Dark clouds pressed down over the city, and a steady rain filled the sky. Lightning twisted across the heavens like a giant dragon, followed immediately by booming thunder that sounded like a trapped beast growling low in its throat.
At this moment, two maidservants wearing double flat buns were talking beneath a bronze octagonal bell hanging from the corner of the eaves.
“Chunxing, tell the eldest young miss to get up quickly. His Highness the Crown Prince was assassinated, and Master has just returned from Shuntian Prefecture. He is in a hurry to see Miss and has ordered the eldest young miss to go to the ancestral hall immediately to answer his questions.”
The speaker had a commanding tone and seemed rather arrogant, as though she looked down on everyone around her.
“What exactly is so urgent?” The woman named Chunxing was Shen Ruoyu’s personal maid. She had always been fiercely loyal to her young mistress and was extremely protective of her. There was a faint note of resentment in her voice. “Miss was attacked alongside His Highness. She must have been terribly frightened, otherwise she wouldn’t still be unconscious even now. Does Master really insist on having Miss come answer his questions today?”
“How could servants like us casually disobey Master’s orders? The Crown Prince being assassinated is a matter of national importance. Miss was with His Highness at the time, so she must know quite a few details. I don’t care what method you use—wake the eldest young miss and bring her before Master within fifteen minutes.”
With that, the woman left arrogantly and contemptuously.
Within fifteen minutes? What if her young mistress was still unconscious? What if she woke up but was feeling unwell?
This demand was far too unreasonable!
Chunxing watched the woman disappear into the distance and pouted, feeling deeply indignant on behalf of her mistress.
Although her young mistress was officially the legitimate daughter of the Chancellor’s household, she had barely any status after returning to the Shen residence. The reason was simply that her mother had died young, while her maternal family was merely an ordinary merchant family from Yangzhou rather than an established aristocratic clan.
Miss had grown up with her maternal family. Last year, the Shen Chancellor brought her back to the capital. On the surface, it looked as though she had returned in glory, but privately, she was despised for her supposedly crude manners and lack of refinement and learning.
Now, even the servants of the Chancellor’s residence didn’t take their young mistress seriously.
After all, the Shen Chancellor’s second wife came from the Taiyuan Wang clan, a genuine family of hereditary nobility. After marrying into the Shen household, Madam Wang had given the Chancellor another son and daughter. In the eyes of the household servants, perhaps only the children born to Madam Wang were worthy of being treated as their true masters.
But those daughters of official families knew nothing but how to put on lofty airs and spend their days composing poetry and playing refined arts. They had no understanding whatsoever of ordinary people’s lives.
Her own young mistress, on the other hand, was skilled in commerce, kind toward others, and intelligent and graceful.
How could she possibly be inferior?!
The more Chunxing thought about it, the angrier she became. Before she knew it, she had arrived at her mistress’s chambers.
“Chunxing, what’s wrong with you?”
Her mistress’s clear, bright voice interrupted Chunxing’s thoughts. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she hurried to the bedside. Her heart was filled with mixed emotions, and she couldn’t tell whether she should be worried or happy.
“Miss, you’re finally awake!”
Shen Ruoyu had been unconscious after the assassination attempt and had only just awakened. Every bone in her body ached. Before she had even had time to think carefully about what had happened during the time she was unconscious, Chunxing had already rushed to her side.
Although there was delight in Chunxing’s eyes, there was even more distress that she could not conceal.
Shen Ruoyu’s heart gave a small jolt, but she still tried to tease her.
“Has the sky fallen? Why do you look so miserable?”
Chunxing shook her head. “Of course not. Miss, you just woke up. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?”
Shen Ruoyu rubbed her aching neck.
During the assassination attempt, she and the Crown Prince had both had the misfortune of falling into a trap she had previously dug for hunting. Although she had suffered only superficial injuries, her limbs now felt as though they had been completely disassembled and put back together incorrectly. Every movement hurt.
She was about to say something, but then she remembered how Chunxing would panic at even the slightest scrape on her fingertip. In the end, she obediently stopped herself and asked instead, “I’m fine. But you look as though something is weighing heavily on your mind.”
