chapter 1

Before I began studying at Shangshan Hall, all five of my imperial brothers treated me well, mindful of how much favor my mother enjoyed.

They often said that one day they would choose a fine Prince Consort for me and watch me be blessed with children and grandchildren, living a peaceful, happy life.

My mother would sneer about it in private. “Listen to them. To their minds, a woman who marries well and bears a houseful of children has achieved perfect happiness.”

“While they themselves live far more exciting lives. Studying letters, practicing martial arts, fighting for power and profit — becoming lords and ministers and leaving their names in the histories.”

So my mother wanted me to study.

She wanted me to have everything my imperial brothers could have.

Of course, she never dared say it outright, and I never dared hope for it either. I had always been an obedient princess, so I went to Shangshan Hall without a word of complaint.

But once I picked up a book and began debating statecraft with the Grand Tutor, my brothers stopped being so kind to me.

The Second Imperial Brother hid my books. The Third Imperial Brother tore apart my hair. The Fourth Imperial Brother sneered that I was “a hen crowing at dawn.”

Brother Crown Prince was steadier, but when the Fifth Imperial Brother shoved me into Lotus Lake, he looked on coldly from start to finish.

The lake’s winter water was so cold it bit to the bone. As I began to cramp and choke, not a single brother reached out to pull me up.

Before I sank beneath the surface, all I could see were five faces — indifferent or vicious.

In the end, I was still pulled out.

It was the only person at Shangshan Hall who was not afraid of the princes.

It was the only other woman in Shangshan Hall besides me.

It was Wei Lingxiao, who had just inherited the rank of Marquess Who Guards the Realm.

She left her crimson cloak on the bank, and the instant she carried me ashore, she wrapped it around me.

“Princess Jing’an, please do not rush to rise. Your servant will carry you back to the palace.”

My vision was blurred, and all I could make out was that face, as fair and cold as winter snow — as always.

She was only sixteen that year, and already a marshal leading troops.

In the eastern campaign last year, she had traded her right eye for a string of towering military exploits.

So ever since our first meeting at Shangshan Hall, I had stood in deep awe of this one-eyed female military marquess.

Unfortunately, the Grand Tutor seated me directly in front of Wei Lingxiao, which so frightened me that whenever she was present, I sat bolt upright, terrified of even brushing against her desk.

But this time, I had not touched her desk — instead, she had taken me fully into her arms.

Her embrace was so strong that I had nowhere to hide, and could only curl quietly against her shoulder.

I had barely let out a small sob before she silenced me.

“What is there for a princess to cry about? A pack of petty ruffians relying on their power to bully others — you have only to remember this grievance and repay it one day. There is absolutely no reason to grieve over them.”

I was so startled that I fell silent at once, not daring to let even my tears or snot fall.

The moment I entered my mother’s bedchamber, I struggled out of her arms in a fluster.

That embrace was too scorching.

I threw myself into my mother’s arms. I had not dared to cry in front of Wei Lingxiao; it was only after she had reported the whole matter to my mother and left that I burst into loud sobs.

My mother held me as she had when I was small, patting my back gently as she comforted me.

“What the hell — a bunch of little teapot spouts! What are they so thrown off balance about?”

I was used to my mother’s strange way of speaking, and I understood that she was cursing my imperial brothers for bullying me.

So I nodded vigorously and echoed her words. “Exactly, exactly! My brothers are just thrown off balance!”

Mother suddenly gripped my shoulders and asked, “Then does Jing’an still dare to go study?”

I froze, my heart churning with hesitation.

I had always loved quiet, and I was fond of reading and writing.

But after such humiliation, I was terrified as well.

Just as I hesitated, a clear, ringing voice drifted in through the window.

“Of course she dares.”

It was Wei Lingxiao, who had turned back to fetch her cloak.

Snow and wind clinging to her, a woman with a face like polished jade stepped through the door, and even the splendor of the palace could not dim the presence she carried.

She knelt in salute and spoke the promise that would bind me for the rest of my life. “Your servant wishes to escort Princess Jing’an, so that she will never suffer the slightest bullying again.”

She looked at me, and the radiance in her eyes shone brilliantly.

I did not know what she had resolved to stake on me at that moment; I only knew that this single look gave me tremendous courage.

So when she asked, “In that case, Princess, will you still dare to come to Shangshan Hall tomorrow?” I wiped away my tears, smoothed the stray strands of hair at my temples, and answered her in a voice thick with sobs.

“Then tomorrow I will wait at the North Gate for Lord Wei to enter the palace and study with you.” I rubbed my stinging eyes. “Neither wind, frost, rain, nor snow can stop me.”

That was the first time Wei Lingxiao smiled at me. “Neither wind, frost, rain, nor snow can stop us.”