After settling into the hostage residence, Zhao Shu sat before the medicine stove as thin wisps of steam drifted upward. Instead of feeling relieved, her heart became increasingly uneasy.
Though she had spent most of her life as a spoiled playboy, she did not consider herself stupid.
Today’s certain death had suddenly become survival. Someone had to be helping her from the shadows.
During the chaos earlier, just as a blade had slashed toward her back, a hidden crossbow bolt had intercepted the sword. Then Commander Li Wu had abruptly ordered everyone to stop. No new decree followed. Instead, they were simply escorted to this heavily guarded hostage compound.
Even the fever medicine she had begged for throughout the journey, Commander Li Wu had voluntarily sent it over.
Could it be… Older Brother Ruhui had secretly followed them?
The absurd thought had barely formed before Zhao Shu rejected it herself.
Given the current disaster engulfing Zhao, it would already be fortunate if her sworn brother could simply protect himself.
To go from certain death to being comfortably settled, such a drastic reversal of fortune… was deeply unsettling.
Lost in thought, she was suddenly embraced from behind. Qi Ying stumbled out of the room and wrapped both arms around Zhao Shu’s shoulders.
“Sister…” Her body trembled ever so slightly despite her attempt to suppress it.
Zhao Shu immediately forced a smile. Supporting her with one hand, she reached for the medicine with the other. “The Qin people are so stingy. Even their medicine doesn’t smell as good as what we had in Handan. Drink it first. Next month, once we return to Luoyi, you’ll recover properly.”
She had assumed Qi Ying had slept through the entire journey because of her illness.
But the next moment, normally slow-witted and taciturn, Qi Ying gently pushed Zhao Shu’s hand aside, took the medicine herself, and suddenly choked back a sob. “Young… Master… You… must not kneel… for others.”
Zhao Shu’s brows twitched. The faint joy lingering in her eyes was instantly swallowed by overwhelming bitterness. She opened her mouth. Yet in the end, she forced every worry and every burden back down inside herself. She simply accompanied Qi Ying while she drank the medicine, then watched as the girl skillfully boiled water and warmed the kang bed.
Even after everything that had happened, Zhao Shu was still hopeless at such ordinary household tasks.
By midnight, the snow had stopped. A cool moon gradually emerged.
She remained sitting beside the bed, staring absentmindedly at Qi Ying’s peacefully sleeping round face.
Qi Ying was not a daughter of the royal clan. She was the illegitimate child of Zhao Shu’s wet nurse and a physician. During childbirth, complications had injured her brain. For her entire life, Qi Ying had spoken haltingly and with difficulty, unable to string together more than a few complete sentences at a time.
When she was five years old, her royal father had ordered her to live as a boy. More than seventy attendants of the Princess’s residence had been poisoned to death with lethal wine. She had clutched Qi Ying tightly in her arms, never letting go day or night. By sheer luck, they had both survived…
Shaking herself from the memory, Zhao Shu rose and stood before the bronze mirror, beginning to wash away the disguise paste that had covered her face for many days.
Once the last traces were removed, the mirror revealed the face of a beautiful young maiden.
Despite the hardships of their long journey, her apricot-shaped eyes still shimmered, her cherry lips and snow-white cheeks remained delicate. Only the patch of ulcerated crimson between her brows, where the disguise paste had irritated her skin, resembled a floral forehead ornament, lending an unexpected seductive charm to what was originally an innocent, gentle face.
The disguise paste did not greatly alter her features. It merely concealed a woman’s softness while adding the sharpness of a young man. Zhao Shu was now seventeen years old. Zhao Wang had reduced her official age by two years in the royal registry. To outsiders, she appeared to be no more than a fifteen-year-old youth who had not yet fully matured. Her appearance also resembled the king’s closely enough that none of the ministers or nobles had ever harbored any suspicion.
The hostage residence was no less bleak than the road they had traveled. By the time she had finished removing the disguise paste, the charcoal brazier was nearly extinguished. Months of hardship had already taken a toll on Zhao Shu’s health. The moment she lay down beside the bed, she fell into an exhausted sleep.
It was a night filled with nightmares.
Before dawn the next morning, she awoke drenched in cold sweat.
Soon afterward, a young eunuch arrived with a summons. Crown Prince Zhao was ordered to attend the morning audience at the Hour of Chen to formally present Zhao’s letter of surrender to Qin Wang.
