Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Qi Yan did not die.
Three quarters of an hour later, he merely coughed up a cup of blood. The blood was dark and murky, staining the snow-white handkerchief like a withered plum blossom.
I stood by the bed, clutching the short blade hidden in my sleeve as I watched him.
He leaned half-propped against the couch, his breath weak, yet he still had the mind to smile. “If you were to strike now, I likely wouldn’t be able to dodge.”
I asked, “Why didn’t you kill me?”
“If I killed you, who would help me draw the snakes out of their holes?”
His tone was nonchalant, as if he were merely remarking that the moonlight was pleasant tonight.
I finally understood. This peace marriage wasn’t just Great Liang’s scheme against me; Northern Yan had also been waiting for my arrival.
The Northern Yan royal court was split into two factions. One supported the First Prince, Qi Chong, and advocated for a southern conquest; the other relied on the Old King, fattening their private armies by plundering the borders. Qi Yan was caught in the middle, his body frail and broken, yet he was the one they all wanted to eliminate.
And I was the most suitable pawn.
A Noble Lady of the southern Liang, the former Emperor’s fiancée, and a Peace Marriage Princess. As long as I died in Northern Yan, Xiao Chengxu would have a legitimate reason to deploy his troops. As long as I lived in humiliation, Great Liang would never be able to hold its head high.
I sneered. “So you intend to use me in your game as well.”
Qi Yan was silent for a moment before saying, “Yes.”
I unsheathed the short blade.
He did not flinch.
As the tip of the blade pressed against his Adam’s apple, I noticed a piece of old red string peeking out from his sleeve. The string was heavily faded, wrapped around a small Ginkgo Leaf.
I froze.
That was something I had given to Xiao Chengxu when I was twelve.
Qi Yan followed my gaze and slowly tucked the red string back into his sleeve.
“Stolen,” he said.
“Stolen from where?”
“Beyond Changyuan Pass, from the corpse of a Great Liang messenger.”
My hand trembled.
The year Xiao Chengxu first ascended the throne, I had written him a letter. Tucked inside was a Ginkgo Leaf, and I had asked him when the phoenix carriage would come for me.
I had always thought he hadn’t replied because the affairs of state were difficult.
It turned out the messenger had died beyond Changyuan Pass.
Qi Yan looked at me, his voice very soft. “Shen Zhaoxue, do you really think the person who sent you here intended for you to return alive?”
I took up residence in the Princess Residence.
Though it was called a Princess Residence, Northern Yan soldiers stood behind every door. The maids did not speak the Han language, my meals were tested for poison daily, and even the sight of a peach blossom withering outside the window had to be reported to Qi Yan first.
He had indeed given me a golden cage.
Yet, it was a strange cage.
When I wanted books, he had half a library moved in. When I wanted to see my dowry maid, he personally retrieved Qingwu from the Inner Prison after she had already endured a round of interrogation. When I coughed up blood at night, he would sit under the corridor wrapped in a cloak to decoct my medicine, even as his own shoulders shook from his coughing fits.
Qingwu said, “Miss, the Fourth Prince is not like the rumors.”
I looked at the Armored Soldiers patrolling outside the window and replied, “No matter how exquisite the cage is, it is still a cage.”
On the third day, the Northern Yan royal court summoned me to the palace.
The Old King sat upon a throne draped in wolf skin. His hair and beard were grizzled, but his eyes were like those of a hawk that hadn’t yet had its fill. He demanded that I perform a dance for the assembly, saying that southern Liang women were soft and fit to provide entertainment for the warriors of Northern Yan.
Laughter erupted throughout the hall.
I stood in the center of the hall, my fingernails digging into my palms.
Qi Yan sat in a lower seat, his face paler than the palace lanterns. Holding a cup of wine, he said nonchalantly, “If Father wishes to see a dance, why not have the Minister of Rites dance first? He received three thousand gold pieces from the southern trade routes last night; he should be in high spirits.”
The Minister of Rites’ expression changed instantly.
The Old King narrowed his eyes. “Number Four, on your first day of marriage, you already want to protect a southern Liang woman?”
“It is not to protect her,” Qi Yan smiled thinly. “It is to protect Northern Yan’s dignity. If a Peace Marriage Princess is humiliated in the royal court, there will be a hundred thousand desperate soldiers at Changyuan Pass by tomorrow.”
He was still coughing as he spoke, his lips stained with blood.
Yet, for a moment, no one in the hall dared to respond.
The Old King finally waved his hand, gesturing for me to sit beside Qi Yan.
As I sat down, he handed me a cup of hot tea.
The porcelain was warm, just right for heating my hands.
I did not take it.
He wasn’t angered, merely saying in a voice only I could hear, “The Minister of Rites-the first one.”
“What?”
He looked up at the singing and dancing in the hall, his eyes cold.
“The debt I’m collecting for your wedding night.”
Half an hour later, the Minister of Rites stumbled out of the hall drunk and was dragged into the snow by the patrolling Imperial Guards. The charges were illicit ties with southern merchants and the illegal sale of military grain.
The next day, his head was hung outside the royal court.
The commoners of Wuxu gathered three layers deep around it.
Some clapped; others wept bitterly.
Standing inside my carriage, I realized for the first time that the head he wanted to take wasn’t just to vent his anger over my humiliation.
He was hacking away at the rotten bones of this royal court.