Ever since the last time she had failed to hang herself, Jing Xuan had become like a different person.

No noise!

No fuss!

When the palace maids told her to eat, she ate. When they told her to sleep, she slept.

She was completely different from the previous Jing Xuan who only knew how to smash things all day long.

She sat in front of the mirror, her vacant gaze staring at the bronze mirror before her. Inside it was a person like a puppet, allowing others to manipulate her at will.

A palace maid was arranging her appearance.

“Princess, would you like this servant to have the Imperial Kitchen prepare some pastries for you?”

No response!

“Princess?”

Still no response.

That palace maid looked at her with pity and continued arranging her appearance.

Who knows how much time passed before Jing Xuan finally spoke slowly, “Is the wedding dress ready?”

“Ah?” The palace maid’s hand paused, surprised that she had finally spoken. She quickly said, “Your Ladyship cares deeply about the Princess’s wedding dress. She spoke with the Ministry of Rites long ago—they must make the Princess’s wedding dress the very best.”

“What about the celebratory gifts?”

“They’re being prepared as well. The gift list should have already been delivered.”

“What else?”

“What else?” The palace maid thought for a moment, her eyes brightening. “Oh yes, Your Ladyship also said that the day before the Princess’s wedding, she’ll take the Princess to Lishan Temple to burn incense, to bless the Princess so that after going to Huyi, she can be safe and peaceful, wealthy and noble.”

Safe and peaceful?

Wealthy and noble?

Jing Xuan smiled at herself in the mirror.

“Duan’er.” She called out softly.

“This servant is here.” The palace maid arranging her appearance was called Duan’er. She set down the comb in her hand and bowed, saying, “What are the Princess’s orders?”

“I want to drink porridge. Have the Imperial Kitchen prepare some.”

“Yes, this servant will go right away.”

She was overjoyed beyond measure.

Just as Duan’er left the bedchamber, she happened to run into Consort Xiao.

“Greetings to Consort Xiao.”

“Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?”

“The Princess said she wants to drink porridge. This servant was just going to the Imperial Kitchen.”

Consort Xiao waved her hand. “Hurry and go then.”

“Yes.” Duan’er left.

Sanglan helped Consort Xiao enter Jing Xuan’s bedchamber.

That girl sat motionless in front of the mirror, like a person without a soul.

“Xuan’er.” Consort Xiao walked to her side and looked at the person in the mirror, smiling. “Your complexion is much better today. The weather has been changeable recently—you must pay more attention to your health.”

Jing Xuan turned her head to glance at her. Without any expression on her face, she said flatly, “Thank you for Imperial Mother’s concern.”

“It’s natural for a mother to care for her own daughter. What need is there for thanks?”

Hah.

Jing Xuan said nothing.

Ever since the last time she had tried to hang herself, she really had become a different person.

Well-behaved and orderly, completely docile.

She no longer made a fuss about wanting to die. Although Consort Xiao’s heart was at ease, she always felt that she and this daughter were growing more and more distant, less and less close.

She grasped her daughter’s hand and patted the back of it affectionately. “Xuan’er, the day of your marriage is drawing closer and closer. Imperial Mother truly cannot bear to part with you, but for your own good, Imperial Mother can only send you to Huyi. After you go there, you must take good care of yourself. You must also remember that you are the Princess of our Great Lin, that you are high and noble, and even Huyi must bow to us in submission. No one can bully you. Also, don’t trust others easily. The only person you can trust is yourself. Do you understand?”

She hadn’t even gone yet, and she was already teaching her lessons in scheming so quickly!

Such an imperial mother was truly hard to come by!

Jing Xuan said, “Is Imperial Mother the same? Does she also only trust herself?”

Uh!

Consort Xiao stopped abruptly.

“Xuan’er, Imperial Mother would go through fire and water for you siblings. You are the people closest to Imperial Mother.”

“So even those closest to you cannot be trusted, is that right?”

She asked again.

With this question, Consort Xiao’s expression completely darkened.

Seeing her like this, Jing Xuan laughed coldly.

She said nothing more.

Consort Xiao knew she was making insinuations!

She could only say, “Xuan’er, Imperial Mother doesn’t want you to hate me. Sooner or later, you’ll understand Imperial Mother’s painstaking efforts.”

“Yes, your daughter knows. The Third Prince of Huyi is the only one who can become King of Huyi. Your daughter will marry him, and in the future will be the Queen. Imperial Mother has put so much effort into this—how could Xuan’er not know? After going to Huyi, I will certainly live out the rest of my life peacefully and steadily, and not bring shame to the Great Lin imperial family.”

“Everything is in the past. Why must you remain fixated on it?”

“Fixated?” This word was truly novel. She smiled bitterly. “Your daughter has already resigned herself to fate. Where is there any fixation? You won’t let me do foolish things, so I don’t do them. You want me to stay quietly in my bedchamber, so I stay quietly. You want me to marry, so I’ll marry. You don’t want me to tell Father Emperor what you and Imperial Brother have done, so I won’t say anything. Now I listen to everything you say—where is there any fixation? This body of flesh and blood is yours to manipulate as you please. If you tell me to go east, I’ll go east. If you tell me to sit, I’ll sit. Even if Imperial Mother told me to die, I wouldn’t struggle.”

Her heart had long since died. She had completely seen through everything, because she knew that from the day she was born, she had been a chess piece in her imperial mother’s hands.

She could be discarded!

She could be thrown!

She could also be destroyed!

Consort Xiao could only sigh. “Don’t blame Imperial Mother.”

Her eyes glistened with tears.

“Your daughter is tired and wishes to rest.”

Consort Xiao wanted to speak but stopped. In the end, she said nothing more.

Just as she was about to leave, Jing Xuan suddenly said another sentence: “Please convey your daughter’s congratulations to Imperial Brother on my behalf. On the day of Imperial Brother’s wedding, I won’t attend. At that time, I’ll have Duan’er prepare a gift.”

“Alright. Rest well. If you need anything, tell Imperial Mother.”

Consort Xiao left.

After she departed, Jing Xuan’s eyes deepened, but she still sat there motionless. In her line of sight was only that deathly pale face of hers in the bronze mirror.

Ridiculous!

These were the only two words that emerged in her heart at this moment.

Before long, Duan’er brought over the porridge.

“Princess, this is the bean curd porridge you usually love most.”

She glanced at it and nodded slightly. “Leave it there. You may go.”

“Yes, then this servant will wait outside. If the Princess needs anything, just call for this servant.”

Duan’er went out.

But just as her front foot left, a sound of porcelain smashing on the floor came from inside the room. She quickly turned back in and saw Jing Xuan standing in the center of the room, with that bowl of hot porridge just delivered from the Imperial Kitchen at her feet.

Smashed on the ground.

Shattered to pieces.

“Princess, you… what’s wrong?” Duan’er rushed over, asking with great concern.

Jing Xuan’s soft body stood there with two lines of tears hanging on her face. Her steps were difficult as she walked toward the window.

She muttered, “The imperial family? Familial affection?”

Then she burst into loud laughter. “Everything, in the end, cannot escape the word ‘power.'”

Her laughter was desolate.

It made one’s heart ache.

Duan’er watched her swaying body standing before the window and couldn’t help but cry.

“Princess, don’t be like this.”

“What difference is there between me living now and being dead?”

“Princess, you must not speak such wild words.”

“Duan’er, on the day I marry, you don’t need to follow me to Huyi. I’ll send you out of the palace. Remember this—if you can, never step foot in the imperial palace again for as long as you live.”

The imperial palace, in the end, was not a place for people to stay.