Chapter 11 — The True Heiress Reads Fates

With a soft, childlike lisp, the little girl replied, "If you want to be like Mother, you must rely on your own ability to earn silver."

The Emperor choked on his tea, nearly spitting it out in amusement. Halfway through the grand banquet, an assassin managed to infiltrate the palace grounds. While panic rippled through the crowd and guests scrambled in sheer terror, I remained entirely unbothered, calmly reading the palm of a noble lady. As the assassin lunged forward with a gleaming dagger in hand, I let out a soft, weary sigh.

"Today is not a day for seeing blood," I murmured.

Trembling from head to toe in absolute fright, the lady clutched at her robes and stammered, "Princess Consort, what on earth should we do?"

Without missing a beat, I drew a peach-wood sword from the deep folds of my sleeve and effortlessly knocked the assassin unconscious with a swift, practiced strike. "That consultation fee will be billed separately," I announced.

Dead silence fell over the entire grand hall. Just then, another assassin lunged fiercely toward our daughter, Darling. Before Xie Linyan even had a chance to move, our child whipped her hand inside her bodice, pulled out a heavy handful of copper coins, and scattered them in a wide arc across the marble floor. The coins formed a makeshift tactical barrier; the assassin's foot caught squarely on the metal, sending him crashing face-first into the ground. Darling calmly brushed her hands together, clapped, and said with utmost seriousness, "My mother always taught me that when walking the martial world, a few extra skills never weigh you down."

Xie Linyan pressed a hand to his forehead, letting out a helpless sigh. I, however, beamed with immense pride—she was truly my daughter, carrying on my legacy with perfection.

In no time at all, the remaining assassins were subdued and captured. The high-born ladies of the capital immediately swarmed around me, chattering all at once to ask if I had suffered any injuries, while a few whispered eagerly, "Princess Consort, does your brilliant daughter happen to take on disciples?"

I cast a sideways glance at Darling. The little girl promptly raised five fingers and declared, "An apprenticeship costs five hundred taels of silver."

I felt tears welling up in my eyes. The family tradition had a bright future indeed. Xie Linyan stood close by, gently wiping a speck of dust from my cheek with a warm, indulgent smile. "My dear Princess Consort, didn't you say earlier that today was not a day for seeing blood?"

I sighed softly. "That is precisely why I chose not to use a blade."

He chuckled in a low, resonant voice, leaning in closer. "Then tell me, what ought we to do tonight?"

I lifted my gaze to study his striking features. Though many years had quietly slipped by, his ethereal beauty remained untouched by time, still looking as if he belonged to a realm beyond the mortal world. I leaned in near his ear, my voice dropping to a teasing whisper, "Tonight is a night for peach blossoms."

Xie Linyan intertwined his fingers with mine, his eyes and brows softening into a gaze of boundless tenderness. "What a coincidence. That was precisely what I had calculated."