Chapter 2
“This Princess thinks she is worthy.” Gu Cuiyun’s voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it cut through all the surrounding commotion. “The imperial edict has already been issued. Does the Chancellor intend to defy it?”
The moment the Eldest Princess said those words, the entire courtyard fell silent. No one dared defy an imperial edict.
Qu Qingrong got dressed and walked to the doorway. From a distance, she could see Gu Cuiyun standing on the steps in the front courtyard. Behind her stood the eunuch who had proclaimed the edict, while servants from across the residence knelt all over the ground. The Chancellor’s face was livid, her legitimate mother had collapsed to the ground, and the young masters and misses were hiding in the back, their eyes wide as bronze bells.
Gu Cuiyun’s gaze swept past everyone and landed unerringly on Qu Qingrong.
Then she walked toward her.
Qu Qingrong instinctively took half a step back, her back pressing against the doorframe.
Gu Cuiyun stopped in front of her, very close. Qu Qingrong caught the scent on her body—faint, like a pine forest beneath a clear sky after fresh snowfall. Cold and crisp, clean and transparent, with the slightest trace of bitterness.
That scent drifted strand by strand toward the tip of her nose, slipping into her nostrils, down her throat, and through every limb and bone, like an invisible thread binding her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys all at once.
Qu Qingrong’s heart began pounding violently, and the back of her neck started to burn. It was not heat on the surface, but as though something beneath her skin had suddenly caught fire. She instinctively raised a hand to touch it, only to pull back halfway. She did not know what she was afraid of, but her instincts told her that spot was not to be touched.
Qu Qingrong bit her lip. Her fingers unconsciously clenched the fabric over her chest until her fingertips turned white, while her heels quietly shifted half a step backward.
The corner of Gu Cuiyun’s mouth lifted by an almost imperceptible degree. She leaned slightly closer, allowing that cold pine-like fragrance to drift nearer.
Her gaze slid from Qu Qingrong’s reddened ear tips to her tightly pressed lips, then settled on the back of her neck, which Qu Qingrong had turned slightly aside as though afraid to let anyone see it.
That fleeting glance happened to be caught by Qu Qingrong. The burning at the back of her neck suddenly intensified, and her pale fingertips finally curled into fists.
She wanted to run.
Gu Cuiyun finally stopped. She turned around to face everyone kneeling throughout the residence, her calm voice driving itself into every person’s ears like a nail.
“From today onward, Qu Qingrong is a member of the Eldest Princess’s Residence. Whoever touches her is touching this Princess.”
The entire courtyard was utterly silent.
After saying this, Gu Cuiyun turned back to Qu Qingrong, her voice lowering. “The wedding is set for the eighth day of next month.”
“Is that enough time for you to pack?”
Qu Qingrong opened her mouth. She wanted to say she had hardly anything to pack, but her throat seemed blocked, and she could not force out a single word. She could only nod. The burning at the back of her neck had not subsided. Instead, the movement made it flare again.
Gu Cuiyun watched her nod, and the corner of her mouth seemed to move slightly. She took the imperial edict and placed it firmly in Qu Qingrong’s hands.
“I’m leaving.”
With that, she turned and departed. The large entourage behind her hurried after her to see her off.
Only Qu Qingrong remained standing where she was, clutching the gleaming golden imperial edict in her hands, her heart beating absurdly fast.
Behind her, Xiaolian whispered, “Miss, does this mean you’ve… been married off?”
Qu Qingrong did not answer.
She stared in the direction Gu Cuiyun had disappeared, with only one thought in her mind—
She had merely wanted to survive. How had she somehow become the Eldest Princess’s live-in consort?
After the Eldest Princess left, the Chancellor’s Residence erupted into chaos.
Qu Qingrong stood behind the door, listening to the Chancellor’s furious roaring from the front courtyard mixed with the servants’ frantic footsteps. She did not show herself. Those people needed somewhere to vent their anger, and if she went out now, she would be the perfect target.
She retreated into her room. Xiaolian was crouched beside the bed packing her things, tear tracks still visible on her face.
“Miss, are you really going to marry into the Eldest Princess’s Residence?” Xiaolian’s voice was soft and trembling, as though she still could not believe it.
“Mm.” Qu Qingrong sat on the bed, her thoughts still in complete disarray.
“Then… then can this servant go with you?” Xiaolian raised her head, eyes red. “This servant doesn’t want to leave Miss.”
Qu Qingrong froze for a moment, then smiled. “Of course you can. Wherever I go, you’ll be there too.”
Xiaolian’s tears fell again, but this time she was crying with a smile.
