Chapter Two

Si Yanmo and her older sister Si Yunyun were born on the same day; she was only half an incense stick's time later than her sister.

Including that day, it had been drizzling for three days in Jinwu City, and the air was filled with the damp smell of earth. But when the first cry came from the delivery room, the dark clouds dispersed and the sky was filled with wonderful light.

The diviner who was divining the fate of the mother said: This is an auspicious omen; both of them are people with extremely good fortune.

Upon hearing this, the father was overjoyed and immediately rewarded the fortune teller with a large sum of money. From then on, he doted on his two daughters.

The two auspicious sisters of the Si family also became famous throughout the city.

Although the two sisters were born on the same day, they looked very different.

My older sister has almond-shaped eyes and a gentle, charming demeanor.

She had captivating eyes and a beauty mark under her eye, making her an absolutely stunning beauty.

As the two grew older, their personalities became increasingly different.

Si Yunyun was proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and she grew increasingly beautiful. Before she even reached marriageable age, many matchmakers came to propose marriage.

Si Yanmo was just as beautiful as her older sister, but after that high fever, even at the age of 12, she was still like a five-year-old child, barely able to read, and speaking in a manner very similar to a child learning to speak.

Everyone thought it was the high fever that brought about the tragedy, until Si Yanmo was reborn and returned, and she saw her sister's fate with her own eyes.

The real auspicious omen was her older sister, Si Yunyun, and had nothing to do with her.

According to her destiny, after her death, the emperor, for the sake of good fortune, arranged for her sister to marry the third prince, and the two lived in harmony and mutual respect.

The third prince also succeeded to the throne after the emperor's death, and Si Yunyun naturally became the Queen Consort.

She was merely a minor character used as a prelude in the play, a stepping stone behind a beautiful story.

Si Yanmo is willing to let this perfect couple be together, but that doesn't mean she's willing to die again.

She would never allow herself to catch the Emperor's eye again at this Lantern Festival banquet...

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the day of the Lantern Festival banquet, the Si family arrived at the palace by carriage.

According to custom, Si Jianwen was led by Si Huan to a side hall to wait with the other ministers, while the female relatives were led to Lin Garden, where they could enjoy the flowers.

In Nandu, where spring is eternal, clusters of forsythia have already appeared in Lin Garden, filling the garden with spring colors.

The round pavilion where the women sat was carved from jade, and the tiles shimmered with starlight under the sunlight.

The palace attendants served them pastries.

Si Yanmo noticed the trays in their hands, each one made of crystal, sparkling and translucent, truly confirming a phrase she had read in a book a few days ago: "crystal-like brilliance."

She had seen many fine things in the Si family. The best jade stones in Qigu were just toys that her father carved for her at will. But she had only seen one pair of these glass cups before, and her father kept them hidden in his study, never showing them to anyone.

Now, being in the Emperor's Palace, one can feast one's eyes on this feast.

Si Yanmo secretly picked up a plate of pastries, sat in a corner, and watched the ladies of noble families chat with her mother.

“Yunyun is growing more and more beautiful now.” Madam Li, the wife of Wang Buguan, smiled and took her sister’s hand.

Southerners value agriculture, and most of them look down on the Si family.

However, as the chamber of commerce grew larger and larger, it was even invited by the emperor to attend a palace banquet.

For a time, she enjoyed unparalleled prestige, and even the wives of ministers who were strangers to her would come over to chat for a while.

This was the case with Madam Li.

They had been neighbors for several years without ever speaking to each other, but now the Si family had come over eagerly to chat.

Her words were full of praise for Si Yunyun, but her gaze toward Si Yanmo was full of disdain.

Si Yanmo wasn't annoyed; this was exactly the effect she wanted today—to be an excellent supporting role for her older sister, perfectly complementing this beautiful flower.

In her past life, she was called a fool for so many years. After recovering and attending the palace banquet for the first time, she always wanted to show off in front of others and make a name for herself.

Before leaving, he made a special trip to Hechunlou to have Zhongzi He and the musicians there teach him to play the zither. He performed a famous piece called "Spring Play" at the palace banquet, which won applause from the audience. It was then that the emperor took a liking to him and bestowed a marriage upon him.

This time, no matter how much these people looked down on her, she forced herself to endure it and never step into that den of wolves in the palace!

