chapter 4

I turned toward the sound.

The earth outside the courtyard was slightly indented, as though someone had been standing there for a long time.

Dusk had fallen, and I could not see who it was.

Xiao Yuan poked my arm, urging me to answer.

I shook my head and counted on my fingers.

“Xiao Yuan, Xiao Tao, the cook who hid sugar cakes for me, the auntie who repaired my swing–I adore every one of them!”

The maids in the courtyard gathered around.

One hand after another reached out until I was enfolded in the middle. “And we all adore Miss too.”

I pressed my lips together, warmth filling my heart.

When all the bamboo baskets I had saved were sold, they brought in a full six taels of silver.

With that vast fortune tucked against me, I prepared to leave.

Xiao Yuan covered for me by claiming I was unwell.

“Second Miss, you must live happily from now on!”

Tears streamed down her face.

I wiped my eyes and gave a firm nod.

Night lay hazy over the residence. Most of the servants were busy entertaining the visitors from the prince’s household.

Perched atop the wall, I took one last look toward the main hall.

Tang Su sat there in this life, his expression strangely dark and sullen.

Shen Miaoyi stood nearby, her eyes a little red.

Mother seemed to be arguing about something, her face flushed from the effort.

It had nothing to do with me.

Taking advantage of the darkness, I slipped out of the residence without wasting another moment.

I was going to seek refuge with my older brother, an official in distant Longxi.

He was nine years older than me and had been posted to that remote land as long as I could remember.

He often sent money home, but unfortunately the nannies in my courtyard pocketed it all.

In my last life, after learning how I had suffered, he had even written to Tang Su, an old acquaintance of his.

“Ningshu is the only little sister I have in this life.”

“It is my failing that I am too far away in Longxi to look after her. Brother Tang, I beg you to treat her well–and then better still.”

Sadly, the only time he ever returned to the capital in that life was to escort his little sister’s coffin home.

I rubbed my aching eyes.

After four months of dusty travel, I finally reached Longxi.

At the tea-horse post station, a young man came running toward me. The dignified Chief Secretary, usually as steady as a still lake, had somehow run so hard that his hair had come loose.

In shoes riddled with holes, I looked up at him.

“Brother?”

I swallowed.

After a moment’s hesitation, I asked again, “Are you my brother?”

My voice was hoarse, and despite myself, a thread of grievance slipped through.

The young man’s eyes turned red in an instant.

He strode forward and crushed me in his arms.

“Our parents are fools. Utter fools!”

“Xiaoshu, I failed you. Your brother was useless…”

Awkwardly, I raised a hand and patted his back.

My shoulder was soon soaked with tears.

Before long, a strong, dashing woman arrived as well.

My eyes lit up and I smiled sweetly. “Are you my sister-in-law?”

With one long arm, she swept both my brother and me into her embrace.

“Good child. You must be exhausted after traveling so far.”

She ruffled my tangled hair, her own eyes reddening.

I pouted.

Why were they both crying? They were making me want to cry too.

I had walked for four months. My travel money had been stolen. Even when I was starving badly enough to gnaw tree roots, I had not shed a single tear.

My brother and sister-in-law took me home.

I was filthy from head to toe and afraid even to dirty their floor.

As my sister-in-law combed my hair, a sorrow I could not name lingered in her eyes.

Sunlight shattered along the window lattice, and two blurred feminine figures showed in the dressing-table mirror.

My sister-in-law asked me so many questions.

“Xiaoshu, was life at home terrible?”

Had someone bullied me? Had I been lonely? Had there been no one to cherish me?

Why else would I arrive in Longxi looking like a grubby little bun?

Twisting my fingers, I hurried to say that everything had been fine.

With my brother and sister-in-law beside me, I spent a happy stretch of time in Longxi.

Before long, a letter came from home.

My brother’s face turned grave.

“The Young Prince’s marriage to the Shen girl did not go through.”

“He specifically asked for you.”

I chewed my puffed-rice candy in bewilderment.

But I had never even met him in this life.

My sister-in-law slammed a fist on the table.

“The Tangs are hereditary nobility and true kin to the imperial family. Just look at the shit your parents wrote in this letter. I fear they accepted the match for our little sister long ago!”

My brother paced the room, murmuring under his breath.

“Tang Su is no good man. Xiaoshu must never marry him.”

After turning the problem over and over, they seemed to find only one solution: marry me to someone else before my parents arrived.

My brother pressed the corners of his eyes and said, “If you are willing to meet some candidates, we will do as you wish.”

“If you are not, then even if I must give up this office, your brother will protect you.”