Xinyi Zigu's fingertips brushed across the purple bruises on her wrist. "The petition from the Yongding Marquisate is three inches thick, but this prince can't bear to leave you."
Jiang Yuyao's tears fell just right on his python-patterned waistband: "Yuyao understands, His Highness knelt in the imperial study all night..." Before she finished speaking, she felt dizzy. When the brocade curtain fell, she stared at the gilded incense ball hanging from the top of the curtain - it should have been filled with her favorite sinking water incense.
The next day, on the second floor of Youkang Residence, Jiang Yihuan placed his wine jug on a table with a lotus pattern. Below, the storyteller was recounting the story of "The Unfeeling Man Throws Away His Golden Locks at Night." Amidst the sighs of the women in the room, a lilac figure suddenly leaped across the threshold. As soon as Bai Linxi's deerskin boots touched the ground, she fell headfirst onto the blue bricks.
"Be careful or your bones will get dislocated again!" Jiang Songyi grabbed her collar, his yellow cape sweeping over a basket of roasted melon seeds. Jiang Qingzhi bent down to pick them up, the pearly tassels in her hair brushing against the wine cup of the young man beside her.
The door hinges of the private room creaked softly. Jiang Yuyao watched the black-robed young man turn around, and she felt as if she were transported back to last year's Lantern Festival. That night, her third brother had stood under the lantern in the same way, pressing the glass rabbit lantern into her hand. "Whatever you want, Yuyao, you can pick all the stars in the sky."
"Third brother..." She choked with sobs, her new jade bracelet clashing against the doorframe—it was something Xinyi Zigu had specially ordered opened the storeroom that morning. Jiang Yihuan's eyes swept over the red mark on the side of her neck, his fist clenched beneath his robe sleeve, veins bulging.
Xinyi Zigu coughed lightly at the right moment, "Your sister these days..." His words were cut short by Jiang Yuyao's sudden trembling shoulders. She had deliberately worn the moon-white cloud-patterned skirt she had worn when they first met, and the pearl hairpin in her hair was a gift from her third brother at her coming-of-age ceremony.
"The case in the Marquis' Mansion..." Jiang Yihan rapped his knuckles on the huanghuali table, causing the teacup to jump. "The Ministry of Justice has retrieved the disaster relief books from that year." He glanced at the deep and shallow pinch marks on his sister's wrist, and suddenly thought of the deer at the border that were torn by wolves - they had the same wet look in their eyes before they died.
A few flakes of snow drifted in from the window, landing on the back of Jiang Yuyao's hand as she poured tea. She pushed the scalding tea toward her brother, her sleeve slipping down to reveal a fresh burn. Xinyi Zigu fiddled with the coiled dragon jade pendant at his waist, the calculation in his eyes like melted snow, silently seeping into the cracks between the blue bricks.
…
Dusk shone through the crimson screens of the Fourth Prince's mansion, casting tear marks on Jiang Yuyao's face. She clutched her handkerchief and sobbed, "Third brother, now even mother doesn't want me anymore. Do you still recognize Yuyao as your sister?"
"What nonsense!" Jiang Yihuan was so anxious that he knocked over the teacup. The scalding tea splashed onto the sleeves embroidered with golden python patterns, but he was staring at the pearl hairpin dangling in Jiang Yuyao's hair - it was the coming-of-age gift he had given her on her birthday last year.
Jiang Yuyao took the opportunity to grab his sleeve and said, "My mother has replaced the servants in Weiyang Garden three times. How could I not know if there was any unusual movement? Someone must have deliberately framed me." She suddenly covered her lips and coughed, revealing the purple pinch marks on her wrist.
"How ridiculous!" Jiang Yihuan slammed the rosewood table, cracking it. As wood chips flew, Xinyi Zigu just stepped over the threshold, his dragon robe and jade belt clattering against the beaded curtain.
"That vicious woman Jiang Songyi!" The Fourth Prince swung his sleeves and sat in the main seat, the dragon jade pendant on his waist knocking against the gilded armrest. "This prince proposed to her with good intentions, and she dared..."
"Your Highness, be careful with your words." Jiang Yihuan sneered, pressing the sword at his waist. "You and Yuyao were childhood sweethearts. Wasn't it you who swore in the Imperial Garden that you would marry her?"
Xinyi Zigu's fingertips caressed the lotus pattern on the teacup. That year, amidst the apricot blossoms and gentle rain, Jiang Yuyao held up a hand-embroidered purse and declared her intention to become his principal wife. But now, the acacia fragrance in the purse has long been replaced by the ambergris blended by Yu Chuwei.
"My father's words are golden, how can I disobey him?" He suddenly put his arm around Jiang Yuyao's waist. "Although Yuyao is a concubine, she holds the power of a principal wife." As he spoke, he glanced at Yu Chuwei who was directing the maids to move boxes and cages outside the window.
Jiang Yuyao smiled softly as she leaned against his chest, her nails digging deep into his palms. Last night, in the red gauze tent, she had just mentioned wanting to assist with government affairs when Xinyi Zigu gagged her with a jade dildo. Even now, the soft flesh around her waist was still painfully pinched by this man.
"Third brother, look," she deliberately revealed the red mark on her neck, "His Highness even gave me the pair of cards." In fact, the key chain is still hanging on Yu Chuwei's Jade Forbidden Steps.
Jiang Yihuan stared at the ambiguous mark on his sister's collarbone, his throat suddenly tightening. The little girl who always followed him around asking for candy figurines in his memory had now learned to use such tactics to win his favor.
"Now that Yuyao is married, the Third Young Master should avoid suspicion." Xinyi Zigu suddenly grabbed Jiang Yuyao's wrist, the jade bracelet tightening on her wrist until it turned white. "It's Jiang Songyi."
With a clang, Jiang Yihuan's sword slammed heavily onto the blue bricks. The agate inlaid on the scabbard cracked, startling the parrots under the eaves and making them flutter their wings.
"Since Your Highness is going to marry my younger sister, why is he humiliating my elder sister?" He stared at the rouge mark on the Fourth Prince's collar. It was clearly Yu Chuwei's favorite Peony Intoxicating Fragrance Powder.
Xinyi Zigu stroked Jiang Yuyao's head and chuckled, "When Jiang Songyi kicked me into the water, he didn't save face for the Yongding Marquisate." He deliberately revealed the coiled dragon pattern on his waist. "The imperial physician said that if this injury is half an inch off, it will be gone."
"Your Highness, please be careful with your words!" Jiang Yuyao suddenly cried out, "Sister must have made a mistake."
"A mistake?" Xinyi Zigu ripped open his shirt, the scar on his chest looking like a centipede. "The Japanese prince heard her say, 'Castrate you, you bastard!'"
Jiang Yihuan's pupils constricted. He recalled the time last year during the hunting expedition, when Jiang Songyi had shot an arrow through the crotch of a groom who was about to commit an inappropriate act. The sneer on the girl's face as she drew her bow echoed the Fourth Prince's description.
The sound of the night watchman echoed through the courtyard, and Yu Chuwei walked in gracefully, holding the account book: "Your Highness, this is the revenue of the rouge shop this month." Before she finished speaking, Jiang Yuyao suddenly knocked over the teacup.
"Oh, Sister Yu's account book!" She hurried to pick it up, but instead spilled ink all over Yu Chuwei's apricot skirt. The sheepskin account book was soaked in water, and the cinnabar annotations were stained like blood.
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