Chapter 2
I pressed my lips together, about to argue.
My sister stepped in front of me, blocking Xiao Yichi’s view.
“Your Highness, my sister and I have made our choices. Why would we change them?”
His dark expression brightened.
“Miss Song, that painting of mine…”
He looked at her expectantly.
Standing behind her, I could plainly see the love in his eyes.
In our previous life, once our marriages were settled,
Xiao Yichi and the Third Prince had invited us on a spring outing.
My sister and the Third Prince had been exchanging letters for years.
Only three months earlier had they formally revealed their identities to each other.
On the day of the outing, the Third Prince brought her favorite jasmine flowers.
She accepted them joyfully.
I noticed the jasmine in Xiao Yichi’s hand.
And the disappointment in his eyes.
Smiling, I held out my hand.
“Thank you for the flowers, Your Highness. I love them.”
He tossed them into my arms without a word.
His face darkened too.
“As long as you like them.”
Then he strode past me.
My sister and the Third Prince walked together.
Xiao Yichi and I followed a few paces behind.
He stared absently at their backs and murmured,
“Why wasn’t it me?”
I did not catch what he said.
The scent of the jasmine in my arms made me terribly sick.
Though we were twins, my sister and I seldom liked the same things.
Often, what one of us loved was precisely what the other hated.
Especially flowers.
I adored gardenias.
The smell of jasmine made me feel wretched.
Everyone in our household knew that little fact.
On our first meeting, I carried those jasmine flowers for an hour. When I got home, I spent the entire afternoon vomiting.
Later, I married Xiao Yichi.
For eighteen years I stayed by his side, from his days as a prince to his appointment as crown prince, and then into the imperial inner palace.
Without fail, he brought me a bouquet of jasmine every three days.
At first, I teased him about it.
“I don’t like the smell of jasmine. I like gardenias. Don’t get it wrong next time, or I’ll be cross with you.”
He would lightly stroke the tip of my nose.
And say with a smile,
“All right. I’ll remember next time.”
Yet the next time always brought another handful of the freshest jasmine.
Once, twice, then countless times. Gradually, I went from vomiting for half a day to less than an hour, until I could no longer bring anything up.
Somehow, I grew used to the scent.
When Xiao Yichi happened to notice, he smiled and said,
“I knew you liked jasmine. Since you enjoy it, I’ll bring you the freshest flowers every day.”
Even as he lay dying, the scent of jasmine lingered in Fengyi Palace.
My sister looked past Xiao Yichi.
Toward the Third Prince waiting a short distance away.
A smile touched her lips without her realizing it.
“Your Highness’s painting has a lovely meaning.”
Xiao Yichi stood frozen, as though an astonishing joy had descended upon him.
My sister took my hand and walked toward the Third Prince.
Instinctively, Xiao Yichi caught my hand.
“Did your sister mean that?”
I nodded earnestly.
“She did. We both think your painting has a lovely meaning.”
So lovely that, in my previous life, I had flown toward it like a moth to a flame.
Longing for a loving husband and a happy marriage.
“Is there anything else, Your Highness? Our family is waiting for us at home.”
He came to his senses and noticed his hand gripping my sleeve.
He flung it away and turned toward my sister, wanting to explain.
She examined the sleeve he had crumpled in his fist.
Her lips pressed tightly together. She said nothing more.
Taking my hand, she followed the Third Prince out of the palace.
Once we were in the carriage, her gaze returned to my wrinkled sleeve.
“Thank goodness neither of us chose the Sixth Prince. He’s so impetuous. He would never make a wise ruler.”
I said nothing.
My sister could never have guessed
how completely her casual remark had come true in my previous life.