Si Yanmo's performance was successful; no one in Lin Garden paid any attention to her.

Feeling bored, she put two pieces of pastry in her handkerchief, quietly slipped away from everyone's sight, and went to the pond behind the pavilion. There, she picked up a twig and teased the koi.

"I don't know what Father was thinking, inviting merchants to the Lantern Festival banquet. When did people like them become qualified to attend royal banquets?"

A shrill female voice came from the right, scaring away the small fish that had been surrounding her.

Si Yanmo frowned and looked toward the source of the sound—she saw a plump woman wearing a long purple silk embroidered dress and adorned with gold, silver and jewels in her hair, being carried in a sedan chair by seven or eight snarling eunuchs, with four or five maids beside her.

She didn't even need to look at her birth chart to know that this was the famous Fifth Princess, the eldest daughter of Consort De, Zhou Xiru.

This person, like her mother, was extremely proud.

In the eyes of this mother and daughter, everyone except the emperor was a commoner, and as for merchants, they were the lowest of the low, not even worth their attention.

This is why Consort De and her daughter never got along with Consort Shu, the mother of the third prince, who was also from a merchant family.

In their previous life, after Si Yanmo married the Third Prince, the mother and daughter often used her as a pretext to make things difficult for the Third Prince.

Si Yanmo has been foolish for so many years, and her parents never taught her the complexities of interpersonal relationships, let alone the scheming in the palace.

She almost always fell into their trap, causing the third prince a lot of trouble.

The Third Prince, who had initially treated her with respect, gradually grew to dislike her, and even Si's father was imprisoned as a result.

If it weren't for my sister marrying the third prince and clearing my father's name, my parents would probably have spent the rest of their lives in prison.

Why have I been running into bad luck these past few days?

Si Yanmo rolled her eyes inwardly and silently withdrew her feet.

She knew she had to avenge her past life's grudges, but the time wasn't right. Besides, she wasn't a fool, so she decided to play dumb.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Xiru glanced sideways and saw her in a pink dress. She raised her hand to stop the sedan chair, looked her up and down with a hint of contempt.

"Who are you?"

Si Yanmo sighed inwardly, knowing that she couldn't escape confronting this person. She could only minimize the risk by pretending to be foolish and drawing circles on the ground with a twig. "Father said, you can't talk to outsiders."

As soon as she finished speaking, a palace maid beside Zhou Xiru stepped forward, leaned close to Zhou Xiru, and whispered, "Princess, this is the youngest daughter of that merchant. I heard that when she and her sister were born, the sky was filled with unusual colors, which was considered an auspicious sign. However, she is mentally challenged."

“Ha, an auspicious omen?” Zhou Xiru raised her eyelids and glanced at Si Yanmo’s feigned stupidity, then scoffed, “Someone like her can be called an auspicious omen.”

"Hey, you little fool, do you know who I am?" She held her chin high, almost looking down her nose at people.

Si Yanmo really wanted to argue with her, but she didn't forget her plan for today—to keep her voice down as much as possible.

She suppressed her anger and got up to go back, but was suddenly grabbed by the hair by a hand.

"I haven't even let you leave yet, and you dare to go? I think you've got some nerve."

With a single glance from Zhou Xiru, the palace maid who was holding Si Yanmo's hair tightened her grip, causing Si Yanmo to cry out in pain.

Si Yanmo cursed "trouble" in her heart, then simply shifted her weight and fell onto the palace maid.

The palace maid lost her footing and fell straight backward.

When the eunuchs carrying the sedan chair saw her about to pounce on them, they stepped back, throwing the entire procession into chaos.

One panicked, then two panicked, and the sedan chair could no longer be held up, tilting backwards. Zhou Xiru was also thrown off balance, and the hairpin in her hair nearly pierced her skull, killing her instantly.

"My hair hurts..."

Si Yanmo felt secretly pleased. She sat on the ground, covering her head, and continued to pretend to be a victim.

If she won't let me leave, then I can forget about having a good time!

Zhou Xiru fell to the ground, her flesh trembling as she cried out in pain. She didn't forget to reach out and slap away the eunuchs who had fallen with her.

"You damned servant! How could you carry this sedan chair like that? It hurts this princess to death!"

The eunuchs, disregarding their own injuries, were afraid of neglecting their mistress and quickly helped her up.

