Chapter 2

“I, Lin Jingfeng, will follow Your Highness and remain faithful all my life.”

He was lying, and I was the weightiest part of his lie.

I stared into his utterly unwilling eyes and found it all suddenly laughable.

I was Xie Ling, granddaughter of the Marquis of Zhongyong, the most beloved princess at court. From birth, I had been taught how to uphold the dignity of the imperial house.

In this world, I was the one who rejected others. Who had the right to reject me?

I wanted Lin Jingfeng to understand: when I liked him, I could lay every treasure in the world before him. But when I did not—

I smiled gently, poison hidden in my voice. “What if one day I ask you to die?”

Lin Jingfeng was silent for a moment. He turned to me, pale sunlight falling across his shoulders, his profile veiled in shadows of an unfathomable darkness.

He looked at me for a long time, as though seeing me for the first time. His voice was hoarse. “Then I will die for you, Your Highness.”

I smiled, a gleam of challenge in my eyes. “You had better keep your word.”

I turned and walked away. The sunshine was lovely, the breeze delightful; even Ah Ling’s cracking adolescent voice sounded pleasant.

“Has someone finally taken off her sweet, innocent mask and shown her fangs?” he asked.

My voice was soft and sweet. “I’m done playing with him.”

Ah Ling wound a strand of my hair around his finger and laughed softly by my ear. “Don’t put on a brave face, Sister. We’ll see whether you cry if he dies.”

I glanced sideways at him. “I’ll hang up lanterns and set off firecrackers.”

I turned a corner and found Lin Jingfeng standing before me in black robes and black boots, just as on the day we met.

Only now, there were no white pear blossoms on his shoulders.

He held an envelope. He must have taken a shortcut to catch us.

He had clearly heard us. His youthful pride apparently stung, he asked coldly, “Is your love so shallow, Your Highness?”

I smiled, lifting my face to study him without restraint. “I’ll love you only if you love me. Do you dare?”

He said nothing. Taking my wrist, he opened my curled fingers and set the envelope in my palm.

His fingers were rough from years of holding weapons. As they brushed my skin, a shiver ran through me.

That strange, aching tickle reached right into my heart, and for a moment I forgot to scold him for his impertinence.

Before Ah Ling could lose his temper, Lin Jingfeng released me. He looked at me with those deep-pool eyes.

I had the illusion that he saw me—only me.

Then he smiled, like melting snow and the first pear blossoms opening.

“Why wouldn’t I dare?”