Chapter 2

Coming back to myself, I gave a cold laugh.

“Yes, I’m overbearing. Not only that—I’ve killed people.”

“If that scares you, tell that little innocent in your arms to keep her head down and stop provoking me.”

Leaving Li Wuzhe and a scowling Jiang Jingyue where they stood,

I turned away and went to the imperial study to see Father.

By the time our conversation ended, dusk was approaching.

I was about to take my leave when he suddenly remembered something.

“Since returning to the capital, have you seen Yanjun yet?”

I paused, then nodded. “…Not yet.”

“Go and see him.”

Jiang Yanjun was my older brother, born of the same mother.

After Mother’s death, we had depended on each other to survive in the palace.

Three years ago, I had taken the blame for him, and Father had banished me to the bitter cold of the northern frontier.

Rain had poured down as I knelt in punishment outside the hall.

My brother held an umbrella over me, his eyes red.

I sighed. “I’m a condemned woman now. You’d do better to keep your distance, Brother.”

“Shuyi, I wasn’t careful enough. And I failed to protect you.”

He said, “I’ve failed you as a brother.”

Three years later, he was the crown prince.

Yet now I stood outside the Eastern Palace for over two hours.

The attendants at the gate kept telling me he was occupied with official business and had no time to see me.

After a moment’s silence, I said softly, “Since my brother is busy, I’ll call another day.”

I turned toward the entrance, only to come face-to-face with Jiang Jingyue.

With Li Wuzhe absent, she no longer bothered to play the innocent in front of me.

She raised her brows and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong, Sister? Won’t our crown prince brother see you?”

I watched her expressionlessly for a moment, then seized her by the collar and kicked the back of her knee.

She dropped to her knees in the snow with a cry of pain. I pressed her head down into the drifts.

“You know I’ve been honored and rewarded for my victories, yet you won’t even bow when you see me. Is this what you’ve been taught, little sister?”

Only after seeing her sprawled in the snow, utterly bedraggled, did I straighten and leave, satisfied.

When I reached the narrow passage, though, I couldn’t help looking back.

Jiang Yanjun, who had been so busy a moment ago, heard that Jiang Jingyue had come and eagerly ordered the gates opened.

“I had them make your favorite sweet soup… What happened to you?”

From a distance, Jiang Jingyue’s voice reached my ears, making a brave show of it.

“Nothing. I tripped.”

She paused. Suddenly she could no longer keep the tears from her voice.

“…I suppose seeing me so soon after coming back to the palace made my sister unhappy.”