Chapter One: Xie Genghe, Write the Divorce Letter

Beijing.

The snow in the Eastern Palace lay three feet deep, and the bitter wind cut at Wen Changying’s cheeks like a blade.

She knelt before the study, snow caught on her feathery lashes, the brightness long gone from her eyes. They had sunk into a dead, hollow stillness.

Her youngest brother had gone to the frontier only three months ago, and now he had been framed on a string of grave charges.

Collusion with the enemy, betrayal of the realm, diversion of military supplies, abandoning the city and fleeing in secret...

Each accusation was supported by mountain-high evidence.

Wen Changying did not believe it.

But last night, Xie Genghe had issued three imperial decrees in succession, sealing her brother’s fate outright.

He ordered the Imperial Guards to seize the man and bring him to justice.

Ever since she heard the news at dawn, she had come to find Xie Genghe.

Yet after kneeling for seven hours, she had not seen him even once.

“Your Highness!”

Her maid, Magpie, came running up in a panic.

As she hurriedly held an umbrella over her, she also relayed the news she had managed to gather.

“This morning, the Crown Prince went with Lady Cheng to the Buddhist hall to copy sutras. He isn’t in the Eastern Palace...”

Before she could finish, Wen Changying pushed aside the half-open umbrella and rose at once.

Her knees ached, but the pain in them was nothing compared to the thorn piercing her heart.

Ever since the Wen family’s finest generals had perished in battle, the Empress Dowager had liked her less and less.

Cheng Yu was the needle she had deliberately planted in the Eastern Palace.

Seven years into marriage, Wen Changying found she understood Xie Genghe less and less.

Though he knew full well that Cheng Yu had been bestowed on him by the Empress Dowager with intent, he still indulged her in wedging herself between husband and wife.

Wen Changying was willful and ill-mannered, hopeless at managing affairs, and Cheng Yu became the model noble lady of the capital, composed and measured.

Wen Changying was sharp-tongued and cutting, while Cheng Yu was sweet-mouthed and clever, winning praise from the entire palace.

When Wen Changying and Xie Genghe came to blows, Cheng Yu was there with medicinal wine and the imperial physician...

Everyone said the position of Crown Princess should have belonged to Cheng Yu.

And yet who still remembered that it had been Xie Genghe who bore fifty strokes of the disciplinary rod, who, though still young and unseasoned, stood deadlocked against the entire court and insisted on marrying her, the orphan of a military house, as his lawful wife?

It had been he who had spoiled her with his own hands, seeing to every detail, caring for her with perfect thoroughness.

Those balances and account books, too, had all been taken up by him, leaving her free to idle in comfort and pleasure.

Perhaps even Xie Genghe himself had forgotten what he once promised her.

Now it no longer mattered.

Wen Changying coughed twice and let Magpie draw her cloak tighter around her.

“To the Buddhist hall.”

The heavy snow fell in soft, relentless curtains, burying the marks of her kneeling.

Only Wen Changying herself knew that things between her and Xie Genghe must come to an end.

...

The Empress Dowager was devout and had specially built a Buddhist hall within the palace.

After Wen Changying took residence in the Eastern Palace, she rarely came here.

The Buddhas on either side always made her feel oppressed.

She had only reached the entrance when she was blocked by Bi Gui, the Crown Prince’s attendant.

“Your Highness, His Highness is worshipping today and sees no one.”

Wen Changying slowly lifted her eyes to the glaring plaque above the hall and let out a cold laugh.

She raised her hand and snatched the sword from the imperial guard.

The blade pointed straight at Bi Gui, its edge icy and sharp.

“Tell Xie Genghe to get out here!”

Bi Gui turned ashen with fear, yet still gritted his teeth and blocked her way.

“Your Highness, please go back. His Highness will come see you once he has finished worshipping.”

Wen Changying said nothing. With the hilt of the sword, she knocked him back.

Then she strode forward and kicked open the tightly shut doors.

Inside, deep in the hall, Cheng Yu was bent over, frantically gathering something up.

Xie Genghe’s robes were slightly disordered as he helped her straighten them.

The man had thick brows and phoenix eyes. Beneath the high bridge of his nose, his thin lips curved faintly, as gentle as ever.

“It’s such a snowy day. Aren’t you afraid of freezing? If you have anything to say, just have Magpie bring it to me.”

“Ah Ying, if you go back and your hands and feet are ice-cold, don’t come asking me to warm them for you.”

Wen Changying closed her eyes, ignoring the glaring scene before her.

