Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Several days later, deep in the night.

The front gate was rapped again-knock, knock. Through the crack in the door, I could just make out a stern face. It was Qu Huang’s personal attendant, Liuyao.

“It’s so late. What is it?”

He lowered his voice. “Madam, you have to run!”

“What?”

“The Sovereign is selecting maidens from all over the realm to enter the palace. The master just left for Yebei, and the County Princess wrote your name on the register. I had no choice but to come warn you under cover of night!”

I was stunned. “But I’m a married woman!”

Liuyao shook his head again and again. “Those eunuchs won’t care about that! Tomorrow at the latest, they’ll come for you!”

I understood. County Princess Wenzhao had made another killing move.

She had already resolved to have my husband all to herself. She could not let me die, but she had ten thousand ways to make me wish I were dead.

For a moment, my heart seemed to sink and drift in ice water.

After the cold came desolation. After desolation came hatred, carved deep into the bone. And from that hatred, a single spark burst forth, gradually kindling from my ruin a tiny, insignificant bit of courage.

“Liuyao, since you serve Qu Huang, you must know how to read and write a little, don’t you?”

He nodded. “Of course!”

I stood where I was, turning it over and over in my mind. At last, I drew back the bolt and invited him inside to talk.

“I have a way to get out of this. I’ll need your help.”

After seeing Liuyao off, I went to the kitchen and made a bowl of minced meat soup, then carried it steaming hot into the room.

The moment I stepped inside, a pair of dark green eyes fixed on me. I pretended not to notice and stood before the couch, asking softly, “Are you hungry?”

He had no idea what I was plotting. His lips pressed into a hard line. Right in front of him, I took two spoonfuls myself before carrying the bowl to him. “Don’t worry. It isn’t poisoned.”

The man stared at me for a long while before finally parting his lips and taking a mouthful. I gently stirred the soup with the spoon, and at once the fragrance rose, rich with the scent of meat.

“Do you want more?”

“………”

“If you do, then press your print here.”

Seeing the contempt in his eyes, I took out a document covered in inked characters. Afraid he would not see it clearly, I even brought the paper closer to him. “Don’t worry. It’s not some contract selling you into servitude.”

“Only a marriage contract.”

His eyelids drooped, and he gave a scornful laugh. “Don’t even think about it.”

I neither agreed nor argued. I simply set the meat soup beside the couch, then sat down by my dressing case and began to do my makeup with meticulous care.

Flower ornament, brow dye, rouge, lip color-each step was done with exacting, painstaking precision.

When my formal makeup was complete, I took up a mirror and looked at myself. The woman in the glass had long, delicate brows, misty eyes, and black hair piled on her shoulders like clouds of crows. There was an indescribable loveliness to her, clear yet bewitching.

Back then, Qu Huang had looked down on me so much he had nearly torn up the betrothal papers in court. Yet after one glance at my face, he changed his mind and welcomed me through his doors.

It went to show that a beautiful face was indeed useful.

Behind me, the man watched me with a furrowed brow.

I said nothing. Instead, I slowly loosened my robes and, piece by piece, changed into silk-gauze underclothes, a red gauze skirt embroidered with mandarin ducks, and a splendid, radiant bridal shawl embroidered with a hundred sons…

After three years, I put on that wedding dress again.

Seeing me dressed in such bright finery, he seemed to realize something. His hoarse voice mocked me. “Madam, if all you want is one night of pleasure, why bother tying me up?”

Because I had some measure of beauty, when I was still unmarried, many noble young lords had once pursued me with fervor.

But this man merely glanced at me indifferently, with not a trace of desire in his eyes.

I had dressed myself with such care and gained nothing for it. Deeply frustrated, I said, “No. I can’t let you go.”

“Right now, I need a man. So I won’t disdain you for being so badly wounded, and you mustn’t disdain me for my humble family.”

“Heh. How undiscerning of you.”

He lay on the couch, his face noble and pale, refined as if carved and polished. He carried an indolence comparable to those born into imperial wealth and power, yet also a hint of unruly defiance.

“What if my injuries are too severe to cure, and I die tomorrow?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t be an abandoned wife, and I won’t be a widow.”

I stroked his injured leg lightly and said in a soft voice, “If this leg keeps rotting, I’ll saw it off. I’d rather make you a cripple than let you die.”

“You…”

All at once, frantic pounding came from the door. It was Ah Er anxiously calling out, “My lady! A crowd of eunuchs has come to the gate. They say they’re here to escort you into the palace!”

“Stall them!”

With that, I tore the golden coronet from my head, stripped off my outer robe, and climbed onto the couch. Grabbing the man’s index finger, I bit down. A bloody fingerprint was pressed onto the marriage contract.

“You! How dare you!”

Caught off guard, he could only glare at me after I succeeded. A flush spread through his brows and eyes, making him look so handsome he hardly seemed human.

The next instant, my hand was already at his temples. My fingertips caught his little crown and gave it a gentle tug. His long black hair spilled loose.

“Sorry for the trouble. I’ll be borrowing your body for a while.”