Chapter 7

Wanyan Shu had been like this in my dream too, bluntly declaring that he liked me.

He said he liked my soft lips, my slender waist, and the sway of my steps when I walked.

His affection was shallow, fixed entirely on appearances. That was why he could turn on me so easily and try to kill me.

All I could do was humor him and avoid offending him. Once he tired of looking at me, perhaps he would let me go.

Or I could leave the capital and head south. As a hostage prince, he could hardly follow. However generously the Emperor treated him, he would never allow Wanyan Shu to leave his sight. Then I would finally be safe from him.

Several days later, Xiao Jinhe appeared at our estate. He said the Empress had invited me to the palace again.

My sister arrived dressed in dazzling finery. First, she glared at me and warned, “Do not speak out of turn before Her Majesty. If something isn’t yours, no amount of begging will make it so.”

Then she shook Xiao Jinhe’s sleeve and asked coyly, “Where are we going today?”

She was still worried I wanted to marry him.

I smiled without speaking and quietly watched as he drew his arm away. “I cannot accompany you today. Mother wants me there as well. Be good and wait at home. When the lychees arrive at the palace in a few days, I will bring some out and take you to White Horse Mountain to enjoy them.”

My sister immediately brightened. She shot me a triumphant look and nodded like a chicken pecking at grain.

“If Luo Yufu indulges in some foolish fantasy and asks for something that should never be hers, you absolutely must not agree,” she reminded Xiao Jinhe.

Poor Sister did not know that Xiao Jinhe had already sent me a letter. He told me not to act rashly out of spite and entrust the rest of my life to a mediocrity like Chen Huaiyu.

He was willing, he wrote, to grant me the position of a secondary consort. Condescension filled every line, as though I should kneel at his feet overflowing with gratitude.

My guess was that my sudden failure to orbit around him had left him unsettled. He tossed me a sweet date to lure me back into adoring him, so he could once again bask in the satisfaction of being loved without reserve.

I had been blind before, always believing him to be noble and above reproach. After that great dream, I saw much more clearly.

Xiao Jinhe was thoroughly ordinary: greedy and vain, selfish and false.

He was forever seeking opportunities to prove that everyone and everything remained under his control—my sister and I alike.

The Empress said, “Jinhe mentioned the matter several times these past few days. He said that as a maiden, you were naturally too shy to speak freely about marriage, and that I should have broached it myself. He is right. It was an oversight on my part.

“You and Jinhe have known each other for many years. He is outgoing, while you are quiet and reserved. You complement each other beautifully. Given everything that has happened, if you do not disdain him, the two of you could make an ideal match. What do you say?”

The Empress sounded modest, but pride was written all over her face. She clearly expected me to accept the decree with endless thanks.

So when I said my heart belonged to another and I would not burden the Crown Prince with an unwanted match, the expressions on mother and son’s faces were truly a sight to behold.

My refusal could not have been clearer. Yet two days later, the imperial decree of marriage arrived at my door all the same.

Father and Mother escorted the eunuch out of the estate. I remained rooted to the spot, clutching the decree with icy hands and feet.

My sister shoved me, then slapped me so hard that I snapped out of my daze.

“You bitch! Have you no shame? You have to steal everything from me!”

My cheek burning, I threw the imperial decree onto the floor, raised my hand, and slapped her back with all my strength.

My sister covered her face. Once the shock passed, she lunged at me like a madwoman.

I kicked her to the ground.

The truth was that whenever she bullied me, I went back to my room and pounded a sandbag. It was small consolation, but in a real fight, I was far stronger than that useless fool.

“Have you lost your mind, Luo Yufu? You actually dared to hit me!”

At that moment, Xiao Jinhe doubled back. Seeing the scene, he hurriedly helped my sister up and gathered her into his arms.

“Xiao Jinhe, you promised you wouldn’t marry her! You promised me!”

My sister hammered his chest and wailed.

“She’s a scheming bitch! How convenient that she happened to pass by after you were drugged. She arranged it all! She’s shameless! She doesn’t deserve to be Crown Princess! Her mind is full of wicked schemes…”

Xiao Jinhe paused and looked at me.

So that was how it had happened in my dream. At first, he had plainly felt guilty toward me for quite some time. Why, then, had his gaze gradually grown colder and more disgusted?

Because someone had been whispering poison into his ear.

Whether the words were true or false, once he heard them often enough, they all became truth.

I tore her out of Xiao Jinhe’s arms and rewarded her with two more slaps.

“Listen carefully, Luo Yuzhen! If you dare slander me again, I will rip your mouth apart! I have endured you long enough for Father’s and Mother’s sake. I tolerated you; I was never afraid of you! I owe you nothing!”

I hurled the imperial decree into Xiao Jinhe’s arms. “How did this marriage come about? Was I not clear enough?”

He took my hand and pressed the decree back into it. “Hold on to this carefully,” he said coldly. “Mishandle it, and it could cost you your life.”

I truly could not understand why he had accepted a marriage he did not want.

I knew only that I could never marry him. I could not allow even the slightest possibility that the disasters from my dream would happen again!