Chapter 1

Amidst the dense fragrance of medicinal herbs, Shen Zhiyi's fingertips trembled slightly.

"Forgive my bluntness, but my lady's heart ailment is, I fear..."

The white-haired physician removed the silk cloth from Shen Zhiyi's wrist, shaking his head with a sigh. "It is an incurable disease. Even I am powerless to help."

With a sharp clatter, the medicine bowl slipped from someone's hand and shattered on the floor, sending fragments flying and splashing dark, bitter liquid everywhere.

Her maid, Chundai, rushed to the bedside, her eyes red with disbelief. "Physician Zhou, you must have misdiagnosed her!"

In her panic, Chundai grabbed Physician Zhou's wrist, refusing to let him pack his silk cloth back into his medical chest. Her face was filled with desperation. "Please check again! Look closer! Our lady is so young, how could she have an incurable disease? You must have made a mistake! Physician Zhou, please, take another look!"

Physician Zhou sighed deeply and waved his hand to speak, but Shen Zhiyi spoke from the bed, her voice trembling. "Uncle Zhou, I..."

She could not suppress a sob. The corners of her beautiful eyes flushed a faint, delicate red, making her look utterly pitiful. "How much time do I have left?"

That single "Uncle Zhou" brought a sudden mist to the eyes of the frowning physician.

A sixteen-year-old girl should have been in the prime of her youth, blooming like a flower. Yet, Shen Zhiyi lay there in a plain, simple ruqun, wearing pitifully few ornaments. Only an old-fashioned silver bracelet hung loosely around her slender, pale wrist, which looked fragile enough to snap.

Even though he had practiced medicine for decades and was accustomed to life and death, he could not help but feel a deep pang of pity at this sight.

"At most, my lady has half a year. At worst... I fear you may not even make it to next spring," Physician Zhou sighed. "However, there is a medicine called 'dragon's blood resin' that might cure your illness, but..."

His raspy sigh mingled with the crackling of the charcoal brazier. "That medicine has been lost to the world for over a hundred years."

Lost for over a hundred years... How was that any different from being incurable?

Chundai's tears finally spilled over.

Physician Zhou shook his head. "My lady's illness is most aggravated by excessive worry and grief. I venture to advise you... try to let things go."

Who in the capital did not know what had happened to the Shen Household a year ago? Although the Shen family deserved their fate for their heinous crimes, the young girl before him was innocent.

With another sigh, Physician Zhou packed his medical chest and took his leave.

The cold wind, carrying flecks of snow, forced its way through the doorway, howling as it banished the last traces of warmth from the room. A bone-chilling cold seeped deep into their skin.

Shen Zhiyi could not help but remember that her first meeting with Pei Huaijin had also been on such a winter day.

Back then, she had fallen from a snow-laden branch while trying to save a cat. Just when she thought she was going to faceplant onto the hard ground and face a harsh scolding from her father afterward, she unexpectedly fell into a warm embrace.

Terrified, she had closed her eyes and shrieked, only opening them in astonishment when a pleasant chuckle sounded from above.

With just one glance, the tips of her ears flushed red.

How could there be such a handsome young man in this world?

The kitten in her arms seemed equally captivated by the youth's handsome features. With a soft meow, it crawled onto his shoulder.

With a smile in his eyes, the boy scratched the kitten's neck, lifted it, and gently placed it back into her arms. "What a coincidence. I saved two kittens today."

Shen Zhiyi blinked, only realizing belatedly that the other "kitten" he referred to was herself.

Under his playful gaze, she clutched her pounding chest. Whether from the fright of the fall or because of the youth before her, she felt a flush of warmth spreading through her entire body.

Later, she had summoned her courage and asked him brightly, "Which family do you belong to, young master? How is it that I have never seen you before?"

The youth raised an eyebrow with a lingering smile. Just as he was about to speak, another voice called out from behind him: "Cousin! If we don't give chase now, that black bear is going to escape!"

Shen Zhiyi looked past him and saw two other handsome youths on horseback, carrying bows and arrows.

Seeing her standing behind the young man, one of the riders—a youth clad in black—let out a sharp whistle and teased, "It seems Pei the Second isn't hunting bears today, but has caught himself a little wildcat instead. Ouch... Pei the Second!"

Before the youth in black could finish, he suddenly clutched his arm and grimaced in pain.

The youth before her, addressed as Pei the Second, pocketed another pebble and snorted. "Xie Changyu, you talk too much. You're scaring the little girl."

Before leaving, he leaned down from his horse and patted her head just as he had scratched the kitten, his smile bright and clear. "Go on home now. Bears roam around here in the winter."

Later, her mother told her that winter had been the coldest in over a decade, yet she had felt warmer than ever.

This year's winter, however, was cold enough to suffocate.

Seeing Shen Zhiyi lost in thought, Chundai sniffled. She lifted her lady's hand and tucked it back beneath the quilt, but gasped upon touching her freezing skin. "My lady! Why are your hands so cold..."

Shen Zhiyi seemed not to hear.

The bedcurtains fluttered wildly. Through the wide-open door, snippets of gossip drifted in with the cold wind:

"Have you heard? The Lord Heir returns to the capital today... and they say he brought a young lady back with him!"

"The Lord Heir has never had a woman by his side. Bringing one back this time—could it be that a wedding is near for our Duke's Estate?"

"Shh... keep your voices down! My mother said the Lord Heir brought back the second young lady of the Qin family. His trip south was specifically to fetch her, and he was almost injured protecting her."

"My mother also said that the Madam herself arranged this marriage for the Lord Heir, and he agreed to it..."

"Then what about Concubine Shen in that room? The second young lady of the Qin family? Wasn't she once close with..."

The rest of their words were shut out.

