A seed sprouted in a crack in the stone. Some saw resilience in it—the will to struggle for survival in adversity. Others saw foolishness. The seed had no idea where it was; as long as it had the slightest bit of soil and moisture, it would take root and sprout, without ever considering whether those scant nutrients would be enough to let it grow.
What did Shangguan Ru see?
That had been four years ago, just after she had won a measure of freedom from her mother's confinement. She could walk around Stone Fortress, but wasn't allowed to take a single step outside its gates. A male and a female attendant followed her every moment of the day.
It seemed as if the happy days of the past had returned, but everything was completely different. The male attendant wasn't Huan Nu, and the female attendant wasn't Shangguan Yushi. The two people who had always egged her on to take risks were both gone. The only ones Shangguan Ru had with her were two guards, shackles that restrained her every move. She'd even changed into a skirt that made it difficult to move, adding yet another constraint.
She often went to visit her eighth sister-in-law, Luo Ningcha, and play with Shangguan Cheng, who was just learning to babble. She couldn't decide whether to call him "nephew" or "younger brother," so she could only call him "Cheng'er," the safest choice, like everyone else.
Her eighth sister-in-law rarely showed her face. Xu Yanwei was the only one who kept Shangguan Ru company. The two of them chatted aimlessly until the attendants grew so bored that they preferred to stand guard outside the room. Then the two women would start whispering about the forbidden subjects of Stone Fortress—Huan Nu and He Nu, especially the