Chapter 2
Edward Quan ·
04
Because of what had happened at the palace banquet, Mother confined me to the house.
The capital was lush with trees and flowers, however, and I was allergic to pollen. Going out did not suit me much anyway.
So I spent my days at home learning needlework.
As my confinement was about to end, the empress sent representatives to perform the betrothal rites.
Chest after chest of gifts was carried into the residence.
Mother could scarcely stop smiling.
From behind a screen, I caught sight of a tall, slender figure in black informal robes at the head of the procession.
The Crown Prince.
I quickly looked away and lowered my head, not daring another glance.
Beyond the screen, my sister curtsied.
The Crown Prince spoke gently, with a little puzzlement.
“Why are you wearing a veil, Miss Gu?”
Mother hurried to answer for her.
“Your Highness, my daughter is allergic to pollen and has developed a rash on her face. She means no discourtesy.”
I found that odd.
At the frontier, my sister had loved tending plants and often sent people far and wide to buy flowers and potted trees.
Why had she suddenly become allergic in the capital?
Perhaps she had not adjusted to the climate, I thought.
A spring breeze carried the faint fragrance of magnolias.
The Crown Prince was still asking after her health.
“Is it serious? Shall I have an imperial physician examine you?”
My sister sounded a little shy.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. It's an old complaint. Once spring is over, I'll be well.”
They both seemed a little embarrassed afterward.
Their wedding was set for the sixteenth day of the fourth month, just after spring ended.
The Crown Prince lowered his voice.
“I leave tomorrow for Huaizhou to oversee flood control. I'll return early in the fourth month. If anything happens, write to me.”
05
With the betrothal rites concluded, the necessary formalities were complete.
They only had to wait for the Crown Prince to return from Huaizhou before marrying.
The household remained full of joy, and Mother even treated me a little better.
When a girl from the Marquis of Qing'an's household, surnamed Lu, invited me out, Mother agreed without much thought.
The marquis and Father had passed the imperial examinations in the same year and had studied together at the Imperial Academy for three years.
After Mother returned to the capital, Father had written asking him to look after us.
The marchioness was the lady who had mistaken my sister and me outside the palace gates.
Because of that incident, my sister disliked Lu Xianghe intensely.
So I went to the Lu residence alone.
Lu Xianghe was refreshingly straightforward.
The moment she saw me, she circled me several times.
“Shanzhen, you're as beautiful as a fairy.”
“Mother says you're not betrothed yet. Why not become my sister-in-law?”
I teased her.
“Aren't you afraid I'm wicked?”
“Once I marry into your family, I'll drive you out.”
“Of course you won't.”
Lu Xianghe pulled me along to fly a paper kite.
“Father told me. At the frontier, you often gave out porridge and treated the sick. The soldiers and townspeople all loved you.”
I went still.
Life at the frontier was harsh all year round. Countless people could not afford food.
Unable to bear it, I had begged Father to open a charity clinic for me.
In winter, I also set up a shelter outside it to distribute porridge.
The daughters of Father's fellow officers often came to help.
On Mother's birthday, the ladies praised my kindness in front of her.
I stole a look at her, wondering if she might praise me too.
What awaited me instead was a scolding.
“You're an official's daughter, yet you show your face outside every day. Do you really think those people are praising you?”
“They may say that to your face, but who knows how they're talking about your shamelessness behind your back?”
After that, I left the clinic in someone else's care.
I rarely even went beyond our gates.
While I was lost in thought, Lu Xianghe suddenly cried out, “The string's snapped!”
The paper kite sailed across the pond and fell far away beside a rockery.
Two figures heard her cry and turned toward us.
One wore black informal robes embroidered with dark gold cloud patterns, his black hair secured beneath a green jade crown.
It was the Crown Prince, whom I had seen only yesterday.
06
A pair of slender hands picked up the kite, painted with a phoenix among peonies.
Lu Xianghe seemed very familiar with the Crown Prince. She went up to take it.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
He turned to look at us.
At last his gaze settled on me, as though he was trying to recognize something.
Instinctively, I lowered my head.
Though it was late spring, I still wore a veil.
