“Zhuo Yi, are you two still arguing?” Su Xi asked suspiciously. “Time has passed; why haven’t you gone out? We thought something had happened to you.”
“It’s all because of her!” An Jin said angrily. “I was hunting when she stopped me and wouldn’t let me leave.”
I turned around, facing Su Hui’s shocked face. “It’s all your fault! All because of you!”
Su Hui and Su Xi looked at An Jin, then at me.
“Madam, what are you talking about?” Su Hui asked, confused.
I glared at her and turned to An Jin, who looked bewildered but complied by expressing anger and distress. “You want to win the competition to help Su Hui obtain the ‘Ancient Melody’ hidden in the palace?”
Everyone’s attention shifted to Su Hui, whose cheeks flushed slightly in apparent joy.
An Jin followed my lead, feigning embarrassment and anger: “Xiao Yao! What nonsense are you talking about? Trying to make everyone laugh at our family? This is unreasonable!”
I took a deep breath, lamenting: “Heartless men in the world, eight or nine out of ten. When we were childhood sweethearts, you called me Little Yao Yao, but now with a new love, you call me Xiao Yao?!”
An Jin’s expression darkened, silently urging me not to overact.
I lowered my head, pretending to sob, pleased with my quick thinking in creating such a plausible explanation. Indeed, I was suited to the shrew role!
However, guilt soon gave way to anger. The innocent Fifth Princess had become a victim in the conflict between the three kingdoms, her love a conspiracy with her suitor a wolf in disguise.
Why could this wolf, after using and killing an innocent girl infatuated with him, still act like a gentle husband?
We could do nothing about it. A forged household registration was insufficient to prove the Su family was a spy for Western Liang. If Southern Rui learned of the Fifth Princess’s situation, it could lead to a conflict with Great Qi and possibly a war, playing into Western Liang’s hands. We could not confront the Su family, nor could we expose the Fifth Princess’s remains.
After discussing with the Qi Emperor, An Jin secretly transported the princess’s coffin into the imperial palace, believing that such a massive secret would be safest in his hands.
