Chapter 2

I did not know how long I had been dead. Jiang Yinxue looked much more mature than I remembered.

It had probably been a decade or so.

He frowned at the white hair between my fingers, then flicked me a glance. “Little ghosts are the hardest to deal with. Irritating creatures.”

He insulted me; I accepted it with a smile and prepared to provoke him some more.

As though the thought had only just occurred to him, he said, “Your former fiancé, Shen Feng, became engaged to the Minister’s daughter today. His betrothal gifts filled an entire street. Quite the spectacle.”

My smile froze.

In my memory, Shen Feng was still the neglected concubine-born son his older clansmen bullied, a poor, helpless thing who needed my protection.

So he had made something of himself.

Jiang Yinxue’s lips curved. “It seems your love, strong as gold and stone, was still no match for the Minister’s influence.”

My face chilled. I refused to concede after he belittled me, so I struck back. “And? At least someone once loved me. Unlike you, Lord Jiang—oppressed and ordered about since childhood, never once free.”

Jiang Yinxue’s mouth flattened.

We both knew precisely where to stab to hurt the other most.

Neither of us spoke again that night. By tacit agreement, we settled into a wordless standoff.

On the third night, my spirit began to fade. Frightened, I hurried onto his bed.

He lifted an idle eyelid and pulled me into his arms.

I breathed in greedily at the hollow of his neck. Satisfaction flooded every part of me. “You’re getting much more cooperative, Lord Jiang.”

Dark shadows ringed Jiang Yinxue’s eyes. He lowered them wearily. “You talk too much.”

I grinned at him as if our quarrel had never happened.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone rapped at the door. Jiang Yinxue did not move. “What is it?”

His attendant Zheng Ling called from outside, “My lord, Vice Minister Shen Feng is here to see you.”

“No.”

Jiang Yinxue’s answer left no room for argument.

Zheng Ling departed. I went back to feeding. When I happened to look up, I found Jiang Yinxue gazing down at me, his eyes dark and pensive.

I blinked. He pinched my earlobe, then asked slowly, “After someone becomes a ghost, do the feelings they had in life gradually disappear?”

“I don’t think so. I still remember everything from when I was alive.”

A slight furrow appeared between his brows, as though he had encountered a puzzle he could not solve.

Zheng Ling’s voice came from beyond the door again. “My lord, Lord Shen says it concerns General Shi. He says it’s urgent.”

Jiang Yinxue and I looked at each other. He pushed me aside and straightened his robes.

Still hungry, I followed behind him. “Something about me? Do the two of you talk about me often?”

Jiang Yinxue scoffed, as though I were hopelessly conceited.

But I did not understand. He had always despised Shen Feng. Why would Shen Feng ever speak to him about me?

Jiang Yinxue glanced back. “Do you want to go?”

My heart gave a violent thud. “But…”

Ever since I had awakened as a spirit, I had been unable to leave this room.

Jiang Yinxue called through the door, “Bring him here.”