“Little brother!”
When Shi Huai arrived in the courtyard after school that day, he heard Shi Youlan calling out to him from a distance.
Her face was lit up with a brilliant smile, but when she reached him, she suddenly came to a stop.
“Second Sister, what’s wrong?” Shi Huai tilted his head, looking at her in confusion.
Shi Youlan lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes, her voice muffled. “Nothing. It’s just that… I haven’t seen you in several days, and I missed you.”
“I pass by the entrance to your courtyard every day. You’re the one who never comes out.”
Shi Huai was now even taller than Shi Youlan, who was four years his senior.
Shi Youlan raised her head and glanced at him before quickly lowering it again.
“I… I’ll come out every day from now on.”
Shi Huai smiled but did not reply. He turned and walked toward Shou’an Hall.
After taking two steps, he stopped and said without turning around, “Second Sister, if you want to visit the princess, just tell me. I’ll help you submit an invitation.”
Shi Youlan stood where she was, watching Shi Huai’s back disappear beyond the moon gate. Her heart was still beating far too quickly.
She raised a hand and touched her forehead.
The warmth left there by Shi Huai’s fingers still lingered, warm and gentle, like sunlight after it had passed over her skin.
Madam Liu had witnessed the entire scene from behind the window of Qingzhi Court, and a satisfied smile curled at the corners of her lips.
She turned around, picked up a letter from the table, and read it through once more.
It was a letter from Princess Jinse. The handwriting was elegant and neat, and the tone was gentle and proper.
The princess wrote that she would be holding a flower-viewing party in the Imperial Garden on the eighth day of next month, and earnestly requested that Shi Youlan attend.
This was already the third time the princess had invited Shi Youlan.
The first time had been to view the plum blossoms in the palace. The second had been an outing to a country estate beyond the city. This time, it was a flower-viewing party.
Each invitation was more formal than the last, and each one signaled greater intimacy.
Madam Liu sat on the couch and took a sip of tea, unable to suppress the smile spreading across her face.
She set down the teacup, her mind already busily planning what she should do next.
She had gone to considerable lengths to cultivate Shi Youlan’s friendship with the princess.
First, she had used Shi Huai’s name to send the princess an invitation. Then she had Shi Youlan personally embroider a handkerchief as a gift for the princess. Every time Shi Youlan entered the palace, Madam Liu also made sure she brought along homemade pastries and embroidery.
The princess had indeed fallen for the strategy. She had grown increasingly close to Shi Youlan.
What had begun as polite greetings and small talk had gradually become an intimate friendship between two young ladies who shared everything.
The more Madam Liu thought about it, the more pleased she became, and the smile on her lips deepened.
When Shi Lingyi returned to the residence, Madam Liu was drinking tea on the couch in Qingzhi Court.
“Mother, I’m home.”
Shi Lingyi entered Qingzhi Court and sat down in the chair opposite Madam Liu. She accepted the tea handed to her by a maid and took a sip.
Her gaze swept around the room before landing on the letter lying on the table.
The handwriting on the envelope was elegant and neat. At a glance, it was clearly written by a woman.
“Whose letter is that?” Shi Lingyi set down her teacup and reached for it.
Before Madam Liu had a chance to stop her, she had already pulled the letter from its envelope and unfolded it.
Shi Lingyi’s eyes skimmed over the page.
The expression on her face shifted from indifference to surprise, then from surprise to disbelief, and finally from disbelief to gloom.
Her fingers slowly tightened around the letter, wrinkling the thin paper into deep creases. Her knuckles turned white, as though she might tear it apart at any moment.
“Mother, the princess invited Youlan again?”
Shi Lingyi’s voice was strained, and a chilling coldness churned in her eyes.
Seeing her daughter’s expression, Madam Liu’s heart gave a jolt. She hurriedly snatched the letter from Shi Lingyi’s hand.
Carefully smoothing out the creases, she spoke with a hint of guilt. “Y-yes. The princess and Youlan simply get along well. This is the third invitation.”
