Chapter 2

The snow began to ease. A pale light showed at the edge of the sky.

I took my leave of Lu Feibai.

As I turned, he said, “I’ll take you home.”

“There’s a carriage downstairs. The snow makes the roads slippery; Your Highness should return early.”

His smile held a trace of helplessness. “After three years apart, have we become such strangers? When we used to explore the capital together, didn’t I take you home every time?”

My expression stiffened. I turned away stubbornly. “We do have a past, Your Highness. If you behave like this, the crown princess may misunderstand.”

As expected, that touched a sore spot.

The crown princess was overbearing. Whenever a reasonably pretty woman approached her husband, she found an excuse to punish her.

Xue Yifu had borne no child in three years. Even His Majesty had lost patience and recently bestowed two concubines on the Eastern Palace.

She had shouted and raged, refusing to let Lu Feibai favor them.

The couple had quarreled for days, neither willing to yield.

“I am the crown prince, second only to one man. We happened to meet today, and I can visit my teacher on the way. Let’s see who dares gossip.”

He watched me pretend to hesitate, unable quite to hide my small delight.

We walked side by side through the snow, one figure in red, the other in black.

By tomorrow, everyone would know I had returned and met the crown prince.

I had left quietly, and everyone thought I had lost.

I need not hide my return. Someone else would restore my dignity for me.

Over the next few days, I claimed to be unwell and received no visitors.

Rumors of the prince’s endless quarrels with his wife flew everywhere. I remained unmoved.

At the time, I was listening to songs at Princess Xianrong’s residence.

The performer onstage had alluring eyes, and his profile bore a slight resemblance to my elder brother.

Xianrong asked what I planned to do next.

I sipped my tea. “Take things as they come.”

She clicked her tongue. “So now you’re guarding against me too? Apparently all the information I’ve sent you these past few years was wasted.”

Knowing I had misspoken, I softened my tone.

“My dear sister-in-law, I’m clumsy with words. Be generous and overlook a small person’s fault. Don’t take it to heart.”

Being called my sister-in-law pleased her. She let the matter go.

Sadly, that was a title I could use only in private.

Xianrong’s mother, Consort Liang, had followed His Majesty since before his accession. She had little favor, but her quiet, undemanding nature earned some of his respect.

Xianrong benefited from that affection too.

She was livelier than the other princesses, preferring armor to rouge.

When my brother captained the imperial guards, she was forever seeking him out to spar.

Once she understood her feelings, she did not hesitate. She went straight to His Majesty to ask for a marriage decree.

My brother was reserved and meticulous, yet he gladly spent time seeking out the finest smith in the land.

All to have a red-tasseled spear made to fit his beloved’s hand.

Had he not died, Xianrong would long since have become my sister-in-law.

But how many things in this world can an “if” change?

To repay my lord’s favor at the Golden Terrace, I take up the jade-dragon sword and die for him.

Fate. Nothing more.

“Congyi’s death anniversary is on the tenth next month. Have you engaged all the monks?”

“The monks performing the rites will arrive at the end of the month. Father has already sent out the memorial address.”

I asked, “Will you come that day?”

“Of course.” Her expression fell, and her voice broke as soon as she spoke.

“I’ll see him off as his widow.”

After speaking of my brother, neither of us felt like idle conversation.

Onstage, the singer had reached a line from “The Beautiful Lady Yu”: A lovely night, yet I cannot share it with you; my heart is heavy with sorrow.

After a few more songs, I rose to leave.

Xianrong looked worried. “You’ve returned so publicly. I’m afraid Lady Xue will use the occasion to make trouble for you.”

“We’ll meet soldiers with generals and floods with earthworks,” I said lightly. “She’s no demon. Why should I fear her?”

She laughed. “With you so untroubled, perhaps I am worrying too much.”

“Just don’t forget. Someone must pay for your brother’s death.”

“Don’t worry, sister-in-law. I know.”

The person she meant was the crown prince.

It was the memory I least wished to revisit.

Whenever I thought of it, I feared I might lose control and kill Lu Feibai.

He had met a woman of the martial world while traveling incognito.

Lu Feibai was accustomed to the dignified gentleness of noblewomen.

To him, a spirited, dashing woman of the martial world held a natural allure.

He concealed his identity and met her often.

He called it savoring the freedom of the martial world.

As captain of the imperial guards, my brother was responsible for protecting the prince.

But Lu Feibai found him a nuisance. Again and again, he slipped away, determined to meet her alone.

In fact, she was the sacred maiden of the Fulin cult.

Her apparent interest was a ruse. She meant to abduct him and use him to bargain with His Majesty.

There was little time. When my brother discovered the plot, he could only send his deputy to gather men.

He went to rescue the prince alone.

He intercepted the woman just as she was about to join her accomplices.

Reinforcements had not arrived, and the cultists were relentless. With no other choice, my brother exchanged clothes with the prince and drew their pursuers away.

In the end, the imperial guards arrived and rescued Lu Feibai.

My brother fell into the cult’s hands. After countless tortures, they vented their fury by having horses tear him apart.

When we found him, we could no longer piece together a whole body…

The brother who had loved and protected me should have had the brightest future.

Instead, his life ended with such senselessness.

So senselessly that no one believed the news when it came.

Such a brave man had not died on a battlefield, but in a ridiculous romantic escapade.

His death was a thorn in Xianrong’s heart.

And no less a thorn in mine.

Over these years, Xianrong had continued to hate Lu Feibai.

She placed her hopes in me.

Once I married him, I was to avenge my brother.

I looked at the sweeping characters on the plaque: Princess Xianrong’s Residence.

We had plenty of time.

Now that I was back, I would become crown princess.

And I would avenge my brother.

The game had only begun. Who was a piece, and who the player, remained to be seen.