Chapter 6

The late-spring breeze swept through the corridors of the Eastern Palace, sending fallen begonia petals swirling across the ground.

Shen Zhiwei stood beneath the covered walkway, holding a cup of freshly brewed floral tea, the faint fragrance of fallen blossoms still clinging to her fingertips. Ever since the crown prince, Xiao Heng, had summoned her for a private audience in the hall, she had felt that the way he looked at her had changed.

Before, his gaze had been cool and distant, as though she were an inconsequential object in his residence. Lately, however, whenever their eyes happened to meet, a trace of warmth that others could scarcely detect would appear in those usually cold, restrained eyes.

"Miss Shen, His Highness the Crown Prince asks you to come to the Fragrant Pavilion."

A palace attendant approached to deliver the message in a low voice, his manner considerably more courteous than when addressing the other women of the household.

Shen Zhiwei was slightly startled. The Fragrant Pavilion stood in the middle of the lake in the Eastern Palace's rear garden, surrounded by water on all sides. It was where the crown prince usually read in solitude, and he rarely summoned anyone there. She straightened her plain dress and followed the attendant slowly along the winding stone bridge.

Sunlight shimmered on the lake as the spring breeze brushed past, and the lotus leaves had only just begun to unfurl their tender tips. Dressed in an informal black robe, Xiao Heng sat alone beside the pavilion's stone table, a military treatise open in his hands. His bearing was straight and tall, his features stern, and an air that warned strangers away surrounded him. From a distance, he remained the same aloof crown prince, lofty and untouchable, whom everyone held in awe.

Only when he heard approaching footsteps did Xiao Heng slowly lift his eyes.

"You're here." His voice was low, stripped of some of the authority it carried at court and softened by a hint of ease.

Shen Zhiwei bent her knees in greeting. "Your Highness."

"No need for ceremony. Sit." Xiao Heng raised a hand, gesturing for her to take the seat across the stone table.

Shen Zhiwei sat down cautiously, her heart fluttering with unease. She could not guess why the crown prince had summoned her today. With her eyes lowered, she dared not begin a conversation unprompted, quiet as a blade of grass swaying in the breeze.

Before she could speak, the tinkling of jade ornaments rang out. Su Wan, the crown prince's secondary consort, walked straight up to the Fragrant Pavilion with two maids in tow.

Su Wan had long resented the crown prince's special treatment of Shen Zhiwei. Hearing that he had arranged to meet her alone today had sent flames of jealousy surging through her, and she had hurried over expressly for that reason.

"Your Highness." Su Wan curtsied, her gaze sweeping coldly over Shen Zhiwei as a note of mockery entered her voice. "I did not know Your Highness was here. It seems I have disturbed your pleasant leisure. But I have heard that rumors have been spreading throughout the Eastern Palace lately. They say some orphan girl of unknown origins has actually won Your Highness's special favor, setting the servants gossiping and tarnishing your good name."

On the surface, her words sounded like counsel, but every sentence was aimed at Shen Zhiwei.

Shen Zhiwei stiffened, her hands quietly clenching in her lap. Born into a fallen noble family and living under the Eastern Palace's roof, she was already treading on thin ice. What she feared most was being drawn into these struggles among the consorts.

The atmosphere in the pavilion turned cold in an instant.

Certain that the crown prince would protect his reputation and reprimand Shen Zhiwei, Su Wan secretly congratulated herself.

Instead, Xiao Heng set down his book. Frost settled over his features as he looked coldly at Su Wan.

"Since when has a secondary consort had the right to dictate whom I associate with in the Eastern Palace? As for where these rumors came from, if you have time to spare, you would do better to keep those loose-tongued servants of yours in line."

His voice was not loud, yet it carried formidable authority. Su Wan's face abruptly paled. She had never imagined that the crown prince would defend Shen Zhiwei in front of everyone.

"Your Highness..."

"Leave." Xiao Heng delivered the word evenly, leaving no room for argument.

Su Wan bit her lip. Bitterly unwilling though she was, she dared not defy the crown prince's command. She could only curtsy and withdraw, leaving with her maids in sullen humiliation.

Quiet returned to the pavilion in the middle of the lake, broken only by the sound of wind brushing the water.

Shen Zhiwei's heart remained unsettled for a long while. She looked up at Xiao Heng and said softly, "Your Highness, you need not quarrel with Her Ladyship on my account. I am merely living under another's roof. A few unkind remarks will do me no real harm."

Seeing the trace of hurt hidden in the young woman's eyes, Xiao Heng's stern expression softened a little.

"Someone under my protection should not have to endure another person's spite for no reason."

With that, he slid a white jade hairpin across the stone table. A tiny begonia blossom had been carved at its head.

"When I passed through the Begonia Garden earlier, I noticed how much you liked the begonias. This is for you."

Shen Zhiwei stared blankly at the lustrous jade hairpin, her heart suddenly skipping a beat. The crown prince, usually so cold and sparing with words, had actually noticed which flowers she liked.

She reached out to accept the hairpin, her fingertips accidentally brushing Xiao Heng's fingers. Both of them paused. The spring breeze swept begonia petals into the air, scattering them over the pavilion's stone table and into the space between them.

At that moment, a barely perceptible ripple quietly spread through the eyes of the crown prince, who had always been so aloof and restrained.