“The third?” Shi Lingyi’s voice suddenly rose. Her fingers clamped down hard on the armrest, her nails leaving rows of marks in the wood.
She took a deep breath before forcing down the emotions surging within her. Her voice dropped to a dangerously low murmur.
“Mother, why is the princess being so kind to Youlan? What does she want?”
Madam Liu was taken aback by the question, then smiled. Her eyes curved into crescent moons, and her voice was filled with unconcealed pride.
“What does she want? She likes Youlan because she’s a good girl. The princess herself said that Youlan is gentle, pleasant to talk to, and makes delicious pastries. They simply hit it off.”
Shi Lingyi looked at her mother’s smug expression and felt as though someone had thrown a basin of cold water over her.
The chill ran from the top of her head all the way to the soles of her feet.
She remembered how, when she had been discussing marriage, her mother had sat on that very couch and counted off the family backgrounds, appearances, and scholarly achievements of the various young masters. After weighing one against another, she had finally chosen the Shen family.
Shen Zhixing was the eldest legitimate son of the Ministry of Works Vice Minister. He had passed the provincial examination at eighteen, and his future had seemed bright. His family background was respectable as well.
Her mother had said that Shi Lingyi would not suffer after marrying into the Shen family. She had said that the Shen family upheld strict moral principles and would never mistreat its daughter-in-law. She had said that Shen Zhixing was well educated and would surely become a high-ranking official one day.
But her mother had not known that, although Shen Zhixing had indeed passed the provincial examination at eighteen, he had failed the metropolitan examination three times over the following six years.
Her mother had not known that the Shen family truly did uphold “strict moral principles.”
So strictly, in fact, that her mother-in-law devised new rules for her every day.
So strictly that her husband kept seven or eight concubines in his own courtyard and had even brazenly brought an outside woman home.
Her mother knew nothing.
And she had never wanted to know anything.
Shi Lingyi closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.
When she opened them again, her eyes had already regained their usual warmth and composure.
She rose and straightened her sleeves, a faint smile appearing at the corners of her lips.
“Mother, it’s a good thing that Youlan has become friends with the princess. I’m happy for her. I’ll return to my courtyard first. There are still matters to attend to at the Shen residence, and I have to leave first thing tomorrow morning.”
Madam Liu nodded and reached out to pat the back of her daughter’s hand.
“Go on, then. Take good care of yourself and don’t overexert yourself. As for that mother-in-law of yours, endure what you can. If you truly can’t bear it, come home and stay for a few days. Your mother will stand up for you.”
Shi Lingyi nodded and turned to leave Qingzhi Court.
As she walked through the garden, her steps suddenly came to a halt.
The swing in the garden was still there.
It had been made for Shi Huai when he was little, at the Grand Madam’s orders.
Later, when Shi Lingyi and Shi Youlan had grown older and taken a liking to it as well, it became a swing shared by the two sisters.
Shi Lingyi walked over and reached out to touch the two ropes, which had grown somewhat worn. Her fingertips brushed lightly over the coarse hemp.
Her mind replayed the words her mother had just spoken.
“The princess herself said that Youlan is gentle, pleasant to talk to, and makes delicious pastries. They simply hit it off.”
Shi Lingyi rolled the sentence over and over on the tip of her tongue. The more she thought about it, the more wrong it seemed.
Why would the princess want to become friends with Youlan?
The princess was the Emperor’s eldest daughter and the Crown Prince’s younger sister—the most honored young lady in all of Great Yan. She could choose any sort of close companion she wanted. Why, then, had she taken a liking to the second daughter of the declining Marquis of Yongning’s household?
Unless the princess had approached Youlan because someone had…
Shi Lingyi’s hand suddenly tightened around the swing’s rope, and a thought flashed through her mind.
A thought so alarming that it left her utterly shaken.
Could it be that the princess wanted Youlan to marry into the imperial family?
Could she even be planning to make her the Crown Princess?
