That night, An Jin was with me, and we were accompanied by Yuan Qing. Our three shadows cast on the ground resembled a family out for a walk. Yuan Qing, happy and playful, darted between us, occasionally poking his head out and barking cheerfully.
Having inadvertently confessed to An Jin, I hadn’t yet recovered. Though holding his hand, I didn’t dare look at him.
After a short distance, he bent down to pet Yuan Qing’s neck and softly said, “Go back first.”
Yuan Qing hesitated but ultimately respected his tone, looking at me with his tail tucked pitiably as he walked to the gate.
With just the two of us, I suddenly felt nervous. His finger traced my palm.
“Why aren’t you speaking? Still shy?” “No… not at all.” He opened my hand and pressed something cool and hard into my palm. In the moonlight, it was a bright red seal, blood-like in color, carved with a slender dog shape resembling Yuan Qing. Six small characters at the bottom read: Yuan Qing, Thirteenth Young Master. This seal was made of chicken blood stone. I happily played with it for a long time. My previous seal was damaged during the conflict with the Seventh Princess, and I had been thinking about re-carving one, but he had remembered. “Do you remember what day this is?” he looked down at my face. I thought carefully. “Your birthday?” An Jin’s face darkened. “My birthday is December 8th.” “Then – my birthday?” His expression grew darker. “You don’t even remember your own birthday? Wasn’t it just last month?” I glanced at him, sensing his annoyance, and said seriously, “It’s the anniversary of our marriage two years ago.” An Jin finally relaxed and embraced me. With household lights still burning and the cool autumn breeze gently blowing, the warmth in his arms made me reluctant to leave. “You must have hated me when we got married, right?” Where did this come from?
While I had some opinions about him at the time, I couldn’t say I hated him, so I shook my head.
“If not for me, you would have been with the one you loved by now. It would be understandable if you blamed me,” he continued, seemingly unaware of my denial.
“Who?” I asked, puzzled.
He didn’t respond. “I’ve always worried you would resent me. Now… I finally feel at ease. No matter who you had in your heart before, you can only be my wife.” After this, he sighed in relief and kissed my lips gently.
On our second wedding anniversary, we embraced and fell asleep. An Jin was in an unusually good mood, mumbling incoherently all night. I listened in a daze, realizing that all the strange incidents in my family—my father’s evaluation being sabotaged, my mother being robbed, my older brother’s marriage rejection, my younger sister’s mocking—were the work of the Seventh Princess. This was her third time targeting me and my family, and the rumors of discord between An Jin and me were also linked to her.
An Jin patted my back, comforting me that the Seventh Princess would soon stop troubling us and that the Eastern Palace matter would eventually be resolved. I listened, puzzled by his certainty.
Not long after, the Western Liang country changed hands. The new ruler sought a marriage alliance with Qi Kingdom, promising to consider releasing Prince Xia Zhichun. The Qi Emperor, overjoyed, decided to marry the Seventh Princess to Western Liang to forge an alliance.
This news surprised many, including myself. While Western Liang’s gesture appeared benevolent, the two countries had ongoing conflicts, making the peace uncertain. The Qi Emperor had over a dozen princesses available, yet he chose the Seventh Princess, the empress’s beloved legitimate daughter, which seemed illogical. I heard the empress pleaded with the emperor against this decision, and the Seventh Princess protested with a hunger strike, but ultimately, their efforts were in vain.
The Seventh Princess would no longer trouble us, which was good news, but I couldn’t comprehend An Jin’s foresight.
Did he already know that Western Liang would send someone to request a marriage alliance? What puzzled me most was how the Eastern Palace’s issue would be resolved if the Seventh Princess could be married off. Would they also be “married” to Nan Rui? An Jin smiled mysteriously, brushing off my questions.
After this news spread, the Seventh Princess and the Eastern Palace never appeared again, seemingly caught off guard. My younger sister quickly recovered from her heartbreak and started spending time with Song Sitian, and they became obsessed with playing the zither, taking lessons in the music hall. Although I suspected they were there for the handsome music teacher Ya Qin, he was gentle, so I didn’t worry about my sister meeting an unsuitable person.
However, my elder brother found me and stammered out a shocking piece of news: he might have been targeted by a cut-sleeve.
Chapter Eighteen: Xiao Wangzhi’s Confusion
This cut-sleeve, named Xue Yin, was a new scribe at the Hanlin Academy, reportedly having entered through connections. Because they often worked together, my brother, kind-hearted as always, helped Xue Yin several times, and they gradually became familiar and surprisingly compatible. My brother had few friends, so finding someone to talk to brought him genuine happiness, and they frequently visited each other.
After moving to the official residence, my brother and Xue Yin occasionally drank together under the moonlight, deepening their relationship. However, he recently noticed something odd about Xue Yin’s attitude.
He had always been slow in matters of the heart, so if he noticed something was wrong, it must be obvious. Xue Yin’s gaze became increasingly affectionate, and she often leaned close to him. A frightening incident occurred one night when they were drinking heavily; my brother fell asleep and awoke to find Xue Yin lying in his arms, her arms wrapped around his waist.
When I heard this, I instinctively looked at my brother’s buttocks. Yuanxiao, at my feet and spiritually connected to me, stood up and circled behind my brother, wagging its tail and making sounds toward him. My brother blushed and covered his buttocks, saying, “You little brat, what are you thinking? We just slept in the same bed; nothing happened.”
I sighed in relief; fortunately, it wasn’t too late, and my brother hadn’t been violated. After pulling Yuanxiao back, my brother’s expression improved slightly. He then said hatefully, “Even if something happened, I would never submit!”
My hand trembled as Yuanxiao cried out in pain, a tuft of white fur pulled from its ear. Could it be that my brother also had feelings for him, conflicted about who would be on top?
My brother rubbed his hands and glanced at me. “Second sister, I don’t know who to discuss this with, so I came to you. How did a good friend become a cut-sleeve?”
I approached him carefully. “So, what do you think of him?”
“He’s quite nice,” my brother said, laughing foolishly. His dark eyebrows and bright eyes made his signature smile look adorable, perhaps why Xue Yin was attracted to him. After much thought, he added, “He’s different from others. He truly understands me and wants to be my friend. I’m happy being with him.”
My brother wasn’t eloquent and didn’t enjoy reading, barely entering the Hanlin Academy through our father’s connections. Although he had colleagues, these literary scholars who socialized through poetry didn’t truly appreciate him. Some used friendship to have him run errands or treat them to drinks; others, knowing he was the brother-in-law of a Ministry of Personnel official, hinted at seeking promotions; still others called him brother but mocked him as crude behind his back. While he seemed honest and simple, he knew well who genuinely cared for him.