“Miss, Master wants you to go to the ancestral hall immediately. He says he needs to question you.” Chunxing looked at her mistress with deeply furrowed brows, full of worry. She sighed. “If it were just an ordinary questioning, then fine. But why must he summon you to the ancestral hall? Besides, you were already frightened by the assassination attempt. Master hasn’t even asked about your condition and is already rushing to question you. Clearly, he doesn’t care about you as his daughter. In my opinion, Miss, you shouldn’t go. You’ll only upset yourself. Let’s pack our things and go straight back to our old home in Yangzhou.”
“No. If I don’t go, Father will definitely think I’m feeling guilty.” Shen Ruoyu took Chunxing’s hand as though reassuring her. She looked at the curtain of rain outside the window, her voice firm. “If I have done nothing wrong, why should I fear being questioned?”
At that moment, lightning flashed across the sky, followed by thunder exploding in the distance.
A glimmer of light seemed to pass through Shen Ruoyu’s eyes. She smiled faintly.
“There’s no need to hurry. My knees are still somewhat bruised. Chunxing, help me apply some medicine first. Then help me dress properly. After that, we’ll go see Father. It won’t be too late.”
A torrential downpour suddenly descended.
Chunxing led the way with an openwork glass lantern in hand, while Shen Ruoyu followed closely behind. Through the curtain of rain, she admired the golden chrysanthemums blooming proudly in the courtyard. Crystal-clear droplets rolled across the blossoms, making them appear even more delicate and radiant.
As they approached the ancestral hall, faint voices could be heard from inside.
Shen Ruoyu slowed her steps and listened carefully.
The speaker was Shen Chancellor—her father.
“She is simply a curse! I should never have brought her back from Yangzhou to the capital! Now she has caused such trouble for the Shen family. What are we going to do?”
Chunxing, who was walking ahead, stopped. She had clearly heard those words as well.
She turned around, displeasure evident in her voice.
“Miss…”
Shen Ruoyu gestured for her not to say anything.
If she had once desperately yearned for her father’s love, she was now like a block of ice that had long since gone cold.
Her relationship with the Shen Chancellor had always been distant.
Back then, she hadn’t wanted to follow him back to the capital at all. It was he who had insisted.
His voice had been choked with emotion, his tone trembling as he said, “Yu-jie’er, your birth mother died young, and you didn’t grow up by my side. Now that your father has become a distinguished official, please give me a chance. Let me make it up to you.”
Shen Ruoyu had never experienced a father’s love from childhood, so at the time, she had actually believed him.
But once she arrived in the capital, the Shen Chancellor’s true nature was revealed. Not only did he despise her crude manners, he often felt that she brought shame upon the Chancellor’s residence.
It wasn’t that she, as his daughter, was truly so disgraceful. Rather, her late mother, Madam Tao, had come from a merchant family.
Although the Jingzhao Shen clan had already fallen into decline, the family’s innate arrogance remained. Thus, in their eyes, Shen Ruoyu’s birth was nothing more than proof that the blood of the noble Shen clan had been tainted by a merchant family.
Only later did she learn that if the Emperor and Empress had not happened to ask the Shen Chancellor about his daughter during a palace banquet the previous year, he probably would never have brought her back to the capital.
Now, for some unknown reason, the Shen Chancellor was once again calling her a disaster for the Shen family.
Shen Ruoyu gave a cold laugh inwardly before stepping forward and pushing open the ancestral hall door.
“Father, Mother, your daughter has only just awakened from unconsciousness. Have I kept you waiting long?”
Shen Ruoyu deliberately put on an affected air as she bowed to the Shen Chancellor and Madam Wang, though the smile on her face did not reach her eyes.
“Chunxing, leave.”
Seeing how composed Shen Ruoyu was, the Shen Chancellor immediately knew that his eldest daughter had done it deliberately. Wasn’t all that elaborate makeup simply meant to delay her arrival?
His anger grew even greater.
He pointed at Shen Ruoyu’s nose and shouted, “Wretched girl! Kneel!”
Shen Ruoyu stood tall, dressed in an immaculate red robe. Today, she had also asked Chunxing to arrange her hair in a soaring celestial-style coiffure.
At that moment, she stood proudly like an ancient pine growing from the edge of a cliff—solitary yet noble.
“I have done nothing wrong. Why should I kneel?”
Her resolute gaze held an overwhelming strength.
“How did I end up with such a stubborn daughter?” The Shen Chancellor’s beard trembled with anger. He gripped a three-foot-long thorny rod and swung it down toward Shen Ruoyu without warning.
