Prologue: The Wedding
The eighth day of the sixth month: auspicious for marriage.
I smoothed the final crease in the wedding robes of the woman before me, dressed in brilliant red, and placed upon her head the golden-tasselled bridal crown. This was the finest huani brocade, embroidered with the phoenix pattern of the highest rank in Song, symbolising the bride’s noble status from this day onward. Perhaps this was the wedding dress most women dreamed of, but my elder sister was not happy.
My elder sister: the orphaned daughter of the fallen state of Qi, the beauty whose name was famed throughout the world — Jiang Qiqi. In order to obtain her, four states had gone to war. And at last, after swallowing the other three states, the victorious ruler of Song was finally able to marry my sister.
The woman reflected in the bronze mirror had a face beautiful enough to stun the heavens. Even a painting could not capture those perfect features, and beneath her elaborate bridal makeup, her beauty was even more indescribable. Qiqi touched her hair and said softly, “Jiujiu, you still don’t know how to arrange a proper coiffure.”
I smiled and stroked her smooth hair. “Sister has always known I’m clumsy. Shall I call Mo Lan over to redo it for you?”
Qiqi caught my hand. She turned back to look at me. “What does that matter? You arranged it for me with your own hands. Besides, this wedding won’t happen anyway.”
After saying that, she fell silent for a while. Gradually, tears welled in her eyes. “It’s finally going to end, isn’t it?”
I embraced her and patted her back. “Yes. It will end very soon.”
My sister could finally bring this grand revenge of hers to an end.
“Will we die?” she asked, holding me as her voice trembled.
“We will both live.”
She raised her head and looked at me blankly. Over these past few years, she had always done whatever I told her to do. I knew she had been prepared from the beginning to burn herself up and perish with everything. Now that she was to live properly instead, she did not know what to do.
What my sister had done was for revenge.
What I had done was so that we could survive.
That was all.
And this was all I could do.
The wedding was splendid and fervent. I heard that more than ten states, great and small, had each sent gifts and envoys to attend the Song ruler’s wedding. Supporting my sister by the hand, I led her down the long red carpet, through drifting flower petals and magnificent drums and music, past every gaze — curious, fawning, disdainful. Naturally, all eyes were fixed on my sister. In the end, everyone wanted to see what kind of moving face this legendary beauty, said to have thrown four states into chaos, truly possessed.
Seated above, the king, already past fifty yet still dressed in the groom’s red wedding robes, smiled with spring-like satisfaction. He merely wanted to show off: to show off his achievement in defeating three states, and to show off his beautiful consort.
Amid the bustling, crisscrossing figures of the guests, a man dressed like a guard suddenly darted out. In a few swift steps, he leapt up the stairs and threw himself at the King of Song.
Blood splattered three feet.
The king’s smile froze on his face. He stared in disbelief at the dagger buried in his chest, its aim perfectly true, piercing straight into his heart. The assassin succeeded in one strike, then pulled out his blade and slit his own throat, collapsing dead to the ground.
It was as if time had stopped.
No one in the great hall made a sound. Only the ceremonial drums and music continued to play with fervent joy, absurdly celebrating this tragedy.
Then, someone suddenly shouted, “Your Majesty!”
All the guests jolted awake as if from a dream and erupted into chaos. I watched the heir, Li Yan, rush towards the King of Song’s corpse with a face full of anxiety, while his eyes revealed indifference. I could not help but smile.
What a bloody scene.
It had come even faster than I had imagined. A talented and ambitious man like Li Yan must have long since grown impatient with his father.
All the more so because, had he not acted, his father would have married the woman he loved.
Qiqi tightened her grip on my hand. She had always been kind and innocent; the sight of blood made her panic. Although I had told her long ago that this wedding could never take place, she surely had not expected matters to unfold like this. I leaned close to her ear and soothed her. “Of the four states that destroyed Qi, three have fallen, and the ruler of one is dead. Li Yan did not take part in the campaign against Qi. He loves you very much. You can follow him without fear.”
Qiqi’s voice trembled slightly. Amid the clamour of the crowd, I could not hear what she said. I only felt her gripping my hand tightly, so tightly it hurt.
My gaze moved past Qiqi and met another person’s eyes.
He was a young gentleman dressed in brocade, with a pair of phoenix eyes that seemed to smile and not smile, his lips faintly curved. His eyes were not the deep black of ordinary people, but a clear, translucent amber. I had thought that after seeing a beauty like Qiqi, I would never again find anyone beautiful, but he still left me astonished.
His was a tall, vigorous, proud kind of beauty, with an elegance that seemed to radiate from his very bones.
It was the sort of temperament that could easily bewitch people, like a lamp in the mist. I could imagine that as long as he smiled, countless young women would willingly become moths to his flame, falling into the abyss for him.
Judging from his hairstyle and clothing, he did not seem to belong particularly to any one state. Rather, he looked like someone who often travelled among the various states. Behind him stood eight beautiful maidservants, all with lowered brows and restrained eyes, entirely unmoved by this farce at the wedding.
When he saw me looking at him, he tilted his head and smiled faintly. Beneath his gentle and refined exterior, he looked like a hunter sizing up his prey.
After great difficulty, the commotion finally settled. Li Yan said solemnly to the assembled guests, “My father has been assassinated and killed. I will surely uncover the true mastermind behind this. As for Madam Qi, Jiang-shi, she has brought calamity and is an inauspicious person. Take her away and grant her death.”
