Chapter 1

During the years Pei Heng spent in the Cold Palace, a little girl would crawl through a dog hole to bring him food in secret.

So, the day after he was named crown prince, he came to the marquis's house with a sachet she had dropped.

My father's wife was overjoyed and immediately pushed my eldest sister forward.

In my previous life, I rushed up and insisted the sachet was mine.

Pei Heng reluctantly married me.

Humiliated, my sister died of grief two years later.

From then on, he resented me, hated me, and tormented me in every way he could.

Even on his deathbed, he refused to see me.

“I thought it was your eldest sister. That was why I came to propose.”

“If I'd known it was you, I would never have come.”

He even left orders that I must never be buried beside him.

Our son blamed me too.

“If you hadn't been so determined to marry above your station, Father and Aunt would never have been parted.”

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Pei Heng came to our house.

I watched my eldest sister blush as she accepted the sachet.

From the very back of the room, I added softly:

“Congratulations.”

In the reception hall, my father's wife couldn't stop smiling.

My eldest sister, Shen Yunyi, stood before Pei Heng, her cheeks flushed, the slightly worn sachet clasped in her hands.

“It is indeed mine, Your Highness. I only wonder when you found it.”

She had claimed it.

The whole hall fell silent, waiting for the crown prince to nod and accept the match.

Before coming, he had explained that a little girl who secretly brought him food in the Cold Palace had dropped this sachet by accident.

“I was framed by treacherous ministers and imprisoned. She was the only one who showed me any kindness.”

“I have cherished her for years. If I find her, I will make her my crown princess.”

In my previous life, I'd believed him. I'd truly thought I was the one he wanted.

So I'd rushed forward and snatched the sachet.

“It wasn't her!”

I remembered my voice shaking as I held the shabby little thing up before him and cried:

“It's mine! I was the one who brought you food at the dog hole by the Cold Palace!”

To prove it, I'd told him everything.

Our first meeting. What I'd brought him to eat.

The secret signals we'd agreed on afterward.

Every detail.

Back then, I hadn't understood why his gaze was so cold.

He had kept his promise and married me.

For two years, we'd treated each other with formal courtesy.

Until my eldest sister died of grief.

Then Pei Heng began to resent me, to hate me, to torment me however he could.

Before his death, he wouldn't even see me one last time.

“I thought it was your eldest sister. That was why I came to propose.”

“If I'd known it was you, I would never have come.”

At last, the misunderstanding of all those years had been laid bare.

I looked up, just as Pei Heng turned his eyes on me.

They were dark and fathomless.

A warning.

A threat.

He had been reborn too.

I lowered my gaze, concealing every emotion, and stepped back half a pace, hiding myself among the others.

Satisfied that I knew my place, he looked away and addressed my sister.

“I keep my word. I will have the proposal gifts and betrothal inventory delivered shortly.”

My father's wife beamed.

“Your Highness, Yunyi has been kindhearted since childhood. She always says she cannot bear to see anyone suffer. She must have felt the same when she secretly helped you in the Cold Palace.”

“I'll have her birth particulars brought at once. We must choose the most auspicious day for the wedding.”

Shen Yunyi stood beside her, too shy to raise her head, though she couldn't conceal her smile.

Around us, our sisters began whispering in admiration.

“What good fortune! Our eldest sister actually saved His Highness.”

“Because she's so kind, of course. Who could have known the person on the other side of that dog hole was the crown prince?”

“A gifted prince and a beautiful lady. They truly are a match made in Heaven.”

Listening, I pressed my fingertips deep into my palms.

No one noticed me in the corner.

After the banquet, everyone returned to their courtyards.

Nanny Zhang, my father's wife's attendant, was already waiting outside mine.

She curled her lip and looked me up and down.

“Her Ladyship wishes to see you. Come with me, Third Miss.”

I followed her to the main rooms.

Warmth struck my face as I entered. The incense was so thick it was almost suffocating.

Lady Shen sat upright in a red sandalwood chair, passing agarwood prayer beads through her fingers.

“Come and sit.”

She indicated an embroidered stool below her, her voice betraying neither pleasure nor displeasure.

