"Does the wound still hurt?"
"It does." Su Jing nodded with great seriousness.
Shen Yuan's chest tightened.
"Kiss me and it won't hurt anymore."
She gazed up at him with enormous, glistening eyes.
"Your Highness, please be serious. I mean it."
"So do I. Brother Shen, lie down with me. Just for a little while."
She shifted carefully toward the wall, making room.
* * *
Shen Yuan sighed, slipped off his shoes, and lay down beside her. They faced each other, barely a hand's width apart.
Sleep was the last thing on Su Jing's mind. She studied him—the elegant taper of his phoenix eyes, the straight line of his nose, the clean scent of soapberry on his skin—and decided she would be more than content if time stopped right here.
No revenge. No scheming. No knives in the dark and no running for her life.
A long silence.
"Your Highness, are you asleep?"
"Yes!" She grinned, eyes still shut, twin dimples denting her cheeks.
Shen Yuan's lips curved. Gently, he gathered her into his arms.
"Your Highness?"
"Mm?"
His chin settled on her shoulder. He smiled, but said nothing.
"Your Highness?"
"I'm here."
She answered with patient warmth.
"I love you."
Su Jing opened her eyes. His gaze met hers—reverent, blazing.
"I love you. Until death, and not a moment less."
Each word fell from his lips like a vow carved in stone. Sunlight slanted through the window, gilding the side of his face, and Su Jing lost herself in the sight of him.
This has to be a dream.
No. Not even dreams are this beautiful.
* * *
Once the last veil between them was torn away, every day that followed dripped with honey.
Shen Yuan became Su Jing's shadow. Wherever she went, he was half a step behind—ruffling her hair, pinching her cheek, or simply staring at her with an intensity that bordered on unsettling.
Su Jing drank it in. She grew more spoiled by the day, milking her injuries shamelessly—insisting he carry her the ten steps from bed to desk.
"Yuan-Yuan, carry me." She waggled her feet and stretched both arms toward him.
By now Shen Yuan had grown long accustomed to the rotating cast of endearments—Brother Shen, Yuan-Yuan, Ah-Yuan, darling, husband—and scooped her up without breaking stride, pressing a kiss to her cheek on the way.
"Brother Shen's shamelessness reaches new heights every day." Su Jing giggled.
"All credit goes to Your Highness's excellent instruction." He kept a straight face.
The days flowed past like a river, and before they knew it, the day of the marriage alliance had arrived.
The old emperor was generous, at least in parting gifts: a dowry of silks and jewels loaded onto more than a dozen carts, nearly a hundred servants and maids, all of it stretching into an impressive procession.
"Father, once I leave, I cannot say when we will meet again. I swear I will not fail my mission." Su Jing delivered the line with the flawless sincerity of a veteran actress.
The emperor managed a few tears and waved her off.
* * *
The moment Su Jing ducked inside the palanquin, a pair of hands seized her waist and pulled her into a warm embrace.
"Who dares lay hands on me? Guards! Guards!" She feigned outrage.
"My name is Shen Yuan. I have admired the princess from afar for some time and have come to offer my services. Would Your Highness do me the honor?"
Shen Yuan played along with theatrical relish.
"Fine. You're pretty enough, I suppose. I'll bundle you up and take you with me."
"Your Highness is most gracious."
* * *
The marriage procession lurched and swayed for nearly a month. Just as they neared their destination, word arrived that Princess Sheng'an and Wu Qi's wedding day had come.
Wu Qi galloped back from the frontier. There was nothing of a groom's joy in his face.
He lay awake night after night, gnawed by the certainty that something had gone wrong and was hurtling toward catastrophe.
On the wedding night, he stumbled through the banquet hall full of guests, pushed open the bridal chamber door, and found his bride in a phoenix crown and ceremonial robe, waiting beneath the crimson veil.
He smiled. Lifted the cloth.
Princess Sheng'an raised her head to gaze at her husband, and blushed. Candlelight trembled across the room, painting everything in warm, flickering red.
"Who are you?"
Wu Qi blinked through the haze. The bride's face swam before him, unrecognizable.
"Has the General had too much to drink? I am Princess Sheng'an, of course. You are my Prince Consort." Sheng'an laughed, reaching for the clasps of his robe.
"Sheng'an. Sheng'an."
