Chapter 1

In the depths of winter.

Two days ago, it started snowing in the capital.

It is said that a heavy snowfall is a sign of a prosperous year, and the first snow this year was especially heavy. In just two days, it had covered the capital, turning it into a city made of white snow.

The palace was no exception.

Inside Shoukang Palace, Xu Duanyi finished dressing and grooming herself before heading to the main hall where Empress Dowager Zhao Yu was.

She was the Empress Dowager’s niece and the only foreign princess residing in the palace in the Great Xia Dynasty.

With a noble status and being highly favored by the Empress Dowager, Xu Duanyi had lived in the palace since she was six.

The cold was intense.

Accompanied by her personal maid, Bixi, Xu Duanyi opened an umbrella and walked out.

The palace attendants at the main hall saw her approaching from a distance and hurried out into the snow to greet her. They immediately bowed and greeted her with respect, calling her “Your Highness.”

“The snow is heavy, please go inside first,” Xu Duanyi said, unwilling to let the palace attendants suffer in the snow. She led them to the corridor.

As Bixi was folding the umbrella, Xu Duanyi, while using a handkerchief to brush off the snow from her white fox fur coat, glanced ahead and noticed that the main doors of the hall were still closed. She looked to the side, where the crimson doors and windows were tightly shut.

“Is Aunt still not awake?” she asked softly, looking at the maid beside her.

The maid nodded with an expression of helplessness.

“After you left last night, the Empress Dowager had another headache for half the night and only fell asleep at dawn,” she sighed, “Aunt Danfeng and the others are really worried.”

“Princess, you should persuade the Empress Dowager more. This can’t go on like this,” the maid urged.

Xu Duanyi knew that this situation could not continue.

Her aunt had always been in poor health during the winter, and with the matter of the treasure pearl causing such a stir, how could her aunt sleep well? The discussions in the court only added to her anxiety.

Although they were in the corridor, the cold from outside was still felt.

The maid worried that Xu Duanyi might catch a chill.

If the Empress Dowager caught wind of it, they would never survive.

Thinking this, the maid stopped speaking.

“The wind outside is strong, Your Highness, please go rest inside,” she suggested, about to push open the door for Xu Duanyi.

But Xu Duanyi declined. She stopped the maid and said, “Since Aunt hasn’t woken up yet, I won’t disturb her.”

“I’ll let Aunt sleep peacefully. I’ll go to the kitchen first.”

After giving the maid some instructions, Xu Duanyi, accompanied by Bixi, opened the umbrella again and headed toward the kitchen. She planned to instruct the kitchen staff to prepare more of her aunt’s favorite dishes.

These tasks were not usually hers to do.

But recently, due to the Empress Dowager’s poor mood, Xu Duanyi, who deeply respected her aunt, took extra care in these small, personal matters, so that others wouldn’t fail in their duties.

As they made their way to the kitchen, they passed a long corridor and could faintly hear palace maids and eunuchs gossiping.

“Do you think the young lady will really break off her engagement with Prince Nan’an?”

“Personally, I think it’s unlikely. Ever since Prince Nan’an’s house fell, the young lady has been coming to the palace every year to argue with the Empress Dowager about this, but have you seen the Empress Dowager agree? I think this will likely be like before—after a few days, everything will settle down.”

Others nodded.

But suddenly, someone spoke up: “I actually think this time the engagement might really be called off.”

“Why do you say that?”

The person who had previously disagreed continued, “This time, it’s not just the young lady coming to the palace. Even the ancestors of the Duke of the Protectorate and the Duke’s wife have come. The Empress Dowager has never been this troubled before. I think this time, the marriage might really be off.”

“And also…”

The person deliberately paused.

The others, eager to hear more, immediately asked, “And what else?”

The person pretended to be aloof, being coaxed by others. Just as they were about to speak, they suddenly heard a soft cough.

This soft cough caused the group of people who had been talking together to quickly stand up, trembling, and look outside. They saw the figure of Princess Jia Shun and her personal maid.

Immediately—

The group turned pale.

They had braved the wind and snow to come out, and now, nervously greeted Xu Duanyi, “Long live the princess.”

Xu Duanyi looked at the group kneeling in front of her. She did not immediately scold them but also did not let them rise right away.

“The weather is cold, and you want to slack off, which is not a major issue. But you must not say such things again, understood?”

The group dared not disagree, especially Yihu, who had spoken the most earlier. He quickly bowed and apologized, “I spoke out of turn. Please forgive me, Your Highness!”

Xu Duanyi motioned for them to rise.

She did not make them stand as punishment, and after giving them a warning, she let them return.

