Chapter 2
I was the legitimate daughter of the Cheng family. I began learning embroidery at five, had mastered literature by my early teens, and was accomplished in the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
Not even the most exacting etiquette matron in the capital could find the slightest fault in my conduct.
Lin Zhao adored me too.
On our wedding night, he lifted my bridal veil and smiled as he stared at me. “Qingqing is so delicate. I’m afraid the slightest force might break her.”
I sobbed until I could hardly breathe from the pain, but he only gripped my waist more brutally.
“Why are you crying? Don’t you enjoy it too, Qingqing?”
We shared the bond of childhood sweethearts, more than ten years in the making.
My parents and everyone in the capital knew how well Lin Zhao treated me.
So even at times like that, when he said things that made me uncomfortable and did things I disliked, it could not be anything serious.
A few days later, an imperial decree arrived. Lin Zhao had performed a great service by retaking three cities in his latest campaign, and the emperor intended to visit our residence in person to commend and reward him.
On that day, I dressed in all my finery. My long skirt trailed along the floor; golden hairpins adorned my coiffure, their dangling ornaments swaying below.
When Lin Zhao saw me, his eyes darkened. “Qingqing is so beautiful. I wish I could hide you away and never let anyone else look at you.”
I curved my lips into a smile, only to hear myself ask, as though possessed, “And Miss Xu?”
The moment I mentioned Xu Liuzhao, Lin Zhao’s expression changed.
“Qingqing, you are the legitimate daughter of a principal wife and the woman I married with every proper rite. Why lower yourself by quarreling with her?”
Fortunately, just as the atmosphere grew strained, the emperor arrived.
At his side was Chancellor Xiao Zhuo, who had always been at odds with Lin Zhao.
Lin Zhao and I bent our knees in greeting, but the emperor stopped us. “No need for ceremony. I have come incognito today, which means we may set aside the formalities between sovereign and subject for the moment. Lin Zhao, is this your wife?”
“Yes.”
“Soft as a blossom and fine as jade. She truly is the greatest beauty in the capital. None of the many beauties in my harem can compare.”
A strange light flickered in his eyes. He stared openly at me for a moment before turning to Xiao Zhuo. “What does the chancellor think?”
Xiao Zhuo scoffed. “A beauty has always deserved a renowned general. General Lin’s paltry skills do seem rather inadequate.”
An arm suddenly tightened around my waist. Lin Zhao had pulled me against him. “There is no need for Chancellor Xiao to concern himself. You, on the other hand, have reached twenty without taking a wife. Perhaps you suffer from some embarrassing hidden ailment?”
The air bristled with hostility. Stranger still, for some reason the gazes of all three men slowly came to rest on me.
Sunlight filtered through the latticed windows, dimmed as it entered the room. An invisible pressure seemed to fill the chamber. It had no effect on them, yet bore down entirely upon me.
It made me want to flee for no reason I could explain.
Just as I felt I could no longer breathe, someone burst into the room.
Xu Liuzhao.
The peculiar atmosphere shattered at once.
Her eyes swept hurriedly over the three men without lingering, then settled on me. “Qingqing, there’s a book I can’t make sense of. I need your help.”
She seized my hand and pulled me several steps toward the door, then simply broke into a run.
It was shockingly rude, but her grip was so tight that I could not wrench my hand free. I had no choice but to look back.
The emperor, Xiao Zhuo, and… my husband still stood where we had left them. Not one rebuked us for our discourtesy. Every gaze following me held a fierce, overflowing possessiveness and a baffling certainty that I would be theirs.
I did not understand why.
But I did not stop to bow again.