Volume One, Chapter One: Are You Waiting for His Highness the Third Prince to Break Off the Engagement?

On New Year's Eve, a heavy snow fell over Shengdu.

Flakes drifted down, settling atop the red lanterns hanging from the eaves. In the alley, children dressed in new clothes ran past, carrying red lanterns, their laughter swirling with the wind that lifted the spring couplets pasted upon the doorframes.

"Elder sister, it's snowing outside. Aren't you going home for the reunion dinner?"

Changle leaned against a bench beneath the eaves of the medical hall, her slender fingers catching two falling snowflakes. Beside her sat a bowl of medicine, now cold.

She had caught a chill two days ago, which lingered without improvement. Today, a high fever finally drove her to seek out the healer. Her head still felt heavy and clouded; she barely registered the little girl's question.

"Did you come to the clinic alone, elder sister? Where is your family?" A little boy tilted his head, eyes wide with innocent curiosity.

Changle watched a snowflake melt instantly upon her burning fingertip before she withdrew her hand and replied to the boy.

"They're all dead."

The boy froze. His mother hurried over, scooped him into her arms, and apologized profusely to Changle.

Changle shrugged it off with a small smile, brushed off her skirts, stood, and walked out of the medical hall, treading over the broken snow on the stone steps. She boarded the carriage waiting at the door.

Lin Dong, who had come out holding a parcel of medicine, spotted the untouched bowl of medicine left under the eaves. With a startled exclamation, she hurried after her.

"Miss, your illness is severe, and you're still running a high fever. Why won't you take your medicine?" Lin Dong lifted the curtain and climbed into the carriage, immediately beginning to nag as soon as the driver set out for home.

"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but it's your own body. If you won't take care of yourself, you'll only bring suffering upon yourself."

Changle lifted the carriage curtain, gazing at the bustling streets outside. On this lively New Year's Eve, joy radiated from every face. Yet none of it seemed to touch her.

Lin Dong kept chattering, urging her to cherish her health, to be more at ease—her words tumbling out in a relentless stream, more loquacious than any old woman.

Changle let the curtain fall and closed her eyes to rest.

When the carriage arrived at the gate of her residence, the driver set out the footstool and called that they had arrived.

Lin Dong lifted the curtain and stepped down first—only to spot another carriage already parked at the door.

It was an extravagant carriage, inlaid with jewels, a lantern bearing the insignia of the Marquis of Chang'an’s household hanging from its side.

Lin Dong looked up at Changle, concern furrowing her brow; her lips parted, but she hesitated to speak.

Changle noticed the opulent carriage as well but paid it little mind, taking Lin Dong's arm to descend and walking straight into the house without so much as a sideways glance.

"Second Miss, Madam has been waiting for you a long time."

Her path was blocked. Only then did Changle lift her gaze, arching her brow in scorn. "If she likes waiting, that's her business. What does it have to do with me? Did I ask her to wait?"

The servant looked troubled. From within the luxurious carriage came a voice, impatient and sharp: "Tomorrow is your elder sister's coming-of-age ceremony. Don't forget."

"I'm not going."

"Changle Hua!" The voice in the carriage now bristled with anger.

"Still alive! If you're looking to summon a spirit, wait until the seventh day after my death!"

Changle’s head pounded, her body weak and feverish, and she was already harboring a bellyful of resentment. Since Qi Feirou had come at this moment to provoke her, neither of them would have an easy time.

Lin Dong, fearing the quarrel would escalate, hurried to explain, "Madam, Miss is ill."

"Ill? Ill again?"

"Changle Hua, it's always the same tricks with you. Can't you think of something new?"

"Every time something important happens with your sister, you come up with some illness or another. Do you find this amusing?"

"Must everything be a competition with your sister? Do you always have to fight her for everything?"

"Look at yourself, then look at your sister. Do you know why I’m here waiting for you today? It’s only because your sister didn’t want you to be alone. She hoped the family could be together, and didn’t want others to mock our household."

"Your sister is so understanding and considerate. And you?"

"Narrow-minded, jealous, willful, spoiled—you’ve been utterly ruined by your grandfather and grandmother’s indulgence. You’re nothing like your well-behaved, thoughtful sister..."

On and on, an endless litany of criticism—nonsense that once would have stung Changle, but now only left her weary.

Her headache was splitting. She didn’t want to hear another word from Qi Feirou. Snatching the medicine parcel from Lin Dong’s hands, she hurled it at her, not bothering to reply. "Get out!"

Qi Feirou frowned as the medicine hit the ground. Was the girl truly ill?

Impossible.

This child had always been as robust as an ox, rarely falling ill in a year. That she should fall sick at such a crucial moment—she must be faking.

"Changle Hua, I warn you: tomorrow you will attend, whether you want to or not!"

"You are the second daughter of the marquis’s household. You must be present at your sister’s coming-of-age ceremony. We cannot allow gossip to bring shame on the family!"

"Furthermore, the Third Prince will be there tomorrow."

"I already know about your little squabble with the Third Prince—your sister told me. It’s nothing but a petty matter. That lowborn wretch can’t threaten your position."

"Tomorrow, I’ll arrange for you to speak with the Third Prince alone. Apologize, show some humility. Given the affection between you two since childhood, he will surely forgive you."

"And as for that foul temper of yours—it’s long past time you changed. Do you imagine everyone will indulge you as your grandparents did?"

"It’s their spoiling that made you wild and disrespectful. Well, now they’re dead, they don’t have to deal with this mess. I’m left to clean it up."

Not hearing any reply, Qi Feirou’s voice sharpened. "Changle Hua, did you hear what I just said?"

Of course, Changle heard her.

She did not live at the marquis’s residence, but apart. All across Shengdu, people gossiped about her, yet Qi Feirou, her own mother, had never once considered her reputation.

On New Year’s Eve, she had not returned home, and not a single person from the marquis’s house came to fetch her.

But now, with Hua Zhiyu’s coming-of-age ceremony tomorrow, Qi Feirou, fearing that a servant’s summons would be ignored, braved the snow herself to issue her command.

And Qi Feirou seemed to forget: she and Hua Zhiyu had been born on the same day. Tomorrow was also her coming-of-age ceremony.

What a mother.

Changle suddenly laughed. If they wanted her to return, then return she would.

If they wished to provoke her into madness, to make her the subject of even more contempt, then mad she would become—right before their eyes.

Lin Dong picked up the medicine package, steadying Changle as she glanced from the distant carriage to her mistress’s pale face—her expression a mix of heartache and indignation.

"Miss is Madam’s own daughter! The eldest miss was merely adopted, yet now it seems as if Miss were the adopted one and the eldest were her trueborn child."

"And the eldest miss was already several years old when she was brought into the marquis’s house. They claim she’s the same age as Miss, born on the very same day—what a ‘coincidence.’ Who knows if it’s true?"

"If you ask me, the eldest miss has been vying for favor since the day she arrived. And now, Madam can’t even remember Miss’s birthday, only that tomorrow is the eldest miss’s coming-of-age, forgetting that it’s Miss’s as well."

"Such favoritism is simply outrageous."

"Miss, don’t go tomorrow. Spare yourself the pain."

"I will go! Why wouldn’t I?"

Changle sneered. "Isn’t Hua Zhiyu just desperate to provoke me into a frenzy? Then I’ll show them what madness truly is."