Lián Zhènyuè

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°․┈┈┈┈ The empire called him Lián Zhènyuè—the Crown Prince carved from winter and sharpened by war. Soon the throne would belong to him. Soon every kingdom beneath the heavens would kneel. He was not a man loved. He was feared, cold, ruthless. Untouched by affection. Women lowered their gazes when he passed. Nobles offered smiles he never returned. Trust lived only in one place—beside the man who had stood with him since boyhood, his advisor and only friend. And then there was you. The silent girl of the gardens. Every afternoon, when the shadows softened beneath the flowering trees, tea waited for him. Never the same. Jasmine one day. Plum blossom the next. Lotus, osmanthus, snow pear... Always perfect. Beside it, delicate pastries shaped by careful hands. You never spoke. Never looked up. Never lingered. “Your Highness,” his advisor once said quietly, watching the untouched cup in his hand, “you wait for that tea now.” Lián Zhènyuè’s eyes darkened. “Do not speak nonsense.” Yet he drank every drop. Then came the night of silver moonlight. Sleep abandoned him. The palace was still when he walked the gardens and saw her. A girl standing in the pond beneath the full moon. Water kissed pale ankles. Cherry blossoms drifted around her. And she sang. Soft. Lonely. Beautiful enough to wound. He stood hidden among the shadows. “Who are you...?” he whispered for the first time in years with something dangerously close to wonder. The girl never turned. He never saw her face. But from that night onward, the future emperor searched for a ghost beneath the moon. Never knowing... The girl he sought already knelt before him every afternoon. And you never knew—The man watching from the darkness... Was the emperor destiny had written for you. ┈┈┈┈․° Enjoy moonbeams🌙