Fortunately, Qi Ying’s fever had broken after one night’s medicine. Once they had both washed and dressed, Zhao Shu rose to leave. The sharp pain in her foot made her stumble. Qi Ying immediately noticed the terrible blisters and torn flesh covering her feet. The young girl suddenly burst into tears while hugging her tightly.
It had always been Zhao Shu who caused trouble and lost her temper, while Qi Ying comforted her. Now that their roles were reversed, Zhao Shu found herself completely at a loss. She could only murmur absentmindedly, “Since the Qin haven’t killed me… once Grandfather sends someone, we’ll surely be able to return to Luoyi.”
Qi Ying wiped away her tears and gently touched the wound between Zhao Shu’s brows. Just then, the young eunuch came to hurry them again. Qi Ying’s expression suddenly grew solemn. Leaning close, she whispered, “Young Master… don’t… let anyone… see your face.”
“Of course not.” Zhao Shu blinked in confusion. She had not worn women’s attire for over ten years. Living as a young nobleman had long become second nature. Besides, who would bother examining the face of a fallen hostage prince so closely?
“You just rest well. I’ll definitely be back by noon.”
The surrender ceremony was to be held together with the morning court assembly. At most, it should have taken an hour. Yet Zhao Shu never imagined that once she left, she would never return.
***
The surrender token, carved from a single piece of jade from Mount Jing, had been painstakingly reassembled after she had shattered it in a moment of rage. Holding the restored jade token in both hands, Zhao Shu stood within the vast, solemn audience hall. Her eyes remained lowered, neither humble nor arrogant.
She stood between six enormous carved pillars. Civil and military officials lined both sides of the hall, each holding ceremonial tablets.
A young eunuch recited the lengthy proclamation of surrender. Upon the throne sat Qin Wang. His beard and hair were completely white. His expression was stern and unyielding. Only… his legs appeared crippled.
“Crown Prince Shu has traveled a long way.” The aged Qin Wang accepted the jade token she presented. His half-closed eyes glanced briefly over the cracks running through the jade before he silently examined Zhao Shu herself.
Qin Wang’s mother had once been a maidservant attending one of the Zhou royal household’s secondary consorts. He was roughly the same age as the Son of Heaven. Strictly speaking, he truly belonged to the same generation as Zhao Shu.
Life and death remained uncertain. Zhao Shu suddenly raised her head to meet Old Qin Wang’s gaze.
The old man did not avert his eyes. His stare remained fixed upon her.
Steadying herself, Zhao Shu looked directly into his eyes and spoke earnestly. “The craftsmen my humble state has brought into Qin are all masters of their respective trades from Handan. I hope Your Majesty will make good use of them.”
“Naturally.” Only then did Old Qin Wang withdraw his gaze.
Afterward, Zhao Shu was dismissed to stand below the throne while two ministers debated the merits of political reform.
Her feet ached from standing so long. Seeing that the Qin court had truly turned its attention to domestic affairs, she gradually realized there might still be hope for her survival. Little by little, courage overwhelmed her fear.
Still, she remained standing conspicuously in the middle of the hall. No one paid her the slightest attention. The Qin truly had little regard for ceremony.
As she listened in complete confusion, the same young eunuch who had escorted her earlier quietly approached. With perfect courtesy, he whispered, “The surrender ceremony has concluded. His Majesty instructs the Crown Prince to return on your own.”
Only then did Zhao Shu finally breathe a sigh of relief. As she followed the eunuch out, she casually handed over the letter her royal father had prepared long ago.
The young eunuch accepted it and promised to present it. But at that very moment, a cool, melodious voice leisurely echoed through the great hall. “The Zhou dynasty has ruled through the feudal system for seven hundred years. Rather than listening to your own arguments, why not hear the opinion of Crown Prince Zhao instead?”
The instant that voice sounded, Zhao Shu felt her entire body tremble.
As she slowly turned around, every inch of her body stiffened.
It felt as though memories buried deep beneath the earth were struggling to break free.
Over and over, she prayed silently.
Please… let her simply be mistaken. Let exhaustion have dulled her hearing.
