Chapter 2

Chapter 2

There had been no Prince of Pingnan in Zhenjiang then. The Hu family held the town in its grip, while Father was merely a military officer of some standing.

I had been sitting on the steps outside our house, playing with a bamboo dragonfly. The Hu family's young son passed in a sedan chair, climbed out and snatched it from me.

When I refused to give it up, he grabbed my hair.

Even a cornered rabbit will bite. I kicked him hard enough to send him stumbling, and he ran home in tears.

The Hu family soon sent people to demand an explanation.

Father stood in front of me and said calmly, “My daughter Yinshuang did nothing wrong. Why should she apologize to your young master?”

I looked up at him. As a child, I had thought him as steadfast as a mountain.

But things had changed.

Now that mountain stood before Qin Hanzhu, keeping me forever on the other side.

I turned away from Father's face and forced down the hurt rising in my throat.

Then I put the question I could no longer contain to Ruoheng.

“Fifteen years ago, I was a baby too. You say I made your real sister spend those years away from home. Are you suggesting I switched us myself?”

He plainly resented my words, but he could not answer them.

I, too, had suffered because of that mistake.

Hanzhu stroked his head and reproached me.

“A-Heng doesn't know any better. He's only a child. Why must you make things difficult for him?”

I gave a cold laugh, abandoning all courtesy.

“Yes, he's a child. But who taught him to behave like this?”

Ruoheng was eight. At that age, he was beginning to understand things, but I did not believe he would have said something so vicious to me without anyone putting the idea into his head.

My meaning was clear enough; I had stopped just short of saying it outright.

Hanzhu flushed, glaring at me in shame and anger.

“How dare you accuse me! I've never taught him to say those things.”

Father looked displeased.

“Enough,” he said firmly.

His voice softened, but only to lecture me.

“Yinshuang, this family cannot bear another blow. Your sister has suffered in your place for years, and your brother is still young. Don't cling to a little matter like this.

“I'm your father, but I'm also Hanzhu's and A-Heng's. Do you understand?”

4

My vision blurred. The face before me seemed utterly unfamiliar.

This was the father who had stood in front of me when I was four.

How had he become this man?

Only after a long while did I realize that my sight had not failed. I was crying.

I hurried to wipe the tears away, unwilling to look so helpless.

Understanding something was one thing. Feeling it was another.

I hurt too much to speak.

Just then, there was a sound at the door, and someone gently held a handkerchief before my eyes.

The Emperor had entered with her.

Father hastily pulled Hanzhu and Ruoheng down to pay their respects.

The Empress Dowager did not even look at them. She sat beside His Majesty, took my hand and drew me to the seat beside her.

Slowly, she wiped my tears.

“I'm here. Don't cry.” Her voice was soft, full of affection.

Father called my name, both shocked and angry.

“How can you forget your manners? Come here and kowtow to Her Majesty at once!”

The Emperor waved him aside impatiently. He was clearly accustomed to the way the Empress Dowager and I behaved together.

“My mother raised her. There is no need to insist on every little formality.”

Hanzhu looked up.

The satisfaction she had shown earlier was now mixed with a hidden resentment. It seemed she could not accept what she was seeing.

Meeting her eyes, I understood what she thought.

I was supposed to have suffered in her place, stranded in a foreign city as a hostage, my every action constrained. My life should have been miserable.

That was how she thought I ought to live.

Father, too, looked at me with a complicated expression.

The Emperor had no desire to involve himself in the prince's family quarrel. He went straight to the point.

“The Prince of Pingnan reports that the two children were switched at birth. Then Yinshuang and...”

He paused.

Hanzhu immediately shuffled forward on her knees.

“My name is Hanzhu, Your Majesty. Father says it means that the jewel he lost has returned to his hand—”

His Majesty cut her off.

“Since she has been found, the two girls should return to their proper families. Is that your intention, Prince of Pingnan?”

Father was silent for a moment. Then, as though relieved to set down a burden, he made his choice between his two daughters.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I have come to restore matters to their rightful order, and to petition for my daughter Hanzhu to be granted the title of princess.”

The Empress Dowager still held my hand tightly.

Suddenly, she smiled.

“Very well.”

Hanzhu's face lit up. Behind her, Ruoheng sighed in relief and laughed.

“Your Majesties are truly wise! A false daughter is a false daughter. How could she ever take the real one's place?”

Father also breathed easier. He patted Hanzhu's shoulder, overcome with emotion.

“My good girl, you've suffered so much. At last the clouds have parted.”

The family was about to offer its thanks when the Emperor spoke again.