Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was nearly June, and the sun blazed like fire.

In Xianfu Palace, the little princess finally awoke after a full hour’s nap.

Qingyang rubbed her eyes. As she lowered her hands, she saw the row of openwork wood-carved crabapple blossoms that adorned the surrounding panels of the canopy bed opposite her.

Her own bed was nothing like this.

Her gaze trailed along the carved blossoms, and Qingyang remembered: after lunch, she had clung to her mother, refusing to let go, so her mother had carried her to her own large bed and lulled her to sleep. Her mother’s voice was soft and gentle, her hand patting Qingyang’s shoulder lightly, and in her embrace was a faint, lovely fragrance Qingyang adored…

Where was Mother?

Qingyang rolled over in a flash, only to find that most of the bed beside her, spread with pale green brocade bedding, was empty.

Just as she was about to call out, a familiar, graceful figure emerged from behind a screen a few steps away, visible through the white gauze curtains embroidered with green leaves and pink lotus flowers. It was her mother.

Seeing her mother, Qingyang relaxed. She lay there quietly, watching as her mother raised her slender arms high, rising onto her tiptoes and spinning slowly. The hem of her skirt lifted slightly, rippling like waves on a lake, and even her footsteps were as light as water.

Qingyang had seen dancers perform at palace banquets before. They spun so quickly, like colorful butterflies, that she often lost track of them—one moment one dancer was there, the next, another had taken her place. But her mother danced slowly, pausing when she reached the door to the inner chamber, lowering her head to stare at her hands as if deep in thought.

After a while, her mother danced back the way she came, disappearing behind the screen only to reappear from the other side.

Wanting a clearer view, Qingyang crawled to the edge of the bed, sat up, swung her legs out from under the gauze curtains, and pushed the curtains aside with both hands.

Just as Consort Li emerged from behind the screen, practicing her dance steps, she glanced up and noticed her daughter, who had woken up at some point. The little girl sat perched on the edge of the bed, encircled from head to toe by the elegant white gauze curtains. Against the backdrop, her rosy cheeks made her look like a young animal peeking out from its den.

An exceptionally beautiful and adorable little one.

Forgetting her dance steps, Consort Li lowered her arms and glided toward her daughter like a white butterfly, her snow-white nightgown flowing around her. As she hooked one side of the gauze curtain onto a jade crescent hook above, she gazed at her beloved daughter with tender affection. "Lín'er is awake. Why didn’t you call for me?"

The little princess had been born three years earlier, on the very day the founding emperor of Great Qi, Emperor Xingwu, held his enthronement ceremony. When the joyful news reached the grand hall, the ministers congratulated the emperor, proclaiming that heaven had sent a qilin child to bring joy. Emperor Xingwu was delighted and, upon visiting his daughter after the ceremonies, directly bestowed upon her the childhood name "Lín'er."

Qingyang looked up at her mother. "I was watching you dance."

A flush spread across Consort Li’s cheeks. Setting aside the other half of the curtain, she knelt down in front of her daughter and whispered, "I was just practicing casually. I haven’t really learned it yet. Lín'er, you must keep this a secret for me. Don’t tell anyone, not even when your father returns."

Qingyang could no longer remember her father, who had been away on military campaigns for over a year but was often mentioned by her mother as someone who adored her. She was only curious about the matter at hand. "Why can’t I tell?"

Three- and four-year-olds are naturally full of questions, and among Consort Li’s two children, Qingyang’s curiosity was particularly strong—as if she were making up for the lack of inquisitiveness in her older brother, the Third Prince.

Consort Li weighed her words carefully. "Learning to dance is best suited for seven- or eight-year-olds. I’m already in my twenties—I’ll never become skilled at it. If word gets out, people will laugh at me, and I don’t want that."

In this world, there were two kinds of women who learned to dance: those who were unfortunate and had no choice but to study singing and dancing to make a living, and those from wealthy or official families who learned purely to cultivate a talent—perhaps to perform for esteemed figures and earn praise, but never for livelihood.

Consort Li’s father had been a county magistrate in a small town in Jiangnan, and her birth mother was merely one of his concubines. Her father was relatively upright as an official—he had no particular fondness for watching dances, nor did he have the means or intention to train his daughters in the arts. As a result, Consort Li had never even seen a professional dancer in her youth, let alone developed an interest in learning dance.

In the early years after Emperor Xingwu took her as a concubine, he was still a rebel leader constantly engaged in warfare, striving for greater power. Consort Li and the rest of his family stayed hidden behind the battle lines, living ordinary lives akin to those of well-off commoners. Everyone was too preoccupied with worrying about Emperor Xingwu’s safety to carry themselves like nobility. It wasn’t until he successfully ascended the throne and the family was moved into the palace that their lives as true royalty began.

