Jiang Yinyue had lost Wei Qin amid the vast, boundless snowfields.
Snowflakes pelted her face with a rustling sound, soaking into her skin and spreading a vast chill through her heart.
She kept her hands tucked into her bundle and hurried forward, not even bothering to pick up the coin purse she had dropped on the ground, all because a middle-aged figure had appeared behind her at some point, following from a distance that grew ever closer, now hovering just within reach.
The distance between them continued to shrink.
The man wore a coarse cloth jacket, sported a mustache, and had cheeks cracked and reddened by the cold. His gaze grew increasingly undisguised.
The surroundings lay silent and empty, the wind and snow howling past her ears. Amid a bout of ringing in her ears, Jiang Yinyue vaguely heard the man’s hoarse voice from behind.
“Miss, are you lost?”
“There’s no village ahead or town behind in this place. Don’t waste your strength anymore. Why not come with me first for a bowl of hot soup to warm up? We can discuss it at length.”
“Did you get separated from your family? I’m a local hunter. I might be able to help you.”
Jiang Yinyue dared not look back, much less stop to talk. She quickened her pace, hoping only to find Wei Qin. But Wei Qin had told her more than once that in adversity, help rarely came in time, and blind waiting was better replaced by bold action.
Jiang Yinyue clutched her bundle tightly and struggled to stay calm, refusing to let fear consume her mind.
Seeing his “prey” pull farther ahead, the man snorted and gave chase. He had not expected such a seemingly delicate and frail girl to prove nimble as a rabbit.
Was it the instinct for survival?
But he was the hunter, after all.
When he caught up at the hilltop, the man lunged forward and seized one of Jiang Yinyue’s ankles.
“Still running?!”
Jiang Yinyue lost her balance and tumbled into the snow. As she twisted around, she kicked fiercely at the rough hand gripping her ankle.
In her terror, she could not even make a sound.
Her desperate struggles only aroused the man’s interest.
His excitement surged.
The man did not even bother to pull away the veil covering Jiang Yinyue’s mouth and nose. He knelt on the ground right there and began unfastening his belt, eager beyond measure, afraid the duck about to reach his mouth would fly away.
The wind died down for a moment, and the falling snow drifted like scattered floss.
In the snow-covered wilderness, the rustling of fabric sounded faintly, accompanied by a vague, sinister chuckle.
A satin cloak was tossed into the air.
Jiang Yinyue struggled in vain. Her chilled little hands still clutched the bundle tightly. She saw the man’s face clearly and felt utter revulsion, but her strength could not match his. The more she struggled, the firmer his control became.
“Don’t make me!”
Her bloodless lips trembled faintly as she warned him coldly despite her nausea, but he roughly tore at her collar all the same.
“Make you do what…”
Bang!
The gunshot pierced the wind and snow, echoing through the wilderness. It startled birds perched on bare branches and roused beasts from hibernation…
A pair of thin eyelids lifted from feigned sleep, the eyes gradually shimmering with awareness.
The sound of wheels crunching snow came to an abrupt halt beside his ears. The man sat up in the ornate carriage emblazoned with the Eastern Palace emblem, his smooth robes draping over the edge of the couch.
He lifted one curtain and looked toward the attendant guard who had been waiting at the window.
“Why the gunshot?”
“Reporting to Your Highness, this subordinate has already sent men to investigate.”
Crown Prince Wei Xichen rose and bent to step out of the carriage. He stood motionless on the carriage veranda, facing the wind, his wide brocade sleeves filling with the chill breeze like a crane spreading its wings, leaving an elegant stroke amid the snow.
Fine snowflakes brushed past the jade-green hem of his robes, as if adding the final flourish to that elegance.
With hands clasped behind his back, the man gazed toward the direction from which the gunshot had come.
A woman’s voice drifted up from below the carriage, soft and measured, speculating on the sound. “Perhaps some nearby company commander is drilling troops and disturbed Your Highness.”
Wei Xichen followed the voice with his gaze. His pensive eyes softened as he extended a hand to her and helped the woman onto the carriage veranda.
The woman smoothed the stray hairs the wind had tousled across her forehead, revealing a pair of upturned phoenix eyes outlined in a single elegant stroke. This was none other than Yan Zhuyu, the daughter of an eighth-rank minor official whom the Crown Prince had insisted on bringing into the Eastern Palace three years prior, against all opposition.
Three years had passed, and the woman had shed her timidity and immaturity, emerging serene and refined. Her father, too, had risen steadily through the ranks and now held the position of Yangzhou Salt Transport Commissioner, a third-rank post.
Hearing Yan Zhuyu’s guess, Wei Xichen merely smiled faintly and shook his head. “From the sound, it resembles the fire musket newly improved by the Divine Machine Camp. They haven’t even been distributed to the Guard Commander offices across the regions, let alone the garrison posts.”
