Chapter 3
Edward Quan ·
07
Once we returned home, Father subjected my sister to the family punishment.
Distraught, Mother pleaded with him to be gentle.
“My lord, Changyue has been delicate since childhood. How can she bear such a harsh punishment?”
Anger blazed in his eyes. He would not yield.
“Everyone witnessed her grave misconduct. If I don’t punish her, how am I to maintain authority?”
I stood silently nearby.
Mother looked up at my calm expression, and her fury flared. Pointing at me through clenched teeth, she laid every fault at my door.
“It’s all Changle’s fault! If she had stopped her in time, Changyue would never have gone to Yangzhou with that wild man and made such a terrible mistake!
“If anyone is to be beaten, Changle must be beaten too!
“No, Changyue did nothing wrong. Changle should take her punishment for her!”
When I received the family punishment in my first life, Mother had stood by without a word, leisurely sipping tea. She had not given me so much as a pitying glance.
Instead, she had urged Father to strike harder.
Today, however, her heart ached for my sister.
But neither of them would escape punishment now.
A coldness filled me. I smiled in disappointment.
“Mother, am I a child you picked up somewhere?”
Her expression stiffened, and she avoided my eyes.
“What nonsense are you talking?
“I carried you for ten months and gave birth to you myself.”
My lips curved slightly. I narrowed my eyes.
“Then you’ve favored Elder Sister too much, spoiling her until she became arrogant enough to commit such a terrible wrong.
“If Father wants to prevent her from repeating it, naturally he must teach her a lesson. Why not punish you as well?
“Otherwise, who knows what greater mistake she may make, or whether she’ll bring ruin on the whole family?”
Father stroked his beard and pondered for a long time.
At last, he shouted at Mother.
“It’s your indulgence that made Changyue what she is today!
“Changle is right. You must be punished too.
“Bring the whip!”
Mother begged desperately, but he remained unmoved.
She turned toward me with a look that could have hacked me to pieces.
“You little wretch! I should never have given birth to you! I should have thrown you off a cliff and let you be reborn as an animal!”
Ignoring her, I leisurely savored my fine tea, just as she had in my first life.
08
The whip fell with full force.
Their cries of pain rang through the residence.
After ten lashes, Mother could bear no more and fainted.
Then pain woke her again.
By twenty lashes, both were torn and bleeding, scarcely an uninjured place left on their bodies.
Father was as cold and merciless as before. He called no physician, simply had them thrown into the ancestral hall to reflect behind closed doors.
Neither had eaten. They must have been ravenous.
I took a few spoiled steamed buns and passed them through the gap beneath the door.
Disgusted voices came at once.
“How can we eat buns that have gone bad?”
“You wretched girl, can’t you bring osmanthus cakes and bird’s-nest soup?”
I explained in an aggrieved voice.
“But this is all the kitchen has left. Everything else is spoiled thin porridge covered in flies.”
A sigh came from within.
“That heartless old man! Once Changyue is Empress, see how I deal with him!”
An incense stick’s time later, I heard chewing.
I suddenly laughed.
Father had, in fact, ordered the kitchen to prepare food.
By my reckoning, it would arrive soon.
In my first life, I had eaten these rotten scraps.
In this life, they should have a taste too.
Father released them the next day.
He still felt sorry for my sister.
She lay in bed for half a month before she could get up.
Under our parents’ persuasion, she thought better of running away. She settled down to await her wedding.
A month later, the ceremony took place as scheduled.
The red bridal procession stretched for miles through the capital.
Unlike the heavy atmosphere in our residence in my first life, the whole Pan household was cheerful and harmonious, bustling with excitement.
Its decorations were both festive and dignified. Our parents had put great effort into them, unlike the few lengths of red cloth casually draped over the roofs before.
I truly did not want to see Xie Zhao.
From early morning, I claimed illness and stayed inside.
09
According to the maids…
For some reason, when Xie Zhao did not see me among the Pan family’s gathered relatives and friends, he stopped a maid and asked where I was.
She truthfully reported that I had caught a chill the night before and was resting in my room to avoid passing it to anyone.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
This time, he wore no frightening mask. He rode to collect his bride with his true face on display.
