I took a sip. The moment it passed my throat, fire. It scraped down to my stomach and spread there, raw and burning. My tolerance for wine was nothing to brag about—and yet I drank the whole cup in one go, wanting somehow to prove I could. Too fast. I choked, and tears came with it. I reached up to wipe them away and found I couldn't. More kept coming, tracking down my face without stopping.
I stopped trying. I let them fall, refilled the cup to the brim, and drained it too. By the second cup, a light, unsteady feeling had settled behind my eyes.
Drinking alone in a quiet room was painfully dull. I picked up the jar and pushed to my feet—a little carefully—crossed to the railing, and leaned on it with my elbows, resting my chin on one hand.
Below, a table of men pressed cup after cup on each other in loud, good-spirited rounds. Something relaxed in my chest watching them. Watching them, I almost felt the warmth settle in my own belly. I was almost enjoying the scene when they began to stir and rise, clearly done for the evening.
I straightened and hurried—steadied myself as quickly as I could manage—down the stairs. "Don't leave, friends!" I said. "Stay and drink."
They looked at me blankly. One of them collected himself first. "Miss, that's a fine thing to say, but if we take your advice and stay, does that mean you're buying?"
I hooked the corner of my mouth up. I was not entirely steady on my feet but I managed to make it to the cashier's counter. I slapped a banknote on the surface, turned my head, and said with my best approximation of breezy composure, "Tonight's bill, any table in this house. It's on me."
Everyone stared.
A restaurant was not a tavern. There was no shouting, no applause—just that table of men grinning wide. One of them said: "Now there's some nerve, miss! But we can't let a young woman pay for our drinks. Say we treat tonight instead. We'll play host, and you can join us."
I didn't argue. I sat down with them, poured from my jar into their cups, and said, "Since you're treating tonight, next time it's mine."
I raised my cup toward theirs—a loose, informal toast—and drank.
"Miss, you're here alone, drinking," one of them said. "Something weighing on you?"
I set the cup down. My throat was dry with wine. "Nothing grave. I just learned I'm the faithless one, and not a breath later I ran into a faithless man." I let out a short breath. "What a farce."
Another at the table said heavily, "Unfaithful men—no one tops that one particular man."
A round of sighs went through the table. Someone refilled everyone's cups to the brim. The man who had been talking lowered his voice. "You've heard the old saying, right? As long as Zhao's two pillars stand, the northern Di tribes won't dare move."
I pressed two fingers against my temple. "I know General Qin is called one pillar of Zhao. I didn't know there were two."
He knocked back half his cup before answering. "One pillar is General Qin. The other was Prince Yan."
Prince Yan.
The name had never reached me before tonight. And yet it hit something inside me like a hand gripping a nerve. My temples started to throb. I forced the ache down before it could spread.
"He started in the rivers and lakes. Wandered with a sword, then walked into court like he was born there. When Zhao was tearing itself apart, he held the line with General Qin. That's how people remember it."
The speaker swirled his drink, staring into it. "Then came the accusation. Treason. Whole Tao household executed. To this day, no one at this table believes he betrayed the throne."
He trailed off and tipped his cup at another man, who picked up the thread with a long exhale. "Prince Yan had one daughter. About your age, if she'd lived. Five years ago he held a Spring Betrothal Banquet for her—half the capital's eligible sons showed up."
The wine's second wave was coming for me. The room blurred and tilted. But the man's voice stayed crisp and clear even as everything else went soft. And on those words, I remembered a dream—a warmhearted woman holding my hand and saying, all the finest men of Zhao are here; the one who has lived so long in your thoughts will surely be among them.
"And out of all of them, she chose wrong," he said, jaw tight. "Minister Song's son. The man who's now Deputy Minister. She chose him on the spot, and the match was set. They were to marry the next year."
Song Yinmo. It was Song Yinmo. Tears gathered at my lashes and fell, gone without a sound into my robe. That night when we said everything to each other, Song Yinmo told me he had a prior engagement—arranged by his father on his behalf, one he had no wish to honour.
I had been too full of happiness to ask the question that mattered: if you never wanted it, never agreed to it—why did you go along? Why let a match be made only to betray her?
Another man leaned in, voice rough with drink. "Less than half a month later, Prince Yan was accused of trying to kill the emperor. Ministry of Justice pushed the case. Emperor signed. Tao family was condemned."
He drank, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and went on. "People in the rivers and lakes still say Minister Song built that case himself to cut the Yan line clean. And the son?" He gave a humorless laugh. "He went to the execution ground with his father. Drew his own bow. Shot the girl he was meant to marry."
The pain at my temples went sharp. Cold sweat broke across my forehead. My hands had balled into fists in my lap—I could feel the fingernails cutting. Song Yinmo had said the engagement didn't count. He'd said her family had suffered some misfortune, that no one was left, that when someone was gone, a promise died with them—it couldn't be called betrayal. But if what this man was saying was true—what kind of man holds a bow and calls it no betrayal?
[Translator's Note (T/N):] OMG! What is going to happen next?! 😱
I know, I know, this is an evil cliffhanger! But don't worry, you don't have to suffer and wait for the daily updates!
✨ WANT TO READ THE REST OF THE STORY RIGHT NOW? ✨
The FULL, 100% COMPLETED novel is already waiting for you in my VIP Library!
🏃♀️💨 Skip the wait and binge-read the ending here:
patreon . com / SleeplessTranslations (Remove the spaces to visit!)
🔍 Or simply download the Patreon App and search for my name: [ SleeplessTranslations ]