A Taste of Frost - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A young eunuch led Songlu and me to pay our respects at the empress’s Palace of Earthly Tranquility. Perhaps enemies really did meet on narrow roads: at the entrance, we ran straight into Crown Prince Chu Huai and Crown Princess Lu Huashang, who had just finished their visit.

Three years had passed. Chu Huai still looked cold and untouched by the world, as though nothing in it deserved his notice. Only when he glanced at Lu Huashang beside him did his eyes soften.

After marrying Xiao Yu, I had rarely gone out or received visitors. Even so, I had heard the stories about the crown prince and his wife.

He took Lu Huashang to lantern festivals and bought her jewelry. He soothed her in a gentle voice and personally took her riding and hunting.

He seemed nothing like the man who had smashed our betrothal jade, declared my father’s crimes unforgivable, and led the soldiers who destroyed our home.

Memories surged over me. Looking at my former betrothed, I showed no change of expression.

I merely stepped back and respectfully led Songlu in kneeling and bowing to them.

For a moment, the air went still.

Chu Huai’s gaze settled on me. He said nothing for a long time.

I remained bowed, equally silent.

An awkward tension gathered between us.

Lu Huashang smiled. “The ground is cold, Your Highness. How can you leave our dear sister kneeling? Let her rise.”

Only then did Chu Huai give a brief assent. “Rise.”

I stood with Songlu’s help. “Thank you, Your Highnesses.”

Just then, Matron Sun, the empress’s attendant, came out to say Her Majesty wished to see me.

I nodded and followed her.

As I passed Chu Huai, he suddenly spoke. “It’s been a long time. You’ve changed a great deal.”

I understood what he meant.

He might be the crown prince, but I had never stood on such ceremony with him before. We had grown up together, after all, and my father had been the court’s only prince outside the imperial clan.

No noble girl in the capital had been prouder or more high-spirited than I.

Pretending not to see the flash of venom in Lu Huashang’s eyes, I smiled.

“We all have to grow up.”

Then, unwilling to spare Chu Huai even another glance, I stepped into the Palace of Earthly Tranquility without looking back.

Incense drifted through the hall.

I knelt cautiously outside the beaded curtain and lowered my head.

“Your humble subject pays her respects to Your Majesty.”

The curtain rose and fell. The empress hurried out and helped me up.

“My dear child, none of that.”

The empress was Chu Huai’s birth mother. As a child, I had often played in her palace. I had not returned since my family’s destruction.

Yet she seemed to feel no estrangement.

“If not for what happened to the Zhennan household, you would have been my daughter-in-law by now—as good as my own daughter. Alas, Huai was not fortunate enough…”

Compared with Chu Huai’s indifference, the empress was warm indeed.

Holding my hand, she shed tears. “I know how much you’ve suffered these past years. I’ve already spoken to His Majesty. From now on, this palace is your home. Stay here without worry.”