Chapter 3
Seven days later, there was a banquet in the palace.
In the days since my return, rumors had swept the capital.
They said I had been an unruly child who had repeatedly tormented Jiang Jingyue.
A few years on the frontier had only made me more savage and cruel.
The moment I returned, I had started targeting her again.
“Isn’t that only natural? After all, it was the Third Princess who was betrothed to the heir of the Marquis of Zhongyong from childhood.”
“I heard he only treated the Sixth Princess as a substitute for her at first. It was later that he fell in love.”
“Haven’t you heard? The Third Princess stood outside the Eastern Palace for half a day, and His Highness still refused to see her. If even her own brother can’t stand her…”
As I stepped into the hall, the whispers around me abruptly died down.
I had barely taken my seat when I spotted Jiang Jingyue nearby.
Dressed in finery, she approached with a wine cup, looking timid as she offered me a toast.
“I know I’ve offended you in the past, Sister…”
When she raised her hand, her sleeve slid down.
On her slender wrist was a white jade bracelet I knew only too well.
I caught her wrist and demanded,
“Who gave you permission to flaunt my mother’s belongings in front of me?”
Tears tumbled down her face in fright.
“I’m sorry. The crown prince put it on me himself. I’ll take it off right now…”
Flustered and helpless, she reached to remove it. As she pulled, she stumbled and fell to the floor.
The bracelet fell too, shattering into pieces.
I shot to my feet. “Do you want to die?”
She lay trembling on the floor, tears spilling without end.
“I’m sorry, Sister. I didn’t mean to. It’s just that I hurt my knee when you made me kneel in the snow the other day…”
Before she had finished, Li Wuzhe appeared.
He pulled her up from the floor and gathered her into his arms, turning a cold gaze on me.
“Yes, after you left, I fell in love with Ah Yue. But that isn’t her fault.”
“If you have a grievance, take it out on me. Stop bullying your sister—”
My hand closed over the hilt. I drew the long sword at my waist and pointed it straight at his throat.
“What’s the hurry? Your turn is coming.”
“All these years, and you’re still using the same cheap, contemptible tricks. You broke my mother’s keepsake right in front of me and thought I’d let you off?”
I gave Jiang Jingyue a look of disgust, then turned back to Li Wuzhe.
“If you love her so much, you can die with her.”
The entire hall fell silent.
My sword edged forward, inch by inch.
It had sunk only half an inch into his flesh when a cup came flying from the side and struck my hand.
Pain loosened my grip a fraction.
Li Wuzhe took the chance to retreat, his arm around Jiang Jingyue.
I turned and saw Jiang Yanjun in black, his expression sharp.
My crown prince brother. The brother who shared my mother.
He stood on the steps, looking down at me.
“Jiang Shuyi, who gave you leave to draw a sword in the palace? Have you no manners?”
The cup had hit the old wound on my wrist. Pain turned my vision white.
I had to brace the sword’s tip against the floor to keep myself upright.
Looking up at him, I said each word distinctly. “She shattered a keepsake Mother left us.”
“I gave that bracelet to Ah Yue. She may do as she pleases with it.”
Jiang Yanjun spoke indifferently, then his voice darkened.
“I know all about what happened outside the Eastern Palace.”
“You’ve always been unruly. You’ve resented Ah Yue for years and humiliated her at every turn. Now you want to use Mother’s name to torment her again—”
He turned his head slightly, glancing at the bitter wind outside the hall and the thick snow on the ground.
Lowering his lashes, he looked down at me arrogantly.
“Go outside. Kneel for four hours and reflect on your conduct.”