Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The moment the Crown Prince left, Mother smashed her teacup.
Porcelain shards scattered at my feet.
My elder sister was so frightened that her tears fell even harder.
Father frowned.
“In front of an outsider? What kind of behavior is this?”
Mother was so furious her chest rose and fell.
“She made a scene in front of the Crown Prince today. Do you think all she ruined was one marriage? Ah Wu is frail, so it would be understandable if she did not enter the Eastern Palace, but Ah Zhu has always been steady. Now she suddenly claims she has someone in her heart. What is the Crown Prince supposed to think of the Xie Family?”
Father did not scold me right away.
He looked at Jiang Zhao.
Jiang Zhao was still kneeling in the hall.
“You may get up first.”
Jiang Zhao did not move.
“Lord Xie has not given the order. This commoner does not dare rise.”
Father was silent for a moment.
“You do have some nerve.”
Jiang Zhao said quietly, “Not much. Just enough for today.”
I could not help glancing at him.
In the past, I had only thought him gentle and composed.
So he could speak like this too.
Mother grew even angrier when she heard it.
“A mere medical practitioner dares to covet the legitimate daughter of the Xie Family. You helped Ah Zhu put on this farce today because you wanted to climb higher through the Xie Family, didn’t you?”
Jiang Zhao’s face went slightly pale, but he did not defend himself.
I spoke up.
“Mother, I was the one who said his name first today.”
“Then kneel.”
Mother looked at me, her voice turning cold.
“Kneel until you understand exactly what you did wrong.”
My elder sister hurried forward to tug at her.
“Mother, please don’t be angry. Ah Zhu is still young. Perhaps she truly has her difficulties.”
It sounded like she was pleading for me.
But with that one phrase, still young, she made every clear-headed choice I had made today sound like childish willfulness.
I did not argue.
I lifted my skirt and knelt.
The blue bricks were very cold.
My knees struck them, and pain made the space between my brows twitch.
But compared with the pain of my severed tendons before I died, this was nothing.
Seeing me kneel, the anger in Mother’s eyes eased slightly.
“Stay kneeling here and think it through properly.”
Father sighed.
“Let Jiang Zhao come administer my acupuncture first.”
Mother still wanted to speak, but Father raised a hand.
“Things have already become such a mess. Are we supposed to make him kneel in the hall all day as well and let the servants in the manor laugh at us?”
When Jiang Zhao rose, he looked at me.
There was apology in his eyes.
I shook my head faintly.
He followed Father to the rear hall.
My elder sister, however, did not leave.
She crouched beside me and took my hand.
“Ah Zhu, why put yourself through this today?”
Her fingertips carried the sweet scent of lychee paste.
When I smelled it, my stomach somehow felt blocked.
That box of lychee paste was still sitting on the table.
The jade spoon had only taken one bite.
My elder sister suddenly lowered her voice.
“If you had told me earlier that you liked Jiang Zhao, I would never have let Mother push you forward.”
I looked at her.
Her eyes were innocent and sorrowful.
That look had frightened me most in the past.
Whenever she showed that expression, I would feel as though I owed her something.
Now I only asked, “Did Elder Sister truly not know Mother would push me forward?”
Her eyes trembled.
I continued, “Before you refused the Crown Prince today, you looked at me three times.”
“The first time was when Mother had someone place the lychee paste by your hand.”
“The second was when the Crown Prince asked whether you were willing to enter the Eastern Palace.”
“The third was when you said you were afraid of the rules.”
“Elder Sister, every time you want me to take something scalding-hot off your hands, you look at me first.”
My elder sister’s face went white at once.
She let go of my hand.
“Ah Zhu, how could you think of me like that?”
I said, “Because I have yielded too many times.”
Her tears fell again.
“I am only frail.”
I nodded.
“So this time, I won’t yield.”
She stood, as though deeply wounded.
When she reached the doorway, she suddenly looked back.
“Then what about Jiang Zhao?”
“You used him to block the Crown Prince today. Are you truly willing to marry him?”
I lowered my eyes to the broken porcelain before my knees.
“That is not something Elder Sister needs to worry about.”
After my elder sister left, the flower hall finally fell quiet.
I knelt beside the porcelain shards scattered across the floor, breathing in the sweet scent of lychee paste from the table.
All at once, I felt as though I had waited far too long for this mouthful of sweetness.
I reached out and took down the box of lychee paste.
The jade spoon was still inside.
I scooped up a bite.
So sweet it was almost cloying.
Yet sweet enough to make my eyes sting.