Chapter 3
After the scene in the study, Jing Ting appeared to lose interest in her.
He was proud. He had ridden day and night to return sooner, only to discover that she had fled and wanted another man. Even so, he still could not keep himself from wanting her. His pride had demanded restraint, but in the study he had seen through her little trick. She had deliberately provoked him so he would cast her aside. She wanted to sever whatever bound them.
This time, Jing Ting’s pride and wounded frustration won.
Yet he still could not let go completely. He brought her back to Prince Jin’s Estate.
With a vicious expression, he told her, “Little one, in life you belong to Prince Jin’s Estate, and in death your ghost will belong here too.”
Even if he had tired of her, he could not tolerate her going to another man.
Once he had reclaimed her, however, he ignored her. The steward did not know what else to do and assigned her odd jobs in the rear courtyard.
She became the laughingstock of the estate.
People pointed at her back and gossiped. They said she had schemed her way into the Young Prince’s bed, only to receive her punishment. Now she had lost both his favor and her chastity. She was a wanton woman no one would take, lower than dirt.
No one spread the rumors more viciously than Xiu’er, who had a reason for hating Shi Wei.
The cup of wine that night should originally have been delivered by Xiu’er. She was meant to become Jing Ting’s bedchamber maid.
Xiu’er was pretty enough and often received compliments from the young male servants. After hearing them long enough, she truly began to believe herself a great beauty. More than once she imagined that if she, not Shi Wei, had gone that night, she might have risen like a phoenix to the highest branch.
She blamed Shi Wei for the brilliant future she had lost. One day, while she was again spreading gossip with several other maids, Bailing happened to pass by.
Outraged, Bailing argued with her. Words turned heated, and soon they were pulling at each other’s clothes and scratching faces. Shi Wei tried to separate them and was dragged into the fight.
When women fought, they pulled hair and clawed faces, and long sharp nails made excellent blades. Shi Wei kept her nails short for rough work and suffered for it. Xiu’er raked a long, thin, bloody line down her tender cheek.
Nanny Wang ended the women’s campaign with one wide sweep of her broom.
Neither side gained anything. All of them had a month’s wages withheld.
Shi Wei covered her cheek and led Bailing back toward their quarters. Halfway there, they encountered Jing Ting returning from duty.
They hurried aside, offered their greetings, and stood with hands lowered obediently.
Jing Ting had noticed Shi Wei from a distance. She stood out wherever she went. Before she lowered her head, he saw the long bloody scratch across her cheek and her disheveled hair.
His gaze passed lightly over her face. His hand tightened unconsciously around his riding crop, and his expression shifted. After a moment he mastered himself, said nothing, and walked on.
Bailing pressed a hand to her chest. “The Young Prince looked terrifying. I thought he might lash us with that whip.”
Shi Wei pursed her lips and replied without thinking, “He is fierce, but he has never struck a woman.”
Bailing gave her a suspicious glance. “Is it truly over between you and the Young Prince?”
Her doubt was understandable. Shi Wei still sounded as though she were defending him.
Only then did Shi Wei realize how strange her words had been. Embarrassed, she forced a smile.
“There is no question of beginning or ending between a master and a servant.”
Nothing had ever begun. It had all been an accident. He had been excited by novelty and interested in her body, and such interest could never last forever. She understood that well.
As a laboring maid, Shi Wei should have shared a large room with the others. For some reason, however, the steward gave her a small room of her own in a quiet, isolated corner.
The kindly steward even brought her a box of ointment, promising that if she applied it faithfully, the mark would fade in a few days.
Shi Wei thanked him repeatedly.
Whether it scarred did not matter much. She no longer needed beauty to serve a man’s pleasure. She only wanted the pain to stop.
The weather grew colder. In thin, chill moonlight, Shi Wei sat before a mirror and carefully spread ointment along her cheek. Alone, she could finally wince and complain, hissing softly through her teeth.
Without warning, cold prickled across the back of her neck. She had the uncanny feeling that someone was watching her from the window.
Her heart leaped. Face pale, she turned, but saw nothing. The window had not been shut tightly, and wind breathed through the gap with a thin whistle.
Her panic eased. She walked over and leaned outside. The night was black except for pale blue moonlight and the silhouettes of tall trees. There was no one there. Only a faint rustle came from the roof, perhaps a cat wandering in its sleep.
Relieved, she pulled the window closed and secured the latch.
The sleepwalking cat’s surname was Jing and his given name Ting. At that very moment, he stood awkwardly on the roof tiles, alone beneath the cold moon.
What else could he do? He could not sleep and tossed restlessly through the night, so he had resorted to this humiliating behavior.
He had to ask the steward to deliver her ointment as though it were an afterthought. Even checking on her required him to crouch secretly beneath walls.
It was mortifying.
And because it was mortifying, no one could ever be allowed to know.
The Young Prince valued his pride enormously.
A few days later, Xiu’er was expelled from Prince Jin’s Estate.
Bailing stood by the well with hands on her hips, humming triumphantly as she told Shi Wei the news.
“That is what they mean by ambitions higher than heaven and a life thinner than paper. She truly thought herself capable of anything. Imagine being bold enough to use a wine delivery as an excuse to crawl into the Young Prince’s bed.”
“You should have seen his face. It went green with fury. He drew his sword on the spot and meant to kill her.”
“But you were right—he still would not strike a woman. He couldn’t bring himself to do it. The steward finally restored order, summoned her parents, and had her dragged away.”
“As she left, she kept sobbing, ‘Why is she allowed, but not me?'”
Shi Wei had listened with a faint smile, but the color gradually drained from her face. Bailing did not notice and continued cheerfully.
“The Young Prince said, ‘Look at what you are. Do you think you can compare yourself to just anyone?'”
“Xiu’er spent every day dreaming with her eyes open. She never once considered her own station.”
Shi Wei suddenly remembered Jing Ting’s warning.
“A person ought to know her place. Behave yourself and I won’t treat you poorly. Anything beyond that is not yours to covet.”
A profound sense of escape washed over her. Thank heavens no one could accuse her of dreaming above her station. Otherwise, she would have become the second Xiu’er.
Silently, she wrung the water from the clothes in her hands until all ten slender fingers turned blue.