“You’ve always insisted on taking an unconventional path. Fine, you refused to study music, chess, calligraphy, and painting and instead chose to study commerce. But you act recklessly, are arrogant and unruly, violate the law for personal gain, and put His Highness the Crown Prince in danger! What kind of behavior is that?!”
The thorny rod struck Shen Ruoyu’s leg before she could react.
Her leg had already been injured during the assassination attempt, and the blow sent a piercing pain through her.
Shen Ruoyu cried out in pain. Her legs buckled, and her knees struck the floor heavily, forcing her to kneel.
Yet she still raised her head proudly, her eyes filled with shock.
Although she and the Crown Prince were privately sworn enemies, and although the two of them were constantly at odds, she would never do anything that would harm him.
“Father, have you misunderstood something? The Crown Prince is the foundation of the nation. Why would I try to harm His Highness? Besides, I was attacked alongside him. I… was injured as well.”
By the end, her voice carried a barely perceptible tremor.
She was unwilling to admit it, but she had grown up without a father’s love. Deep down, she still held a faint hope for the Shen Chancellor as her father, hoping that perhaps he could show her even the slightest bit of… concern.
Yet the Shen Chancellor showed no concern whatsoever for his daughter’s condition.
He stared at Shen Ruoyu, who was half-kneeling and trying to stand, and without hesitation struck her with another blow.
“Do you dare say that the huge pit His Highness fell into during the assassination wasn’t dug by you?”
Shen Ruoyu’s back bent slightly. A searing pain spread across it.
She was somewhat dazed from the blow.
What had Father just said?
Was he asking whether the pit the Crown Prince fell into had been dug by her?
Once her mind cleared, Shen Ruoyu suddenly found the situation both absurd and bitterly ironic.
The last trace of expectation she had held toward her father vanished.
She felt as though a bloody hole had been torn open in her chest, with blood slowly dripping from it.
She had long since become numb to the fact that the Shen Chancellor disliked her.
But now he was distorting right and wrong and refusing even to believe his own daughter.
No matter how strong a person’s heart was, that would still hurt.
“The pit was indeed dug by me.” Shen Ruoyu smiled and stared intently at her father. Their relationship had already been distant, but now he seemed even more unfamiliar to her. “But I fell into it alongside His Highness. How foolish would I have to be to dig my own grave and then bury myself in it?! What benefit would I gain from the Crown Prince’s death?”
Shen Ruoyu had never learned horseback riding or archery from childhood, so naturally she was at a disadvantage compared with the other noble young ladies who excelled at riding and shooting.
Yet the prize for first place in this year’s autumn hunt had been simply too tempting—a full one thousand taels of silver!
For Shen Ruoyu, who intended to establish her own business in the capital in the future, that sum held enormous appeal.
Before the autumn hunt, she had studied various ancient texts solely to find a way to catch prey despite her poor riding and archery skills.
After searching through a vast sea of books, she had finally settled on a method that was relatively practical and convenient: dig several pits, cover them with branches and leaves, then deliberately drive the prey toward them and catch them like turtles trapped in a jar.
Unfortunately, human plans could never account for fate.
She had never expected to be attacked alongside the Crown Prince, much less that, in the moment of crisis, neither of them would notice the “pit” she had dug beforehand, causing them both to fall into it.
And yet this had somehow become evidence that she had plotted to murder the Crown Prince!
Shen Ruoyu felt a ball of fire burning inside her chest.
Although her leg throbbed painfully from the beating, she seemed to possess endless strength. She simply stood up.
“I have never once thought of harming the Crown Prince. What exactly have I done wrong?”
Perhaps the unruly aura surrounding Shen Ruoyu was simply too intimidating.
The Shen Chancellor stared at his daughter and actually fell silent for a moment.
But then he tightened his grip on the thorny rod.
This time, however, he did not strike Shen Ruoyu.
Instead, he slammed it onto the floor with a sharp crack.
“Have you ever considered what other officials will think if they learn that you dug the pit His Highness fell into? You never worked hard to learn riding and archery, yet during the autumn hunt you resorted to such crooked tricks. They will say that I, Shen Lian, raised a daughter who is rebellious and lawless! That will become a handle they can use against the Shen family. They will twist the truth before His Majesty and claim that the Shen family harbors disloyal intentions!”