Consort Li was cautious and timid by nature, with only her striking beauty setting her apart. After being enfeoffed as a consort, she maintained her gentle, unassuming demeanor, avoiding trouble whenever possible. It was only after attending a few palace banquets that she developed an interest in dancing.

She wanted to learn for the pure joy of it, but she feared others would suspect her of aiming to captivate Emperor Xingwu with her dance and vie for greater favor. Thus, she practiced only when no attendants were around, and even if she one day mastered the art, she would never perform for him.

The emperor was already as imposing as a true dragon—why would she want to tempt him further with dancing? Did she want an even sorer back or weaker legs?

Unaware of her mother’s true concerns, Qingyang frowned seriously. "If anyone dares laugh at you, make them copy thirty sheets of characters!"

Her eldest sister was fierce—she had once slapped a palace maid who made a mistake, leaving the girl’s face swollen and tear-streaked, a pitiful sight. The Noble Consort also had her stern moments; she would punish Second Brother by making him copy texts, leaving him so distressed he couldn’t even eat.

Qingyang didn’t want to hit anyone, but anyone who laughed at her mother was a bad person and deserved punishment—making them copy lots and lots of characters.

The little princess spoke with such earnestness that Consort Li’s heart melted. She hugged her daughter and gave her a big kiss. "Still, it’s better to avoid trouble. I just don’t want others to know—including your Third Brother. Be good, Lín'er, and keep this secret for me, alright?"

Qingyang asked, "Why is it better to avoid trouble?"

Consort Li: "…"

A quarter of an hour later, after promising her daughter that she would perform for her first once she learned the dance, Consort Li finally moved past the topic.

She called in the nursemaid and palace maids, and mother and daughter washed up and changed clothes.

By the time Qingyang finished a simple yet exquisite snack, it was only 3:45 p.m.

Qingyang missed her Third Brother and wanted to go to the martial arts training hall to play with him.

She knew her brothers studied in the Chongwen Pavilion of the Eastern Palace in the mornings and practiced martial arts in the Eastern Palace’s training hall in the afternoons.

Consort Li said, "No, your brothers are training seriously with their instructors. You can’t go and disrupt them."

Qingyang insisted, "I won’t disrupt them. I’ll just watch from the side."

Consort Li replied, "That won’t do either. Your father places great importance on your brothers’ studies. Even if you don’t cause trouble, you’ll distract them. Your father would be displeased if he found out. Besides, the instructors are strict. It wouldn’t be respectful for a child to go there just to play."

Seeing the seriousness on her mother’s face, Qingyang reluctantly gave up on the idea of going to the training hall.

To make it up to her daughter, Consort Li personally took her to the imperial garden to play. When Qingyang wanted to ride a boat, Consort Li even had the servants prepare a small single-canopy pleasure boat. She herself was cautious, but her daughter was a princess—the emperor’s beloved child. What was so extraordinary about boating on their own lake?

After a round on the boat, as they neared the shore, Qingyang walked over to the copper water clock placed in one corner of the canopy and looked at the scale marked by the indicator arrow in the water container.

Consort Li smiled. "Can you tell the time, Lín'er?"

Qingyang pointed at the indicator arrow. "Yes, Zhang Su taught me."

Zhang Su was the youngest son of the Duke of Wei and also served as Third Brother’s study companion. Qingyang loved playing with her Third Brother, and he enjoyed spending time with her too. But whenever she asked too many questions, he would grow impatient and summon Zhang Su to answer them for her.

It was during one such time, when Third Brother was busy finishing assignments from his instructor, that Zhang Su—having finished early—taught Qingyang how to read the water clock. Of course, Qingyang had asked him first. If she and her brother didn’t speak to him, Zhang Su could go an entire day without uttering a word, as silent as a tree that simply followed Third Brother around.

Surprised by her daughter’s response, Consort Li walked over and waited for Qingyang to tell her the time.

Qingyang wasn’t entirely proficient yet. Pointing at the scale on the indicator arrow, she asked, "Is it 4:30 or 4:45 p.m.?" She already recognized all the characters for the twelve two-hour periods.

Beaming with pride, Consort Li kissed her daughter again. "Our Lín'er really can tell time! This mark means 4:30. In another twenty-two and a half minutes, your Third Brother and the others will finish for the day."

Qingyang loved hearing her mother praise her. She leaned into her mother’s embrace, laughing happily for a moment, then said, "I want to go wait for Third Brother in front of the Western Palace."

