Chapter 3

Xiaotao had inspected every novelty in the shop and was bored beyond endurance. She bought two velvet flowers for her younger sisters.

Li Yu probably wasn't coming.

Fortunately, I hadn't liked him to begin with, so I wasn't too upset.

When Ji Yunqing offered again to take me home, I accepted.

He opened his umbrella, keeping me entirely beneath it, and helped me into the carriage.

Then he helped Xiaotao in.

She couldn't resist murmuring, “If it weren't for the difference in family standing, I'd say this third-place laureate was ten thousand times better than the Sixth Prince.”

I hastily covered her mouth.

True thoughts like that were best kept to oneself. Never spoken.

Commenting on a prince could be a serious offense or a minor one.

And Li Yu was so petty. What if he heard?

Ji Yunqing drove from outside.

The horse whinnied. Its hooves clopped through puddles as we moved off.

Not far behind us, a coachman in a straw hat turned to ask, “Sixth Prince, we've waited so long. Why not fetch Miss Cui directly? She is your betrothed, after all.”

Li Yu looked at the rain and smiled faintly.

“No hurry. That temper of hers needs a proper taming.

“If she stays so willful, what will happen when she enters my household? I'll never have a peaceful day.”

The coachman flattered him.

“Your Highness, you really do know what you're doing.”

An incense stick's burning later, Li Yu finally went to fetch her.

She was gone.

How could she have left in rain like this? There were no carriages or drivers around.

Had he gone too far? Was Cui Wenying so angry she'd rather walk home in the rain than wait for him?

He asked the shopkeeper.

“Those two young ladies? I believe the third-place laureate took them home.”

Ji Yunqing, then.

Li Yu relaxed.

Still, it irked him that Cui Wenying hadn't waited.

He thought it over.

Yingying's disposition really needed tempering. So stubborn and disobedient—what would she be like once married?

Remembering the little pale-yellow figure wandering all over the academy years ago, he smiled despite himself.

Never mind. He had been late.

He'd choose a gift to make amends. That would surely please her.

The rain continued for days.

People said only summer brought downpours like these. Such heavy rain in spring was worrying.

My brother and Ji Yunqing, I heard, had both been appointed officials and assigned to help the Ministry of Works prevent flooding.

My brother occasionally sent a letter to reassure us.

Reassured, I then searched between its lines for traces of Ji Yunqing.

He'd gone with the ministry to the river flats, where one leg sank into mud. Two men had to help pull him out.

The water rose so quickly that, while repairing the embankments, he went three or four days without a meal.

And many other things.

Xiaotao asked why I kept reading my brother's letters over and over.

I told her it was a secret.

Fortunately, I'd made thorough preparations.

The river overflowed, but there was no flood in the end.

When my brother returned, he was much thinner and deeply tanned.

Mother was distressed and had the kitchen stew all sorts of nourishing dishes.

The sight of her affection and his filial care warmed the heart.

Ji Yunqing had no mother to order nourishing food for him. No sister to fuss over him.

His father taught in their hometown and hadn't followed him to the capital.

In that large residence, he was probably all alone.

I'd promised to think of him, to keep him from loneliness.

Besides, he was my brother's fellow student and often looked after me. Sending him a little food was perfectly ordinary.

I had the kitchen prepare an extra portion of my brother's nourishing dishes and put it in a food carrier.

To avoid Xiaotao's nagging, and thinking his residence wasn't far, I slipped out with it myself.

I hadn't gone far before my hopeless sense of direction failed me again.

Roads crossed everywhere. Everything looked the same.

The same blue bricks and dark tiles. The same vendors pushing carts. Even their cries sounded alike.

I had no idea which way to go.

I bought two steamed buns and asked, “Which way to the third-place laureate's residence?”

The vendor wrapped the hot buns in oiled paper and quietly pointed behind me.

“No need to look further, young lady. He's right behind you.”

I spun around.

Ji Yunqing's eyes were smiling, his cheeks flushed as though brushed with rouge.

For a moment, time seemed to stop.

In all that vast world, there seemed to be only Ji Yunqing and me.

Vendors' calls, hooves, even birdsong in the branches faded away.

Only his voice remained wonderfully clear.

“Lost again, Miss Cui?”

I handed him the food carrier.

“For you. Eat it and regain your strength.”

I looked him over several times. He hadn't tanned, but he was much thinner than my brother.

He really did need nourishing.

He accepted it, thanked me, and took me home.

The weather warmed. Peach blossoms bloomed.

In good spirits, the Princess held a poetry gathering, inviting us younger people to admire the blossoms and write poems for amusement.

Before we arrived, Li Yu stopped our carriage.

