Chapter 001

Jiashan knew that he might not have much time left.

January of the 22nd year of the Zhanghe Emperor's reign seemed like a deep winter that would never pass. During this winter, Emperor Zhanghe, who was bedridden, died in the Qianqing Palace at the age of 42.

Concubine Zhuang, who had a long-standing grudge against Jiashan, was made Empress Dowager Ciyiwen after Emperor Zhanghe passed away. Concubine Zhuang's son Zhao Youcheng was made crown prince while the emperor was still alive.

After the previous emperor passed away, the prince naturally ascended the throne.

With the passing of his father, the only protector in Jiashan's life disappeared in an instant.

Jiashan was the only legitimate princess. After the new emperor ascended the throne, Empress Dowager Ciyiwen still had two biological daughters - Shuxian and Hui'an.

Now, they were also promoted to the eldest princesses along with Jiashan.

In order to bring honor to the empress dowager, the status of Shuxian and Hui'an became more and more honorable than that of Jiashan, the princess of the first generation.

When the wall falls, everyone pushes it down. Jiashan could have anticipated this.

What she could not have guessed was that one day, she would die in such a decisive way under the sword of her husband's wife.

Jiashan and Zhan Shaoying were a young couple. They have been married for nine years and perhaps once upon a time, they could have had a child together.

However, the child came at the wrong time and was aborted by Jiashan himself.

"Did Your Highness ever love me?"

Zhan Shaoying and Jiashan stood in the inner room together. Zhan Shaoying had a slender figure and held the sword with one hand, with the sharp end of the sword hanging on the ground.

Zhan Shaoying was not a general, and he had never even learned martial arts, so his sword-holding posture was a bit awkward. Under Jiashan's gaze, his movements became obviously unnatural.

Zhan Shaoying's eyes turned red, he pursed his lips and said hoarsely: "The princess probably never cared about me."

"What position do I hold in your heart?" Zhan Shaoying turned his head to look at Jiashan with a vague smile on his lips.

Jiashan was looking at Zhan Shaoying with his head tilted, as if he was watching a joke.

She opened her thin lips slightly, raised her eyebrows slightly, and her eyes were full of sparkling water waves: "The prince consort is making fun of my princess mansion again."

Jiashan has a pair of eyes as bright as the morning stars, and her complexion is as white as jade, which sets off her white teeth and starry eyes. Compared with the other princesses who are petite and beautiful, Jiashan has a little rouge on her lips, which makes her look heroic.

But these eyes that once looked at my beauty are now empty of emotion.

"Love, or not love..." Jiashan paused deliberately, "What does it have to do with you?"

She looked at Zhan Shaoying with an extremely cold gaze, as if she was looking at an object rather than a person.

Zhan Shaoying smiled sadly.

There was a cold flash in Jiashan's pupils, and the corners of her mouth were slightly raised. At this moment, she didn't look like a princess, but rather like a charming enchantress.

She asked back, "If I say I don't love you, does that mean your husband is going to kill me like this?"

"Your Highness, I think you hate me." Zhan Shaoying interrupted him and said sadly, "In this year, I have acquired five new concubines, but I have only been to the Princess's Mansion four times."

"Your Highness must hate me very much." Zhan Shaoying seemed to be talking to himself, his eyes fixed on the ground, not daring to look at Jiashan.

Jiashan's voice was clear, and she confirmed with interest: "Really? Four times? Your husband remembers it better than I do."

Jiashan yawned lazily: "As for those concubines——"

Zhan Shaoying raised his head hurriedly, his slightly red eyes fixed on her, as if he was very eager to hear what she would say next.

"She is even more unimportant." Jiashan was lying on the couch, tapping the table with one hand. She said nonchalantly, "But I heard someone say that Hanzhu seems to be pregnant."

She glanced at Zhan Shaoying for confirmation, but saw that he said nothing, but his lips were trembling slightly.

Jiashan then laughed heartlessly and said, "Your Highness should have made plans early. She is different from the others. After all, she left me."

"I think it would be better to give her a decent treatment. And ask the prince consort to make her a concubine." Jiashan turned her head slightly, her tone almost gentle.

Zhan Shaoying was heartbroken when he heard this. He murmured, "Hanzhu..."

