chapter 1

chapter 1

Fu Yanci was about to name his empress.

The woman he had chosen was Shen Mingyue, the childhood sweetheart he had loved for years.

To show how much he treasured her, Fu Yanci had even designed the empress’s ceremonial robes himself. I was the one ordered to deliver them to the Shen residence.

Shen Mingyue stood before a mirror in the robes and smiled at me. “Sang Zhi, am I beautiful?”

I raised my eyes.

The robes were a brilliant red, with a soaring phoenix embroidered in gold thread. Shen Mingyue’s face shone pale as the moon amid all that splendor, touched with a newly awakened allure. Round pearls studded the hem of her skirt, making her look all the more radiant.

Suddenly, I remembered the third year of Fu Yanci’s confinement, when he had casually asked what I would want on my wedding dress one day.

I had already exhausted my savings and was worrying about what we would eat the next day, so I said I wanted the whole dress covered in gold leaves.

He laughed and called me vulgar.

A moment later, he added that he was vulgar too.

Now he was emperor, and his wedding robes were covered not in gold leaves, but in pearls sent as tribute from Xijiang.

Perfectly round, priceless, and elegant.

Shen Mingyue’s favorite thing in the world.

I lowered my head respectfully.

“Miss Shen is the greatest beauty in the capital. Of course you look magnificent.”

My answer delighted her. “Sang Zhi, you have such a way with words. How could His Majesty possibly dislike you?”

I bowed my head even lower.

“I don’t know either.”

When I first entered the palace, Fu Yanci was still the crown prince, second only to the emperor and revered by every official at court.

Then, overnight, he became a criminal condemned for defying his father and was confined to the Cold Palace by the late emperor.

The servants in his household either fled or died.

I alone stayed.

And I remained with him for seven years.

During those years, danger came at us from every direction. I tasted his food for poison and took an arrow meant for him. When palace servants tried to humiliate him, I fought them with no regard for my own life.

The palace said I must be in love with Fu Yanci to protect my master so desperately.

Like a rabid dog.

When Fu Yanci cleared his name and was restored as crown prince, many assumed he would grant me a title.

He did not.

Three years had passed since he took the throne, and I was still a palace maid.

So everyone concluded that Fu Yanci must hate me.

What else could explain it? Seven years at his side and several debts of life had not earned me a scrap of favor. I still performed the same menial tasks, endured the same exhaustion, and suffered the same injuries.

No one knew how I had offended him.

By now, however, I thought I understood.

When he was at his lowest, I had been his only salvation.

Once he stood in glory, I became the culprit who had witnessed every humiliating moment of his past.

Of course he would dislike me.

It made perfect sense.

Then Shen Mingyue suddenly asked, “Sang Zhi, do you… do you love His Majesty?”

I paused, then answered without hesitation.

“No.”

Once, I had refused to abandon him because I owed him my life.

Now, I stayed only because palace maids were forbidden to leave before the age of twenty-three.

Tomorrow was my twenty-third birthday.