Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The sky was growing darker and darker.

It looked as if a downpour would begin at any moment.

The vendors along the street had packed up their stalls early and gone to the palace gate tower to join the commotion.

Carrying my bundle on my back, I walked into Charity Hall. The alley outside was utterly silent.

The children had gone to bed early. Only Aunt Zhang, who usually did the cooking, was still busy preparing breakfast for the next day.

“Is the Crown Princess planning to spend the night here?”

She swiftly cooked me a bowl of noodles, even nestling an egg on top, and brought it over with a beaming smile.

I simply took the things from my bundle one by one, leaving only a few plain garments inside.

“These… these are for you all.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to come here again for some time.”

Aunt Zhang’s expression changed slightly.

She was a clever woman. Though she could not guess that I meant to leave the capital, she did know that Fu Yanli taking a side consort had left me dejected.

“Crown Princess, you should try to take heart. The Crown Prince’s feelings for you are deep and sincere. He must have had no choice in this matter.”

I stared off in a daze. Deep and sincere?

If we were speaking of Fu Yanli when he was still the Fifth Prince, then perhaps those words did fit.

After all, for an orphan girl like me to become a prince’s consort was already unprecedented.

It had all been thanks to Fu Yanli stubbornly insisting on it.

But if we were speaking of Fu Yanli after he became the Crown Prince, then I truly could not bear the weight of such affection.

Seeing that I said nothing, Aunt Zhang assumed I had thought of Fu Yanli’s kindness.

She continued to comfort me. “I heard Miss Xu is well-read and courteous, with an excellent temperament. I’m sure she will respect you, Crown Princess.”

At that single sentence, the warm noodle broth lodged in my throat, impossible to spit out and impossible to swallow.

Everyone said Xu Hua came from a great family, that she was gentle, virtuous, and wise.

But no one had ever seen the way she mocked me with such cutting malice.

She had deliberately chosen the occasion of the envoys’ visit to have us women perform our talents, then, in front of a large crowd, suggested we play the Flying Flower Game.

And when I was left unable to step down with dignity, she covered her mouth and let out a soft little laugh, then graciously helped smooth things over for me. “I suppose Elder Sister must have other talents that are simply not suitable to display at a banquet.”

Fu Yanli said nothing, but there was a faint displeasure on his face.

I had seen that expression on him before.

Back then, it had been directed at noble young ladies who deliberately made things difficult for me.

Now, that same expression was directed at me, the one who had been humiliated throughout the banquet.

I… seemed to have made him lose face.

Yes.

He was no longer the Fu Yanli from seven years ago.

He was no longer the Fu Yanli who, after seeing that I could not read a single word, would insist on staying in my room late into the night to teach me himself.

Nor was he the down-and-out prince who, whenever he felt vexed, would be made to laugh as soon as I composed a poem.

Now he was His Highness the Crown Prince, lofty and untouchable, the future heir to the throne.

A breath of resentment lodged in my chest. Unconvinced, I rose to my feet. “I can perform a sword dance-”

“There is no need.”

Fu Yanli cut me off, his expression growing even uglier.

“That is not something a Crown Princess should do.”

I was a little dazed.

On the night before Fu Yanli was conferred the title of Crown Prince, he had told me that no matter who he became, I only needed to be myself.

But barely more than a month had passed. How had his words become null and void?

“Crown Princess, did you hear what I said?”

Aunt Liu sat down beside me, concern in her eyes.

I gave a perfunctory hum. “That is true.”

In truth, over the years, it was not as though I had never tried to become a proper daughter-in-law of the imperial family.

It was just that compared to Xu Hua and those noble young ladies who had been taught by tutors since childhood…

To expect me to become as learned as them, to master calligraphy and painting, in just two years…

It was far too much to ask of me.

Far too much.