He unconsciously increased the strength of his sword grip. He suddenly grasped the hilt tightly and raised the sword, pointing the cold blade straight at Jiashan.

Despite the murderous aura, Jiashan did not even look at him. She was just burying her head, concentrating on playing with the red nail polish on her nails, as if she had already put her own life and death aside.

Zhan Shaoying's eyes were gloomy, and a hint of invisible expectation was revealed on his handsome face.

He stared at Jiashan and said softly, "Your Highness's personal maid climbed onto my bed. Your Highness only wants me to treat her respectably?"

"Then what do you want me to do?" Jiashan smiled, her almond eyes full of affection, her features heroic and delicate, she whispered softly, "You teach me, and I will tell you."

Zhan Shaoying felt an inexplicable dryness in the corners of his eyes. After a moment, he found his voice with difficulty: "Hanzhu told me that we once had a child."

Jiashan's long eyelashes blinked slightly, she paused, and even her knuckles tightened imperceptibly.

"But you chose not to have him."

"Really?"

Zhan Shaoying turned sideways. He was smiling, a gentle and pitiful smile.

He stared at Jiashan without blinking, his eyes moving from her black hair to her tender lips.

The lipstick Jiashan put on today was a bright red, just like the dragon and phoenix candles on their wedding day.

The child he had no chance to meet probably turned into a pool of blood like this when he died, right?

Zhan Shaoying finally broke into a self-deprecating smile. He shook his head and said, "You are so cruel, my Princess."

"Why don't you even like my child?"

"Don't you have a heart?"

Zhan Shaoying felt as if his throat was blocked by a thick mass of sand, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He didn't know when his tears began to roll down: "We have been married for nine years, but you can't even have children with me..."

The corners of his mouth suddenly widened and grinned more fiercely.

He stared at Jiashan and said, "You never loved me."

He was speaking to Jiashan, but also seemed to be admonishing himself. Zhan Shaoying repeated in a low voice: "Never."

"Princess, are you in agony every day you marry me?"

He closed his eyes slightly, and those warm and charming images flashed through his mind. His final memory was fixed on a sentence that someone didn't know who said it.

"My sister is born proud, and most people are not worthy of her attention. Has she never kissed you?"

"You can try marrying a few concubines. If she shows no reaction, her feelings for you will be clear."

Yes, you can see a spot!

Zhan Shaoying took a deep breath, seemed to muster up great courage, closed his eyes tightly, and pushed the sword blade forward fiercely.

Jiashan's blood quickly dyed the sword red, but she didn't say a word.

At the end of her life, she drooped her eyelids tightly, and was so stingy that she was unwilling to even spare a glance for Zhan Shaoying.

She just felt that the sword was really powerful and it hurt her so much.

In the half-light and half-dark sky, a thunderclap sounded.

The golden summer had just passed, and in the afternoon, the sun was slightly warm, but the heat in the yard was still scorching.

Jiashan felt as if his eyelids weighed a thousand pounds, and the dull pain from the sword wound on his chest was not as sharp as it had been at first.

She seemed to hear the sound of people talking intermittently in her ears, and she tried hard to open her eyes.

"Your Highness has been afraid of thunder since he was a child. This is probably a nightmare. Do you have more of the tranquilizer that Imperial Physician Gong prescribed?" A gentle voice said, "Su Yu, go and boil some."

This is Aunt Zheng's voice.

Madam Zheng was Jiashan's wet nurse. After the Empress passed away, Madam Zheng had been by Jiashan's side. She accompanied her when she left the palace, got married and built a mansion. It was not until her father became seriously ill that Jiashan sent someone to send Madam Zheng back to her hometown to be raised in good health.

Why is Nanny Zheng here too?

Was she murdered too?

Jiashan felt angry and anxious. She tried hard and finally saw the person in front of her clearly.

Nanny Zheng looked younger than before she was sent away, and her face was still as friendly as before.

Jiashan grinned. It had been a long time since they met again. She was about to say something, but she heard Nanny Zheng say in surprise, "Your Highness is awake."

"Your Highness, are you feeling any discomfort anywhere?" Nanny Zheng touched Jiashan's little face carefully. She tucked the quilt carefully for the princess, fearing that no wind would leak in.

