Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Crown Princess’s birthday had arrived.

By the fifth time someone from the Eastern Palace came to urge me over, the finest painter in the palace was in the middle of painting my portrait.

“Go back and tell Her Highness that I will come once the portrait is finished.”

According to the customs of both sides, the name register and birth documents had already been prepared. All that was missing was my portrait, and then everything would be sent by express courier to Yan Region.

Yet the messenger did not withdraw at once.

It turned out that my birthday gift had not been sent over in advance.

Only then did I remember that in previous years, I had personally handled every gift sent to the Eastern Palace.

Recently, with all the preparations for the marriage alliance, I had forgotten.

I had prepared Zhao Xizhen’s birthday gift long ago. It was a Double Fish Pendant carved from millennium-old warm jade.

I had begged the abbot of Protectorate Temple to consecrate it before the Buddha and enshrine it there for a full twenty-one days.

For that, I had even stayed at the temple to fast and cultivate for a month.

By the time I returned, she had become engaged.

I stared at the jade pendant and let out a soft, self-mocking laugh before handing it to the person from the Eastern Palace.

The birthday banquet was held at Lake Heart Pavilion, where wine cups passed back and forth and music never ceased.

I was half a day late. Just as I was about to enter, I heard someone mention my name.

“His Majesty has been especially fond of Commandery Prince Pingyuan lately, for reasons no one understands. Perhaps in the future, he will still have him marry someone from the palace?”

The moment those words fell, porcelain shattered against the floor.

Zhao Xizhen had crushed her wine cup. She gently hid her injured hand behind her back, raised her head, swept her gaze over everyone present, and gave a cold, mocking laugh.

“Everyone here is of noble blood. How could any of you be matched with a roadside beggar from years past?”

I happened to walk in at that moment.

Everyone turned to look at me, and the entire hall went silent.

Zhao Xizhen’s expression stiffened slightly.

I acted as though I had heard nothing. I walked to her side, picked up a cup, and slowly filled it with wine.

In truth, I had always known that she was the one who cared most about face.

Her Highness the Crown Princess was the one most worthy of being called noble blood. That also made me the one most unworthy of standing at her side.

I lifted the cup and looked at her, my gaze earnest.

“Ziyou wishes Your Highness a peaceful birthday. May you be free from sorrow year after year.”

I drained the cup in one swallow.

I meant it sincerely.

In all the years to come, I would no longer be there.

Meng Zhu’an stood beside her, toying with the Double Fish Pendant in his hand as he looked at me smugly.

“Such clear millennium-old warm jade. It will be perfect for warming my hands in winter. Commandery Prince, how thoughtful of you.”

I poured another cup and toasted him properly.

“Then I also wish Her Highness the Crown Princess and her future husband a lifetime together, white-haired and inseparable.”

Meng Zhu’an could not help glancing at her, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

“Her Highness was right. It seems these past few days copying the Standards for Being a Good Pupil and Child have truly done you some good, Brother Ziyou.”

It felt as though countless fine needles had pierced my chest.

I set down the cup.

“As long as Young Master Meng is no longer angry.”

Zhao Xizhen had been staring at me the entire time, as though unaccustomed to my calmness. There was a faint sense of loss in her eyes, along with worry.

“Ziyou, you…”

I did not want to hear her speak, so I made up a casual excuse and left first.

Lake Heart Pavilion was shaped like a pagoda and surrounded by beautiful scenery, but it was not large. The resting rooms were all on the third floor.

Meng Zhu’an’s voice and that of his attendant sounded from beyond the folding screen.

“He did not even have a name. If he had not met Her Highness, he would have stayed a beggar. And now that he has become a Commandery Prince, he thinks he is worthy of standing as my equal?”

“He is only clinging to the title of her life-saving benefactor. It was nothing but luck.”

I walked around the screen and met their eyes.

“It was her luck. If she had not met me, she would have died long ago.”

The two of them were startled and left speechless by my words.

I opened the door.

To my surprise, Zhao Xizhen was waiting outside. She looked at me coldly, her expression dark.

“I have already asked His Majesty for an edict permitting you to become my Secondary Consort. Yet you rely on the fact that you once saved my life to act so aggressively. You truly disappoint me.”

The bitterness in my heart spread in an instant, then faded away until nothing was left.

I lowered my head slightly, closed my eyes, and brushed past her.

“If I have disappointed Your Highness, then I am not even worthy of being your Secondary Consort.”

Ahead, everything suddenly fell quiet.

Everyone knelt in unison.

The emperor had sent someone to the banquet to read an imperial edict. The Crown Princess’s wedding date was set for the eighth day of the first lunar month.

I was just about to rise.

But a palace attendant walked over and smiled at me. “There is another edict, specifically for Commandery Prince.”

Zhao Xizhen stood beside me and lowered her voice, her tone carrying a warning.

“The edict making you Secondary Consort has arrived. Ziyou, you must restrain yourself from now on.”

I knelt down again.

“Commandery Prince Pingyuan is noble in conduct, keen and intelligent by nature, and deeply favored by Us. He is hereby granted the title of Prince Pingyuan.”

The attendant handed the imperial edict to me with both hands, his gaze shifting toward the Crown Princess. There was a deeper meaning in his words.

“His Majesty said that from this day forth, Her Highness the Crown Princess has an imperial elder brother.”

Zhao Xizhen’s smile vanished at once.

She snatched the edict, opened it, and went rigid.

“How could it… How could it be… an imperial elder brother?”

Her fingers were trembling uncontrollably.