Zhou Xiru used the strength to get up, her fingers trembling as she pointed angrily at Si Yanmo on the ground.

"Throw this reckless girl into the lake!"

The eunuchs around immediately obeyed and stepped forward, one on each side, to grab Si Yanmo and pull her towards the pool.

Oh no, this has gone awry!

Si Yanmo never expected that this woman would actually dare to hurt someone on the day of the palace banquet.

She came to attend the banquet. If she fell into this pool, she would lose face even if she didn't die, and the Si family would be ridiculed.

She tried to run away, but the guards on both sides were too strong, and she couldn't escape their grasp.

Si Yanmo simply opened her mouth and cried out, hoping that the ladies of the noble families on the other side would hear her and come to her rescue.

Unfortunately, the palace's back garden was simply too large.

She shouted at the top of her lungs, but the crowd admiring the flowers on the other side remained undisturbed and couldn't hear a single word.

Just as she was about to be kicked into the pond, a familiar and cold voice broke the farce.

"On this Lantern Festival, does the princess intend to cause a death?"

Si Yanmo turned around abruptly, and those sinister phoenix eyes met her gaze again, only this time there was no gauze curtain between them, and she could see them more clearly.

The eunuch supporting her was also startled by the man and loosened his grip a little.

She took the opportunity to break free and tactfully hid behind Zhou Yanqing.

Zhou Xiru recognized the person who had arrived, straightened up, subconsciously adjusted her clothes, and sneered, "Oh, who do we have here? It's the King of Qin. What? Trying to play the hero and save the damsel in distress?"

Zhou Yanqing silently shielded Si Yanmo behind him with one hand and said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, I just want you to understand that it would be bad if someone were to die on this Lantern Festival."

"Whether or not someone dies is my business." Zhou Xiru knew she was in the wrong, but she was unwilling to back down. She changed the subject, "Zhou Yanqing, you seem to have forgotten that your father has not yet acknowledged you. In front of me, you are ultimately just a servant."

Zhou Yanqing sneered upon hearing this.

"Whether or not we acknowledge it is a matter between Your Majesty and me. But Fifth Princess, please don't think..."

He took a few steps forward, and the faint smell of blood emanating from his body made Zhou Xiru retreat repeatedly.

"If I call myself a subject, then I am your slave. I am the king of Qin, but I only pay tribute to the Southern Capital. If we examine things closely, I am superior to you."

After saying that, he withdrew his previous sharpness, smiled humbly, but the threat in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

"Your Highness, I have just returned from the battlefield and may have spoken a bit harshly. Please forgive me."

She angrily flung her sleeve and said, "If it weren't for the Lantern Festival, I, the princess, would definitely make you pay!" With that, she turned and left.

Zhou Yanqing watched her walk away with a cold smile, then realized that the hand that had been grabbing her clothes behind her seemed to have disappeared. She turned around and saw that the person was indeed about to run away. She grabbed the person's collar and said, "Wait!"

He forced her to turn around, a playful smile playing on his lips. "Young lady, you look familiar! May I ask which family's young lady you are?"

Si Yanmo turned around stiffly, and when she met the danger in his eyes, she knew that this guy must have recognized her.

She quickly tilted her head, pretending not to hear, and slowly imitated his voice: "Miss."

Zhou Yanqing raised an eyebrow. He had been observing this woman behind the artificial hill for a long time and had already recognized her from the beauty mark at the corner of her eye. This was the goddess charlatan who had confidently said that she "wouldn't live for more than a year."

Ever since He Chunlou, he had been holding a grudge against what the other party had said.

I've been having a strange dream for the past two days.

In his dream, he was on a battlefield, his body aching so badly he couldn't move. When he looked down, he found himself pierced by a spear, with blood flowing like a river beneath him.

In the dim light, he saw the figure of a woman in green standing in front of him. With only a sliver of strength left in his dream, he reached out a hand, hoping to grasp this last straw, and begged her to save him in a trembling voice.

Before he could see the woman's face clearly, he woke up with a start and realized that his body was covered in cold sweat that soaked the bedding.

He rarely dreams, and even when he does, it never feels so real.

The woman in his dream was dressed so similarly to Si Yanmo from that day that he was startled, and only one thought filled his mind—to find her.

"Speak, what was the calamity you spoke of the other day?"