Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It wasn’t until the following evening that I finally saw a bleary-eyed, sleepy Zhao Duanhua.

She flashed a soft smile at me and said gently, “Last night, Brother Crown Prince, Cheng’en, Brother Luo, and I were playing around until very late. I’m sorry if we disturbed you, Sister. Last night, Brother Luo gifted me a pool of starlight-it was truly beautiful. The hairpin you’re wearing is lovely, too. Brother Luo and I spent a long time picking it out before we finally settled on this one. It’s green from head to tail, which really suits you, Sister.”

She gave me a polite bow and sauntered away.

I pulled the hairpin from my hair, and for the first time, a surge of hatred welled up in my heart!

I wanted to smash it.

But then I thought, I shouldn’t just take her word for it. I should go and ask Luo Chen myself.

I waited at the Luo residence for a long time before Luo Chen finally appeared.

Dressed in fine silks, he looked elegant and handsome, though a flicker of guilt crossed his face when he saw me.

I asked him about the hairpin.

He hesitated for a moment before admitting it was true.

“I just didn’t know what to choose, so I went with Sister Duanhua.”

“Then what was the gift you gave her?”

He pressed his lips together tightly and fell silent.

He was silent because that pool of starlight was a gift he had once promised to me.

To make the pool sparkle like stars, he had secretly searched everywhere for crystals. I had pretended not to know about his plan, while privately helping him gather crystals from all over.

It took an entire year for him to fill that cave with crystals. As long as a single candle was lit, the crystals throughout the cave would reflect brilliantly into the pool, and the light from the water would then reflect onto the ceiling.

A pool of starlight, shimmering in harmony-it was as beautiful as a dream.

I had waited until I was sixteen, constantly waiting for him to give it to me.

When it didn’t happen on my sixteenth birthday, I thought he must be saving it for another important occasion.

I never imagined that after all that waiting, it would become his gift to Zhao Duanhua.

The green of that jade hairpin felt like such a mockery!

I hurled the hairpin to the ground. Shards flew everywhere, slicing the back of his hand and drawing beads of blood.

I gasped, startled, but before I could apologize, he flared up in anger.

“Nanping, I did indeed give the starlight to Duanhua, but you clearly have so much already while Sister Duanhua has nothing. Can’t you stop being so petty and narrow-minded?”

I was being petty?

If I were truly petty, I wouldn’t have cherished her like a sister from the very beginning.

But she, Zhao Duanhua, did not deserve my care.

My heart felt cold to the core as I said, word by word, “Luo Chen, what I have is mine by birth. I didn’t steal it or snatch it. Why should I have to share it with others? If you feel so sorry for her, then you should share your own things with her. Don’t be generous at someone else’s expense.”

“That pool of starlight is mine; what objection do you have if I give it to her? Or do you think I’m already something you own? Someone you can order around?”

Stung by his words, my lips trembled. Unable to say a single thing, I could only turn and leave.

Luo Chen and I had never spoken such harsh words to each other.

And yet, because of Zhao Duanhua, we had.

That night, I was too angry to sleep.

In my mind, I rehearsed the argument countless times, trying to figure out how I could have won with logic and reason.

Unfortunately, I never had the chance to put it into practice.

I was sixteen now, the age when Luo Chen and I should have been discussing a wedding date, but the Luo family remained silent, and my Imperial Mother didn’t mention it either.

Luo Chen and I stopped contacting each other, behaving like total strangers.

Instead, it was Zhao Duanhua and Luo Chen who went on outings during the day and strolled through the streets at night.

To her, the palace curfew seemed nonexistent.

I once asked my Imperial Mother about the curfew.

Before she could answer, Li Cheng’en cut in:

“Sister used to live in Fuzhou and never got to see the capital properly. What’s wrong with her going out more? She wasn’t born lucky like you, living in such a fine place from the start. You already have so much, yet you insist on being difficult. Can’t you stand to see her happy?”

It took a moment for my brain to process that the “Sister” he was referring to was Zhao Duanhua.

My expression turned icy. “You pity her for not seeing the capital, but do you realize that since the day I was born, I have never seen the night outside the Forbidden City?”

Li Cheng’en looked dazed for a moment and fell silent.

Imperial Mother said indifferently, “Are you complaining about your mother?”

“No, I am simply stating a fact,” I said, biting my lip, my heart full of bitterness.

Imperial Mother lowered her eyes, unwilling to hear more from me.

She had the meal cleared away, regardless of whether I was full.

Li Cheng’en hurried to slip away. As he passed by me, he whispered, “You’ve made Mother angry. You’d better go to the prayer hall, kneel, and transcribe scriptures. Mother has been fond of reading the Avatamsaka Sutra lately.”