Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Over the past few days, I had already found out everything I needed to know.

Xie Lin’an was a rising star at court.

Unlike those sons of noble families who lived off the glory of their ancestors, his military achievements had been carved out on battlefields piled with corpses and drenched in blood.

His future had not come easily. How could I let it be ruined because he had gotten involved with me?

I had long since accepted my fate.

I was an ill-omened person, trapped by Xiao Yu within these four walls, with no family and no friends. I would simply muddle through the rest of my life in this careless, perfunctory way.

But Xie Lin’an intercepted me halfway. He was tall and broad; the moment he stood before me, even the blinding sunlight was blocked out. Everywhere I looked, there was only him, overwhelming my entire field of vision.

I forced myself to look away from him and watched a bird skim past the eaves. Calmly, I answered, “No.”

“Is that so? Then where are you going now? This general happens to be headed the same way. I’ll walk with you.”

The young general lowered the arm he had braced between us, turned around with easy grace, and made a casual sweep of his right hand in front of him.

“Please lead the way, miss.”

How could I possibly do that?

Gritting my teeth, I looked back at him, only to meet a pair of peach-blossom eyes curved slightly upward with the satisfaction of a successful prank.

Did he think this was funny?

I pressed my lips together, turned my head, and walked away.

“Hey… why are you still angry?”

Xie Lin’an quickly caught up and grabbed my hand from behind. “Don’t be angry. I was only teasing you. Are you this sharp-tongued with everyone?”

“Yes. This is exactly the kind of cold-hearted person I am.” I twisted free of him and looked up, my voice icy. “General Xie, you saved the wrong person.”

If I said that, he probably would no longer want to see me.

If he did not meet me, if he had no contact with me, then he would not be dragged down by me.

But in the middle of my words, Xie Lin’an’s expression suddenly changed. He pointed at me. “What happened to you?”

Following his gaze, I realized that when I had twisted away just now, I had used too much force. The spot on my arm where he had gripped me was beginning to seep blood through my sleeve.

“It’s nothing… It has nothing to do with you.”

I tried to leave in a panic, but Xie Lin’an took my hand directly and pushed up my sleeve in one motion. At once, the scattered cuts across my arm were fully exposed.

Instinctively, I tried to pull my hand back, but his grip was frighteningly strong.

If Xie Lin’an had still carried a hint of joking a moment ago, then now his face was taut, and a killing chill had settled in his eyes.

“Who hurt you like this?”

“I did it myself…”

“Madwoman…”

Xie Lin’an insisted on taking me to an imperial physician to have the wounds bandaged. After what had happened with Imperial Physician Liu, there was no way I would go again, no matter what he said.

While we were locked in a standoff, I pulled a stack of gauze from my robes.

I could not describe the look on Xie Lin’an’s face. He stared at the stack of gauze in silence for a long while, then said, “You came surprisingly well prepared.”

I rubbed my hands together and smiled awkwardly.

Xie Lin’an wanted to bandage me himself. I thanked him again and again, but insisted on doing it myself.

He sat beside me, propping his chin on his hand as he watched me bite the gauze with my teeth to tie the knot.

“Am I ugly?”

The sudden question baffled me. At a loss, I answered, “General, your face is as bright as the clear moon.”

“Then am I fierce and terrifying, like some vicious criminal?”

“No.”

“Then why do you always keep me at arm’s length? It can’t be that I have thorns growing all over me.”

I burst out laughing, but in the next instant, a haze settled over my heart.

After a long silence, I put away the gauze and said to him, “General Xie, it isn’t that I don’t understand courtesy. I owe you my life. But An Ran is an unlucky person.”

“Oh? In what way are you unlucky?”

“I used to… belong to Prince Liang. General, you can ask around. Anyone who gets involved with me comes to a bad end.”

It wasn’t as if there had never been new, naive little palace maids who tried to be friendly with me. But the moment they heard about my past connection to Prince Liang, every last one of them ran off without a trace.

For lowly servants like us in the palace, one mistake could earn a beating or a scolding from our masters. Staying alive was no easy thing.

People fawned on those above them and trampled those below. It was too common. I did not blame them.

After I put it so plainly to Xie Lin’an, he ought to understand.

But after hearing me out, Xie Lin’an frowned and said, “What does Prince Liang’s matter have to do with you? It wasn’t something you could decide. Besides, what did you do wrong?”

My heart shook. Then I heard Xie Lin’an add, utterly unconcerned, “And whether something is lucky or unlucky isn’t up to people to decide.”

“Then… who decides?”

Xie Lin’an smiled mysteriously and took two coins from his robes. In a tone full of unfathomable depth, he said, “Heaven decides.”

Leave it to Heaven?

Xie Lin’an said that in the army, before marching out, they often used this method.

They would toss a coin high into the air. The side with characters meant good fortune, and the patterned side meant ill fortune. Toss it three times to determine luck or misfortune.

I was half convinced, half skeptical.

Xie Lin’an tossed one coin first. It was ill fortune.

“Tch. Rotten luck! Here, your turn.”

Xie Lin’an handed me the other coin.

The coin leapt high into the air, bright as a spark, streaking past my eyes like a shooting star.

It landed in my palm. I carefully turned it over. Good fortune.

Three times in a row. Unbelievably, every toss was good fortune.

I could hardly believe it and wanted to try a fourth time, but Xie Lin’an reached out with his long arm, scooped the coin away, and tucked it into his robes. Then he winked at me.

“See? Not only are you lucky, you’re extremely lucky. Eat more. If Heaven sees you looking like a skinny little monkey next time, it may get upset.”

My clothes were stained with blood, so I went back to change. By the time I returned to Chengqing Hall to attend Xiao Yu, I was late.

Xiao Yu bent a finger and tapped it twice against the table. His assessing gaze swept over me, and he said displeasedly, “Where did you go?”

My heart tightened. “This servant is clumsy. I tripped and fell on the road.”

“Useless.”

Xiao Yu’s brows drew together in irritation, and he was just about to reprimand me further when Eunuch Liu came in with his body bowed, interrupting the conversation.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, Xizhou’s annual tribute has been presented.”

“Is the Ministry of Rites paid to do nothing? Must Zhen handle even this little matter?”

Eunuch Liu bent even lower, yet for some reason, his tone carried a hint of joy.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, Lord Li insists that Your Majesty examine it personally.”

I soon learned where the joy in Eunuch Liu’s voice came from.

Because when the door opened, a woman walked in against the light. She wore a plain white dress, her dark hair half pinned up with a lotus hairpin, her figure delicate as a willow bending in the wind.

There were plenty of fresh, refined women in the imperial palace.

Only this one looked exactly like the late Miss Lian Cheng.

I instinctively looked toward Xiao Yu and saw that he had already risen to his feet, his gaze fixed tightly on the woman.

“What is your name?”

“Replying to Your Majesty, this common woman is called Jiang Yu.”

“Jiang Yu… Jiang Yu. If Zhen gives you all the fish in the Ancient Lotus Pond, would you like that?”