Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Young Master Chen’s shining image cracked at once.

I laughed awkwardly and said I had merely feared choosing a poor topic. His expression replied, No explanation needed; naturally you are overwhelmed by my beauty.

Admittedly, he ranked among the three most beautiful males I had ever seen—soft without affectation, possessing masculine resolve and feminine gentleness in perfect harmony.

But his vanity ranked first in the capital.

I kept describing the garden while he answered politely, impossible to read.

The day might have remained pleasant had we not met Little Twenty-Nine.

Marriage ties in the capital tangled like old roots, and somehow she could call the Chens relatives. Only a year older than I, she had once been pretty, but after her maternal clan’s fall her entire air had turned unpleasant.

Usually she avoided me. Today, seeing Chen Xi at my side, she followed, staring from one of us to the other until I finally began an introduction.

Before I finished, she burst into tears and whispered soundlessly.

Had she left her voice in her palace?

At last she recited, “Osmanthus cakes, just a little; sweeter than you, sweeter than me; you be the good child on day one, I’ll be your husband on day two.”

What sort of spell was that?

Chen Xi’s face cleared. He stepped close with a tender smile. “It has been a long time, little cousin.”

Little Twenty-Nine threw herself into his arms, bawling. In broad daylight, a princess embracing an unrelated man before palace servants—was she trying to infuriate me?

I pried them apart.

Chen Xi cheerfully explained that years ago his aunt had introduced Ruyun as a distant relation’s daughter, never revealing her noble identity. He apologized with a bow.

Her eyes blazed back to life. “Since we have met again, I must say this despite the outsider present. Cousin, you promised to marry me. Does your promise still stand?”

I—and every servant around us—turned to stone.

I threatened everyone into silence and dragged the scandalous pair to a secluded pavilion. A sister’s disgrace stained every sister, and Father had sown princesses like seeds. Even Seventeenth Sister remained unmarried. I would not let these fools ruin my future.

Chen Xi, for all his surprise, soon recovered.

Behind the upright Chen family’s reputation, he had always been black-hearted and ruthless, especially with girls, scattering extravagant childhood promises everywhere. No one had taken them seriously.

But would Chancellor Chen’s most promising grandson surrender his future to become a princess’s idle husband? What did Ruyun possess that justified such a sacrifice? In his eyes, almost nothing.

No matter how she wept, he rejected her with painful grace.

“You truly forgot?”

“I was six, and you were also a child. Children’s words cannot bind us. A princess’s marriage requires imperial decree, and my two elder brothers remain unwed. Even if His Majesty chose our family, he would select one of them. You and I have no such fate.”

Little Twenty-Nine fled howling.

Chen Xi shook his head at the fragility of women. “I have embarrassed myself before you, Ruyu.”

He smiled like a peacock spreading its tail.

Ruyun was “Your Highness,” while I was suddenly “Ruyu”?

I had wanted to flirt with a handsome boy, but found a black-hearted schemer, watched a show without sunflower seeds, and risked my reputation. What had I gained—proof I was kind?

I hardened my face. “Silence. Address me as Your Highness.”

Chen Xi had always used his looks to win extra pastries, escape punishment, and manipulate hearts. He considered himself a master of disguise. Yet this tall, sun-browned girl with bright eyes looked at him with open contempt.

Perhaps success had made him careless. Perhaps Ji Ruyu looked too simple. Either way, she had seen through him.

Being rebuked by such a foolish-looking girl was new. His smile twisted.

Then she began snapping branches as thick as an arm to vent her anger.

Chen Xi’s eyes lit up. How thrilling.