Chapter 1
The Crown Prince, aloof and austere, took the full brunt of a riotously colored butterfly kite.
The crowd fell silent. Then faces reddened as everyone struggled not to laugh.
The Crown Prince, Pei Xuan, had been brilliant from an early age. Perceptive and steady, he nevertheless wanted nothing of the mortal world and had devoted his heart to Buddhism.
He had already decided that in six months, he would relinquish his title as heir apparent and enter Xiangguo Temple as a monk.
Neither the Emperor nor the Empress had been able to dissuade him, and the matter weighed heavily on them.
Today’s kite festival had been arranged especially for him by the Empress.
She hoped the lively joy of young men and women might kindle in him some attachment to mortal life.
But Pei Xuan had sat quietly from beginning to end, taking no part in anyone’s games.
Alarmed, I hurried over to apologize.
“Forgive me, Your Highness. I accidentally broke my kite string and disturbed you.”
Pei Xuan wore a moon-white brocade robe. Stillness surrounded him, and his eyes were as calm as an unruffled lake.
He returned the kite to me and spoke evenly.
“No harm done. You may go, Miss Shen.”
I curtsied and turned to leave, only for the Empress to call me back.
She had thought the day another wasted effort, but now her expression shifted and a smile touched her face.
“Xuan’er, you always say that one should follow one’s heart and let fate take its course. With so many people here today, Miss Shen’s kite fell on no one but you. Might that not be fate as well?”
“By the rules, since you took Miss Shen’s kite, you have chosen her as your crown princess.”
My eyes widened. I had never imagined matters would take such a turn.
Pei Qing, who had been drawing his bow at my elder sister’s kite, immediately stopped and looked over in alarm.
Pei Xuan replied without the slightest agitation.
“Mother, I did not participate in the contest. It cannot count.”
“Besides, my heart is set on Buddhism. I do not wish to waste a young woman’s life.”
The Empress paused. Her gaze lingered on me as though she wanted to say more.
Pei Qing had lost all interest in shooting. He came over and pulled me away.
“Shen Youning, I take my eyes off you for one moment and you nearly cause a disaster.”
Annoyed, I demanded in a clear voice.
“Pei Qing, why did you aim at my elder sister’s kite instead of mine?”
His expression stalled, then slipped back into its habitual mockery.
“Be reasonable. When did I ever promise you anything?”
“Besides, there were so many kites in the sky. How was I supposed to tell whose was whose?”
“Shen Youning, are you so desperate to marry that no one but me will do?”
Pei Qing never spared me with his tongue.
I had always consoled myself that we were simply too familiar with each other and had fallen into this way of getting along.
We were like the bickering lovers in storybooks.
We might scorn each other aloud, but surely each cared most for the other in secret.
And when I was eight, he had risked his life to pull me from an icy lake.
But I could not rid my mind of the way he had strained to shoot down my elder sister’s kite today.
All at once, my desire to argue with him drained away.
Just then, Nanny Su came trotting over from the Empress’s side and summoned me.