Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a clear, mild spring day.

My Little Aunt was playing with me in the creek.

I am seven years old this year, and my Little Aunt is seventeen. She came here to take care of me.

She accidentally slipped, soaking herself from head to toe.

I wanted to call for a maid, but she wouldn’t let me. She even cupped some water in her hands to make her hair even wetter.

Crystal-clear droplets slid down her neck like pearls gliding over white jade.

My husband, He Lanzheng, happened to be riding past on his horse.

He frowned, his voice stern and imposing. “How improper.”

I was so frightened that I hid behind Little Aunt. He Lanzheng was a man who killed.

Several of the attendants who had come with me as part of my dowry had been killed by him.

But Little Aunt wasn’t afraid. Standing barefoot in the water, she looked up at him and smiled, her voice soft and gentle. “Prince Jun, my clothes are wet. Might I borrow your cloak?”

He Lanzheng looked down at her coldly.

Just as I was about to kneel and plead for mercy on Little Aunt’s behalf, He Lanzheng unfastened his cloak and threw it over her. Then, he spurred his horse and rode away.

Only then did I dare to breathe deeply. I warned Little Aunt to stay far away from He Lanzheng next time.

Little Aunt stroked my face. “Yingying, don’t be afraid. Auntie will protect you.”

When night fell, Little Aunt was nowhere to be found. I searched everywhere for her.

Then, I overheard the nanny who looked after me speaking.

“This Princess Anning is truly shameless. She moved into our Prince’s manor under the guise of looking after her niece, yet she’s here to lay hands on her own niece’s husband.”

“Did you see her enter Prince Jun’s room with your own eyes?”

“Of course I did. She was wearing His Highness’s cloak, with almost nothing underneath.”

They said she had been seducing He Lanzheng even on the journey here for the political marriage, while he was escorting her.

He Lanzheng had wanted to kill her several times, yet she still lacked the sense to stay away.

I was sent to Northern Qi for a political marriage when I was five.

Two years later, Little Aunt was also sent here to be married to the elderly, gravely ill Emperor.

Although the old Emperor had since passed away, she was still an Imperial Consort. Yet, she had gone into his son’s room of her own accord.

“Our Prince hates women from the Wu Region the most.”

“Just you wait. In a moment, His Highness will be calling people in to clear away her corpse.”

Upon hearing this, I rushed toward He Lanzheng’s room. Other than my mother, Little Aunt was the person who treated me best in this world. I didn’t want her to die.

But the attendants at the door wouldn’t let me in. All I could do was cry and make a scene.

Then, Little Aunt’s voice drifted out from the room. “Yingying, go back first. I’ll be back in a little while.”

She told me to be good. She said she wouldn’t lie to me.

I didn’t believe her; she clearly sounded like she had no strength left in her voice.

The attendants carried me away and locked me in my room.

I waited and waited, until I fell asleep. Little Aunt never came back.

She lied to me after all. She clearly said she would be back in a little while.