Her three brothers resided in various palaces within the Eastern Palace, but in the evenings after their lessons, they would come to the Western Palace to pay respects to their respective mothers.

Not wanting the Eldest Prince and Second Prince to feel constrained by her presence, Consort Li only allowed her daughter’s nursemaid and the senior eunuch assigned to her to accompany Qingyang.

The Third Prince, named Qin Ren, was eight years old—a handsome and exceptionally quiet young prince.

For as long as Qin Ren could remember, he had known he had two older brothers. The Eldest Brother was the son of his father’s principal wife, making him the most esteemed, and Qin Ren knew to respect him. The Second Brother was the son of the noble consort his father had married after the principal wife passed away; his status was also highly respected, and Qin Ren knew to show him deference as well. After their father ascended the throne, all three became princes. The principal wife was posthumously honored as empress, the noble consort was enfeoffed as Noble Consort, and his own birth mother was enfeoffed as Consort Li. As his mother reminded him, he still needed to continue respecting his two elder brothers.

Respect them he would. Qin Ren, who never wanted for food or clothing, had never once thought of surpassing either of his older brothers.

Due to the age gap, Qin Ren rarely played with his two elder brothers. Although the three brothers had to meet during study and martial arts training, they were all busy with their academic pursuits. After school, you’d see the three brothers walking in three separate lines along the long palace path, with their respective study companions, according to their order of birth.

Being blood brothers, the distance between them was never too far, and they could easily strike up a conversation whenever they wished.

Qin Ren walked at the end with Zhang Su, quietly listening as his second brother, Qin Bing, complained to their eldest brother, Qin Hong, about the heavy workload of the day’s assignments.

Qin Ren nodded instinctively—it truly was a lot. He feared he would have to work until 9 or 10 at night to finish everything.

The fourteen-year-old Qin Hong turned around, his serious young face showing a trace of weariness as he comforted his younger brothers: "A tough teacher makes smart students. The more we learn, the more we know; the more we practice, the faster we improve. Stop complaining and finish your meals early so you can start writing."

The eleven-year-old Qin Bing stared at his eldest brother’s face and asked doubtfully, "But Eldest Brother, you don’t actually like doing homework either, do you?"

Qin Hong replied, "...Nonsense. If I didn’t like it, how could I finish it every time?"

Qin Bing retorted, "You’re just afraid the teacher will report to the Emperor. Out of all of us, you’re the most scared of him."

Qin Hong said, "...If you’re not afraid, then don’t do it."

With that, Qin Hong turned back around. After training all afternoon in the heat, he was exhausted enough. He’d said his piece as the big brother and didn’t want to say anything more.

Just as the three princes—whether openly or secretly—were worrying about their assignments, three people suddenly rounded the corner of the palace path ahead. The little girl at the front, wearing a bright green dress, was none other than their only imperial younger sister, Princess Qingyang.

When the siblings spotted each other from a distance, Qingyang paused for a moment before happily running toward her big brothers, leaving her nanny and the head eunuch behind.

The eldest prince, Qin Hong, smiled. Among all the people in the palace, only his little sister didn’t look at him with heavy expectations or judgment. She was also the only one whose presence never brought him pressure. So whenever he saw her, he felt lighter.

The second prince, Qin Bing, ran directly toward Qingyang. He loved pinching his little sister’s cheeks and even more enjoyed watching her dodge and run away like a little bunny trying to avoid him.

Noticing his second brother’s intention, Qin Hong grabbed Qin Bing’s arm. As the two brothers struggled, Qingyang carefully and happily slipped past them along the palace wall and threw herself into her third brother’s arms.

Qin Ren opened his arms to catch her but forgot that his legs were still shaky from training. The impact of her collision sent him stumbling backward.

Zhang Su, who was only a year older, quickly braced himself firmly against the third prince’s back to steady him.

Once the third prince regained his balance and held his sister securely, Qingyang looked up and saw her third brother’s smiling face, as well as Zhang Su’s expressionless face, which was slightly taller than her brother’s.

Zhang Su was standing so close to her third brother that Qingyang tilted her head, trying to see past Zhang Su’s long eyelashes into his eyes. "Do you want a hug too?" she asked.

Otherwise, why would he lean in so close?

Hearing this, Zhang Su quickly took a step back and said softly, "I wouldn’t dream of it."

Before entering the palace, his father had repeatedly warned him that no matter how young the third prince was, he was still a prince and must still be treated like royalty.

The same applied to the little princess—he had to keep his distance.