Chapter Two: The Eldest Daughter of the Lu Family

Feng Jinye silently turned and entered the study. Dressed in black, Ye Eleven appeared, and Feng Jinye gave a single command: “Investigate.”

It was nearly midnight when Ye Eleven finally handed a report to Feng Jinye in the study, only to find their master waiting for him to deliver the findings. In Ye Eleven’s experience, the new princess was the only person in two years to draw their master’s attention. The Shadow Guard had spent those years solely protecting the War King, never diverted by other matters; this was the sole exception, making Ye Eleven believe that this princess was anything but ordinary.

He presented the report. Feng Jinye’s cold, clear eyes swept over Ye Eleven. Incredibly, Ye Eleven, usually immune to chills, sensed the master’s anger.

For two years, Feng Jinye had not realized that the Shadow Guards in the prince's residence were not the least bit afraid of him, and he had grown accustomed to this illusion.

Feng Jinye paid it little mind and opened the report in his hands.

Lu Qianyu, daughter of Lu Qin, the eldest son of Duke Lu Meng, born to Lu Qin’s wife, Lady Li; she and her sister Lu Yanran were twins, and she has an elder brother named Lu Liyuan.

When Lu Qianyu was three, her aunt Lu Yao, estranged from Lady Li, abducted her. Lu Qianyu became the daughter of Lu Yao and Weishao Zhantian, taking the name Weishao Qianyu.

At six, a cousin from her aunt Lin’s family sought to betroth her, but Lu Yao refused.

At six and a half, she lost her mother.

At eleven, in Luan City, she was rumored to have fallen in love with Lin Yichu.

At sixteen, she left Li City for Guanlin.

At seventeen, she returned to Duke Lu’s residence, and Weishao Qianyu resumed her identity as Lu Qianyu.

At eighteen, she married the War King.

Feng Jinye sat in silence, unable to dispel the image of those eyes from his mind. Lu Qianyu was certainly not simple.

In the bridal chamber, Weishao Qianyu surveyed her surroundings. The distance from the main hall to the bridal suite was neither near nor far, a telling sign that Feng Jinye regarded his princess as dispensable. Smiling resolutely into the mirror, her gaze unwavering, she whispered, “Feng Jinye, I have returned. I will help you recover every memory!”

Weishao Qianyu called Qingxia into the room. A shadow slipped silently into Qinglan Court, but Weishao Qianyu ignored it, allowing Qingxia to remove the hairpins and jewelry from her high coiffure.

Qingxia, ever worried, gazed at her mistress’s face, heart aching once more. “Your Highness, when will that scar finally disappear?”

Whenever anyone asked about the scar on her face, Weishao Qianyu would always reply mildly, “It will heal.”

Her maids, loyal and true, trusted her word without question, believing her scar would recover. Qingxia, ever fretful, grew more anxious since the marriage, concerned about her mistress’s face.

Weishao Qianyu understood Qingxia’s worries. Now that she had married into the War King’s residence, she could not keep her face veiled forever and needed to remove the scar quickly. She glanced at the shadowed corners and softly said, “Someone will bring the medicine soon.”

Lu Yanran emerged from the shadows. “You knew I was here!”

Weishao Qianyu raised her hand to remove the last hairpin, recalling how Feng Jinye had mistaken Lu Yanran for the bride earlier. A trace of displeasure flickered in her eyes as she turned to Lu Yanran. “What do you want?”

Lu Yanran, dissatisfied with Weishao Qianyu’s elegant, unconventional bearing, let out a cold snort. “What right have you to act as princess? I was the one granted the marriage. Why should you enter the War King’s residence?”

Qingxia, fiercely protective, could not tolerate Lu Yanran’s shouting at her mistress. “Second Miss Lu, do you really dare marry into the prince’s household? What reputation do you have in Yue City? Married once, birthed a child—do you not know your own circumstances?”