But Heaven seemed determined to make her humiliation complete. The moment she turned, she met a pair of deep emerald eyes filled with an ambiguous smile. Unable to stop herself, she took half a step backward. Only with great effort did she conceal the shock and horror flooding her eyes.
“Crown Prince Zhao descends from the legitimate royal branch of Zhou. I’m sure Your Highness has profound insights regarding the merits of prefectures versus the feudal system.”
Some ministers immediately voiced their agreement. Others scoffed dismissively.
Ying Wuji merely smiled with impeccable humility. Step by step, he walked toward Zhao Shu, graceful as polished jade.
When only a single pace separated them, he looked down upon the old acquaintance before him. This person who hardly seemed to have grown any taller. A faint click of his tongue escaped him almost unconsciously.
In those few short steps, Zhao Shu’s back had already become soaked with cold sweat. Because every ounce of her strength was devoted to controlling her expression, she failed to notice that her lips were trembling violently.
Only after Ying Wuji stepped back did she finally steady her breathing. Suppressing every trace of emotion, she cupped her hands in salute and perfunctorily recited the usual platitudes praising the ancestral feudal system.
Even after attendants escorted her from the hall, she never once dared raise her eyes to look at him again.
Outside the great hall, the sky had cleared. The snow was gone. The heavens were brilliantly blue. Just as she was about to hurry back to the hostage residence, someone stopped her.
It was the same young eunuch who had accepted her letter beside Qin Wang earlier.
“Crown Prince Shu, please wait. The Imperial Grandson has sent this servant to invite Your Highness to his residence… to reminisce about old times.”
Zhao Shu faltered. The eunuch hurriedly steadied her before leading her, accompanied by a squad of palace guards, toward a palace gate opposite the direction of the hostage residence.
The eunuch, Cheng Wu, had an outgoing disposition. Along the way, he cheerfully explained that he had originally served at the Imperial Grandson’s side before later being reassigned to attend the king. As they walked, he enthusiastically introduced the various palaces and halls of Qin. Only when they reached a magnificent residence in the southeastern corner of the royal palace did he finally stop before its imposing gates.
Zhao Shu possessed few remarkable talents but she understood the ceremonial systems of every state exceptionally well. The moment she saw the jade stairway and auspicious guardian beasts flanking the entrance to the Prince’s Residence, her heart sank completely. The rank and splendor of this residence were no less than those of her own manor back in Handan.
With heavy steps, she walked forward. Her mind wandered elsewhere the entire way. For one of the few times in her life, she no longer wore her usual bright, smiling face.
She had even prepared herself to be taken directly to a prison cell or torture chamber.
Only when Cheng Wu stopped before a secluded, quiet courtyard did he softly call out, “Crown Prince Zhao?”
Seeing her standing there in a daze, Cheng Wu smiled and carefully explained everything. “His Highness has instructed that Your Grace arrive just in time for the midday meal. These two servants will assist you with bathing and changing. The floor heating has already been lit in the room. If you feel bored after your afternoon rest, the study has bamboo scrolls from all the various states prepared for you…”
Zhao Shu was so astonished she could no longer even reply. She almost began to wonder whether her eyes had deceived her today. Perhaps, she had mistaken someone else for Ying Wuji?
Just as the young eunuch Cheng Wu was about to leave, Zhao Shu somehow found the courage to stop him. She took out the very last Eastern pearl she possessed and quietly pressed it into his hand.
“I beg you, Lord, please do me this favor. When the opportunity is right, please present my royal father’s letter to Qin Wang.”
The Eastern pearl was enormous and worth over a century’s fortune yet Cheng Wu merely glanced at it. After slipping it into his sleeve, he answered vaguely, “Your Grace flatters this servant too much. If you truly think highly of me, then simply call me Cheng Wu from now on.”
The smile on his face almost instantly cooled. Zhao Shu had no idea why. Filled with unease, she allowed the two young servants to lead her inside.
The moment she stepped through the door, the warmth, fragrant as early spring, seeped into every aching bone of her body. Then, her gaze landed upon a glazed thumb ring inlaid with gold and silver resting atop the writing desk. Her pupils contracted violently. She sucked in a sharp breath.
Every memory returned with startling clarity.
“What’s the point of bullying a mad Hu woman? Here. Pawn this thumb ring and use the money to treat your mother’s illness.”