News traveled faster than the wind.
In less than half an hour, the entire capital knew that an illegitimate daughter of the Chancellor’s Residence had been chosen by the Eldest Princess to become her live-in consort. People came endlessly to “offer congratulations.” They said they were congratulating the family, but really, they had come to watch the spectacle.
Who did not know that just a few days earlier, the Chancellor had declared at court that she intended to send her illegitimate daughter away for a political marriage? Wasn’t the Eldest Princess’s move a resounding slap across the Chancellor’s face?
“I heard the Eldest Princess only married her to spite the Third Prince?”
“Who knows? Maybe she’ll divorce her in a few days.”
“A useless Alpha actually thinks she’s climbed onto a high branch.”
Qu Qingrong paid no attention to the whispers outside and continued packing. Marrying the Eldest Princess was infinitely better than being sent off for a political marriage by that cheap excuse for a father.
At dusk, a burst of footsteps sounded in the courtyard, heading straight toward her room.
The door was kicked open.
Third Miss Qu Wanning stood in the doorway, dressed in luxurious brocade and wearing golden hairpins in her hair. Six maids stood behind her, making for an even grander display than the Chancellor’s wife herself.
Qu Wanning was the third young miss of the Chancellor’s Residence, a legitimate-born Alpha. Her grade was not particularly high, but in this family, aside from the legitimate eldest daughter Qu Wanzhang, she was the most precious. She had grown up pampered in the palms of everyone’s hands and had always gotten whatever she wanted.
There was only one thing in her life that had never gone her way—
She had admired the Eldest Princess, Gu Cuiyun, for many years.
Ever since catching a distant glimpse of her at a palace banquet as a child, she had never been able to forget her. Whenever the subject came up, she would say, “An Omega like the Eldest Princess can only be matched by the finest among Alphas.”
She naturally believed herself to be one of those finest.
And now, the Eldest Princess was actually going to marry an illegitimate daughter.
Worse, an illegitimate daughter who was a useless Alpha whom Qu Wanning had never even bothered to look at properly!
Qu Wanning’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
“Oh, you’re still here?” Qu Wanning stood in the doorway with her arms crossed, looking Qu Qingrong up and down as though examining something filthy. “I thought you’d already been taken to the Eldest Princess’s Residence. What happened? Did the Eldest Princess forget about you?”
Qu Qingrong stood up and lowered her head slightly. “Third Sister.”
“Don’t call me Third Sister.” Qu Wanning walked inside, her shoes stepping across the floor Xiaolian had just wiped clean and leaving several dusty footprints behind. “I wouldn’t dare call myself your sister. You’re the Eldest Princess’s live-in consort now. How could someone like me possibly be worthy?”
Xiaolian shrank into the corner, hardly daring to breathe.
Qu Qingrong said nothing. The imperial marriage decree had only just been issued, and there was no telling what would happen in the future. She had no intention of inviting trouble with this woman.
But Qu Wanning had no intention of letting her go.
She paced around the room, her gaze falling on the battered old chest in the corner. She sneered. “This is all you own? And you have the nerve to marry into the Eldest Princess’s Residence? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“Well, I suppose that makes sense,” Qu Wanning continued to herself. “You were always the most presentable one in the Chancellor’s Residence—presentable only as something we’d rather not show anyone. That tiny bit of dowry your lowly concubine mother left you wouldn’t even interest a maid. But don’t worry, the Eldest Princess’s Residence has no need for your pathetic belongings. She’s only marrying you because—”
She paused, leaned closer, and lowered her voice. A malicious smile curled across her lips.
“Because of political necessity. You’re a useless Alpha who doesn’t even have a pheromone scent. Do you really think you’ve suddenly risen above your station?”
Qu Qingrong kept her eyes lowered, treating Qu Wanning like empty air and not bothering to respond.
Seeing that she received no reaction, Qu Wanning only felt her pent-up resentment swell further.
Why?
Why?
Why did that bitch Qu Qingrong get to marry the Eldest Princess?!
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Qu Wanning noticed a small water vat in the corner of Qu Qingrong’s courtyard—the only thing there that could remotely be called scenery. A few half-dead lotus plants grew inside it.
“Speaking of which.” Qu Wanning’s voice dripped with malice. “Last month, when you fell into the lotus vat, I really thought you were going to die. Who would’ve thought you’d be so hard to kill?”
A roar went through Qu Qingrong’s mind.
The original owner’s memories of falling into the water surged up like a tide—
She had not slipped.
Someone had pushed her from behind.
Those hands had fingernails painted with vivid red balsam dye, and the cuffs were embroidered with golden peonies.