Yan Zhuyu was about to laugh and admit she had dozed off when one man on horseback hurried back.
Still several dozen paces from the convoy, the guard dismounted and shouted, “Report!”
Wei Xichen raised his sleeve, signaling the guard to approach.
All eyes turned to the returning guard. He had not brought back the shooter, but instead knelt on the ground with evasive eyes, stammering.
These Imperial Bodyguards accompanying the prince were all elites who had weathered every storm. Why would one show such embarrassment?
Yan Zhuyu’s tone grew stern. “What did you see? Report it truthfully.”
“Reporting to Your Highness and Madam, the shooter was… was the daughter of the Minister of Justice, Jiang Yinyue!” The guard lowered his head even further and continued, “She said it was to drive off a brown bear that suddenly appeared.”
Silence fell.
The veteran officials from the Chamberlain’s Office, who had served the Crown Prince for years, exchanged glances. The name, unmentioned for three years, now felt somewhat unfamiliar. They wondered if it struck the prince and his consort like rolling thunder or a mere insignificant breeze.
The daughter of the Minister of Justice had been the laughingstock of the capital’s nobility for a full three years. She had been as arrogant as could be back then, and her downfall had been just as humiliating. In the end, she had married into a humble family and ended things hastily.
Storytellers lamented how childhood sweethearts often faded, but on second thought, how could the Crown Prince truly tolerate such a wild and reckless woman by his side? It had all been a game, a setup to pave the way for his beloved.
Her arrogance and rudeness had only served to highlight his beloved’s gentle grace and pure heart.
Amid the silence, Yan Zhuyu turned her gaze to the Crown Prince’s profile and noticed the faint tension in his jaw.
Even the sunlight filtering through the clouds seemed to favor this jewel of the mortal world, unwilling to reveal any flaw in its beauty. But all jade had flaws; no jade was flawless, no person perfect.
“Where is she now?”
After a long silence, Wei Xichen parted his thin lips and asked the kneeling guard.
The guard buried his head lower. “Lady Jiang refused to come with this subordinate to pay respects to Your Highness. This subordinate…”
Given Minister Jiang’s authority, how could he dare use force? For all three years that Jiang Yinyue had been a laughingstock, her father, Minister of Justice Jiang Song, remained a pivotal power in court, favored by Your Majesty and respected by the Crown Prince. With only a son and daughter under him, he would never stand by if his daughter was bullied.
Yan Zhuyu smiled. “If she refuses to reminisce, then we won’t force her. Fortunately, it was a false alarm. May she turn all future dangers into fortune.”
On the eve of accompanying the Crown Prince on this tour of inspection, she had heard that the Minister of Revenue intended to recommend Hanlin Academy Compiler Wei Qin for the post of Salt Transport Judge in Yangzhou. Husband and wife would go together, so Jiang Yinyue must be accompanying her husband to take up his post there.
The Crown Prince surely knew.
Yet since Jiang Yinyue’s marriage, Yan Zhuyu had never heard him mention her name again. Three years had changed everything; the old affections and guilt should have faded by now, shouldn’t they?
Yan Zhuyu took the Crown Prince’s arm, intending to return to the carriage with him for a game of chess to pass the time, when a “thunderclap” suddenly exploded beside her ear.
It rumbled loudly.
“She holds a fire musket, which violates regulations. Bring her to see This Prince.”
Unnoticed, the clouds parted and the snow cleared. Heaven and earth grew faintly bright, the wilderness clad in silver. Though it lacked the lush spring hues of misty peaks and blooming flowers, it held its own ever-fresh charm of drifting flakes.
But Jiang Yinyue had no heart for the scenery. Half-dragged by the guards, she headed to the nearby post station—the very place Wei Qin had planned to stay the night, a must-stop for traveling officials. She had simply lost her way in the wilds and failed to find it.
Along the path, vast mountains in shimmering white stretched like crystal, extending the view. Yet in Jiang Yinyue’s eyes, it was nothing but endless desolation and emptiness. At the end of that path waited the person she least wanted to see.
Mocking and jeering voices echoed in her ears, relentless for three years.
When the wall fell, everyone pushed. Those who took pleasure in her misfortune stripped away her cloak of glory with cutting words, mocking her for presuming on the Crown Prince’s favor, only to unwittingly serve as the wedding dress for a minor official’s daughter, oblivious in her folly.
The Crown Prince had stirred spring waters in her heart, indulging her arrogance and willfulness, letting her believe she was the one destined to be his crown princess. Yet just as she basked in her triumph, he had personally shattered her spring dreams and her pride.
As the sun set in the west, its dying rays like blood, and the evening glow faded, the lead guard escorted Jiang Yinyue into a small room.