“How can you possibly have done nothing wrong? You have brought shame upon the Shen family!”
Perhaps because he had said too much or was simply too furious, the Shen Chancellor leaned against a chair and sat down.
Madam Wang hurried over to soothe him and handed him a cup of tea.
The Shen Chancellor took a sip before slamming the cup onto the table with a loud bang. He looked at Shen Ruoyu.
“Kneel!”
Shen Ruoyu quietly looked at him.
The Shen Chancellor’s previous tirade had been almost hysterical, yet the more she listened, the more incomprehensible she found him.
She had initially assumed that he had summoned her to the ancestral hall to ask about the details of the assassination attempt so that he could report them to the Emperor and demonstrate the Shen family’s loyalty to the throne.
Even though she had been resentful that her father hadn’t asked about her injuries, she had still decided to help him.
After all, the Shen family had once been one of the four great aristocratic clans of the capital during the previous dynasty. Later, the family declined amid years of turmoil.
The Shen Chancellor had turned the tide, serving as a strategist and devoted aide to the Xie family as they fought to establish their rule. Last year, he was appointed Chancellor, finally restoring some of the Shen family’s former glory.
Shen Ruoyu understood that her father had fought his way through countless difficulties to get where he was, treading carefully at every step. It had not been easy.
Thus, she could understand why he placed such importance on the family’s status and reputation.
What she hadn’t expected was that he had become almost obsessive about it.
She and the Crown Prince had been attacked together.
Yet instead of showing even the slightest concern for her, her father was punishing her simply because he believed she had disgraced the family.
A faint bitterness spread through Shen Ruoyu’s heart.
She felt her heart breaking apart piece by piece.
Yet she still had no intention of kneeling.
Instead, she raised her head.
She knew what she was about to say might infuriate the Shen Chancellor, but she said it anyway.
“First, Father, you may think that I’m rebellious and unconventional, or that I’m ignorant and incapable. But I am not someone you raised. When I needed my father’s companionship and care, you were never by my side.”
“Second, forgive me for speaking frankly, but if His Majesty were to believe those twisted accusations and distance himself from you, then you wouldn’t need to waste your efforts assisting such an Emperor.”
As expected, the moment she said this, the Shen Chancellor shot to his feet and raised the thorny rod again.
“Do you know what you just said?! His Majesty is the true Son of Heaven, blessed with virtue and benevolent governance that benefits all under Heaven! When the sovereign commands a minister to die, the minister must die!”
The thorny rod once again came swinging toward Shen Ruoyu.
This time, however, Shen Ruoyu was quick enough to catch it with her hand before it struck her.
The two stood facing each other like this.
Shen Ruoyu looked at her father, whose eyes were nearly splitting with rage. The thorny rod stretched between them, but there was already an immeasurable chasm between father and daughter.
Madam Wang had always been gentle and gracious. Seeing how tense the situation had become, she hurried over to mediate.
“Master, anger is harmful to your health. Please rest for a while. Ruoruo was only speaking out of anger. Don’t take it to heart.”
She helped the Shen Chancellor back into his chair, then took the thorny rod away of her own accord.
Afterward, she walked toward Shen Ruoyu and took both her hands.
“Yu-jie’er, Master is merely being cautious even in times of peace. There are so many people in the Shen family. If His Majesty were to punish us, the Emperor’s wrath could bring bloodshed for thousands of miles. When a nest is overturned, how can any of the eggs beneath it remain intact? Master is only doing this for your own good.”
“You carry the Shen family’s blood and are Master’s own flesh and blood. How could he possibly not care for you? As the old saying goes, ‘A drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring of gratitude.’ You’re the one in the wrong for getting angry with Master like this.”
Madam Wang came from an aristocratic family and carried herself with graceful dignity. There was hardly anything anyone could find fault with.
She was always pulling Shen Ruoyu close, asking after her health and showing concern for her. Everyone praised Madam Wang for being virtuous, generous, and magnanimous, treating her husband’s daughter from his previous marriage exactly the same as her own children.
But only Shen Ruoyu knew that Madam Wang’s kindness toward her was merely a facade.
Behind her back, Madam Wang regarded her as a thorn in her side and a thorn in her flesh.
