Chapter 2

When Xiao Che woke, he seemed to remember nothing of what had happened.

He looked cautiously around him, then asked me what year it was.

I told him exactly.

He froze, his eyes wide, murmuring over and over, “How can this be?”

“How can what be?” I leaned closer, curious.

He recoiled in fright and pointed at me with a trembling finger.

“It’s all your fault, you temptress! You forced yourself on me and kept me under your thumb for my entire life.”

I quickly covered his mouth.

“Cousin, don’t say such things! Neither of us is married. If you ruin our reputations, Aunt will have no choice but to marry us to each other.”

A complicated mixture of emotions crossed his face. Then he awkwardly pushed my hand away.

“You won’t cling to me again in this life.”

This life?

Before I could work out what he meant, Aunt came in with Meng Shuyao.

“Bullying Zhining again already?” she scolded him.

Aunt had always doted on me. Both my parents had died when I was young, and she couldn’t bear to think of me alone in the world.

She had brought me into the marquis’s household, hoping I would eventually marry my cousin.

But Xiao Che avoided me like the plague.

He had even complained to his friend Xie Yanzhi. “Shen Zhining may look gentle and delicate, but she’s terribly jealous. If I marry her, I’ll probably never be able to take a concubine.”

Xie Yanzhi had stolen a glance at me as I sat knotting a decorative cord. My fingers were slender, my skin pale, my almond-shaped eyes bright and soft as spring water.

He took a great gulp of wine.

“Quite right, Che. Marry her, and you wouldn’t even think of taking a concubine.”

They had both drunk themselves senseless that day.

Xiao Che was miserable because I wouldn’t leave him alone. Xie Yanzhi was miserable because I wouldn’t leave his friend alone.

Now Xiao Che’s expression turned cold as he looked at his mother.

“You’re taking Zhining’s side again. If you knew how she bullied your son, you wouldn’t think she was so innocent.”

Furious, Aunt thumped him with her fist.

“I’ve never once seen her bully you. You, on the other hand, keep talking nonsense. You’ll ruin her good name!”

She left Meng Shuyao with him and called me outside.

With a long sigh, she said, “I truly wanted you for my daughter-in-law. I never imagined Che would be so opposed. He used to keep it to himself even when he disliked someone. I don’t know why the two of you can’t get along. The moment he sees you, he starts spouting nonsense.”

She pressed a hand to her chest.

“Saying you forced yourself on him! How can he let such filth out of his mouth? He’ll be the death of me.”

Then she hesitated. “Still… if you really do want him, I can use my authority as his mother. He wouldn’t dare disobey.”

Her words warmed my heart.

When I first came to the estate, I had indeed wanted to marry my cousin. He was handsome, charming, and graceful. At twenty he had passed the imperial examinations and entered the Hanlin Academy, the elite body of scholar-officials, where the emperor thought highly of him.

For an orphan like me, a future with someone like him would have been more than satisfactory.

But after spending so much time with him, I had come to think Shuyao suited him better.

They had grown up together and shared a deep affection. I had only been in the household for three years. I was a shadow lying between them, and however hard I tried to please him, nothing I did was right.

I swallowed the faint ache in my chest and hugged Aunt’s arm.

“Don’t make things difficult for him, Aunt. Everyone can see he and Shuyao are better suited. Why should we force them apart just to get what we want?”

She patted the back of my hand, reluctant to let me go.

“You never give anyone cause to worry, child. Very well. Che simply hasn’t the good fortune to deserve you.”