The wilderness post station was simple; besides a table and chairs, only a small bamboo bed remained.
Jiang Yinyue obtained hot water and food from the station keeper, then curled up on the little bed and drifted into a drowsy haze.
Vaguely, she heard a not-too-light knock at the door and had to force her heavy eyelids open to deal with the visitor.
“Lady Jiang, Madam has come to visit. Please rise to receive her.”
The one who pushed open the door was Yan Zhuyu’s maidservant. Compared to the guards’ attitudes, hers was hardly deferential, but when she turned to usher in another, she became meek and obedient as if transformed.
Yan Zhuyu, clad in a cloud-purple gown, stepped gracefully over the threshold, her slender hand resting on the maidservant’s wrist. Compared to Jiang Yinyue’s current dishevelment, she exuded impeccable poise and refined elegance.
Behind her followed another maidservant and a swordsman.
The aura of authority she emanated in her serenity differed utterly from three years ago.
The innate nobility cultivated by those in power manifested fully in Yan Zhuyu.
Meeting Jiang Yinyue’s gaze, Yan Zhuyu curved her lips slightly, stepped past the maidservant to the bedside, and pressed down on Jiang Yinyue’s shoulder. “Your body is weak; no need to get up. I instructed the station keeper to stew some bird’s nest. It’ll be brought shortly to nourish you.”
Jiang Yinyue lowered her lashes, suppressing a torrent of emotions.
The maidservant outside the door prompted, “Lady Jiang, you should address her as Madam.”
“Too talkative.” Yan Zhuyu gave the maidservant a light glance, then turned back to scrutinize Jiang Yinyue’s pale face. “We’re old acquaintances; no need for excessive formality. I had Han Yan prepare clothes for you to change into, so you can properly pay respects to His Highness.”
With that, she instructed maidservant Han Yan to step forward.
Jiang Yinyue pulled her cloak tighter and dodged the maidservant’s outstretched hand. “No need.”
“Miss, your clothes are soiled and unfit for meeting His Highness. Better change into something clean.”
The maidservant’s strength rivaled a man’s. Her forceful manner ignited Jiang Yinyue’s fury, and she shoved her away with all her might.
“Ah…”
Yan Zhuyu steadied the stumbling maidservant without complaint. “Never mind. Let Lady Jiang change on her own.”
She dismissed the maidservants and sat on the bed’s edge to persuade her. “Since time immemorial, only the Heir Apparent decides whom to summon; official kin have no right to refuse. His Highness wishes to see you out of regard for old times. One must know one’s place.”
She glanced at Jiang Yinyue’s hand peeking from the cloak and gently took it, surprised by its unexpected softness—the hand of one pampered and coddled, not roughened by marriage to a humble scholar.
Jiang Yinyue did not soften under the woman’s understanding demeanor. She withdrew her hand, fastened her cloak securely, and ignored the fresh, bright gown, stubborn as an ox calf.
Among official kin, who else dared show such discourtesy to the Eastern Palace besides Jiang Yinyue? It was as if the defiance radiating from her had merged with the Eastern Palace itself; no matter how reckless, it would not provoke backlash from its authority.
The foundation for her audacious willfulness, in Yan Zhuyu’s eyes, came from the Crown Prince. They had met in youthful ignorance, grown up as childhood sweethearts, innocent and inseparable, forging a bond others could never penetrate in a lifetime. If not for that incident…
Yan Zhuyu raised her eyebrows slightly and urged Jiang Yinyue to change quickly and accompany her to meet the Crown Prince.
As she stepped out from under the shaded eaves, moonlight spilled across Yan Zhuyu’s refined features. Her phoenix eyes, harboring hidden depths, suddenly trembled at the sight of a solitary figure under the moon.
A man bathed in the pure moonlight’s glamour, cloaked in silver fox fur, stood with hands behind his back, facing away from the little hut.
What was to be a summons had become a personal visit.
Yan Zhuyu composed herself, advancing to greet him while instructing her maidservant to hurry Jiang Yinyue along with her changing.
The Crown Prince turned at the sound, his amber eyes still as water. He looked toward the hut, where only a narrow crack in the door remained, and suddenly recalled his youthful visits to Jiang Mansion, playing chess with Minister Jiang Song under the waterside pavilion.
From the moment he entered the pavilion, he had noticed a hidden chamber in the south wall of the main hall. A tiny figure hid inside, peeking out through the door crack.
From that day on, that little figure had shadowed him everywhere, growing from a mischievous sprite into a sharp-edged young woman.
The girl had dreamed of romance amid flowers and snow, only to see all her dreams perish in such scenes.
He knew her grievances better than anyone.
A narrow door crack, through which years of light and shadow flowed.
He passed the maidservants, stopping their urging of the occupant, and crooked a finger to rap on the door.