Lu Yanran knew she was damaged goods, having married and borne a child, but still believed she far surpassed Weishao Qianyu, whom she saw as an ugly impostor. “Even if I have married and borne a child, I am still Lu’s legitimate daughter! She, Weishao Qianyu, is a counterfeit!”

“You shameless creature…” Qingxia, furious, drew her sword, ready to confront Lu Yanran, but Weishao Qianyu stopped her. “I am not the legitimate daughter of the Lu family…”

She deliberately emphasized the word “princess,” her tone light but the implication heavy, making Lu Yanran flush crimson with anger.

Weishao Qianyu paused, glanced at Lu Yanran’s flushed face, and laughed softly. “But my title as princess is genuine!”

“You heard it. Feng Jinye knows I am not Lu Yanran!” Around Qinglan Court, the Shadow Guards gasped as the new princess openly called the War King by name.

“Yes, but he doesn’t mind that it’s me!” Lu Yanran refused to accept her fate. She needed this opportunity. Her life had been ruined, and the imperial edict had given her hope. How could she resign herself to defeat?

“So, what do you want?” Weishao Qianyu, unrested from the previous night and rising early for her wedding, was now irritated by Lu Yanran’s intrusion and had no patience for further argument.

Upon appearing, Lu Yanran was immediately asked what she wanted, but she refused to state her purpose directly, instead spinning elaborate tales to claim she was the righteous party, seeking justification for her actions.

Lu Yanran knew the marriage between the Duke’s residence and the War King’s household was a bizarre affair, but since Feng Jinye accepted it, he would not care who came from the Duke’s house. Thus, she believed she could claim the title of War King’s princess.

Suddenly, Lu Yanran became aggressive, swirling her long sleeves to produce a broken dagger from her cuff, clutching it as she approached Weishao Qianyu, pressing the blade to her throat. “Leave the War King's residence and give me the princess’s position—or I’ll slit your throat!”

A faint, mocking smile curved Weishao Qianyu’s lips. She looked at Lu Yanran’s broken blade as if it were nothing, seized Lu Yanran’s left hand, twisted it expertly, and with a sharp crack, spoke coldly: “Let that be another lesson to you!”

Lu Yanran’s face turned ashen, stunned and unable to react. Qingxia recognized that Lu Yanran had been overwhelmed by her mistress’s aura; how many could remain unfazed with a dagger pressed to their throat and still break the attacker’s hand?

Weishao Qianyu calmly walked to the dressing table, sat down, and began to remove her makeup, then instructed Qingxia, “Prepare the bathwater.”

Soon, several maids carried water into the room, and Qingxia assisted Weishao Qianyu in bathing. Only then did Weishao Qianyu speak: “Set her up in the side courtyard.”

“Miss, you know she’s full of malice. Why not just drive her out?” Qingxia objected to keeping Lu Yanran, convinced she was nothing but trouble.

“She can’t harm me. Keeping her may prove useful,” Weishao Qianyu sighed quietly, closed her eyes, and focused on her bath.

Qingxia understood her mistress had her own calculations but couldn’t help but nag. “Miss, you’re thinking she bears Lu family blood, and has also given birth to someone from Aunt Weishao’s line. But you’ve tolerated her so many times, and still she’s ungrateful, always seeking to trouble you. I dislike her, and don’t wish for you to keep her!”

As Qingxia spoke, Weishao Qianyu remembered that in this world, only three people related to her father remained: three with Weishao blood—herself, her aunt Weishao Zhuhai, and Lu Yanran’s son, Lin Rui.

Lu Yanran had been taken as a child by spies from Xiyan and raised in the former Prime Minister’s residence. Three years ago, the ex-Prime Minister, wishing to secure Lin Yichu, married Lu Yanran to him. After a year of marriage, when Lin Rui was born, Lu Qin and his wife came to claim their kin. Lu Yanran abandoned her month-old son and resolutely returned to the Duke’s residence.

At that time, Lin Yichu had just died, and Weishao Qianyu took in her aunt Weishao Zhuhai and Lin Rui at the Weishao General’s residence.