However, none of them dared to slack off anymore.

After greeting Xu Duanyi, they all dispersed.

Xu Duanyi did not say much but continued to lead Bixi towards the kitchen.

Her face showed no excess expression, but her mind was on the marriage between Baozhu and Xie Qingya.

Baozhu and Xie Qingya’s engagement had been arranged four years ago.

At that time, Xie Qingya was a young general who had made remarkable achievements, highly esteemed, and extraordinarily handsome. Many people wanted to marry him, so her aunt had taken charge and arranged the engagement between him and Baozhu, thinking they would marry after Baozhu came of age.

Originally, according to the plan, they were to marry in the spring of next year.

But unexpectedly, a few days ago, Baozhu suddenly cried and entered the palace, demanding that her aunt annul the engagement. She said she would rather die than marry the Prince of Nanan.

If forced, she would hang herself or crash into a wall!

Either way, she would not allow the marriage to take place.

In fact, this issue had often arisen over the years. After the fall of the Prince of Nanan’s household, Baozhu had become dissatisfied with the engagement.

—-

In the past, she had been afraid of her aunt’s authority and would only cry or make small protests, but this time, the situation was much bigger and more decisive.

However, no matter how loud her protests were, everyone could see that she was just bluffing. She wasn’t truly willing to die, and her aunt naturally ignored her.

Unexpectedly, within a couple of days, her grandmother and her maternal aunt also hurriedly entered the palace, and it seemed they also intended to call off the engagement.

After asking carefully, her aunt learned that Baozhu had fallen for this year’s new scholar, the imperial examination’s third-place winner, and would marry no one else. To ensure they would not disagree, she had secretly been close to him, losing her virginity.

Upon hearing this, her aunt was, of course, furious.

Under these circumstances, it was impossible for Baozhu to marry Xie Qingya now.

Even though the Prince of Nanan’s household had lost power and the young Prince of Nanan was no longer what he used to be, such a scandal, if it spread, would tarnish the reputation of the royal family and the Xiao family.

Her aunt valued her reputation above all.

Recently, her aunt had been so upset about this matter that she couldn’t sleep well, suffering from headaches.

Xu Duanyi sighed.

After hearing this, Bixi glanced at her mistress beside her and asked, “Are you thinking about Miss Biao and Prince Nan’an again?”

Xu Duanyi gently hummed in response.

Bixi didn’t say anything further, simply continuing to hold the umbrella and assist Xu Duanyi in walking forward. After a while, she spoke again, “I wonder how this matter will be dealt with?”

Xu Duanyi didn’t know either.

This marriage was arranged four years ago.

Though the Prince of Nan’an’s family is now in decline, they still have the reputation of the old Prince of Nan’an and the Grand Princess, and there are still many old officials in the court who value Confucianism.

If her aunt and the Xiao family really intend to casually break off the engagement, these old officials would surely kneel before the Emperor again.

Moreover, they had been dissatisfied with her aunt and the Xiao family for a long time.

If the Xiao family had other eligible daughters, they might consider switching to another person, but the Xiao family only had Baozhu as their daughter.

Thus, Xu Duanyi could only shake her head. “Let’s see what Aunt and Uncle decide.”

Xu Duanyi estimated that her aunt would likely choose another good marriage for Xie Qingya, or perhaps offer some other form of compensation to make up for the Nan’an Prince’s family…

She only hoped that, if her aunt really chose another match for Xie Qingya, that the young lady would treat him well.

He is a good person and deserves to be treated well.

Even though Xie Qingya had changed a lot now, with rumors circulating about him being a frivolous, wayward young man, Xu Duanyi still believed that, at his core, he was a good person.

The world outside the umbrella was still a vast expanse of white.

Xu Duanyi gazed at the distant snowy landscape and faintly recalled the thirteenth year of Jian’an, when she had just entered the palace on a snowy day like this.

At that time, she was only six years old.

Her mother died in childbirth, and her aunt, fearing that her father wouldn’t be able to take care of her, personally sent someone to bring her into the palace.

She had just lost her mother and entered the palace, feeling timid and apprehensive.

Her aunt had asked her to play with her cousin.

But her cousin was already thirteen, beginning to handle state affairs with her uncle, and had no time to pay attention to a little girl like her.

It was Xie Qingya—

He was her cousin’s study companion, only two years older than her.

Though he wasn’t willing, her cousin still asked him to play with her, and he genuinely did, taking care of her for many years.

All the joyful memories of her childhood were tied to Xie Qingya.

Thinking of those past times,

Xu Duanyi couldn’t help but smile.

