Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I crouched in the corner, running my fingers over the silver ingots one by one, reluctant to let them go.

Then, with no small amount of misery, I looked at the madman again.

Ever since I came in, he had been grinning foolishly, calling out over and over, “Ah Yunyao, Ah Yunyao.”

He meant Zhao Yunyao.

The former First Noble Lady, now the Crown Princess.

A fool! And he still dared to yearn for a noble lady!

I rolled my eyes at him and gave a cold laugh. “Stop dreaming. All you have is me, a lowly courtesan.”

Who knew what crime this man had committed to be locked away in this lightless prison?

He was filthy and reeked from head to toe, his hair hanging loose and tangled so badly I couldn’t even make out his face.

Outside, the jailer knocked on the door and urged, “Hurry it up! The noble who bought you didn’t send you in there to stare into space.”

A dog bullying others on its master’s power!

What was he rushing me for? I needed to prepare myself, didn’t I?

Gritting my teeth, I took out a silver ingot and handed it to the jailer.

Putting on my most ingratiating smile, I said, “Brother, could I trouble you to bring two buckets of hot water?”

When the jailer took the silver, his rough, dark hand stroked the back of mine.

I shot him a coy look.

He smacked his lips and chuckled. “Tsk. No wonder you’re the number one beauty of Tianxiang Pavilion. What a pity. People’s fates really are different. You do look quite a bit like Miss Zhao, but she’s already become the high and mighty Crown Princess. And you? You can only serve this mad Fifth Prince. A cheap whore and a fool. Tsk. A perfect match.”

The Fifth Prince?

I froze and looked at the man squatting on the floor, picking at the corner of the wall.

This filthy, stinking madman was actually that once-brilliant Fifth Prince.

I remembered the Lantern Festival two years ago, when the Fifth Prince released sky lanterns from the city wall.

He had worn a moon-white brocade robe with wide sleeves, his long hair black as ink, elegant as carved jade.

With one faint smile at the woman beside him, he had dazzled half the capital.

Back then, I had stood beneath the wall, watching him.

I heard one of my sisters say dreamily, “If I could sleep with the Fifth Prince just once, I’d die without regrets.”

What had happened in the palace?

How had he fallen to this state?

The jailer brought in two buckets of water and said impatiently, “Let me tell you, if even a famous courtesan from a brothel like you can’t make the Fifth Prince act like a man, you’ll be dragged out and killed later. Three have already died before you.”

As he said this, he glanced at the wall.

I understood at once. Someone was watching us through a hidden peephole.

I wetted a cloth and was about to wash the Fifth Prince.

He took my hand and said gently, “Ah Yunyao, you’ve come to see me.”

Anger surged through me. I pinched the back of his hand hard. “Open your damn eyes and look! I’m not the woman you love!”

He sucked in a breath from the pain, blinked at me aggrievedly, and looked at me in silence.

I stripped off his outer robe. After hesitating for a moment, I left his inner garments on.

Sigh. Let us both keep a little dignity.

After using up both buckets of water, he was finally somewhat clean.

I pressed him into the corner, where we could avoid the gaze of anyone peeping in.

Biting his lip, I mumbled, “Fifth Prince, I don’t know whether you’re truly mad or only pretending. But I want to live. Forgive me.”

He pressed himself tightly against the wall, as if desperate to put distance between us.

I tugged open his trousers and slipped my hand inside.

With the tip of my tongue, I pushed out a pill and fed it down his throat.

Good thing I had prepared in advance before coming here.

I had worried that if I ended up facing a sixty-year-old man, I wouldn’t be able to perform, so I had brought medicine beforehand.

Before long, his desire stirred.

His hands gripped my waist tightly.

The pain made me bite down on his shoulder.

Suddenly, a burst of laughter came from outside.

“Looks like Fifth Brother really has gone mad.”

“Sigh. So it wasn’t that he couldn’t do it. It’s that he can only do it when he’s looking at the Crown Princess’s face.”

“They’re coupling like this, no different from beasts. Is this still our high and mighty Fifth Brother?”

I covered the Fifth Prince’s ears so he wouldn’t hear those filthy words.

But he suddenly turned over, shielding me with his body.

Then I heard a voice from outside, cold with disgust.

“He’s already gone mad. Why must you be so vile?”

That voice was noble and aloof.

The others immediately fell silent, no longer daring to spout nonsense.

Over the Fifth Prince’s shoulder, I saw a beautiful, dignified woman standing outside.

She was the Crown Princess, Zhao Yunyao.

People always said I looked seventy percent like her.

But seeing her now, I knew that was complete nonsense.

She was like a goddess high above the world, while I was as lowly as a weed in the mud.

When my eyes met hers, I let out an exaggerated moan.

The Crown Princess covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief in disgust, then turned away and said, “This farce has gone on long enough.”