Wu Qi murmured the name. His hand closed around hers.
"Does the princess truly love me?"
Sheng'an's cheeks blazed. She nodded.
Wu Qi laughed softly, drew her into his arms, his lips drifting closer and closer.
She closed her eyes, feeling his breath warm against her skin.
"Then the princess wouldn't mind dying for me."
* * *
Sheng'an's eyes flew open. Before her mind could catch up, his hands twisted. The crack of her neck was the last sound she ever heard.
The bridal gown pooled around her crumpled form. Sheng'an's face froze in an expression of pure terror.
She died with her eyes wide open.
Wu Qi laughed, low and guttural, eyes burning red—a demon crawled fresh from hell.
He remembered.
Everything from the last life. Every detail.
How Su Jing had died in front of him. How Shen Yuan had carved him apart, piece by screaming piece.
Stop playing games, Jing.
It doesn't matter how many lifetimes we live. Heaven or hell, you are my wife.
So I'm coming for you. And you will say you were wrong. You will say you love only me. You will say you will never, ever leave.
* * *
"Your Highness, it's urgent! Wu Qi has rebelled! He's imprisoned His Majesty and is demanding ten cities in exchange for your return!" A shadow guard arrived at top speed.
"What? How is this possible?"
Su Jing tore the bridal veil from her head, face white with shock.
In the last life, Wu Qi hadn't turned traitor until three years later. What had changed so drastically?
"Don't be afraid, Your Highness. The old Shen network runs deep inside the palace. We won't let Wu Qi succeed." Shen Yuan squeezed her hand.
* * *
Su Jing steadied her breathing and settled on a plan. At this point, everything rested on Jia Xiche.
The wedding day.
Jia Xiche staggered in, dead drunk, propped up by servants. He collapsed onto the bridal bed without so much as glancing at Su Jing in her jeweled headdress, and began to snore.
"They say the Prince of Qi can drink a thousand cups without wavering. It seems Your Highness's talent for feigning drunkenness is truly first-rate."
Su Jing chuckled and lifted the veil from her own head.
Jia Xiche's body twitched. He sat bolt upright, eyes sharp and clear—not a trace of alcohol anywhere on him.
"Princess Cheng'an is as perceptive as they say. I'll be blunt: women hold no appeal for me. Never have. But I will give you everything a proper queen deserves. We can live together in peace."
Su Jing studied his face. Something about it nagged at her.
"Oh! You're Huai'en's mother! I found your baby—remember?"
The ice on Jia Xiche's face shattered. He recognized the girl from the market and opened his mouth without a sound. The silence was excruciating.
"Er—about that…" He scratched the back of his head.
"You don't have to explain. I understand. You're in love with your shadow guard, and the child is adopted, yes? That's wonderful—you two must be so happy together…" Su Jing leaned forward, her voice climbing with each syllable until it nearly cracked.
* * *
Killing intent flared in Jia Xiche's eyes. In one motion, his hand closed around Su Jing's throat.
"Who told you? How much do you know?"
A lean shadow dropped from the ceiling beam, a short blade pressed to Jia Xiche's neck.
"Release the princess!" Shen Yuan's voice was a blade of its own.
A black-clad figure crashed through the window, sword leveled at Shen Yuan. "Touch the prince and I'll leave you in pieces!" the shadow guard snarled.
"Excuse me—are we playing a chain game here?" Su Jing cleared her throat.
"Everyone, calm down. We're all family. No need for hostilities."
"Who is family with him?!"
All three spoke in unison.
Su Jing: …
One breath. Two. Then, one by one, blades slid back into sheaths.
Su Jing scurried to Shen Yuan's side, looped her arm through his, and turned to Jia Xiche.
"Your Highness, no more pretenses. This is my lover."
Jia Xiche choked so hard his face went purple.
This is the first time someone has cuckolded me to my face on my own wedding night.
To even the score, he cleared his throat and drawled, "Well, who doesn't have someone on the side?"
He shot a pointed glance at his shadow guard, turning the fearsome young man into a blushing wreck.
She's bold. And he's shameless. We're going to get along just fine.
"Your Highness, since we're both being honest, let me send everyone away so you and I can discuss a subject I'm certain will interest you." Su Jing smiled.
Jia Xiche nodded. The shadow guard and Shen Yuan withdrew.