Over the years, Qiqi’s reputation had not been pleasant to hear. The wars between the four states had begun because of her, and the name of disastrous beauty had spread far and wide. By ordering Jiang Qiqi’s death in name, he was giving his people and ministers an explanation.
I mouthed silently to Qiqi, “It’s all right. He won’t hurt you.”
This time, Qiqi’s voice was very clear. She asked me, “Then what about you?”
Her tearful almond eyes stared at me, and she clung to me, refusing to let go.
I smiled and released her hand. “This is where we part, Qiqi.”
Just as the soldiers were about to drag me away as well, someone spoke up.
“Wait.”
I watched as the brocade-clad young gentleman stepped out from the crowd and saluted Li Yan. “May I ask whether Your Highness would be willing to grant me some face and give this maidservant to me?”
Li Yan swept a glance over me. The one he loved was only Qiqi. I was nothing more than an irrelevant existence. And so he said, “She is merely a maidservant. Second Young Master Ji speaks too seriously.”
As soon as those words were spoken, murmurs rippled through the crowd.
Second Young Master Ji — Ji Yu.
So even such a famous figure had come.
He was originally the second legitimate son of the current Son of Heaven of Zhou. Five years ago, his mother, the empress, and his elder brother had been deposed. The Son of Heaven established a new empress, and Ji Yu then left the capital, Luoyi, to travel among the feudal lords.
Ji Yu served no fixed master and was known for his fickleness. He accepted no official post from any state. Whichever state he arrived in, he would offer strategies for that state, most of them related to warfare. It was said that he was gentle and refined, yet sharp-tongued; eloquent, quick-witted, and unmatched in debate. None of the strategies he proposed went unadopted, and none that were adopted failed to produce results.
No one knew how many wars had arisen because of Ji Yu over these years, nor how many states had risen and fallen because of him.
When he raged, the lords trembled. When he rested, the world fell silent.
He was the greatest persuader under heaven.
…
The sedan chair jolted along, and I did not know how long we had travelled before it suddenly stopped. I stepped out of the sedan and saw Ji Yu standing before me. The eight maidservants stood far away to one side. He wore a purple robe of splendour, a gentleman as refined as jade, perfectly living up to his name.
His phoenix eyes curved into an alluring smile, and he saluted me. “Ji Yu greets Your Highness, Ninth Princess.”
I waved my hand. “Only the princess of a fallen state. Your Highness, with your status, you need not salute anyone.”
Ji Yu only smiled without speaking, though there was a faint trace of contempt in that smile.
I was silent for a moment, then asked, “Young Master, why did you save me?”
Ji Yu curved his lips. “Even if I had not saved you, you would have had a way to escape, wouldn’t you? With the princess’s intelligence, it would truly be a pity for you to fall into someone else’s hands.”
I smiled. “My intelligence?”
“Everyone says the Seventh Princess has impressive methods, able to lure four states that were originally allies into killing one another. But the rulers of those four states were not fools. The Seventh Princess was merely the bait. The vast plan behind it all came from your hand, did it not?”
I froze.
Only Qiqi and I knew about this matter. How could he, a man from another state, know?
As if he knew my doubts, he laughed. “Ji has also met the Seventh Princess before. She is indeed a peerless beauty. Unfortunately, Her Highness the Seventh Princess is kind-hearted and inexperienced in worldly affairs. She is merely an ordinary young woman. How could she possess such schemes? As for the Ninth Princess, Ji once heard a friend mention you. Judging from my observations during this period, Your Highness is no ordinary person.”
“So once Qiqi’s matter arose, you began guessing who the true mastermind was behind the scenes. You came to attend this wedding for me, didn’t you?”
“Correct.”
“Your Highness has gone to such effort. What exactly do you want?”
“A maidservant. And also a helper.”
I frowned. “What makes you think I will agree?”
He laughed. “Because the Ninth Princess is a clever person and understands where her interests lie. The water you drank just now was poisoned. There is no way to eradicate this poison completely. Every three months, you must take an antidote. If you fail to take it within five days of the deadline, the poison will flare up and you will die. And I am the only person in the world who knows the antidote.”
Even words of threat sounded light and effortless when spoken by him, calm and open as could be.
But I did not feel angry.
In this world, help without reason had never existed. He could not be considered a gentleman, but at least he was honest in his villainy.
“This servant greets Young Master,” I said, lowering my head and bowing.
There was approval in his smile, but his voice cooled, as though he were stating a fact. “From this moment on, the Ninth Princess is dead. You are the maidservant I received from Jiang Qiqi. You will be called Ah Zhi.”
“Ah Zhi understands.”
I kept my head lowered. In my eyes, there was only the corner of Ji Yu’s robe, deep purple silk embroidered with hidden patterns of drifting clouds.
Drifting clouds, bygone affairs — all pass like smoke before the eyes. Everything in this world becomes no more than a few lines of ink in the history books. The Grand Astrologer of Qi used to say this to me often.
From this day on, there would be no Jiang Jiuqing in the world.
Nor would anyone ever again softly call me “Jiujiu.”
Jiang Jiuqing was buried together with the state of Qi beneath the dust, silent and unseen. One day, if someone idly recalled the past of Qi, they would remember the beauty Jiang Qiqi, the four states turning against one another, and yet another story of a man who loved beauty more than his empire.
No one would know that at the wedding banquet that shook the world, a woman named Jiang Jiuqing died.
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