Three years ago, it had also been a world of ice and snow. Back then, Ying Wuji had been hiding among a group of refugees. He and his mother were being beaten and mocked by noblemen. It had been Zhao Shu who had happened to save them.
“You’re nothing but a filthy worm crawling in the mud, yet you still dare defy me?”
Later, because Ying Wuji’s profile closely resembled that of her sworn elder brother, Prince Ruhui of Jinyang, Zhao Ruhui, and unable to obtain what she truly longed for, Zhao Shu had projected her misplaced emotions onto him. When all was said and done, it had only been another form of teasing and humiliation.
“You’re far too ruthless. Report him to the Court of Justice. Send him to the penal labor camp. From now on, don’t bring any more of his affairs to trouble my ears.”
Later still, she had grown completely tired of him. She had allowed him to suffer every torment imaginable inside the penal camp.
Even when his Hu-born mother was murdered, Zhao Shu had failed to save her in time.
Every incident. Every sentence. Staring at that glazed thumb ring upon the desk, she felt all the more keenly how narrow the paths of fate could be.
Not even in her wildest dreams would she ever have imagined that a lowly slave abandoned in Zhao could, within only three years become the Imperial Grandson of Qin, a man standing above tens of thousands.
Soft beds. Warm quilts. A private bath filled with rising steam. No matter how exhausted or frozen she was, she would never dare bathe here. She did not touch a single bite of the soups, delicacies, or fruits the servants presented. Instead, she remained seated as though upon a bed of needles, anxiously trying to guess Ying Wuji’s intentions.
By late afternoon, as the water clock marked the middle of the Hour of Shen, servants filed into the room once more, carrying an even more lavish assortment of brightly prepared dishes.
Fearing that Qi Ying would be worried about her, Zhao Shu cautiously asked one kind-looking servant to deliver a message.
To her surprise, the servant immediately agreed and left without hesitation. Until the cold moon rose into the eastern sky, no one disturbed her again. Only then did Zhao Shu gradually lower her guard. Leaning against the lattice window, she gazed quietly at the moon.
Handan…
Luoyi…
Both lay in the direction where the moon now climbed.
A profound loneliness welled up inside her. She had slept poorly the previous night as well. Overwhelmed by exhaustion, her mind slowly grew hazy. Before she realized it, she had fallen asleep.
…
Two hours later, after listening to the old Qin Wang sternly reprimand Young Master Yi, Ying Wuji crossed the moonlit snow and entered the courtyard. From afar, he saw the youth asleep beside the open window.
A winter plum tree bloomed in fragrant splendor. A bitter wind suddenly swept through the courtyard. Several pale yellow blossoms and clumps of lingering snow drifted down from the branches landing gently upon the sleeping figure’s dark hair.
For just an instant, Ying Wuji’s thoughts wavered. The person before him had always been pampered beyond measure. Sleeping beside an open window like this, wouldn’t he catch cold?
Only when Cheng Wu quietly called out to him did Ying Wuji suddenly realize how absurd that thought had been.
After dismissing everyone else, he entered the room without making a sound. Even after walking all the way to the window, the sleeping youth still did not awaken.
He studied him carefully. The brows and eyes remained as refined and handsome as ever. Three years had passed, yet his frame was still as slender as an adolescent’s, not the slightest trace of a grown man’s build.
He had always been nothing more than an incompetent wastrel, soft-hearted to the point of foolishness. To make matters worse, he had been born physically frail. A dignified man yet blessed with such delicate beauty. Now that he had fallen from his lofty branch, he would have no choice but to cast aside all pride and dignity.
To humble himself and beg for life, reduced to meat upon another’s chopping block.
How unpredictable fate was. What a pitiful tragic creature. He was probably still dreaming of returning to Luoyi to live out the rest of his life in seclusion.
Ying Wuji’s long, elegant hand paused in midair. Only then did he realize, he had unconsciously wanted to touch Zhao Shu’s face.
The next instant, he slammed his hand heavily against the window frame. Meeting the youth’s confused, sleep-heavy eyes, an undisguised sneer spread across the emerald depths of his own.
Ying Wuji had never wasted effort on meaningless things. Yet today, he decided to make an exception. Since fate itself had delivered this person back before him, He might as well indulge its arrangement.
And at last…
Repay every humiliation and grievance he had once endured.
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