With red-rimmed eyes, Chundai looked at Shen Zhiyi on the bed and offered frantic comfort. "My lady, Physician Zhou said your illness is most aggravated by excessive worry... How about, how about I read a storybook to you?"

Chundai held the door shut behind her. Though warmth returned to the room, Shen Zhiyi felt chilled to the bone.

Those stray whispers were like poisoned blades, carving into her heart word by word.

So, Pei Huaijin's journey south was to fetch Qin Yin.

So, the Pei family had already arranged a marriage for him, and he himself had agreed...

Shen Zhiyi stared at Chundai. Her face was pale, save for the red rimming her eyes. It took a long time for her trembling lips to squeeze out a voice: "You knew all along, didn't you? You knew all along that Brother Huaijin was getting married?"

Chundai's eyes welled with tears as she bit her lip hard and shook her head.

Shen Zhiyi clenched her fists tightly. After a long silence, she suddenly laughed.

She threw off the quilt and got out of bed, staggering to the vanity. The woman in the bronze mirror had features like a painting, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears and their corners flushed red. Her paper-pale face made her look like a completely different person from the proud, willful girl of the past.

"Chundai—"

Shen Zhiyi reached out to touch the reflection of her own faint smile in the mirror. She lowered her eyes and fell silent for a moment. "Find out for me... when Brother Huaijin will send the betrothal gifts."

A year ago, disaster struck the Shen family. Over a hundred lives in the Marquis's Manor—her father, her mother, her eldest brother, her second brother, and everyone she held dear—perished in that great fire.

That night, the flames soared into the sky, turning half the heavens over Huairen Ward a brilliant red. The howling wind carried scarlet embers and ash. The area had been surrounded by soldiers and onlookers.

It was Pei Huaijin who stepped forward, defying the objections of the Pei family to bring her into the Duke's Estate, giving her a place of refuge.

For over a year, she lived as if forgotten by the world. Only Pei Huaijin would visit her at Crabapple Court on the first and fifteenth of every lunar month.

Whenever he came, he would bring the cosmetics favored by the noble ladies of the capital, or newly made pastries and candied fruits, staying only for a meal. But he never spent the night.

Everyone praised the Lord Heir of the Duke's Estate for his loyalty and righteousness, saying that taking in the daughter of a disgraced official as a concubine was already the height of benevolence.

Even the usually haughty Grand Princess Changle, who tolerated no flaws, did not make things difficult for her, out of consideration for her son.

Yet she still remembered how she used to follow Pei Huaijin around all day, calling him "Brother Huaijin" in a sweet, clear voice.

Shen Zhiyi frowned, feeling a heavy tightness in her chest. She stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open.

Outside, the white plum tree, which had been sickly when she arrived last year, had grown lush and full after a year of meticulous care by the servants. It looked far more spirited than she did.

As she stared at it in a daze, her maid Xiahe came stumbling in. "My lady!"

Xiahe gasped, her breath forming puffs of white mist in the cold air. "The Lord Heir... the Lord Heir has returned! He is heading this way right now!"

Shen Zhiyi's nails dug sharply into her palms.

Night fell early in winter. Though it was only a quarter to six, the world outside had already darkened. Two dim ram-horn palace lanterns hung beneath the eaves outside the window. As the wind blew, they swayed listlessly, dragging two circular pools of light across the ground.

When Shen Zhiyi stepped out carrying a lantern, Pei Huaijin's figure was just rounding the screen wall.

The twilight outlined his tall, robust silhouette.

As he drew closer, his features were gradually illuminated by the glow of the palace lanterns.

The man had a handsome, refined face. His high nose bridge and sharp jawline lent him a cold, stern air, yet the eyes beneath his long lashes were exceptionally striking—shaped like peach blossoms, long and upturned at the corners, carrying a hint of casual indifference when he did not smile.

His appearance was even sharper than she remembered.

When he looked up at her, the heavy snow falling behind him created a distant, cold backdrop.

Even now, the sight of him still made her heart race uncontrollably.

"Why are you out here in such cold weather?"

Pei Huaijin frowned, reaching out to brush the snow from her hair.

Shen Zhiyi instinctively took half a step back. Looking at his hand frozen in mid-air, she clenched her fists. "I heard you are getting married."

The wind howled, and the blizzard suddenly grew fierce.

Through her blurred vision, Shen Zhiyi clearly saw a flicker of emotion cross his eyes before they returned to their usual calm. "You know."

"Is Grand Secretary Qin forcing you?"

Shen Zhiyi grabbed Pei Huaijin's wrist.

Her hand was ice-cold, completely devoid of warmth. Her pale lips trembled, and her red-rimmed eyes made her look like a wounded rabbit. There was a hint of pleading in her voice that even she did not notice. "Grand Secretary Qin has been in poor health this past year. Brother Huaijin, he is forcing you to marry Qin Yin, isn't he? Can you... can you please not marry her..."

Pei Huaijin looked down at her, his brow furrowing as his tone turned cold. "Do not be foolish. Qin Yin..."

"Lord Heir! Lord Heir!"

The old butler hurried over from a distance, his calls drawing near. "The Madam requests your presence to discuss, to discuss..."

The butler stopped, only then sensing the tense atmosphere between the two. Stealing a glance at Shen Zhiyi, he continued with some embarrassment, "...to discuss the list of betrothal gifts."

"Go back inside first."

Pei Huaijin untied his black cloak embroidered with crane patterns and wrapped it around her. "I will come by later," he said quietly.

The cold wind stung her eyes, bringing a sudden rush of tears.

Even though his cloak still held his warmth, the hand that had held his wrist was frozen numb.

A sharp, agonizing pain suddenly seized Shen Zhiyi's chest.

Before darkness claimed her, she seemed to hear him calling her name in sheer panic.