Then she lifted her arm and flung the sword straight ahead.

With a sharp clang, it stabbed into the Buddhist sutras Cheng Yu had copied, just before her knees.

Cheng Yu’s face altered for a moment.

“Crown Princess, those are the prayers copied for the Empress Dowager. You—”

Wen Changying paid her no heed and asked directly, “Aye is innocent. On what grounds did you condemn him without even verifying the evidence?”

Xie Genghe frowned slightly, then smoothed it away again.

“Whether he is innocent, whether he should be punished—those are matters for the court.”

“Ah Ying, you need not worry yourself over such trivialities.”

He straightened and came forward to take her hand.

As he had expected, it was cold and red with frost.

“Smack!”

Wen Changying wrenched free and struck the crown prince across the face.

Her long nails scraped by, leaving bloody marks.

“Your Highness—”

Cheng Yu and Bi Gui cried out together.

But Xie Genghe merely raised a hand for silence and smiled gently.

“I know I returned late today, and that it made you anxious.”

“Your hand is frozen stiff. Once we get back and warm it up, you can hit me, hmm?”

His tone lifted at the end, as though he had long grown used to Wen Changying’s mercurial temper.

After all, in matters between husband and wife, this sort of thing was merely a kind of intimacy.

Wen Changying’s eyes stung dryly. “Xie Genghe, everything I care about is, in your eyes, nothing but insignificant chatter and trifles. Then am I too only something to be coaxed when you are闲, and set aside and left cold when you are busy?”

Xie Genghe rubbed warmth into her hands. “How could that be?”

“Ah Ying, what gossip have you heard again today?”

He was always like this.

He always thought Wen Changying had heard rumors, and that she was merely being sensitive and suspicious, throwing a fit.

There was no point in asking further.

Wen Changying knew Xie Genghe well.

He would give the court a flawless answer.

He never cared whether the person beside his pillow had been hurt in the process.

Wen Changying dug her nails into her palm, drew the hairpin from her hair, and drove it straight into Xie Genghe’s shoulder.

Blood gushed at once, staining the inner robe red.

“Xie Genghe, write the divorce letter.”

“Whoever covets this throne as Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace, give it to her.”

The gentle smile at Xie Genghe’s lips vanished in an instant.

He tightened his grip on the hand that held the hairpin, and the light in his eyes turned cold, bit by bit.

“Ah Ying, there should be limits to playacting. Some words cannot be spoken lightly.”

Wen Changying met his gaze head-on. “If you won’t write it, I will.”

“But whether the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace still has any face left by then will no longer be my concern.”

She broke free of Xie Genghe’s restraint.

Perhaps afraid of hurting her, he let go.

Wen Changying walked straight to the pile of sutras, gave a cold laugh, and took up brush and paper.

Before the ink even touched the page, her wrist was seized again by Xie Genghe.

His eyes had already begun to show impatience. “What exactly are you making a scene about?”

“Just now, your clothes were dirtied. I had no improper affair with Lady Cheng. You should understand that my heart holds only you.”

“Ah Ying, you—”

Wen Changying strained to break free. Ink splattered everywhere, nearly striking her eyes.

If her hands could not escape, then she still had her feet.

Crash.

Wen Changying kicked over the candlestick. The sutras were ruined at once, and lamp oil spilled onto the gauze curtains, igniting them in an instant.

“The sutras! Your Highness—”

Cheng Yu was startled and hurried outside to fetch water.

Xie Genghe had not expected matters to spiral like this either. He swept Wen Changying up in his arms and carried her out of the Buddhist hall.

The snow was still falling in steady flurries.

Wen Changying struck hard at the shoulder Xie Genghe had already wounded with the hairpin. “I have legs. I can walk!”

“Xie Genghe!”

Seeing that the man would not let go, Wen Changying raised her voice again.

Her eyes hardened, and she began thrashing as though she meant to jump down.

Xie Genghe stood nine feet tall; if she fell from that height, both legs would surely break.

He loosened his hold.

He allowed Wen Changying to land safely.

Xie Genghe’s brow knotted with pain. “You destroyed the Empress Dowager’s sutras. She will surely come looking for trouble with you.”

“Ah Ying, go back and rest first. I’ll handle it.”

“Calm yourself. We can talk later tonight, all right?”

Wen Changying’s steps faltered, and her voice turned thin and cold.

“I’m only waiting for the divorce letter.”

“Xie Genghe, you know that if I truly insist on leaving, the Eastern Palace will not be able to keep me here.”

Xie Genghe’s heart slowly sank.