Chapter 6
That day, the Third Princess threatened to kill herself.
The Seventh Princess hurled abuse.
Only then did Master Li seem to realize how serious things had become. He knelt and admitted his fault.
The Seventh Princess kicked him over.
“Li, stop making me sick. This isn’t over until one of us is dead. If you insist on marrying me, one of us will die on our wedding day.”
The farce caused an enormous uproar.
In the end, both the Third and Seventh Princesses were confined to their quarters.
The Empress ordered Master Li to receive twenty strokes for sowing discord between the princesses. He lost every shred of dignity.
On the way back, the Seventh Princess hung her head and refused to speak.
“Jiang Dai, you used to serve the Fifth Prince?” Cui Mingxue asked me. “Would you be willing to take a message to him for me?”
I looked at the Seventh Princess.
She gave a snort and said nothing.
Since she did not object, I agreed.
“Please tell His Highness that although my family decided to end the engagement, it was also what I wanted,” Cui Mingxue said. “My parents raised me, and I have yet to repay them. I don’t want to bring disaster on my family because of him. I don’t ask for his forgiveness, only that he not hate me. Here are some banknotes as compensation. I wish him peace and good fortune.”
I took the banknotes.
A thousand taels.
More wealth than I had ever seen in my life.
Was the Fifth Prince worth it?
I nodded and promised to deliver them.
Partway through the carriage journey, we went our separate ways from the Cui sisters.
I returned to the palace with the Seventh Princess. She walked quickly, her head held high like a general eager for battle.
But the moment she entered her bedchamber, she ordered everyone out and slammed the doors.
Her muffled sobs came from within.
I waited quietly outside, sent a maid to boil some dandelion water, and idly watched the comments.
[Now I know why the Seventh Princess breaks off the engagement and marries that wastrel. Good for her. I’d break it off too.]
[Wasn’t that too impulsive? Calling it off feels great, but she’s handed those two bastards exactly what they want. They’re so happy together later. The wastrel who kills the Seventh Princess only escapes death because the Third Princess intervenes. It makes me furious just thinking about it.]
[I support Cui Mingwei turning evil! I support the Third Princess turning evil! I support the heroine turning evil! I support every woman who dares to fight back turning evil!]
[That’s not turning evil. It’s self-defense. It’s fighting back bravely!]
I smiled faintly.
The comments had changed a great deal. At first, they had wanted me to follow the plot. Now they seemed more interested in seeing the story they wanted.
At last, the crying inside subsided. The Seventh Princess had fallen asleep.
I went in to cover her with a quilt. She woke suddenly and caught my wrist. “Am I still beautiful like this?” she asked coldly.
Perhaps because so much had happened that day, and she had been so angry and cried for so long, the rash had spread. It looked more alarming now.
But I thought her heart hurt far more.
She didn’t know whether what she had done today was right or wrong.
She did know her reputation would probably be worse from now on. She might never find a good husband and spend the rest of her life unhappy.
More than anything, she worried that she had implicated the Cui family.
I spoke softly.
“Yes. I thought you were beautiful today, defending yourself and Miss Cui.”
“I’ve been bullied many times. So often I’ve wanted to fight back as you did. But I’m only a servant. If I resist, they only hurt me worse.”
“So watching you fight back and put the Third Princess in her place felt wonderful.”
“Everyone in this world wants dignity. But dignity requires something to sustain it.”
“To dress respectably, you need money.”
“To live with dignity, you need power.”
“You have both. Your life is beyond anything I could ever dare imagine for myself.”
“But not everyone with money and power dares distinguish right from wrong as you do. Some people gain both and become just like those who bullied them. They start twisting right and wrong too.”
The Seventh Princess’s breathing slowly steadied. She seemed to be considering my words.
After a long time, she said:
“Even princesses have their ranks.”
“One like me, with no mother to protect her, is only a stepping stone.”
“There are still so many people above me. I can be wronged too. But yes, I have it much better than you.”
“I promise you this: if I ever leave the palace, I’ll set you free and let you have a good life.”
“Jiang Dai, you seem different from the others.”
Perhaps this was what the comments called the heroine’s halo.
Even a wicked, expendable character could take a liking to me.
I smiled.
“Then let me thank you in advance, Your Highness. I’ll wait for you to give me a good life.”
“Look, Your Highness. Do you know what this is?”
“Dandelion water. It can bring down boils and swelling. Let me put some on your face.”
“When I was little, people in our village used it whenever they had a rash…”
I chattered on. The Seventh Princess said nothing more, but her expression eased considerably.
Later, she fell asleep, a slight crease between her brows, as though she still had troubles on her mind.
[She’s only fourteen. In our time, she’d still be in middle school… God, this man-eating feudal society…]
I didn’t understand what they meant by a feudal society.
But the Seventh Princess before me was certainly not a bad person.
I carried the basin outside.
A eunuch sneered at me.
“Some people really are impressive. From second-rank maid to first-rank maid in a single day. Quite the little schemer.”
I smiled, stopped, and emptied the basin over his head, soaking him.
He was furious, but afraid of waking the princess, he kept his voice low as he snapped:
“Jiang Dai, have you lost your mind?”