Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was kept at the manor.

They gave me a courtyard. It wasn’t large, but it was beautiful, with rockeries and water features. I didn’t have to work, and there were even servants to wait on me.

To outsiders, my identity was the orphaned daughter of an old friend of the Prince, come to seek refuge. As for the other layer to it, there were people who knew about that too.

Princess Consort Hongyang was gentle and kind. When she studied me carefully, I almost regretted the lie I had told.

But very soon, I realized there were no simple, softhearted people here at all.

She took the initiative to suggest to Prince Hongyang that she adopt me as her goddaughter. Prince Hongyang was moved, but refused. Then she said they should hold a welcoming banquet for me so everyone could get to know me. This, Prince Hongyang agreed to.

And it was at that banquet that I learned there was no such thing as a truly magnanimous person in this world.

The Prince and Princess Consort had three sons and one daughter. Their youngest daughter, Siyuan, was only ten. Wearing a pair of large eastern pearls, she bounded into the banquet like a little rabbit, then pointed at me with innocent eyes and said I looked just like her father.

I looked at her, and she stared straight back at me.

It was not as if this was our first time meeting. She had done it on purpose.

I lowered my head and ate and drank as I pleased, pretending I had heard nothing.

The banquet fell silent for a long while before the considerate Princess Consort finally spoke.

“Your Uncle Wu became sworn brothers with your royal father precisely because the two of them looked alike. So of course it is only natural that your sister Siming resembles your royal father too.”

Everyone else seemed to come to a sudden realization, just like Siyuan. I, however, remained busy eating and said nothing. The atmosphere turned awkward again, until the maid beside me secretly gave me a reminder. Only then did I raise my head foolishly and ask what was wrong.

Afterward, the Princess Consort even came to tell me Siyuan had not meant it. She also made Siyuan apologize to me. Siyuan sweetly and adorably told me she was sorry, and I, flustered and overwhelmed by the honor, said it was all right.

They tried to put me in my place more than a few times. After a while, I simply stayed shut away in my courtyard, eating whatever I was given and wearing whatever I was given. Whether I had a little more or a little less made no difference to me anyway. After all, back then I had even gnawed on bark and grass roots.

And so, with a very proper awareness of my position as someone living under another’s roof, I managed not to be an eyesore, and that spared me quite a few incidents.
In the blink of an eye, three years passed.

The manor was bustling with excitement. I heard that some madam from some family had come to visit, supposedly to help look over prospective husbands for Siyuan. The senior maid at my side looked as if she wanted to speak but hesitated. It was going to be the same old lecture again.

I was practicing large characters. I had been punished by my teacher today and had no time to pay her any attention.

Last year, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, Prince Hongyang’s Manor held a family reunion feast, with me tacked on as an extra. The banquet was lively, and at some point, one of the elder brothers or sisters suggested we play the flying-flower poetry game. When it was my turn, I had only three words: “I can’t.”

Someone tried to smooth things over by saying I was being modest. I sincerely told them that I only knew a few characters and truly did not know how to compose poetry. Then, embarrassed, I punished myself with three cups of wine.

Everyone noisily moved past the matter, but Prince Hongyang’s expression did not look too good. The next day, the Princess Consort was affectionate and warm toward me again. To summarize, she said it was her oversight, then arranged for me to attend lessons with the others. Later, because my foundation was too poor, she hired a teacher just for me. Now I had one-on-one lessons.

I had no objections. After all, my actual level really was not much to speak of. If I could improve even a little, that was good enough.

As for marriage, that was not something I needed to worry about yet.

Because Lady Mei had died so thoroughly, Prince Hongyang continued to think of her with longing. Over the years, not only had he given me the same “Si” character used in his daughter’s name, I had also suffered no real grievances here in Prince Hongyang’s Manor.

As for the Princess Consort, I heard that in their early years, she and the Prince had been a loving couple. It was only later, when they spent more time apart than together, that concubines and secondary wives appeared. But counting the dates, Lady Mei appeared before that so-called period of separation, which was probably why the Princess Consort minded my existence somewhat. Still, because of her status, everything was handled acceptably on the surface.

I felt that there were no truly bad people in Prince Hongyang’s Manor. So my marriage certainly would not be a poor one.

Besides, I thought I was still young. Waiting a few more years did not matter.

I was perfectly calm and not anxious in the least, but they still had not forgotten about me. The Prince proposed that my engagement be settled before Siyuan’s.