A Wish Gone Awry

A Fall from Grace, Against All Expectations (Coming Soon) Pei Yuheng would always remember that afternoon: holding the two crookedly written characters he had scrawled down, he secretly passed the note to Xiao Jingcheng in class. He was fifteen then, the heir to the Marquis of Dingyuan's household, while Xiao Jingcheng was only twelve, an unfavored prince. A few years older and charmed by Xiao Jingcheng's fair, well-behaved looks, Pei Yuheng was always finding new ways to tease him. “Jingcheng, how do you read these two characters?” Pei Yuheng asked, holding the crumpled note in front of the little prince as he studied, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. Xiao Jingcheng looked up and blinked his clear eyes. He wore the simple, pale-moon-colored robes of a prince, his hair loosely pinned with a jade hairpin. He looked even younger than he was. “Spring... palace...” Xiao Jingcheng read, only realizing something was wrong after he finished…