Zhu Yiyun had loved her cousin, to whom she had been betrothed since childhood, for as long as she could remember. She adored her refined manners and gentle, jade-like warmth.
Until the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, when she carried a huge bouquet of flowers to see her beloved, full of excitement, only to hear her discussing her with someone else.
"She's an idiot, nowhere near as good as anyone else."
"I wonder when we can call off the engagement."
Zhu Yiyun listened silently from the shadows. An hour later, she walked up to her cousin, tossed aside the carefully prepared bouquet, and calmly said:
"Cousin, let's break off our engagement."
Her cousin: ?
Her cousin tried to chase after her, but then heard that an honored guest had arrived in the front hall.
She changed course and hurried to welcome the guest, but the guest brushed past her and went straight to Zhu Yiyun, picking up the flowers from the ground.
"Such lovely flowers. What a shame to waste them." Gu Lan's voice was as low and cool as ice-jade.
The maid behind her caught on at once, took the flowers, and carried them away to put in a vase.
The honored guest kept her eyes lowered, listening casually as those around her smiled and showered her with flattery, as though nothing in the world mattered to her.
Her presence was so formidable that Zhu Yiyun felt a jolt of unease.
As the guest was leaving, Zhu Yiyun finally got a clear look at her eyes:
A hawk swooping down on a rabbit, certain of its prize, as easily as reaching into a bag to take something out.
*
A month later, her cousin placed third in the imperial examination.
The day after the results were posted, she knocked on Zhu Yiyun's door, hoping to win her cousin's affection back.
But another figure emerged from inside.
"Yiyun," