Chapter 3
Chapter 3
After Jiang Yunzhou left, Mother hurriedly asked Father what condition the Marquis had proposed.
Father looked as if he wanted to speak, then stopped himself.
“In any case, it isn’t anything difficult. We’ll talk when we return to our room.”
“Qinghe, just focus on preparing to become the Crown Princess!”
Shen Qinghe nodded with tears in her smiling eyes and thanked Father and Mother in turn.
But my instincts told me something was wrong.
I had just spoken so rudely to Jiang Yunzhou. Father should have flown into a rage. How could he forgive me so easily?
That night, the Shen Family manor was brightly lit from end to end.
Father had someone bury a stalk of lingzhi in the Shen Family ancestral grave.
In the middle of the night, the grave burst open, and the lingzhi appeared.
A “true sage” who had been bribed in advance happened to pass by.
After making a show of calculating the heavens, he declared that the fate of the Shen Family daughter was extraordinary, and her marriage could not be decided carelessly.
If they went against Heaven’s will, disaster would surely befall the Shen Family.
Father was terrified. Left with no choice, he had to propose breaking off the engagement with Marquis Ding’an’s estate.
To show their sincerity, the Shen Family not only returned the betrothal gifts, but also added the manor’s only authentic Wang Xizhi calligraphy piece. Father and Mother personally went to their door to apologize.
Their sincerity was more than enough, and the dignity of Marquis Ding’an’s estate was fully preserved.
It also laid the groundwork for Shen Qinghe to marry the Crown Prince.
Mother spent a great sum to invite an elderly palace matron who had once served in the palace to teach Shen Qinghe the palace etiquette and rules, and to tell her the temperaments and preferences of all the nobles within the palace.
As for me, I was rather unlucky.
Mother suddenly arranged a husband’s family for me: the nephew of Lord Shao, the Vice Minister of Rites. She told me to start preparing early.
I was utterly shocked.
When ordinary young ladies discussed marriage, they had to at least go through a matchmaker’s proposal, a comparison of birth details, and an in-person meeting.
My marriage had barely begun to take shape, so how had my husband already been decided?
Father’s expression was terribly dark.
“A marriage is decided by one’s parents. You will marry whether you want to or not!”
Mother let out a heavy sigh.
“In the end, you’ll have to spend your life together. If you truly want to meet him first, I’ll have someone arrange it for you.”
“In any case, don’t expect too much. Your marriage can’t possibly compare to your sister’s.”
I nodded.
My sister was someone destined to soar up to the highest branch and become a phoenix. I had never thought of comparing myself to her.
All these years, I had drifted from place to place outside.
Only half a year ago did the Shen Family finally find me.
The moment they acknowledged me as their daughter, Mother had been overwhelmed with emotion. She held me and cried until her eyes were red and swollen.
Her tears soaked through my thin, shabby clothes and fell warm onto my shoulder.
She said the Shen Family had wronged me, and that from now on, they would never let me suffer again.
But she soon discovered that I was nothing like the daughter she had imagined.
I could not read. I did not understand the rules of a great household.
I wolfed down my meals and would pick grains of rice off the floor and stuff them into my mouth.
Mother did not say anything to my face.
But in private, she cried to Father.
“If not for her age being the same and the birthmark on her body matching as well, I truly would find it hard to believe she is our daughter.”
Father comforted her.
“It’s all right. At least we still have Qinghe.”
Shen Qinghe was peerlessly beautiful, well-read, and sensible. Every frown and smile carried the poise of a noble young lady.
She did not despise me for being crude. In front of others and behind their backs, she gently called me “little sister.”
Here, I had my own room. It had been converted by knocking together two servants’ rooms, and Mother had someone add a few furnishings.
To celebrate my return to the family, Father gave me an embroidered folding screen. It was the most expensive thing in my room.
Even though the screen was embroidered with the words “May the pine and crane grant longevity.”
It was not exactly suitable for someone my age.
They seemed to have done everything they should have done. It was as if they had not wronged me in any way.
Everyone in the manor respectfully called me “Second Miss.”
It was only I who often felt miserable.
His Majesty bestowed two strings of tribute jade-green grapes from the Western Regions upon Father. After Father returned to the manor, he had them sent straight to Shen Qinghe.
Shen Qinghe ate them with a delighted smile. A few grapes had fallen from the stem and were no longer very fresh.
She had someone send those three grapes to me.
They were the most delicious fruit I had ever eaten. Their fragrance lingered on my lips and teeth, cool and refreshing to the heart, so sweet it made me want to cry.
Some time ago, at the princess’s Flower-Viewing Banquet, Shen Qinghe said she would take me out to see the world.
I had no suitable clothes.
Shen Qinghe opened her clothes chest, and the dazzling array of garments inside immediately left me overwhelmed.
She introduced them to me one by one, telling me which used Su embroidery, which was made from brocade difficult to reserve at Mingyi Workshop, and which followed the latest fashion in the capital.
I listened with endless envy and comforted myself.
My sister was so beautiful. Of course she should wear pretty clothes.
In the end, Shen Qinghe chose a lotus-purple dress embroidered with gold-thread winding branches and wish-fulfilling motifs for herself. Then she dug out an older garment from the very bottom of the chest and said,
“You’re small, so wear this one.”
I was very grateful to Shen Qinghe.
Although she always gave me the things she did not want, they were already the best things I could ever receive.