Work Text:
After the political tragedy that was the public learning that Wu Zetian and Qin Zheng hardly knew each other an emergency meeting was called. Yizhi suggests a fake pregnancy. Yang Jing suggests going on a series of public dates. They chose Yang Jings idea.
It was rather easy to plan. Go somewhere high class but still able to be seen from the public. Tell a photographer that the royals were there and they’d be flocked before they knew it. No more drama, just memes and cute pictures of the two on everyone’s feed.
At least that’s what they hoped for if they did everything right but who knew what would happen. They could be an assination attempt, someone trying to seduce Qin Zheng or worst of all Wu Zetian ruining the date (Zetian knew she wouldn’t do anything to ruin a publicity stunt but unfortunately most of the court still thought she was an emotional mess)
The date was quite easy to plan. A dinner date in one of the long abandoned towers by the former elite and then a walk in the private gardens with lax security so paparazzi could “sneak” in. Qin Zheng hated the idea of eating dinner in a place that lorded over the improvised and Zetian hated the idea of lax security when there were still so many people who wanted her dead. Despite they’re objections no one bothered to change the itinerary.
So a week after the allegations came out they were brought to one of the abandoned skyscrapers prepared thoroughly by one of the advisors. It was a gorgeous place that clearly drew influence from the early days of Huxia. Paper lanterns illuminated the space as a mix of paper and wood made the doors. There were servant corridors hidden by curtains and fabrics made of dark red silk. There was only one servant who quickly left them after they brought them their drinks.
“What’s for dinner?” Wu Zetian asked as she sipped her cocktail.
“I don’t know. I think Gao planned the meal”
“Do you really trust him to plan the meal?” Wu Zetian’s face squinted in disgust at the thought of what he might plan.
“He won’t kill us”
“He probably has shit taste though”
Qin Zheng sends out a booming laugh, something that either of them had hardly heard. “It’s our first date… how long have we been married?”
“5 months”
“Smart girl”
“Shut up” There was a soft smile on Qing Zheng’s face. He was always calmer when she was there.
“Stil it’s a disgrace that we never went on a date.”
“It’s a…. Luxurious first date though.”
“You can say it’s shit. Why are you mincing your words anyway?”
“Well you don’t know who’s hearing. For all I know the next headline could be ‘Empress Wu hates dates’”
“I'm sure the workers here wouldn’t dare”
“You’d do the same”
“I would.”
They’re conversation ends in a standstill. One of the workers brought in the first course some sort of fancy meal. It was pink, most likely raw. With some sort of red mushy sauce on top of it.
“How much money would you bet that this would poison a kid in the frontier.”
“I think this would poison you actually since you’re so old”
He took a spoonful of the mush and guided it to her mouth. “Well you’ll have to test it incase its poisonous darling”
“You’re trying to poison me are you?”
“Me? Never.” (He totally would)
After that the conversation came naturally to both of them. Complaining about their respective jobs made the conversation easy, the lack of audience made it even better.
As much as they enjoyed the dinner they were not excited for the rest of the date. The paparazzi would be screaming at them and they had to pretend to be dignified and not completely murderous.
It was easy when they got there when they could see a few photographers out of the corner of their eyes. They’d pretend to be talking about something romantic as the city lights shone into the garden. It’d be quite romantic if it was any couple but them.
“Should I give you a flower, my empress? I’m sure they’d all eat it up?”
“My dear Emperor I’m sure you’d get hated by everyone for destroying one of these beautiful flowers.”
“Well isn’t that the price I’ll have to pay to keep my beloved empress happy?”
Wu Zetian let out a small giggle, practiced beforehand to pretend to be the tamed calmed empress she displayed herself as.
Qin Zheng moved closer and whispered into her ear “you’re rather tame aren’t you? I wish they could see how you really act towards me” She raised her eyebrows and let out a little smirk.
“Should I go act like I usually do then? Scare them off and create more scandals that we’ll have to deal with?”
“If it meant going on another date with you Empress? I’d happily ruin our reputation.”
He was terribly corny, yet knew how to charm a woman easily. “You know you can stop acting. They can’t hear us from here.”
“It’s not acting, I'm genuinely amazed by your beauty.”
“You’re starting to remind me of Yang Guang.” Wu Zetian muttered out with a disgusted look on her face.
He immediately reacted with distaste, being reminded that she had two husbands before her had definitely hurt his ego.
“You’re thinking about another man?”
“Only the one that I killed”
The area filled with silence, even the cameras had stopped flashing, before both of them were grinning like teenagers. It was rather cruel that the only way they could feel like their age again was by joking about someone’s death but Yang Guang deserved it.
“We should go back, we’ve spent enough time here.”
“Are you sure you aren’t just allergic to the flowers my emperor?”
“No, I just worry about my poor empress and if she’d survive being outside for so long.” Instead of letting Wu Zetian push herself, Qin Zheng decided to bridal carry her. She hated being carried like this but they had planned it beforehand.
When they finally got to the paparazzi they were supposed to be dignified but the way they acted annoyed her. She was no stranger to the flashing lights but the way they ogled at her like she was a new person enraged her.
The man who was focusing right on how her legs looked was the first victim of her fury. She ‘accidentally’ kicked his camera onto the floor breaking the expensive lenses.
“Oh I’m sorry. You were just so close to me and I couldn’t control my legs” Really the way the man looked nearly cracked her facade but she was able to pretend to be sympathetic and like she gave a shit.
The rest of the photographers stepped away from them immediately, giving the two of them space to walk back to the car without being squashed by questions. As soon as they reached the peace and quiet of the car both of them started to giggle fanatically at how the paparazzi reacted to what she did.
It was worth the scolding and newspapers ruining her name for those sacred moments of happiness with each other.