Chapter 4
Chapter 4
I straightened my back. “Sixth Imperial Sister, I am also Imperial Father’s daughter. You should address me as…”
Before I could finish, she had already stepped out of her sedan chair. She raised her leg and kicked me hard in the knee.
My legs buckled, and I fell into the snow.
She lifted her chin and looked down her nose at me, her smile both smug and contemptuous. “You don’t honestly think all princesses are equal, do you?”
“Out of my way!”
Her attendants swarmed forward, shoving Xiao Liu and me against the wall.
My face scraped viciously across the rough surface, leaving a long, bloody gash.
The gulf between one princess and another could be as vast as that between heaven and earth.
In the depths of the imperial palace, being unloved was the greatest sin of all.
Xiao Liu held me back with all her strength, insisting that we wait before going to the Imperial Garden.
We went an hour later and heard a sudden commotion.
Chu Yao had ventured out to the middle of the lake in her excitement. The servants had followed in a panic, only for the ice to crack beneath them. She was moments away from falling through.
She wailed at the top of her lungs while the servants scrambled to save her. But the farther they advanced, the faster the ice cracked.
I stood behind a large tree, watching coldly.
Xiao Liu gritted her teeth. “The heavens are just. Noble Consort Lan framed Mother Consort, and now her daughter is paying the price. I hope she drowns.”
I took off my cloak and started forward. “I have to save her.”
“Your Highness, have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten what she just did to you…?”
With so many servants around, Chu Yao would not die. At worst, she would suffer a little.
But I needed an opportunity.
An opportunity to get close to Noble Consort Lan and appear before Imperial Father.
I rescued Chu Yao without so much as a scratch, but I fell into the icy lake myself and came down with a raging fever.
In my delirium, I saw Mother Consort. Her eyes were full of sorrow and concern. “Jia’er, why didn’t you listen to me and live a good, quiet life?”
My throat tightened with sobs. “Mother Consort, surviving in this man-eating palace is too difficult. I need something to believe in.”
“Making those who want your life pay the price is what gives me the will to live.”
Mother Consort faded away. Then Noble Consort Lan and Imperial Father came to see me.
She put on a virtuous facade and gently tucked the blankets around me.
With my eyes still closed, I seized her hand and held on with all my strength, calling out again and again, “Don’t go. Don’t leave Jia’er all alone…”
Noble Consort Lan tried discreetly to pull free, but my grip was too tight.
After several attempts, I slowly opened my eyes. The moment I saw that it was her, I released her hand and said mournfully, “Jia’er mistook you for someone else.”
I turned my gaze to Imperial Father, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Imperial Father, do you despise Jia’er?”
“Jia’er has already lost her mother. Jia’er doesn’t want to lose Imperial Father too.”
Sobbing, I cradled my face in my hands. “Imperial Father, please look carefully. Jia’er looks so much like you. Jia’er isn’t some bastard child. Jia’er isn’t…”
Tentatively, I reached for his hand. “Jia’er will be good to her younger imperial brothers and sisters. Jia’er can still be useful. Imperial Father, please don’t cast Jia’er aside. Please don’t have Jia’er executed.”
Imperial Father’s expression softened. For the first time in my life, he reached out and pulled me into his arms.
“Good child. You are my daughter, the Fifth Princess of Great Chu. If anyone dares say otherwise, I will have their tongue torn out.”
My tears continued to fall. “But Jia’er truly is a child without a mother…”
Imperial Father patted my back. “How could that be? From this day forward, Noble Consort Lan shall be your Mother Consort.”