing quickly to the rhythm of the drums while waving that sash tantalizingly all over Emperor Zau.
This drum was also the cue for their assassin to get into position.
Once Song Xiu heard it, he finished sharpening his blade above the tall tree where he was hiding.
He saw the dancing figures in the window, and chuckled.
He then took out his poisoned dart, and mocked aiming it towards the Emperor's neck.
"Goodbye, Ah-Ting. It has been fun playing with you."