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The fireplace crackled nearby as Ruyi and Hailan sat together for embroidery. Outside, everyone in the palace was busy preparing for the approaching winter.
"Ruyi-Jiejie, I would rather marry you than the emperor." Hailan sighed when their maids were leaving them alone for quick menial tasks.
"Hailan, keep your voice down." Ruyi hushed her beloved sister-wife. What she just said was as controversial as an assassination plan against their higher-ups.
"If I were a man who is as powerful as the emperor, would you marry me?"
"You don't need to be born as such a man," Ruyi replied with a low voice and playful smile. ,"If only it were possible, I would marry you right now as Ruyi and Hailan."
Hailan couldn't control her happiness and beamed upon hearing it. Only in small conversation like this, they find warmth from the illusions within their head. A brief moment of escape from the cold and cruel palace that confines them for life.