Chapter 1
One of us spoke of a private affair.
The other invoked an imperial command.
The first to recover their senses were the married ladies, all well versed in the ugly intrigues of great households.
The marriage between the Crown Prince and Shen Yuyao, the eldest legitimate daughter of the House of Marquis Yongning, had been decreed by the emperor himself.
The position of Crown Princess was not some trinket to be passed back and forth according to personal preference.
How could she simply give it away?
Shen Yuyao must have committed some earth-shattering offense that would be exposed as soon as she married. That had to be why she was so desperate to shift the blame onto someone else.
She could ruin another woman’s reputation and escape calamity herself.
Two birds with one stone.
Every one of these ladies had once been a sheltered maiden. Who among them had never dealt with a muddleheaded sister who could not tell her own people from outsiders?
One plainspoken lady lowered her voice and asked Mother, “Have you spoiled your daughter so badly that you no longer care what happens to all nine branches of your clan? She dared take a lover while betrothed—surely she hasn’t done something as scandalous as surrendering her chastity before marriage?”
Her voice was quiet, yet the words “surrendering her chastity before marriage” still drifted into every ear.
Mother clenched her jaw.
She was about to rebuke the woman, but when she met my elder sister’s reddened eyes, her heart softened after all.
She changed tack and turned her attack on me instead.
Raising her voice, she said, “Please excuse this disgraceful spectacle. My younger daughter has always been petty. As a child she envied her sister’s clothes and jewelry, and now that she’s grown, she has even conceived designs on her own brother-in-law.”
Mother smoothed my elder sister’s disheveled hair.
Her voice was warm and tender.
“Yuyao has the heart of a bodhisattva, but no matter how much you love your sister, you shouldn’t indulge her until she becomes lawless.”
“Go to your marriage without worry. I will discipline your sister myself.”
Whenever Mother spoke of me, an inexplicable cruelty crept into her words.
Perhaps more than a decade of favoritism had given my elder sister confidence.
She refused to take the escape Mother had offered her.
Instead, she seized my sleeve and forced me down before the dressing mirror.
Picking up the phoenix coronet, she casually held it over my head.
With a mocking half smile, she said, “I’m afraid Mother will never straighten out Sister’s wayward nature.”
“Rather than let her make our house the laughingstock of the capital by flaunting herself before her brother-in-law and offering him her bed, why not grant her wish and let her climb into a noble marriage?”
“Enough!”
My voice trembled as I cut her off.
Clutching my handkerchief, I rose and faced her.
“You keep claiming I seduced the Crown Prince, Sister. At the very least, you should tell us when and where I supposedly did so.”
“Everyone in the capital knows I have been praying for our house and have not once returned home. Taiping Temple is a royal Taoist sanctuary, a place of quiet cultivation for the Grand Princess. Are you slandering me, Sister, or showing contempt for the imperial family?”
My elder sister’s eyes flew wide.
Her lips opened and closed.
She thought for a long while, yet could not find a shred of evidence with which to answer me.
Her gaze swept over the ladies and young misses watching the drama.
At last, full of grievance, she looked helplessly toward Mother.
Mother pulled her into her arms.
She stroked her back, the very picture of maternal devotion.
Then Mother raised her eyes and raked me with a knife-edged gaze.
She issued an order at once. “The Second Young Miss has fallen into a fit. Take her away before she disturbs our honored guests!”
“No! Mother, let Shen Zhi marry him!”
Still nestled against Mother’s shoulder, my elder sister sprang up to interfere again.
Just then, a young maid hurried in from the front hall.
Oblivious to the chaos in the room, she wore a bright, festive smile.
In a crisp voice, she reported, “Madam, His Highness the Crown Prince has finished his bridal verse. If the Eldest Young Miss is ready…”
At last she sensed the strange atmosphere in the room and swallowed the rest of the sentence.
She silently schooled her expression and stood waiting to one side.
I smiled bleakly. “Since you cannot set your mind at ease, Sister, I will use my life to grant your wish.”
“I only beg you to curb your vicious tongue. Every branch of the Shen clan rises and falls together. My humiliation alone is a small matter, but the daughters of the Shen clan should not have filth flung at their names for no reason!”
With that, I chose my angle, put on an air of grim resolve, and charged into a pillar before collapsing miserably to the floor.
Screams erupted all around me.
Through the haze, I saw my elder sister stumbling backward in alarm.
At the edge of my vision, a pair of boots embroidered with dragons stepped over the threshold.
I fought to keep the corners of my mouth from lifting.
Given another life, a fool still never learned wisdom.