Chapter 1
I was born swathed in brocade and surrounded by servants. Being indulged had left me willful, and I had spent nearly all the patience I possessed on Shen Yanbai.
He was frail, so I found the finest physicians in the realm to nurse him back to health.
He loved painting, so I searched everywhere for pigments, paints, and rare inksticks.
He once told me that he had already come of age. If not for his poor health, he would have married long ago.
So I asked if he would be willing to become a prince consort.
His weary eyes rested on me for a long moment. “Ci’an, are you serious?”
I looked him in the eye and nodded.
I had adored Shen Yanbai for six years and worshipped him like the moon itself. Always afraid of neglecting or offending him, I never wanted to use my rank to pressure him. My voice trembled when I said the words prince consort.
When I saw the smile in his eyes, the weight on my heart finally lifted.
He said, “Wait for me to petition His Majesty.”
I returned to the palace and waited.
On the first day, he went to a temple with his mother to fulfill a vow. They supposedly rescued a poor young woman on the road, leaving him no time to enter the palace.
On the second day, he caught a chill from the previous day’s outing. He was unfit to enter the palace and told me not to visit lest he infect me.
On the third day, the chill had not passed. He was still unfit to enter the palace.
On the fourth day, he remained unfit to enter the palace.
On the fifth day, a vassal prince sent his youngest son to the capital as proof of his loyalty, and Imperial Father decided to choose one of his daughters to marry the young heir.
…
On the road back from the Shen residence, the floating comments vanished from my sight.
It seemed I could see them only when the woman they called the heroine was present.
In any case, theirs was the story the comments cared about.
I returned to the palace and asked Imperial Father to change the groom named in my marriage decree.
As usual, he showed little reaction.
Everyone knew I loved Shen Yanbai, yet Imperial Father always seemed bored whenever I mentioned him.
He did not appear to like Shen Yanbai, though he bore him no ill will either.
After he finished writing the marriage decree, I finally asked, “Imperial Father, what do you think of Shen Yanbai?”
Imperial Father ordered Eunuch Chen to deliver the decree, then answered at an unhurried pace. “What do I think of him? Ci’an, what kind of man he is doesn’t matter. What he thinks doesn’t matter either.”
I stared for a moment, then understood. My happiness was what mattered.
As I approached Xingyun Hall, one of my palace maids came to report, “Your Highness, Young Master Shen requests an audience.”
I made my way toward the hall without haste.
Shen Yanbai had been stopped outside. Though wrapped in a heavy cloak, the cold had still drained his face of color.
He held a hairpin in one hand. Looking troubled, he pressed his fingers to his temple. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to see me? How could you storm off in a temper like that?”