Dressed in a white fox fur coat to keep warm from the wind, her hands cradled the hand warmer Bixi had handed her earlier, her eyes shining brightly as she gazed ahead.

Xu Duanyi was graceful and gentle, having been raised beside Empress Dowager Zhaoyu since childhood, and her manners and etiquette made her the model for noble ladies in the capital.

Even when she smiled on ordinary days, it was always a gentle and fleeting smile.

But when had she ever smiled like this?

Bathed in the snowlight, it was dazzling, like a bright and warm sunny day in spring.

Bixie was right beside her and naturally saw the familiar smile on her face.

After many years of being a servant, how could Bixie not know what her master was thinking?

Perhaps only she knew the thoughts hidden deep inside her master’s heart.

Perhaps—

Bixie suddenly had a stirring feeling.

She truly couldn’t bear to see her master suffering like this.

Her master was still so young; she couldn’t possibly stay in the palace all her life without marrying. She couldn’t help but speak: “Master, perhaps…”

But before she could finish, she thought of the current appearance of the Prince of Nan’an, and immediately stopped.

Her initial words were born from her sympathy for her master’s unrequited love.

But now, she stopped because of her dissatisfaction with how the Prince of Nan’an behaved… After the Battle of Changye, the Nan’an Palace had lost three legitimate heirs, leaving only the young Prince of Nan’an and a pair of twin siblings.

The twin siblings were still young and couldn’t handle matters.

The previously famous young Prince of Nan’an had become a notorious playboy, frequenting taverns and brothels every day, associating with ill companions.

Such a wastrel didn’t deserve her master.

She feared that if her master truly married him, she would suffer endless grievances. Thinking this way, the words she had planned to say became difficult to voice.

Xu Duanyi knew what Bixie wanted to say and why she had stopped.

She smiled faintly, her expression softening a bit. She whispered to Bixie, “Do not entertain this thought again in the future.”

“It’s impossible between me and him.”

“I never thought of marrying anyone in this life.”

When Xu Duanyi spoke these words, she didn’t feel bitter.

There was something Bixie misunderstood: Xu Duanyi had never felt suffering.

From the time she fell for Xie Qingya, to being betrothed to her cousin by her aunt, to her cousin’s passing, and then Xie Qingya getting engaged to Baozhu… she had never said anything.

She liked Xie Qingya.

But who said that liking someone meant you had to be together with them? She was content just watching from afar, wishing him well, and that was enough.

That was enough.

“Master…”

Bixie furrowed her brows upon hearing this, still wanting to say something, but they had already arrived at the kitchen.

Seeing the crowd inside, Bixie feared someone might overhear something inappropriate and damage her master’s reputation, so she immediately stopped speaking.

As the two entered the kitchen, a “rare guest” arrived outside the gates of Shoukang Palace.

This guest was none other than the current Grand Eunuch of the Department of Ceremonies and Chief Eunuch Cao Da.

The palace servants didn’t expect Cao Da to come on such a cold day, but they dared not delay the report.

This was because Cao Da’s position was extraordinary.

When the late emperor was still alive, Cao Da had always been by his side. After the emperor’s passing, he, along with the Empress Dowager Zhao Yu, purged the inner palace and helped the young emperor ascend the throne.

Now he served as the Chief Eunuch of the Department of Ceremonies, a position of immense power within the inner palace, often regarded as the internal prime minister, overseeing palace affairs and approving official documents.

When the news reached the main hall, Empress Dowager Zhao Yu had just woken up.

She had slept poorly, and after waking, she felt a terrible headache.

She had just intended to call Danfeng in when she overheard some hushed voices from outside. When Danfeng entered, Empress Dowager Zhao Yu pressed her temples and impatiently asked, “What’s going on outside?”

Danfeng hadn’t expected her to wake up and, hearing her hoarse voice, hurriedly poured her a cup of tea.

After Empress Dowager Zhao Yu finished drinking, Danfeng said, “Cao Da is here.”

Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Zhao Yu’s brows furrowed. Her already bad mood worsened upon hearing his name.

“What does he want here?”

Without thinking, she snapped, “Tell him to get lost.”

Her relationship with Cao Da was no longer as good as it had been when the new emperor first ascended the throne.

Over the years, Cao Da had become more and more reckless, and she had grown increasingly displeased with him.

Therefore, she was unwilling to meet him, especially at this moment when her mood was already bad.

Normally, Danfeng would immediately comply with her order and avoid bothering her, but today, after a brief hesitation, she responded, “Cao Da said he has a way to solve your current troubles.”

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager’s expression froze.

After a brief silence, she finally spoke impatiently, “Let him in.”