Chapter 1
I was supposed to marry Xu Ling, the youngest general serving the current court.
We had been friends since childhood and grown up together.
While he fought his wars and earned his honors, I stayed behind and looked after several shops he owned privately.
Six months earlier, when he had marched out on the emperor’s orders, we had agreed to marry on the day he returned victorious.
I had stopped appearing in public and handed all those well-run businesses back to him.
Over the next six months, I embroidered my wedding gown and bridal veil, along with all the things I would take to my husband’s home for him to use.
Yet on the day he returned, he brought a pregnant woman with him.
That woman was my younger sister, Xi Ruyan, our father’s daughter by his principal wife.
She sat on the general’s horse, one hand shielding her belly.
Her whole body nestled against Xu Ling, her expression shy and sweet.
Xu Ling held her from behind and looked down at me, offering nothing but an apology.
Anyone with eyes could see what had happened.
Our parents stood nearby, too guilty to meet my gaze.
I had wondered how Xi Ruyan, a troublemaker since birth, could suddenly have changed so much that she wanted to spend half a year in quiet devotion at White Cloud Convent.
It turned out she had been boldly pursuing love behind her elder sister’s back—and the man she was pursuing was her future brother-in-law.
From the looks on our parents’ faces, they had known all along.
The two of them had worked together to deceive me, covering for their beloved younger daughter while she seduced her sister’s fiancé.
“Xu Ling.” I refused to be dismissed so easily. Tilting my head back, I fixed my eyes on his cold ones. “You were the one who came to ask for my hand. You held my hands and swore never to betray me.”
Perhaps the sunlight was too bright that day. I saw his eyes flicker, his gaze seeming to evade mine.
“I was young then. I didn’t understand who I wanted beside me for the rest of my life.”
“And now you do?” I stared at him, raising my voice. “You wasted five years of my life while you worked out what true love meant!”
Swallowing the bitterness rising in my throat, I straightened my back and took a step forward. “Five years! How much have I done for your family in those five years? Even the armor you wore to win your victory was paid for by the businesses I ran for you. If you think you can cast me aside like this, think again!”
“Enough of this nonsense!” My father, who had been pretending not to exist, chose that moment to shout at me.
“General Xu has just earned great military distinction, and he is the empress’s own nephew. Everyone in the capital must show him respect. That he has come here in person to end the engagement is already more than enough consideration for your dignity. Stop pestering him and bringing trouble upon our household.”
His words were so cruel they hurt to hear. I could scarcely believe a father would speak that way to a daughter asking for justice.
Ignoring him, I fought back tears and turned to my mother. “Do you feel the same?”
She turned her face away without answering.
Seeing this, my sister nestled in Xu Ling’s arms and laughed softly. “Why humiliate yourself, Sister?”
Still seated high on his horse, Xu Ling said coldly, “I have promised Ruyan the position of my lawful wife, and I will not wrong her. Tomorrow I shall ask His Majesty to approve it. Xi Chixue, why throw an egg against a rock?”
With that, he pulled the reins and rode away.
Left behind among her maids, Xi Ruyan stroked her belly and gave me a smug, challenging look.
Our parents acted as though they saw nothing, entirely untroubled.
I looked around me and suddenly found it all laughable.
For all their splendid clothes and respectable appearances, there was barely half a human being among them.