CHAPTER 355: CHAPTER 353: HER ZHAOZHAO IS A BEAUTY’S BLADE

"Because I don’t look good..." Shen Xinya lowered her head in sorrow, "They all say I don’t look good..."

Tears dripped down one after another.

She knelt by the riverbank, sobbing pitiably and inconsolably.

Lu Ying frowned slightly.

After a while, he finally said, "Not terribly ugly."

His gaze landed on her pomegranate red silk skirt, paused for a moment, and added, "Your pomegranate skirt is quite pretty."

Shen Xinya suddenly lifted her tear-streaked face, staring at him in disbelief.

He was the first young man to ever tell her she wasn’t ugly.

And he even praised her skirt for being beautiful!

Her heart skipped a beat at that moment, and her cheeks flushed red as blood. She completely forgot the coldness of her soaked body, as if the entire world around her lit up. It was the first time in her life that she truly felt the bustling warmth and brilliance of spring’s blooming flowers.

She tightly clenched the edge of her skirt, her gaze sweeping over the dragon-engraved jade pendant hanging at his waist, and asked in surprise, "Are you the Fourth Prince?"

"Mm."

"I... I am the daughter of the Shen Family..." Shen Yunxi bit her lip shyly. "Thank you for saving me."

Lu Ying stood up: "You look fine now. I’ll be taking my leave."

"Eh?"

She wanted to say more, but Lu Ying had already walked away.

Later, when she heard news of Lu Ying again, he had already become the Crown Prince.

She quietly rejoiced for him and even donated oil money at a temple for his sake.

Later still, she heard that Lu Ying was engaged to a daughter of the Shen Family. She thought that her years of waiting and secret longing were finally about to be fulfilled, that Lu Ying was finally coming to marry her.

But who would have expected that the person Lu Ying wanted to marry was actually her cousin Shen Yinning!

Shen Yinning often wore pomegranate red silk skirts, and people praised her for looking beautiful in them. Yet they didn’t know that the first daughter of the Shen Family to wear a pomegranate skirt was Shen Xinya. She suspected that the Crown Prince had mistaken identities because of the pomegranate skirt, believing Shen Yinning was her, especially since she hadn’t given him her name back then.

Or perhaps, Shen Yinning had deliberately found out about her past with the Crown Prince and wore the pomegranate skirt in front of him to impersonate her, cunningly seizing her chance for marriage.

She hated it deeply.

Born the lowly daughter of a concubine, Shen Yunxi had already stolen everything from her in the family. Her only hope was to marry Lu Ying.

But Shen Yinning had stolen her one and only hope!

These two wretched women deserved to die!

Fortunately, everything could still be turned around now!

She had returned to the Crown Prince’s side and was determined to make him remember that the little girl who fell into the water back then was her, Shen Xinya. The pomegranate skirt maiden he couldn’t forget was also her, Shen Xinya!

The Cold Palace, a black stone hall.

Shen Xinya set down the ink stick and used a handkerchief to clean her fingertips.

She wasn’t sure how to explain the events of that year to Lu Ying. If she spoke too bluntly, it would seem overly contrived. Such matters were best discovered by the individual himself—it would be more shocking, unforgettable, and fill his heart with guilt towards her.

After some deliberation, she said respectfully, "To be honest, Your Highness, to my brother, I am just a weight he added against you. But for me, I am willingly here in the Cold Palace to serve you. I do not care about your status; as long as I can stay by your side, I am completely content."

Lu Ying felt a wave of irritation.

After enduring Shen Yinning’s betrayal, he didn’t want to be involved with any woman anymore.

He glanced at her coldly.

He vaguely remembered saving a girl from the Shen Family when he was younger. It seemed to be this very girl.

Back then, the girl was terribly melodramatic—barely surviving a near-death experience, she didn’t care about her own body nor did she thank him. Instead, she melodramatically begged him to close his eyes, crying pitifully that she wasn’t pretty.

At the time, he thought, like a drowned rat, compared with the impeccably elegant elder daughter of the Shen Family, she was indeed unattractive.

But out of his innate royal upbringing, he still said she wasn’t terribly ugly.

Later, he noticed the pomegranate skirt she had on.

She was small and frail, with sallow and thin features—she couldn’t quite carry off the skirt. At that moment, he inexplicably thought of Shen Yinning, imagining how beautiful she would look in that skirt.

And so, he praised the girl’s pomegranate skirt as being beautiful.

The girl inexplicably perked up, as if fueled by boundless energy, and suddenly stopped crying.

That was the sole impression he ever had of Shen Xinya.

He retracted his gaze, rolled up a ruined sheet of rice paper, and casually said, "You refuse to leave?"

Shen Xinya’s eyes were resolute: "I have decided to follow Your Highness. Whether it be sweeping the steps or cooking and washing clothes, I am willing to serve you. I know words mean nothing; I will use time and actions to prove my determination to Your Highness."

Having heard this much, Lu Ying understood that this woman couldn’t be driven away.

He tossed the wadded paper aside: "Your sister needs someone to attend to her. Since you wish to stay, go take care of her."

Shen Xinya froze.

Soon, she bit her lip in grievance, her gaze filled with unspoken emotion as she looked at Lu Ying.

But ultimately, she said nothing. Rising, she bowed respectfully and said, "Rest assured, Your Highness, I will certainly take good care of my sister."

She thought, if she suffered enough grievance and harm at Shen Yunxi’s hands, then when Lu Ying eventually learned that she was the pomegranate skirt maiden he had admired in his youth, he would surely hate Shen Yunxi and Shen Yinning all the more—and cherish her even more deeply.

So she let a resilient expression bloom on her face—like a small white flower that braved the storm—and resolutely exited the main hall.

Soon after came the day of Lu Zhengliu’s crown prince ascension ceremony.

When Shen Yinning entered the palace to attend the ceremony, she noticed the unusually festive atmosphere within the palace. Red carpets were laid across several main pathways, the palace’s glazed eaves adorned with newly refurbished lanterns of various colors, even the unnamed small trees along the paths were hung with red ribbons and lanterns. Palace maids and eunuchs carried the Emperor’s rewards, passing through the palace alleys towards Consort Zhang’s quarters. The procession was so long it stretched beyond sight.

The Emperor granted amnesty to the six palaces and pardoned the entire nation, leaving the Imperial Palace immersed in joy and celebration.

She remembered when Lu Ying was crowned Crown Prince—you’d hardly call it a celebration. It was just a simple formality.

She curved her lips into a smile: "The old Emperor really does play favorites."

Xue Mianmian followed by her side, her doe-like moist eyes gazing at her, murmuring, "Zhaozhao, I think the deposed Crown Prince is quite pitiful..."

His mother passed away early, his maternal clan far away beyond the Northwest Pass.

He struggled to claim the position of successor, only to have the girl he loved personally pull him down from it.

Shen Yinning raised her brows: "What’s with that look? As if I bullied him? I had no choice—he insisted on protecting Shen Yunxi and the Shen Family. Furthermore, he treated me so cruelly before. This is simply justice served."

She hadn’t forgotten those few months after returning to the capital from Gan State, how hard she had fought to survive under Lu Ying’s thumb.

She still remembered being locked in that sealed chamber!

Xue Mianmian sighed softly.

Her Zhaozhao was like a blade cloaked in beauty—gentle and understanding on the surface, yet every cut was fatal.

"But you’ve reminded me," Shen Yinning glanced towards the Cold Palace, "I should go pay him a visit."