Most of my face was hidden behind the thin gauze. My eyes were lowered too.
“This young lady…”
The Crown Prince frowned slightly.
“You look familiar.”
Lu Xianghe smiled and explained casually, “She's the second Miss Gu, your future wife's younger sister. Sisters are bound to resemble each other. Naturally, she looks familiar.”
News that the Crown Prince had personally visited the Gu household for the betrothal rites yesterday had spread throughout the capital.
What they did not know was that he had never actually seen my elder sister's face.
And my sister and I did not resemble each other at all.
I curtsied, then withdrew with Lu Xianghe.
We had gone only a few steps when a voice called from behind.
“Second Miss Gu, please wait.”
The Crown Prince sounded hesitant, his thin lips pressing together.
“Your sister…”
“Did she come today?”
I could hardly say that my sister disliked Lu Xianghe.
I said she was busy preparing her wedding clothes and had no time to go out.
He said nothing more.
But he looked a little disappointed.
I thought…
He must truly like my sister.
That was why he was so eager to see her again.
07
My sister's wedding was approaching.
Everyone in the household was frantically busy, yet Mother began arranging a marriage for me too.
The first visiting card came from the Lu family.
When Madam Lu brought it herself, Lu Xianghe stood behind her, constantly winking at me.
The Lu family was upright, and the marquis was Father's old friend. Marrying into their household would not be a bad thing, I thought.
Mother, however, was rather cold.
Madam Lu invited her several times. Each time, Mother found an excuse to decline.
At first, I thought she still resented the incident at the palace gates.
But she politely declined the invitations from other families too.
Until Minister Li's family came.
They wanted to propose a match for their second son.
The Li family's second son had a dreadful reputation in the capital.
He already had a firstborn son by a concubine, though he had not yet married.
Several bedchamber maids in his household had died from his mistreatment.
Ladies and their daughters avoided him, terrified of any connection to the Li family.
I assumed Mother would refuse as well.
Yet on the Shangsi Festival, the Li family arrived with betrothal gifts.
It was dusk when I heard.
When I found Mother, she was directing servants to carry the chests into the storeroom.
“Mother.”
My voice trembled.
“I don't want to marry him.”
She glanced at me, then turned back to the servants.
“Children obey the marriages their parents arrange.”
“What you want has nothing to do with it.”
“Go back. Don't stand there getting in the way.”
“Mother…”
My voice was choking now.
“I'm your daughter too.”
She acted as though she had not heard.
08
The wedding was arranged in haste.
Only a month remained.
It was to be the day before my sister's.
That night, I wrote to Father.
An urgent letter could reach the frontier in about ten days.
I still had a chance.
I waited at home.
And waited.
With only ten days left before the wedding, I still had no reply.
Then came the Eldest Princess's birthday.
His Majesty adored his elder sister and granted her the special honor of holding her banquet in Taihe Hall.
Naturally, the Gu family was invited.
I secretly hid a few valuables on my person.
Once Mother and my sister left, I meant to set off for the frontier and find Father.
But my sister refused.
However many excuses I made—even saying I was ill—she would not let me stay home.
After several arguments, she suddenly laughed.
She took a letter from inside her robe.
The very letter I had sent to the frontier.
I stared at her, wide-eyed.
Her smile only widened.
“Stop dreaming that Father can decide this for you.”
Early spring sunlight fell across her face, yet there was something strangely cold about it.
Her expression was frighteningly calm.
“I'll ask His Highness to issue an imperial marriage decree for you.”
“If you want Father to defy an edict on your behalf, go ahead.”
09
I entered the palace in a daze.
As soon as we reached the Lotus Garden, noble young ladies surrounded my sister.
I stood some distance away.
But I could still hear them clearly.
“Mother told me yesterday that the second Miss Gu is about to marry Minister Li's son.”
“Sisters from the same family, yet such different fates.”
“What a pity about that lovely face.”
“With bad fortune, what use is beauty?”
Amid their mockery, my sister sighed softly.
“She is my younger sister, after all.”
“With me to protect her, I don't suppose young Master Li will dare do anything to her.”
By now, my sister's position as Crown Princess seemed certain.