Shen Ruoyu still remembered the day she had returned to the Chancellor’s residence from the academy because she had accidentally left a ledger there.
She had unexpectedly overheard Madam Wang, who had been doing needlework, speaking to her personal maid.
“This Shen Ruoyu grew up in a small household. Nothing about her manners resembles those of a proper young lady from a great family. She came to the capital last year, yet not a single aristocratic family has shown any interest in proposing marriage. Who knows when she’ll ever get married? I’m truly worried that if she stays in the Shen family for too long, she’ll lead Lan’er and Ming’er astray.”
Thus, faced with Madam Wang’s seemingly gentle admonishment now, which concealed criticism beneath the surface, Shen Ruoyu was no longer surprised.
She calmly withdrew her hands from Madam Wang’s grasp, her tone carrying unmistakable sarcasm.
“Mother needn’t worry. If His Majesty truly intends to punish me, I am willing to have my name removed from the Shen family genealogy. I will never implicate the Shen family.”
With that, she turned around and left without hesitation.
However, the moment Shen Ruoyu stepped out of the ancestral hall, she saw a young servant rushing toward them.
“Master! Madam! Miss! Someone from the palace is here!”
Madam Wang looked worriedly at the Shen Chancellor.
“Master, could it be that His Majesty intends to take his anger out on Yu-jie’er…?”
The Shen Chancellor cut her unfinished words short and glared fiercely at Shen Ruoyu.
“Wretched girl, what are you waiting for? Follow us!”
By the time everyone hurried into the front hall in a panic, they saw the Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household approaching the Shen Chancellor and the others with a beaming expression.
He smiled broadly.
“Chancellor Shen has certainly raised his daughter well. The Shen family is about to have a truly distinguished person among its ranks!”
Madam Wang’s brows twitched.
She put on a delighted expression and looked at the chief eunuch.
“Could this have something to do with Lan’er?”
The chief eunuch, however, ignored Madam Wang completely.
Under everyone’s astonished gazes, he walked toward Shen Ruoyu with a genial smile.
“Congratulations, Eldest Miss Shen. Congratulations, Eldest Miss Shen.”
He then unfolded the imperial edict and read:
“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:
Shen Ruoyu, eldest daughter of the Shen clan of Jingzhao, heir to an illustrious and honorable family, raised according to a tradition of righteousness, possesses outstanding character and appearance, and is graceful, accomplished, and well-mannered, with her reputation spread throughout the realm. To assume the rightful position within the Eastern Palace is in accordance with the established rites of the dynasty. She is hereby appointed Crown Princess. Let the relevant authorities prepare the proper ceremonies and formally bestow the title. Let the responsible officials carry this out accordingly. By imperial decree.”
Author’s Note:
【1】The imperial marriage edict was adapted from the Edict Appointing Su Dan’s Daughter as Crown Princess.
His Majesty Has Been Plotting Against Me for a Long Time
Ban Ying wakes up one day to discover that she has lost her memory.
A peerlessly handsome Emperor is sitting beside her bed. He reaches out as though he wants to gently touch her tender cheek, but restrains himself and pulls his hand back. There seems to be a trace of grievance in his eyes.
“A-Ying, I am your husband. Have you forgotten?”
Surrounded by gilded chambers, jade towers, carved railings, and painted buildings, she is like a delicate flower carefully sheltered within the towering palace walls, completely cut off from the outside world.
A constant stream of gifts is sent to her chambers, while precious medicinal herbs are all given to her.
He gently tells her about the springtime encounter when they first met and the moonlit autumn night when they fell in love.
Ban Ying thinks that the Emperor must treat her very well.
Every day, the Emperor personally attends to her as she drinks her medicine. Ban Ying hates the bitter taste, but in hopes of recovering her memories of her past with the Emperor as soon as possible, she drinks every drop.
Until one day, while in the imperial garden, she happens to encounter a young and handsome man.
He tightly grips her hand, his eyes filled with unwillingness.
“A-Ying, His Majesty actually made you lose your memory…”
“I am your true husband…”
Ji Sheng is a young and accomplished Emperor. Yet he has left his imperial harem empty, as though he has long since renounced worldly desires and become cold and emotionless.
Until one day, at a banquet, he sees a beautiful young woman holding a peony in her hands.
She is the wife of the Military Commissioner of Longxi.