I obeyed, my back straight, my gaze resting on the sachet in her lap.

I'd stitched those crooked plum blossoms myself, one painstaking stitch at a time, when I was seven.

She spoke abruptly.

“Yunyi is gentle by nature. If you'd made a scene in front of everyone, you would have put her in a very difficult position.”

I lowered my eyes.

“It was only right that I should keep quiet.”

She nodded, satisfied.

“You've been sensible today. Yunyi's affection hasn't been wasted on you. Of all her sisters, she's always loved you best.”

Everyone in the capital knew that the marquis's legitimate daughter, Shen Yunyi, was as kind as she was beautiful, and that she doted on a younger sister born to a concubine.

In summer, she always sent me a few of the precious chilled lychees.

When she received gifts at court, she shared them with me.

If anyone bullied me, she was the first to defend me.

Lady Shen watched me for a while, then suddenly smiled.

“It's best that you've come to your senses. A concubine's daughter should never dream of becoming crown princess. Once Yunyi is married, she'll naturally look after you if you have difficulties.”

I nodded and made myself humble.

“You're right, Mother. I dare harbor no such hopes concerning His Highness.”

When her smile turned approving, I continued.

“But there is one thing I would ask of you.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“What is it?”

“Please allow me to choose my own marriage. All I want is a simple match and a peaceful life.”

The marquis's concubine-born daughters had always been pieces to be moved in marriage alliances.

The luckier ones became wives in respectable scholarly families.

The unlucky ones were carried into some powerful man's rear courtyard in a small sedan to become concubines.

Better to find my own way out than be placed wherever someone pleased.

As I passed along the covered walkway, the reception hall ahead was still brightly lit.

I stopped.

Lifting a corner of the beaded curtain, I looked inside.

The rosewood chests and betrothal boxes covering the floor stood open.

Peacock-blue cloud brocade, pomegranate-red figured satin, box upon box of Eastern Sea pearls and jade—there was scarcely a patch of gray floor tile left uncovered.

Shen Yunyi sat in the middle, newly changed into a pale lotus-pink gown embroidered with a hundred butterflies in gold thread.

Smiling, she offered our fifth sister a solid gold swaying hairpin inlaid with kingfisher feathers.

“This one's such a lovely bright color. It will look perfect with your peach-pink jacket.”

Our fifth sister hurried to accept it, overwhelmed by the favor.

The others crowded around, praising her one after another.

“Our eldest sister is the crown princess now. Of course everything must be the very best.”

“Indeed. We'll all share in her good fortune. We must thank her for remembering us.”

Shen Yunyi smiled through their flattery, but her gaze passed over the crowd and found me precisely.

“Yunzhi, why are you standing outside?”

Her voice was affectionate.

“Come and choose something you like. His Highness has sent so much. How could I possibly use it all myself?”

I approached slowly and bowed, keeping my eyes lowered.

“Thank you, Sister.”

She took my hand. Her fingertips were icy, but her grip allowed no refusal.

“There's no need for ceremony between us.”

She leaned close, speaking so softly that only I could hear.

“Thank you for today. I know the sachet was yours, but I've admired His Highness for so long.”

“Don't worry. I won't treat you poorly.”

I raised my eyes and met the guilt in hers.

She released my hand, turned to a chest, and brought out a bolt of bright scarlet brocade.

“This is beautiful fabric. Take it back and have a few outfits made.”

The sisters around us looked at me enviously.

One of the bolder girls spoke up.

“You're playing favorites, Sister! Only our third sister gets such fine cloth.”

Yunyi smiled happily, playing the doting sister to perfection.

“Oh, yes.”

As though she'd just remembered, she smiled at me again.

“His Highness said the Imperial Astronomical Bureau has compared our birth particulars. The wedding will be in a month.”

“You're the one I can feel most at ease about. Before I marry, I'll be sure to find you a good husband.”

She patted the back of my hand.

Soft laughter filled the hall.

I tightened my hold on the brocade.

“Thank you for thinking of me, Sister.”

I curtsied and withdrew.

Behind me, Shen Yunyi's gentle voice went on describing how attentive the crown prince was, how lavish his betrothal gifts.