Jiashan then noticed that Madam Zheng was wearing a fine cloth dress, the kind of fabric that was unique to the palace. She opened her mouth and subconsciously called out softly, "Madam."

"Mammy is here."

Nanny Zheng said "ah", and she stroked Jiashan's forehead with a smile, as if this could help wipe away all Jiashan's fears and anxieties.

She wiped the sweat off Jiashan's cheeks and said softly, "When summer turns to autumn, thunder is common. Don't be afraid, Your Highness. The thunder comes and goes quickly. I have already asked Suyu to boil some medicine to calm your nerves."

Jiashan's eyes were dull, as if she hadn't heard what Madam Zheng said. She was looking at her hands carefully.

The back of her hands was white and delicate, without even a trace of aging lines, as if it had never been wasted by time.

This... is this her?

Jiashan felt a slight sourness on the tip of her nose. She took a breath and tentatively forced a smile and said, "Is it the beginning of autumn already? I'm getting older, and my memory is really getting worse and worse."

Hearing Jiashan's words, Nanny Zheng found it funny. She gently scratched Jiashan's palm with her thick fingers.

"Your Highness, how old are you?" Nanny Zheng said with a smile, "Even after New Year's Eve tomorrow, you are no more than sixteen. Your Highness, how can I, a person of my age, live if you say so?"

It turns out that she is not even sixteen yet. Is this true?

Jiashan's tears came suddenly.

She choked up and said, "Mammy..."

Madam Zheng seemed to be at a loss as well. She paused for a few seconds before she said subconsciously, "Don't cry, Your Highness."

In the eyes of Nanny Zheng, Jiashan is not a person who cries easily.

When the queen passed away, Jiashan was only six years old. Upon hearing that her mother was gone, she just hugged her two-year-old younger brother tightly.

She was the eldest among her younger siblings and had learned to be strong from a young age without any instruction.

Nanny Zheng gently took out a handkerchief and wiped Jiashan's tears. She looked at Jiashan's red almond eyes and smiled, "Did you have a nightmare?"

"Our princess is the most noble little princess. She is protected by His Majesty and our ancestors above, and guarded by Nanny below." Nanny Zheng took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off Jiashan's forehead with a smile. She said, "Those evil spirits dare not provoke us."

Jiashan suddenly smiled and said, "Yes."

She opened her mouth and looked at the carved beams and painted walls around her with a cold look in her eyes: "I will make sure they don't dare to provoke us."

“—Squeak.”

Su Yu pushed open the door and came in with the boiled Chinese medicine.

Su Yu was a female official in Jiashan Palace. Before the empress fell seriously ill, she had been ordered to serve the empress. After the empress passed away, Su Yu was asked by Jiashan to come to Fengyang Pavilion.

Along with Su Yu, there were several other girls, including Han Zhu, the one who eventually climbed onto Zhan Shao Ying's bed.

As if she had guessed what Jiashan was thinking, Su Yu helped Jiashan to stand up and said respectfully, "Hanzhu must have been suffering from the heat. She has been listless since the afternoon. I was afraid that she would pass on her illness to you, so I took the initiative to let her rest first."

Some intentions cannot be developed in a day or two, and some accounts cannot be settled in a moment.

Jiashan lowered his eyes slightly: "Then let her rest."

Jiashan took the bowl from Suyu and said calmly, "I think Dancui is capable and smart. For the next few days, let Dancui handle Hanzhu's work."

Nanny Zheng and Su Yu looked at each other, and they saw shock and fear in each other's eyes.

Although Hanzhu was a little lazy, she was always the best person to behave in front of the princess. Jiashan also remembered that she was an old friend in the harem, so he always turned a blind eye to her.

Why do you suddenly start packing up Hanzhu today?

Su Yu was stunned, but still abided by her duty and said, "Yes".

After she finished speaking, she remembered something and quickly forced a smile. She lowered her voice and said, "When Your Highness was asleep, Chen, the eunuch in His Majesty's service, sent someone to come and said that after you wake up, you should go to the Qianqing Palace."

Jiashan: “Hmm.”

Madam Zheng just said that she is fifteen this year. Father is looking for her at this time, most likely for her marriage.

She almost forgot that she is not married yet.

There seemed to be a faint cold smile floating at the corner of Jiashan's mouth.

"Help me change my clothes," Jiashan said. "I'll come over now."