Chapter 4 — The True Heiress Reads Fates

I gave you money to ward off disaster, yet it failed to shield you. Lin Yan gripped my wrist, his voice dropping to a low murmur.

“Let us go.”

When we rushed to the imperial garden, Ming Dao had already been pulled from the water. Soaked to the bone and deathly pale, she was still clutching the coin I had given her. A young palace maid knelt on the muddy ground, weeping and stammering that she had not meant to do it. The Crown Prince furrowed his brow slightly.

“It was merely an accident. Why make such a commotion?”

I crouched beside Ming Dao, gently pushing the wet strands of hair from her forehead. Her lips trembled as she whispered in a fractured voice.

“Sister, it was no accident… someone pushed me.”

My gaze shifted to the lotus pond behind her. The surface of the water remained calm and glassy, but pasted onto the stone balustrade was half a waterlogged talisman. The intricate script upon that scrap of paper was intimately familiar. The remnants of the burnt paper Lin Yan had handed me last night bore the exact same brushstrokes. Someone had used Ming Dao to set a trap. Yet, the trap was not meant to harm her. It was meant for me. No, to be precise, they did not intend to take my life today. They merely wished to test the waters, to see if this expendable life of mine was ripe for the harvesting. Just as I reached out to pick up the torn talisman, the Crown Prince’s voice rang out from behind.

“Second Young Lady Shen, what is it that commands your attention?”

I turned my head. At some unknown moment, the attendants around the lotus pond had retreated ten paces away. An elderly matron standing beside the Empress kept her hands folded, observing with the silent rigidity of a stone wall. The Crown Prince stood bathed in sunlight, wearing a benign and gentle smile. Yet within his shadow, the broken-necked female ghost slowly raised her head. She possessed no eyes. Her hollow sockets stared straight into mine. My fingertips were mere inches from the scrap of paper. The Crown Prince suddenly stooped, picking up the talisman a fraction of a second before I could. He cast a casual glance at it, his expression indifferent.

“Such filthy things finding their way into the palace again. It seems some imposter is playing ghost, frightening the noble ladies.”

With a flick of his wrist, he let go. The paper drifted into a nearby bronze censer, instantly consumed by fire and reduced to ashes. I raised my eyes to look at him. The Crown Prince returned my gaze, maintaining his pristine, courteous smile. His demeanor was so polished that even a blade seemed wrapped in the gentle breeze of spring, yet his voice dropped to a chilling whisper.

“Second Young Lady Shen, possessing eyes that see too much is hardly a blessing. Many souls are already buried within these palace walls; adding one more fortune-teller like you would hardly tax the land.”

I smiled back.

“Your Highness speaks the truth.”

Then, raising my hand, I delivered a vicious, resounding slap across my own cheek. A sharp crack echoed through the air, silencing the entire courtyard. The smile on the Crown Prince’s face stiffened instantly, and even Lin Yan was momentarily startled. Clutching my face, I dropped heavily to the knees, bursting into theatrical, earth-shattering wails.

“Empress, save me! His Highness the Crown Prince says there are already too many buried in the palace, and adding my humble life won't even require extra land! I have only just returned to the marquisate and have barely tasted any good food; I truly do not wish to die!”

The Crown Prince remained frozen. The Empress’s expression shifted subtly.

“Cheng Jun?”

The Crown Prince pressed his lips together, his voice cold.

“When did I ever utter such words?”

I wiped away tears that did not exist.

“Your Highness spoke softly, but my ears are exceptionally sharp! My master taught me that walking the martial world without sharp ears and keen eyes leaves one with grave grass already three feet high!”

The surrounding palace attendants contorted their faces as they fought to suppress their laughter. Lin Yan lowered his head and coughed; I suspected he was smiling. The Empress stared hard at the Crown Prince for a long moment before finally speaking in a soothing tone.

“Perhaps Guiyi was simply startled and misheard. Someone escort the eldest young lady to the side hall to change her garments, and summon the imperial physician.”

On the surface, the matter was smoothed over, but I knew the Crown Prince would never let me go. It was precisely at that moment that I noticed the shadow of the Crown Prince stir. The broken-necked female ghost slowly turned her face, twin trails of blood leaking from her empty sockets. I had braced myself to look upon a terrifying, rotting visage, but as a chilling gust of wind blew her disheveled hair aside, an icy dread crawled up from the soles of my feet, making even the talisman hidden in my sleeve feel frozen solid. That face bore a striking, seven-part resemblance to my own. No. Not to my present self. It resembled the young child I had so often seen in my childhood dreams—wearing twin buns, dressed in a red padded jacket, standing in the snow and turning back to smile at me. Lin Yan gripped my wrist fiercely, his voice cracking with uncharacteristic panic.

“Do not look at her.”

In a daze, I asked.

“Your Highness, did you know who she was all along?”

Lin Yan remained silent for a long time, his knuckles whitening as his grip tightened further.

“She is not Liu Fu Yi.”

I pressed on.

“Then who is she?”

His complexion was alarmingly pale.

“Sixteen years ago, the Yongning Marquisate actually lost two children.”

Before I could demand further answers, the Crown Prince’s unhurried voice drifted from behind me.

“Third Brother, why must you share every little detail with her?”

My entire body stiffened. The Crown Prince stood beneath the veranda, radiating his usual cultured elegance, yet his shadow resembled a pool of thick black ink, creeping inch by inch across the blue brick flooring. He looked at me with a smile.

“If she knew why she has been allowed to live until this very day, would she not be even more reluctant to die in your place?”

Die in his place? Lin Yan stepped directly in front of me, his voice freezing cold.

“Xie Cheng Jun, say that once more.”

The Crown Prince chuckled softly.

“She was always intended to be the life sacrificed in my stead.”

In that exact fraction of a second, the sound of surging water from the lotus pond echoed in my ears, as though someone from the depths below was calling out my name.