Xiaotao and I got out, paid our respects, and asked what he wanted.

Looking displeased, he demanded to know why I'd left the shop on that rainy day instead of waiting.

I twisted my handkerchief.

“I did wait.

“A whole pot of hot tea went cold, and you still hadn't come. The Eastern Palace isn't far. You could have gone there and back several times, but you didn't come.”

His face alternated between red and white.

“But you'll be my wife. You should do as I say.”

I frowned. I didn't agree with that at all.

If what he said made me unhappy, I wouldn't obey.

Before I could answer, he curled his lip and criticized my clothes.

“Seventeen already. All these years, you've only grown taller, not wiser. Look at that hairpin. How provincial. Aren't you afraid people will laugh?”

Xiaotao was astonished all over again.

“A peach-blossom pin to admire peach blossoms. What could be more fitting?” she muttered.

“And it's the style she likes.”

Li Yu offered a white jade hairpin carved with a crabapple blossom.

Beautiful and translucent, it was clearly expensive.

“This one suits you better. Change it.”

He came closer without asking and reached to remove mine.

I stepped back several paces.

“It's beautiful. Unfortunately, I don't like it.”

Seeing his master's embarrassment, his servant hurried to help.

“Please accept it, Miss Cui. His Highness spent ages choosing it. He said you'd look like a hibiscus newly in bloom.”

Li Yu drew the pin back and scolded him.

“What nonsense! When did I say anything so absurd? If she insists on wearing that provincial thing and being laughed at, let her.

“Look at you. No manners, dreadful taste. I don't know what Mother was thinking, choosing someone like you for my betrothed.

“Never mind Miss Xie. Even the Fan girl, the Lu girl, even the little Liu girl who's only just come of age, are much better than you. What makes you worthy of me?”

My refusal to spare his pride had made him red with anger.

Xiaotao was angry too and wanted to defend me.

I stopped her.

The Empress had asked me to tolerate Li Yu, not let him mistreat me.

With a mouth that cruel, not beating him was already generous tolerance.

“Sixth Prince, my grandfather was a trusted servant of the Emperor, honored with a place in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. My father and maternal uncle are senior ministers who serve His Majesty loyally. My brother placed first in the examinations and was personally appointed to a sixth-rank post.

“Only someone blind would think me unworthy of you.”

If Mother and the Empress hadn't valued this marriage for its benefit to both the Cui and Wang clans, I really would have wanted to break it off.

Apart from that hibiscus-pretty face, Li Yu had little to recommend him.

He sneered.

“You have nothing but your family to boast of.”

The Crown Prince and Ji Yunqing happened to pass.

Ji Yunqing bowed to Li Yu and smiled faintly.

“You're mistaken, Your Highness. Miss Cui is so skilled at needlework that butterflies are drawn to her embroidered flowers.

“She has a head for figures. A few clicks of her abacus, and she knows exactly what makes a profit and what loses money.

“She writes fine poetry and beautiful calligraphy.

“Most importantly, she has an even finer character. Ice water in hot weather, warm porridge in cold—everyone speaks of her kindness.”

His praise made my cheeks burn.

Li Yu frowned and asked how he knew all that.

“Everyone who visits the Cui family praises her. I've heard so much, it would be hard not to remember.”

Li Yu objected.

“She isn't that good. You only think everything about her is admirable because you've never met a truly outstanding woman.”

He turned and left, gripping the white jade pin as though he meant to crush it.

I lowered my head, remembering the Empress's advice.

I wasn't petty.

If Li Yu apologized properly, I wouldn't stay angry.

Only after he'd gone a long way did he begin to regret it.

The hairpin had been meant as an apology to Yingying.

Somehow, the moment he saw her, his mouth turned cruel.

“Your Highness, you clearly like Miss Cui. How could you say such hurtful things?”

“She's my betrothed. Whatever I do, she ought to care about me.”

Li Yu thought back.

Once, Mother had paid too much attention to the Crown Prince. He'd been unhappy. However well behaved and sensible he was, he couldn't win her notice.

So he'd begun making trouble and saying cruel things to her and her attendants.

She caught him and spanked him.

She controlled her strength. It hadn't hurt much. But he'd been delighted.

At last, Mother had noticed him.

He'd been sent to Wansong Academy afterward, but at least he'd won her attention.

Only much later had she realized he didn't hate her or the people in her palace. He liked her.

One hardly knew whether to laugh or cry.

The servant asked, “Then does Your Highness care about Miss Cui?”

Of course he did, Li Yu thought.

He truly wanted Cui Wenying to pay him more attention. Yet every attempt backfired. Yingying seemed to like him less and less.