The raging fire reduced the small courtyard on the outskirts of the city to ashes.
The following day, Hanlin Mansion was draped in white as the family held a funeral for Xie Zhixue, the eldest daughter who had just been granted a marriage decree but had died before she could become the Crown Prince's consort. Her nine-year-old younger brother, unaware of the truth and believing that the sister who had doted on him since childhood was truly gone, wept until he was heartbroken. After the coffin laid in state for three days, it was sent to the Xie family ancestral graveyard outside the city amid the sounds of funeral rites.
The entire court and the public sighed with regret, lamenting that Xie Zhixue had been a beauty with a tragic fate; she was just on the cusp of entering the Crown Prince's Villa, only to be consumed by a mountain fire. Others, however, rejoiced in secret—with the future Crown Princess gone, their own daughters once again had a chance. The Empress and the Crown Prince both sent funeral offerings to express their condolences, and for a time, the name of the Xie family daughter spread throughout the Capital.
Half a month later, the dust settled.
A carriage, its baggage light, emerged from the villa and slowly headed south. Inside, Xie Zhixue held little Ping'an, who had already fallen asleep. Her heart was at peace, filled only with a lingering reluctance to leave. As the eldest daughter of the Hanlin Mansion, she was already dead, and those muddled accounts had been settled along with her. Now, she was only Ping'an’s mother.
Her mother had already arranged her destination: her maternal grandparents’ family in Huaizhou, in the south, held significant farmlands. Her mother had found a manor there and paid to buy a few maids and servants, allowing Xie Zhixue to spend the rest of her life in tranquility. Before she left, her mother had asked if she regretted it. Had she aborted the child back then, she would have already married into a noble house and become its matriarch. Even if she had no biological children of her own in the future, she could easily have adopted one from a concubine or a maid to be listed under her name. That would have been far easier than living under an assumed name, raising a child all on her own.
Xie Zhixue had countered by asking her mother if she regretted having such a troublesome daughter. Ever since she had Ping'an, she was willing to endure any hardship.
The journey from the Capital to Huaizhou would take more than half a month. Once she settled into life at the manor, she would find a good tutor for Ping'an so that, like his grandfather, he could take the imperial examinations and join the ranks of the gentry. Perhaps, when the tides of time had passed, she would have a day to see her family again.
…
The carriage had traveled for about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea when it suddenly stopped.
Xie Zhixue waited for a long while, but when the journey didn't resume, she lifted the curtain to look outside. The carriage was parked at the back entrance of a private residence, and the driver was nowhere to be seen. Just as she was about to step down, a low, masculine voice suddenly reached her ears.
"Where is Miss Xie planning to go?"
Following the direction of the voice, Xie Zhixue suddenly found herself staring into a pair of sharp, black eyes. Her gaze dropped to the bright yellow tassel hanging from the man’s waist and then to that face—one she recognized all too well. At a palace banquet years ago, she had caught a glimpse of the Crown Prince from afar; she had been particularly struck by those peach-blossom eyes.
Xie Zhixue’s mind went blank, a buzzing roar filling her ears. Trembling, she stammered out the words, "Crown Prince." For a moment, she didn't know whether to kneel or beg for mercy first.
Yuwenzhang looked at her with a smirk and gestured for her to follow.
Xie Zhixue swallowed hard. Just as she was wondering what to do, Ping'an woke up and hopped off the carriage to stand by her side. "Mother, have we reached Huaizhou?"
Yuwenzhang let out a sharp scoff, lowering his gaze to examine the small child. His cold, stern face took on an added air of menace. "Xie Zhixue, you really are shameless, aren't you? The child is already this big?"
Half a month ago, he had sent his personal bodyguard to the Xie Mansion to offer condolences, only to find Madam Xie’s movements suspicious. After several investigations, they had finally located the small courtyard where Xie Zhixue was hiding.
Three years ago, on that night, he had already confessed his feelings and made it clear he was willing to take responsibility for her. Yet she—he had only been away on a military campaign for three years, and she had gone behind his back to bear this bastard, even daring to fake her death to escape. Did she really think he, Yuwenzhang, was so easy to fool?
"Is Miss Xie still refusing to go in? If someone else sees that you have returned from the dead, I fear the entire Xie family will be charged with the crime of deceiving the Emperor."
She was already unfilial for not being able to serve her parents in their old age; if she were to implicate her entire clan as well, no amount of death could atone for her sins. Xie Zhixue’s nails dug deep into her palms, but she forced herself to remain calm. She took Ping'an’s hand and followed him through the back entrance into the Crown Prince's Villa.
Yuwenzhang strode ahead, while she followed closely behind, not daring to defy him. They did not stop until they reached a floral hall. Yuwenzhang entered first, lifting his robes to sit in the main seat. Xie Zhixue stood below with her son.
He carefully scrutinized the woman with whom he had shared a single, fateful night. Back then, when she was a noble lady, although her frame had been slender, she had possessed a healthy, radiant glow. Now, she was dressed in coarse linen, a plain silver hairpin in her hair, and her beautiful face showed nothing but exhaustion.
It was clear that if she had simply waited three years, he would have bestowed upon her the honor of being the Crown Princess. Instead, she had preferred to bear a bastard with some wild man rather than be with him! It was fortunate he had ordered his secret guards to keep an eye on her; otherwise, she truly would have escaped!
"Speak. What is the meaning of all this?"
Yuwenzhang narrowed his eyes at Xie Zhixue and gestured toward the child beside her, demanding an explanation.
Xie Zhixue instinctively pulled Ping'an behind her, falling to her knees to plead. "Your Highness, all faults and mistakes are mine alone. I beg you to spare my family and my child!"
Yuwenzhang scoffed, "I have never been able to tolerate even a grain of sand in my eyes."
Xie Zhixue knocked her head against the floor, refusing to rise. "I am willing to offer my own life to appease your anger, Your Highness."
The coldness in Yuwenzhang’s eyes deepened. She had not been willing to wait for him, choosing instead to follow a coward who wouldn't even take responsibility, leaving a woman to shield him when trouble arose!
"I do not want your life. I want you to enter the Crown Prince's Villa and serve me."
As the words fell, Xie Zhixue’s breath hitched, and she bowed her body even lower. "I am a ruined woman, unworthy of your favor. I beg you to show mercy."
Publicly, she was already a dead woman. If she were to walk about in the Crown Prince's Villa, it was inevitable that she would be recognized. If she were then used by those with ulterior motives as a handle to attack her father, the Xie family would be finished. The crime of deceiving the Emperor, coupled with a charge of disrespecting royal authority—the nine generations of the Xie family wouldn't be enough to pay the price.
"Humph, you know how to beg me now, but where was that foresight before?"
Back then, he had taken her in the back courtyard of a temple and left her a token of his heart, intending to report to the Emperor and propose marriage within the month. Who would have known that war would suddenly erupt in the Northern Territory, forcing him to drop everything and lead the campaign? Before leaving, he had specifically sent a trusted aide to the Xie family gatehouse to send her a letter, telling her to wait for him in peace. During the three years of the campaign, he had frequently sent her letters and gifts from the north, hoping to win a smile from her.
Yet she had remained silent, as if a stone had been cast into the deep sea.
Yuwenzhang had originally thought Xie Zhixue was just being a capricious young woman, angry that he hadn't kept his promise to marry her on time. When he returned from the campaign, he hadn't even taken off his armor before begging the Emperor for a marriage decree. But she—she had actually conceived a child out of wedlock and faked her death to deceive him!
What a Xie family! What a Xie Zhixue!
He would definitely make them pay the price!