Chapter 3

At his declaration, the onlookers drew a collective breath. Silence fell around us.

That was when my triumphant younger sister entered the hall on Xu Ling’s arm.

She froze at the sight of Li Yunxiu in his splendid robes, an unreadable mixture of feelings crossing her face.

Xu Ling noticed none of it. His eyes fell on my wrist, held in Li Yunxiu’s hand. His expression changed, and he strode toward us.

“Let go of her!” he shouted.

Li Yunxiu only smiled in contempt.

The next second, I was swept into an embrace scented with paulownia blossoms, my vision filled with gold.

He held me against him. When I tried to straighten, he pressed my head back into his chest.

“I’m spending a little time with my own fiancée. What’s that to you? What are you barking for?” His voice rose, every word steeped in mockery.

I could easily picture the smugness in those pale-gold eyes and at the corners of his slightly curved lips.

I could also hear him gloating in a tone that positively begged for a beating: Upset already? Look at him guarding his food like a dog. What an ugly sight. No, she needs to see this too.

The thought had barely ended when Li Yunxiu turned me bodily toward Xu Ling.

I looked up straight into the shock and anger on Xu Ling’s face.

“Ah Xue, explain yourself.” His voice was low, his expression thunderous.

My response was much the same as Li Yunxiu’s. “He’s right. I’m spending time with my fiancé. What’s that to you?”

Xu Ling had not expected that answer. Surprise flickered through his dark-brown eyes before anger swallowed it. “You’re engaged to him? When did this happen? Why wasn’t I told?”

“Just n—” I was about to answer honestly when Li Yunxiu gave an ostentatious little cough beside me.

I turned and met his gaze. One look into those pale-gold eyes told me he wanted me to fan the flames.

Well, the young master of the Li clan was here to back me up.

I crossed my arms, turned to Xu Ling, and let my expression grow cold. “Why should you be told? What do my affairs have to do with you? What are you barking for?”

Xu Ling’s face darkened visibly. At the same time, Li Yunxiu erupted into praise inside his head.

She gets it after one hint. I’m so moved I could cry.

She’s adorable when she talks tough and I’m not the target! …Of course, she’s adorable when I am too.

“Well done, Xi Chixue. No sooner is our engagement over than you’ve latched onto a wastrel like him. You certainly know how to look after yourself.” Xu Ling’s voice was ice. He had returned straight from war, and its killing edge still clung to him.

Now that he was angry, everyone present shrank beneath that force and dared not speak. Even the ceremonial procession summoned earlier to make a show of the occasion stopped outside the doors, uncertain whether to enter.

For all that, Li Yunxiu and I stood opposite him, grinning without restraint.

“Oh dear. Someone’s getting upset because he can’t win an argument. Someone has to resort to insults because he knows he’s in the wrong. But I won’t name names.” I pinched my nose and turned aside with a mocking air.

“What else can you expect from an uncouth brute? Look at that gloomy face. He probably hasn’t cleaned his mouth in ten days or a fortnight. No wonder half a bark from him almost knocks me senseless with the stench.”

Sounding thoroughly disgusted, Li Yunxiu flicked open his fan of jade and embroidered gold and cast Xu Ling a scornful look.

I had to admit that after so much practice bickering with one another, Li Yunxiu and I were twice as effective when we joined forces.

Xu Ling was furious. His fists clenched and unclenched beneath his sleeves as though he meant to teach us a lesson on the spot.

His betrothal banquet with Xi Ruyan was about to be ruined by the two of us.

At last, Xi Ruyan, who had remained silent, spoke.

“Sister.” She was clever enough to know Li Yunxiu was no easy opponent. Her attack went straight for me.

“I know you resent being cast aside by my beloved Xu, but you should never forget a maiden’s reputation and flirt with men in public. He spared your feelings by saying nothing before, but now that nothing restrains you, you’re behaving more outrageously than ever. Her Majesty has only just reprimanded you…”

She was trying to smear my name.

She was the one who had secretly got herself pregnant by her future brother-in-law. Yet listening to her, one would think everything was my fault.

The guests in the hall dared offend neither Li Yunxiu nor Xu Ling, so they all chose silence.

Not one of the noblewomen who had spent the past few days flattering Xi Ruyan spoke up for her. This was not what she had expected.

Her face grew strained. She was about to speak again.

Then Li Yunxiu gave a snort. Concealing his mouth behind his fan, he leaned toward me and whispered just loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“Does your sister neglect to clean her mouth too? Everything stinks when she speaks.”

“Yes, yes.” I nodded vigorously. “She doesn’t even take paper to the privy.”

The women clustered around Xi Ruyan silently stepped back together, leaving her isolated in the middle of a wide circle.

Her expression changed at once. Losing her composure, she shouted, “Xi Chixue, what nonsense are you spouting?”

“It isn’t nonsense. It’s true.” I shrugged and spread my hands, then addressed Xu Ling with earnest concern. “Really, General Xu. She’s shared your bed for over half a year and is two months pregnant with your family’s child. Even if you don’t care for cleanliness yourself, you should remind her…”

The faces around us changed sharply.

Xi Ruyan’s pregnancy was a secret everyone tacitly understood.

But privately knowing that she had slept with her sister’s fiancé before his engagement was broken was one thing; speaking of it openly was another.

The matter could be treated as small or large. Kept small, it would leave only me to suffer and be bullied into ruin.

Taken all the way to the emperor, however, it could destroy General Xu Ling’s reputation and authority beyond recovery.

Silence held the hall. Conflicting emotions crossed Xu Ling’s face as he looked at me, as though he could not believe I would try to ruin him in public.

After all, to support him, I had once set aside even an unmarried woman’s reputation and gone out into the world to build up his family’s businesses.