Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I entered the palace to pay respects to my aunt, the Empress.

She was gentle and kind by nature. After hearing what I had come to ask of her, she readily agreed.

She invited me to stay for a meal, and as luck would have it, the Eldest Princess came by to make her greetings.

This cousin of mine had always done as she pleased without ever crossing the line, clever and carefree as ever.

She glanced at me with a smile. The moment my aunt left, she could not wait to drag me off to her Princess’s Residence, where she insisted on making me drink with her.

I had never been able to hold my liquor.

The Eldest Princess slung an arm around my shoulders and seized the chance to say, “Cousin, I have a grand gift for you. It’s in the east wing. Don’t go thinking the gift is too hot to handle and end up too afraid to even raise your eyes.”

My heart gave a little stir.

Could it be one of her male favorites?

I was just about to refuse.

The Eldest Princess waved a hand. “Father has been in a foul mood these past few days. I’m afraid of getting caught in the crossfire, so I want to send the man away for a while until things calm down. If you like him, then keep him. If you don’t, just treat it as doing me a favor and help me hide him for a few days. Once Father’s temper improves, I’ll bring him back. How does that sound?”

I had only just incurred a debt of gratitude to my aunt today.

Even if I wanted to refuse the Eldest Princess, I could not be too blunt about it.

All I could do was pinch my wine cup between my fingers and laugh helplessly without a word.

The Eldest Princess patted my shoulder. “Didn’t you have rotten luck with a man a few days ago? Today, I am going to show you that there are plenty of men in this world. Xie Huaiyu is hardly the only one. Take a look first. If you truly don’t like him, it won’t be too late to refuse then. Don’t worry. The people in my Princess’s Residence all know how to keep their mouths shut. No one will dare gossip.”

If I kept declining, I would be refusing her face.

So I could only steel myself, rise, and give her a parting salute.

Wine cup in hand, I made my way toward the eastern courtyard, one step deep, one step shallow, my mind in a drunken haze.

I did not know how long I walked. Long enough that I nearly began to suspect I had gone the wrong way.

At last, I saw a cage of dim lamplight.

The paper window, lit pale and bright from within, reflected the sharp, rugged line of a man’s profile.

I paused, took a deep breath, then finally forced my heavy feet forward and pushed the door open.

At the sound, the man lifted his eyes in surprise. When he saw it was me, he slowly relaxed again.

His gaze settled on me as his hands unhurriedly rolled up the scroll before him and tied it closed.

As expected of a male favorite.

Even toward a stranger he was meeting for the first time, he could act with such deep feeling, so seductive it could hook the soul right out of a person.

I could not help studying him more closely.

The treatment in the Princess’s Residence seemed excellent. Even an ordinary male favorite wore a gold crown and jade hairpin, his entire person carrying the bearing of nobility. His eye sockets were deep, as though he carried a trace of Qiang blood. The bridge of his nose was especially high, and in the candlelight, his lashes cast a shadow over his eyelids.

Broad shoulders, large hands. He did not look like a male favorite meant to coax women at all. He looked more like a military general.

For a moment, I nearly suspected I had found the wrong person.

I tested the waters in a low voice. “The Eldest Princess said she was afraid of displeasing His Majesty and asked me to take a male favorite out of the residence. Is that you?”

The man propped his chin on his hand, smiled, and answered without the slightest hesitation, “Yes.”

Then it should be right.

“Then… let’s go,” I said.

He raised a brow. “Not going to sit for a while?”

My face flushed scarlet. “Do what?”

He worked hard to press down the corners of his mouth, hiding the amused smile there. “I asked whether you wished to sit on a chair for a while. What did you imagine, my lady?”

This male favorite was outrageously bold!

I turned around and said stiffly, “No sitting. We leave now.”

I went to take my leave from the princess.

The Eldest Princess was still tipsy, drinking with two beautiful men as fair as white jade.

She held my hand and instructed me, “Xiao Feng is a young man I bought from a pleasure house. He is frail, sensitive, and meticulous, the sort who excels at caring for others. There is only one flaw. You absolutely must not go provoking any other young men. If he finds out, at best he’ll weep and whimper. At worst, he’ll hang himself to prove his love runs deeper than the sea.”

I shuddered.

Frail, sensitive, and meticulous.

Did that have even the slightest thing to do with the man waiting at the door?