Chapter 1
Before I had finished speaking, Xiao Yichi’s voice came from beyond the screen.
“Mother, I have something to say.”
The empress sat in the seat of honor.
She gave him leave to speak.
“Seniority should be respected. I believe the two young ladies should choose separately. The elder should choose before the younger.”
My hand hovered in midair, still holding the silk flower.
I gripped it until my fingertips turned white.
The palace matron beside me watched closely.
I could neither put it down nor keep holding it.
That single remark told me he had come back too.
This had not happened in our previous life.
My sister and I had already discussed our choices with our parents at home.
My family had originally intended me to marry the Eighth Prince, Xiao Shengjing.
But that day, when I saw Xiao Yichi’s painting, I changed my mind.
I thought we shared the same hopes, that our hearts understood each other.
By the time my parents found out, the marriage decree had been issued.
Despite their deep reluctance, they still helped Xiao Yichi gain the throne.
“The young ladies are twins, born only a short time apart. There is no harm in their choosing together.”
As soon as the empress finished speaking,
I let go.
The silk flower fell onto Xiao Shengjing’s painting.
“Mother, what if…”
Xiao Yichi hesitated.
“What if the younger sister chooses the man the elder has her heart set on? That would be unfair to both the elder Miss Song and the prince concerned.”
Silence settled over the hall for a moment.
My sister gave a soft laugh.
“You must be joking, Your Highness. Though my sister and I are twins, we have never liked the same things, even as children.”
Xiao Yichi wanted to say more, but the empress shook her head.
She signaled for the princes to be escorted out for the time being.
My sister held her silk flower above the Third Prince Xiao Bozhou’s painting, about to set it down.
I reached out to stop her.
“Sister, what do you think of the Sixth Prince’s painting?”
She looked at Xiao Yichi’s painting of phoenixes flying together.
After a single glance, she looked away.
“The Sixth Prince has great ambitions. I would rather live a quiet, carefree life. We want different things. We would not make a good match.”
Her flower still landed on the Third Prince’s painting.
In our previous life, we had chosen paintings just as we were doing now, and she had said exactly the same thing.
Since childhood, we had both known
that one of us would become the crown princess.
And then the empress, a mother to the realm.
Today’s choice would determine our happiness for the rest of our lives.
Xiao Yichi’s phoenixes had caught my eye at once.
The phoenixes flew together, their wings rustling in harmony.
I thought Xiao Yichi and I had arrived at the same dream without ever discussing it.
Then I met him, and saw the disappointment he could not hide.
Only now did I understand. The person he had wanted to choose him was my sister all along.
The phoenixes expressed his longing to marry her.
He thought I had chosen him before she had the chance.
That was why, this time, he had asked the empress to let my sister choose first.
The empress looked at where our flowers lay and nodded in satisfaction.
She had raised three sons and two daughters.
The Third, Sixth, and Eighth Princes were all her sons, born to the emperor’s principal wife.
“Have you both made your choices?”
My sister and I knelt to thank her.
The princes entered the hall while we stood to one side.
“Mother, I would like to ask a favor.”
The empress waved a hand. “Go on.”
“Could the weddings of the two young ladies of the Song household be held on different days?”
The empress paused. She did not understand the request, but respected it.
In the end, she agreed.
Outside Fengyi Palace, Xiao Yichi fell behind the other princes.
He came to stand with us, his tender gaze resting on my sister.
When he turned to me, his eyes held cold disgust.
“Second Miss Song, I will not agree to marry you. Choose another prince while Mother’s decree has yet to be issued. I will explain it to her.”