The Princess's Gambit - Chapter 8

News soon spread through the capital: assassins had attacked the young emperor on a hunt, and a brave woman had thrown herself in their path and saved him. The last time I had heard such a plot, it was in a storybook.

“My brother went hunting with the imperial guard. Were they all standing around doing nothing, that he needed someone else to rescue him?”

Suiyin reminded me, “Attendant Lu sent word from the palace. The woman spends a great deal of time alone with His Majesty, whispering in his chamber with no one else allowed near.”

I went to the palace again for one purpose: to cut Xiaozhou open and see whether her heart truly lay on the right. Jiang Zhaoyu had put her in Chunxie Palace. The bedchamber reeked of medicine. A figure lay behind mist-purple gauze curtains—Xiaozhou, surely.

I started forward, but someone hurried in from outside and blocked my way.

“Imperial Sister, I will never let you hurt Xiaozhou.”

Jiang Zhaoyu was crying again, tears and mucus smeared across his face. “No one in Yun cares about me. Xiaozhou doesn’t covet rank or reward. I had ordered the guards to stay far away and put on common clothes because I wanted a moment to breathe, a moment of freedom. When the assassins came, Xiaozhou threw herself over me without a thought for her own safety. She protected me until the guards arrived. I’m young, but I know I must repay a life-saving kindness.”

“Which unit of guards did you bring?” I asked bluntly. I had no wish to hear the rest.

Xing Chaoyun had accompanied Xie Yunbai to Yanzhou. The unruly men in the imperial guard were already stirring. Anyone could guess how much truth there was to Xiaozhou’s heroic rescue.

Jiang Zhaoyu swallowed. “Why are you so prejudiced against her? Even after you tried to kill her, she still admires you, the princess who governs in my name, more than anyone in her life. Big Sister, for my sake, let her go.”

He looked at me through his tears. He had used the same trick whenever he wanted to avoid his lessons.

I heard a rustle behind me. Barefoot, Xiaozhou climbed down from the bed. Her voice was barely audible. “Your Majesty, don’t quarrel with the Eldest Princess on my account.”

Interesting. She waited until our quarrel was nearly over before offering that bland little plea. Jiang Zhaoyu did not see it that way. The moment he saw her wavering, pity filled his eyes. He hurried over and helped her lie back down.

She leaned against a soft pillow. Though she tried to hide her fear, her shoulders would not stop trembling. My brother’s fists clenched. For the first time, there was reproach in his gaze when he looked at me.

Burn weeds to the ground, and still they grow back in spring.

After another spell of affectation, Xiaozhou softly asked him to wait outside. The little emperor who normally obeyed only half of anything I said gave a subdued agreement. He repeated several times that he would be in the outer room before reluctantly leaving her.

We were alone in Chunxie Palace.

Her lashes trembled. “You never expected to see this servant again, did you, Eldest Princess?”

Against her unpainted face, the comments reappeared.

【Saving the little emperor is only one step in the female lead’s plan.】

【Our girl is so ambitious! The refined, long-suffering Pei Rong, or the ruthless regent—which one will she choose?】

【The regent is Yun’s most treacherous minister, impossible to predict. She only wants to repay him. Pei Rong is the one she truly loves.】

【The destined couple is the best one.】

Their chatter was unbearable.

Perhaps my displeasure showed. Xiaozhou glanced toward the door, clutched the quilt, and bit her lip. “Jiang Zhaoxue, I saved His Majesty’s life. If I die, he dies.”

“You think too highly of yourself.”

When she had nothing more to say, I turned and left.

Her voice drifted after me. “This servant has brought a great gift for the Eldest Princess on her return.”