Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Jiang Zhao had just stepped over the threshold when he heard his own name.
He stopped in his tracks.
The medicine chest was still cradled in his arms, and for an instant, his expression went blank with surprise.
Every gaze in the hall fell on him as well.
Mother’s expression darkened further.
“Jiang Zhao is only a physician your maternal grandfather’s family invited here to treat your father’s leg ailment. You’ve only met him a handful of times. How can you use his name to fob off His Highness?”
Jiang Zhao looked at me.
The surprise in his eyes had not yet faded.
But he quickly lowered his gaze, bowed to the Crown Prince, then bowed to Father and Mother.
His bearing was neither servile nor arrogant.
I remembered Jiang Zhao.
In that lifetime, he entered our residence to treat Father when Father’s illness became severe.
Father’s leg ailment kept relapsing, and Jiang Zhao administered acupuncture day after day, staying by his side for a full three months.
Later, after I married into the Eastern Palace, I rarely saw him again.
I only heard that the Jiang Family had practiced medicine for generations and had once saved many old soldiers from the borderlands.
In the seventh year after the Crown Prince ascended the throne, a plague broke out in the northern borderlands. No one from the Imperial Medical Bureau dared to go, but Jiang Zhao volunteered.
He died in the north.
Before he left, he entrusted someone to deliver me a jar of lychee paste.
It was not the sort of tribute item served in a golden box with a silver spoon.
It was merely something cooked down in a small Jiangnan shop, in a rough porcelain jar with the seal set on crooked.
There was only one line in the letter.
“Your Majesty should have had the first taste of sweetness when you were a child too.”
Back then, I held that jar of lychee paste and suddenly cried so hard I could not breathe.
But I was already the empress.
After I finished crying, I still had to lock it away in a cabinet.
Only when news of his death arrived did I learn that there had once been someone in this world who remembered I liked sweet things.
This time, he was still alive.
And he had not yet been swept into the storms of the palace.
I looked at Jiang Zhao.
He seemed to sense that I was asking for his help.
Father asked in a deep voice, “Jiang Zhao, is what Ah Zhu said true?”
Jiang Zhao did not answer at once.
The hall was so quiet one could hear the tea steam dissipating.
The Crown Prince lightly turned the lid of his cup, his gaze lingering between Jiang Zhao and me.
My elder sister was watching him too.
The flicker of surprise in her eyes had already turned into a subtle scrutiny.
At last, Jiang Zhao spoke.
“In reply to Lord Xie, I only learned of Second Young Lady’s feelings today.”
Mother immediately let out a breath of relief.
“You heard him? He knew nothing of this at all.”
My heart sank.
In the next moment, Jiang Zhao continued, “However, this commoner has indeed long admired Second Young Lady in private. I feared being presumptuous, and so I never dared speak of it.”
The hall fell silent again.
I froze.
He did not look at me.
His eyes remained lowered, and his voice was perfectly steady.
“If Second Young Lady does not disdain this commoner’s lowly status, this commoner is willing to follow the Three Letters and Six Etiquettes and, in the future, ask the elders of the Jiang Family from your maternal grandfather’s side to come and propose marriage.”
Mother was so furious her hands trembled.
“Absurd!”
Father’s face darkened as well.
“Jiang Zhao, do you know what you are saying?”
Jiang Zhao set down the medicine chest, lifted the hem of his robe, and knelt.
“This commoner knows.”
“If Lord Xie wishes to punish me today, this commoner will accept it.”
“But since Second Young Lady has spoken this commoner’s name in public, this commoner cannot let her bear this humiliation alone.”
The moment those words landed, the Crown Prince finally raised his eyes.
His gaze was still gentle, but there was now an indescribable meaning in it.
I looked at Jiang Zhao too.
In the last life, I had always thought he had only pitied me many years later.
So it turned out he had seen me long ago.
Long ago, he had already been willing to shoulder humiliation for me.
Mother lowered her voice.
“Ah Zhu, are you trying to anger me to death today? Your sister broke off the engagement because her health truly cannot withstand the rules of the Eastern Palace. As a daughter of the Xie Family, you ought to help share the family’s burdens.”
When I heard the word “share,” my fingertips trembled lightly.
Again, share.
Take my elder sister’s place in the Eastern Palace.
Secure the family’s future.
Help the Crown Prince preserve his dignity.
Be sensible for everyone else’s sake.
I raised my head.
“Mother, if Elder Sister cannot withstand the rules of the Eastern Palace, then neither can your daughter.”
Mother looked as though this was the first time she had ever heard me say such a thing.
“You have always known propriety since you were little.”
I said, “Knowing propriety does not mean I am willing to be married off in someone else’s place.”
My elder sister’s face went completely pale.
Tears fell from her eyes.
“Ah Zhu, I never wanted you to take my place.”
I looked at her.
“Then is Elder Sister willing to enter the Eastern Palace now?”
Her mouth opened.
She could not answer.
The Crown Prince gently set down his cup.
He gave a small smile.
“It seems today’s meeting is no longer suitable for me to remain.”
Father hurriedly rose to apologize.
But the Crown Prince looked at me.
“Second Young Lady.”
I curtsied.
He said warmly, “May your wish be fulfilled.”
It was a very proper thing to say.
In the past, when he called me Second Young Lady, he had been just as gentle.
I lowered my head.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
When the Crown Prince rose to leave, he passed by my elder sister’s seat.
Her eyes were lowered, her shoulders trembling faintly.
I saw the Crown Prince’s footsteps pause for an instant.
Very briefly.
So briefly almost no one noticed.
But I saw it.
His heart still softened for her.
It simply had nothing to do with me anymore.