Chapter 3

By first light, I could no longer stand. My maid had to support me all the way back to my courtyard.

Wen Shuyi arrived soon afterward, still wearing her vacant, childish expression. She comforted me in the voice of a little girl and clumsily tried to massage my knees.

I saw the guarded thoughts hidden beneath her thick lashes.

I saw through the act.

I had no wish to expose her. I merely ordered tea and pastries and told her to eat as much as she liked.

She ate without ceremony, though every so often a searching look slipped through her disguise.

We were sitting together in silence when a maid entered.

“Eldest Miss, Young Master Lin heard that you were punished and hurried over to see you.”

Lin Shaobai?

I had not expected him so soon.

News of my punishment would certainly be spread far and wide. It was the Wen family’s way of giving Prince Yan an excuse to step back without losing face.

I glanced at Wen Shuyi. She had crumbs smeared all over her face, yet even that could not hide her beauty.

In the past, her mindlessness and constant grime had dimmed her looks. Soon, however, her radiance would be impossible to conceal.

Even Prince Yan would admit that she had been a pearl buried in dust. Other men would have still less chance of resisting her.

Lin Shaobai would be no exception.

I sighed softly. “I won’t see him. Tell him I have gone to rest.”

My maids stared at me in shock.

“But you and Young Master Lin grew up together, my lady. He has always cared deeply for you. If you refuse to see him like this, he may read too much into it.”

They were right.

Lin Shaobai and I had known each other since childhood. He had never hidden his feelings, and anyone with eyes could see them. I, too, had always treated him differently from everyone else.

But years of familiarity would eventually grow dull. How could it compare to the startling sight of someone new, or love at first glance?

A childhood bond could never withstand…

Better to draw a clear line today than suffer heartbreak and resentment tomorrow.

“How he chooses to interpret it is beyond my control.”

My voice was cool, and the finality in it changed my maids’ expressions. They turned and went to deliver my answer.

Wen Shuyi looked up at me through her foolish disguise.

“Big Sister… do you hate him?”

Hate him?

I shook my head.

How could it be hatred? It was simply that one day he would devote himself to another woman and remain unmarried for her sake. He and I were never meant to be.

After Lin Shaobai had been sent away, Father returned to the residence. He had been in Jiangnan on imperial business for more than a month.

Yet as soon as he came home, he headed straight for my courtyard.

He entered, saw Wen Shuyi eating pastries, and failed to hide the disgust in his eyes.

Father had served at court for decades, and family power and prestige were all he cared about. His children earned smiles if they were useful. If not, he treated them with cold indifference.

“I have heard about the broken engagement,” he said. “Prince Yan did go too far, but you could have handled the matter with tact. Instead, you drove both sides into open conflict. You have disappointed me.”

He did not spare a thought for the humiliation his daughters had endured. He only blamed us.

“Third Sister is still a daughter of the Wen family. Was I supposed to sit by while others trampled her into the dirt? To humiliate her is to humiliate me!”

I met his eyes directly. It may have been the first time I had ever spoken to him that way.

Anger flashed across his face. His hand rose high, then stopped in midair.

He did not strike me.

Instead, he flung his sleeve aside and stormed out.

Wen Shuyi came over without wiping the sticky crumbs from her fingers. She tugged lightly at my hand, then rested her head against my shoulder.

I knew her thoughts were lucid.

Beneath those lowered lashes was a mind sharp enough to see through the world.