Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Merely a Title

After autumn arrived, sudden rains grew frequent.

Sheng Zhi Wan stood beneath the covered walkway of Pinglan Residence, watching delicate drops weave a curtain of pearls before her eyes.

“Princess, the Heir has stood outside for an entire day and night. His old injuries haven’t healed yet, and now he’s soaked by the rain. If he falls ill and cannot attend tomorrow’s imperial award ceremony, what shall we do?”

“Besides, it was someone else’s strategic scheming that caused him to be involved with that farm girl. Even if only for his sincere repentance, what harm is there in accepting her?”

“In any case, she’s just a common village woman. How could she ever be more honored than you? At most, we could place her in a small courtyard to keep her out of sight.”

Huan Zhu, the head palace maid, chattered anxiously behind her.

After a long silence, Sheng Zhi Wan suddenly turned around.

In her past life, it was exactly because she had listened to Huan Zhu’s advice that she had welcomed that village girl Meng Yang into her home. But what had come of it?

Meng Yang transformed from a mistreated village girl into Madam Meng, owner of prosperous shops throughout the capital. Later, as the Heir’s beloved concubine, she lavishly gave away her wealth to aid disaster victims, earning praises from all around, eventually receiving imperial favor to become an equal wife.

Until finally, Meng Yang, heavily pregnant, visited Sheng Zhi Wan—then gravely ill, beyond cure, and reduced to common status because of jealousy.

“Princess, do you know why you’ve always been childless, bedridden and ill?”

“You should have realized long ago, yet you refused to see it.”

“Now, at the end, I will enlighten you: It was Shu Xian who said you owed me a child’s life, and you must repay this debt with barrenness. That is why he always wore a specially prepared fragrant pouch whenever he visited you.”

“Breathing its scent day after day, how could you ever conceive?”

Sheng Zhi Wan could still vividly recall Meng Yang’s scarlet robe from that day.

Indeed, by then Qi Shu Xian was no longer the desperate Heir who needed her support to stand firm in the Imperial City. He now commanded a hundred thousand troops, ranked first among officials, his anger alone forcing even her Imperial Father to strip her title.

Who in the capital dared whisper a single word when his beloved wore the forbidden scarlet?

Thinking this, Sheng Zhi Wan’s lips curved into a cold, mocking smile.

Until finally, she let out an abrupt laugh.

Huan Zhu was puzzled by her sudden laughter. “Princess, why do you laugh? Have you finally changed your mind? Indeed, this isn’t entirely the Heir’s fault.”

Sheng Zhi Wan listened, carefully studying this maid she had trusted for over twenty years in her last life.

Had she already fallen for Qi Shu Xian so early?

Otherwise, how could she worry so deeply about him standing in the rain for merely a day and night?

“Let’s go. Accompany this Princess to see the Heir.”

“Yes, Princess!” Huan Zhu’s eyes brightened immediately.

…

Before her death, Sheng Zhi Wan hadn’t seen Qi Shu Xian for almost a year.

Even when she dragged her sickly body to prepare soup with her own hands and sent it to his study courtyard, she could only hear faint laughter within and the cold rejection of a guard: “The Right Prime Minister is busy, Madam. Please return.”

Yet today, that man whom she had struggled to glimpse even once, stood drenched in the rain. Beside him was a delicate young woman in coarse clothing, pale with worry, gently persuading him to leave.

Sheng Zhi Wan raised a hand, and the servants carrying her sedan instantly halted.

Huan Zhu spat angrily, “Shameless lowly wretch! How dare someone of her kind touch the Heir! Princess, this maidservant will teach her a lesson immediately!”

Without waiting for Sheng Zhi Wan’s reply, she marched straight toward the pair.

Sheng Zhi Wan laughed softly once more.

Only when Huan Zhu’s crisp, fierce slap landed on Meng Yang’s face did the pair seem to notice Sheng Zhi Wan, turning to look at her simultaneously.

Qi Shu Xian instinctively shielded Meng Yang behind him. “Zhi Wan, it is my fault, not hers.”

“She suffers because of me! You always said a woman’s life is difficult. If someone of her status isn’t married by me, you’d be forcing her to her death. Can you bear to watch her die?”

“It’s only a title. I promise, I’ll never see her again!” The handsome young man’s back was straight, proud and firm.

Meng Yang covered her reddened cheek, gazing blankly at his protective back.

Through the curtain of rain, she saw the exquisitely poised woman seated upon the elaborate sedan chair. Everything around the princess radiated elegance, and her own presence felt like a speck of mud staining such splendor.

“Merely a title? Do you know that this single title could turn me into a laughingstock throughout the entire capital?” Sheng Zhi Wan’s nails dug deeply into her palm.

Back then, to receive an imperial decree of marriage, she had knelt outside Purple Radiance Hall for three full days and nights, even threatening death through starvation. At that time, Duke Qi’s manor had already fallen from grace, not even dignity remained. Everyone mocked her—a grand princess losing all reason over a mere man.

Yet she didn’t care, only thinking of him.

But the result…

Truly laughable indeed!

Qi Shu Xian frowned with disapproval. “What does reputation matter compared to a human life?”

“Heh,” Sheng Zhi Wan shifted her gaze to Meng Yang behind him. “And you? If I gave you enough silver to live comfortably for the rest of your life, would you still insist on becoming his concubine?”

Her voice wasn’t loud nor accusatory, yet that simple question struck Meng Yang like a heavy hammer, causing her to sway unsteadily before regaining her balance.

“I… this common woman… this common woman begs Princess for mercy. Having lost my innocence, if I don’t marry him, my father and family will beat me to death.”

Meng Yang’s small face was deathly pale as she knelt trembling in the rain.

Sheng Zhi Wan lowered her eyes. “Since that is so—Huan Zhu, fetch Imperial Physician Song and have him prepare a dose of infertility medicine.”