Chapter 6

When I realized it was him, I patted Lin Zheng on the head and slid down to stand on my own. Lin Zheng kept supporting me, never letting go.

“Why is it you, Dongfang Heng? What are you doing here? Ugh—”

I threw up all over him. I felt wonderfully relieved, and my head cleared at once.

Lin Zheng gently patted my back and brought water to my lips. After helping me rinse my mouth, he simply scooped me up and carried me straight inside.

A Xing brought over some hangover soup and fed it to me one spoonful at a time.

“Shopkeeper Lin is really talented. He can even brew wine. But, Miss, please don’t touch any more of it. You vomited all over the Crown Prince.”

He came again the next day, his face still livid.

“I came to take you home, Anhe. That’s why I came all this way.”

“Do you still like peach-and-poria cakes? I made these myself this time. Try one.”

“Making them by hand showed me how much work it takes to steam and dry them eight times. I was wrong to feed them to a cat before.”

I frowned. What was so special about peach-and-poria cakes?

Bubble tea, little cakes, milk skin, steamed fresh milk, rose tea, lotus-seed and water-chestnut cakes—weren’t all of those better?

They were awful. Nearly impossible to swallow!

While I stared blankly at Dongfang Heng, the Lin siblings arrived.

A cup of Four Seasons Spring Passion-Fruit Tea was placed in my hand. I took a sip and narrowed my eyes in bliss.

“Thank you, Sister Hui. It’s sweet and sour. Even my headache is gone.”

She cleared her throat. “Don’t thank me. My younger brother stayed up all night making it.”

Dongfang Heng was ignored. His attendant took out a jade token.

“The Crown Prince is right here. Who do you think you are? Why aren’t you kneeling and kowtowing?”

12

The Lin siblings were about to bow, but I stopped them.

“He is the Crown Prince, that’s true. But His Majesty has also bestowed a commandery princess’s title on me.”

“The Empress is my godmother. Did my imperial brother come all the way here just to lecture his little sister about etiquette?”

My mother’s letters had already told me what had happened in the capital.

“Crown Prince, did no one bring you a letter from home during your journey here?”

“Is your future bride still ill? I heard she’s traveling everywhere to consult renowned physicians.”

“In my opinion, she eats far too lightly. Why not take some food from Huixiang Restaurant back to the capital to give her a change of taste?”

Dongfang Heng looked at me. His brows drew tight, and bewilderment filled his eyes. He reached for my hand.

“Anhe, no, that’s not what I meant. I want you to marry me so you can…”

I pulled my hand away.

“You called me your imperial younger sister, so you can’t cross the line now. The Astronomical Bureau must have already chosen your wedding date, right? If I’m in the capital on the day of your wedding, I’ll certainly come.”

The way I addressed him seemed to leave him stunned. He stared at me for a long time, unable to recover.

“Imperial Brother? You actually called me that?”

“Imperial Brother, I still have work to do.”

As he prepared to leave, his fists clenched tight. His eyes flickered between light and darkness.

“Anhe, we shouldn’t have ended up like this.”

What a nuisance. He’d spoiled my mood.

I took Sister Hui’s hand and asked if she could sell me a few jars of wine to send to my maternal grandfather.

“Sister, how far have those apprentices gotten? Can we open another branch yet?”

Sister Hui looked at me. She had been about to say something, but stopped, then spoke with some embarrassment.

“An aristocratic young lady… I knew you were one, but I never imagined you were a commandery princess.”

“I’m happy enough earning money from the business. I absolutely don’t want to get involved in court politics. I’ll have to think carefully about opening a branch in the capital.”

Once she was outside, she kept murmuring under her breath.

“A wife-chasing crematorium? Sigh. If he keeps failing to catch up with her, won’t he resort to taking her by force once he becomes emperor…”

“Of all the rotten luck, I had to run into that sort of thing.”

She had no idea that, aside from my sense of taste, my hearing had been keen since childhood.

I had no idea what “wife-chasing crematorium” meant.

But I understood what it meant to take a woman by force.

She must have been cursing her bad luck because I hadn’t told her I was a commandery princess. Now she would despise me.

How awful. No one was allowed to interfere with Sister Hui’s and my great culinary enterprise!

My parents, three brothers, and maternal grandmother were all waiting to taste new treats like grilled sausages and fried chicken.

13

I had people find thorny plum branches and carry them on my back. Then I rushed to find Sister Hui.

“Sister, I’m here to accept my punishment. I even brought the thorny branches!”

When I reached her room, Lin Zheng hurried over to help remove them from my back. His hands were pricked by the thorns, but he didn’t seem to care.