People lining both sides of the street marveled at his beauty.
Hearing their praise, my sister’s ears reddened with shyness.
Xie Zhao took her hand, his voice tender as water, his eyes bright with devotion.
“I’ve come late. I hope there’s still time to make amends for my mistakes…”
She clasped his hand in return.
He shuddered. Tears actually slipped from the corners of his eyes.
All along the road, he smiled with the air of a man for whom everything had gone right.
Then came the wedding night.
Their figures drew close together.
A moment later, Xie Zhao’s incredulous voice rang out.
“Why is it you?”
Uncomprehending, my sister blushed.
“I’m Changyue… Your Highness’s Crown Princess.”
His gaze darted, refusing the truth before him. He murmured, “Impossible… How can it be… It was clearly…”
“What was clearly, Your Highness?”
His face went white. With a violent sweep of his sleeve, he burst through the door.
“I still have business tonight.
“Go to sleep without me!”
By the time my sister recovered, all she could see was his crimson robe disappearing through the doorway.
She stared for a long while, then broke into aggrieved tears.
They slipped over her nose and fell onto her collar, so hot that she shivered.
Xie Zhao did not return all night.
10
She waited until dawn.
Only when the maids entered to help her wash and dress did she realize it was already broad daylight.
Her face darkened. She went to the kitchen herself and made a pot of Tenfold Restorative Soup.
Carrying a bowl to the study, she knocked.
“Come in.”
His low voice came from within.
She set the soup down and smiled gently.
“Your Highness, I made you Tenfold Restorative Soup myself. Drink it while it’s hot.”
Without so much as looking at her, he said coldly, “How thoughtful, Crown Princess. Leave it there.”
After a moment’s consideration, he asked, “Do you have a younger sister at home who has come of age but remains unmarried?”
“Yes. My younger sister is of marriageable age.”
“And still unbetrothed?”
She stared.
“How does Your Highness know?”
Still avoiding her gaze, he hurried to explain.
“I heard it from a maid. As it happens, I have a suitable match in mind. Have your sister come to the Eastern Palace tomorrow so I can meet her.”
Hearing that he wanted to place me beneath her, in a lower position, my sister immediately agreed.
All our lives, she had looked for ways to keep me down, afraid I might one day rise above her.
That evening, our parents received her letter.
It instructed me to visit the Eastern Palace the following day.
Naturally, I did not want to go. In this life, I wanted nothing more to do with him.
Yet I could not withstand our parents’ relentless pressure.
To them, my sister and I were merely tools for advancement. If it secured a powerful connection, a little sacrifice was only proper.
But I was no longer the helpless creature of my first life, waiting for others to slaughter me.
11
I refused outright.
Setting down the letter, I said calmly, “Father, Mother, I already have someone suitable in mind.”
“Which noble family is he from?”
“He isn’t from the nobility.
“He is Song Zhiyan, the top graduate of the latest imperial examination.”
Father stroked his beard. After considering for a long time, he said, “He wouldn’t be a bad husband for you, but he has no influence in the capital.”
“He’ll be posted to Jinling, far from the court. If we lose our standing here, he’ll be our best way out.”
Father weighed it again and again. At last, he agreed.
Only then did I breathe easier.
When my sister told Xie Zhao, he flew into a rage.
He vented all his fury on her.
“You did it deliberately, didn’t you?
“You’re jealous of your sister. Afraid she’ll marry well, so you won’t let her come!”
She hurried to explain.
“I didn’t. My parents wrote that Changle refused because her heart has long belonged to someone…”
Xie Zhao shuddered.
He stood frozen for a long time, unable to recover.
Disbelief filled his face. In his anger, he swept all the books from his desk to the floor.
His bloodshot eyes frightened my sister so badly that she trembled behind a stone pillar, afraid to emerge.
“It’s all your fault!
“If not for you, she wouldn’t hate me this much!”
She was utterly bewildered. She had no idea what he meant.
“Your Highness, what are you saying? I don’t understand…”
He glared at her and roared, “Get out!”
She scrambled and staggered out of the room.
12
When the news reached me, I was embroidering a sachet.
It also told me something else.
Xie Zhao had been reborn too.