In the entire residence, only one person used that shade of nail dye and wore that kind of embroidery.
Qu Wanning.
Qu Qingrong’s gaze dropped to Qu Wanning’s hands.
Her nails were still painted vivid red today.
“What?” Qu Wanning noticed where she was looking and tucked her hand into her sleeve, her tone casual. “You don’t actually think—I pushed you, do you?”
Qu Qingrong lifted her head and looked into her eyes.
There was not the slightest trace of guilt in them.
Only lofty, utterly unconcerned contempt.
So what if I did?
Would you dare say it?
Even if you did, would anyone believe you?
Qu Wanning finally saw anger appear on Qu Qingrong’s face, and she was delighted.
“You’d better be careful. Don’t go falling into another water vat or pond. Next time, you might not be so lucky.”
The anger had already surged into Qu Qingrong’s throat.
She clenched both fists, her nails nearly digging into her palms.
Three seconds later, she released them and said calmly, “Third Sister is joking. I fell in because I was careless.”
Qu Wanning raised an eyebrow, apparently not expecting her to say that. She stared at Qu Qingrong for several seconds before suddenly laughing.
“At least you know your place.”
She turned to leave, but stopped again at the doorway as though she had remembered something.
“Oh, right. You’d better not get your hopes up too much about the Eldest Princess’s Residence. What kind of person is the Eldest Princess? You really think she could possibly be interested in you? Once the novelty wears off in a few days, you’ll understand exactly how much you’re worth.”
Qu Qingrong did not reply.
Qu Wanning left, and her maids streamed out after her. The courtyard fell quiet again.
Xiaolian was trembling all over with anger. “Miss, Third Miss… Third Miss has gone too far!”
Qu Qingrong said nothing.
She walked over to the water vat and carefully straightened the lotus plant that had fallen crooked.
Her movements were slow and meticulous.
Watching her from behind, Xiaolian suddenly felt that Miss seemed different somehow.
The old Miss would only have hidden in a corner and cried.
But the Miss standing before her now neither cried nor caused a scene, and those eyes seemed much steadier than before.
Early the next morning, Qu Wanning came again.
This time, she did not bring so many maids, only two personal attendants. The expression on her face was even darker than yesterday, as though she had spent the entire night storing up anger with nowhere to vent it.
“Where is Qu Qingrong?” she demanded the moment she entered.
Xiaolian was hanging clothes to dry in the courtyard. The moment she saw Qu Wanning, her face went white.
“Th-Third Miss.”
“I asked you a question.” Qu Wanning scolded her with a dark expression.
Xiaolian timidly replied in a small voice, “Miss went to the rear kitchen. She’ll be back soon.”
“The rear courtyard?” Qu Wanning sneered. “She certainly has plenty of leisure time. Before marrying into the Eldest Princess’s Residence, she still has time to wander around enjoying the flowers? Isn’t she afraid of embarrassing the Chancellor’s Residence?”
Xiaolian lowered her head and did not dare answer.
Qu Wanning paced around the courtyard a few times before her gaze fell on the water vat from yesterday.
The lotus plants that had been straightened yesterday had been carefully tended by Xiaolian again today. Their leaves were green and fresh, and they looked considerably livelier than the day before.
“You’re still keeping these worthless flowers?”
Qu Wanning walked over, yanked all the lotus leaves out, and viciously threw them onto the ground.
“Just like that lowly concubine mother of hers. Born with a worthless life, yet still clinging on and refusing to disappear.”
Xiaolian’s lips trembled.
She whispered, “Third Miss, these lotus flowers were planted by Miss’s mother before she passed away. Miss could never bear to—”
“Could never bear to?”
Qu Wanning turned around and stared at Xiaolian.
“You’re just a maid. You think you’re qualified to talk back to me?”
Xiaolian dropped to her knees in fright. “This servant wouldn’t dare!”
“Wouldn’t dare?”
Qu Wanning walked over and looked down at her from above.
“You seem plenty bold to me. When your master is speaking, what right do you have to interrupt?”
She raised her hand and slapped Xiaolian across the face.
Smack!
The sharp sound rang through the courtyard.
The blow knocked Xiaolian sideways onto the ground, five red finger marks immediately appearing across her cheek. She bit her lip and did not dare make a sound, but tears were already sliding from the corners of her eyes.
Qu Wanning shook out her hand, then wiped it on her handkerchief as though disgusted by the filth.
“A lowly maid is a lowly maid. Whatever kind of master you serve, that’s exactly what you turn into.”
“Third Sister certainly has quite the temper!”
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