Extra: Grass Beneath the Prince’s Eaves
Shui Rong first met Daiyu amid the snow and wind on the night before the Rongguo Mansion was seized.
Clutching a book of poetry at the edge of the flames, she was like an orchid on the verge of breaking.
“Come with me.” He took off his sable coat and wrapped it around her shivering shoulders. “At least you’ll live.”
He gave her fine clothes, delicious food, and all the love she could want, but day after day, she remained silent.
Until, in the most secluded courtyard of the prince’s residence, she traced a line of poetry in the dirt with her finger:
“I am a plant, unworthy of a noble house.”
Shui Rong suddenly understood. The one he had imprisoned was no songbird in a gilded cage, but a free spirit who would rather wither in a wildfire.
That night, he smashed the jade bangle he had meant to use to keep her captive and opened the vermilion gates.
“Go. Into the snow and wind you long for.”
For the first time, she smiled at him, gently placing a grass seed in his palm.
“It will grow into a spring you’ve never known.”
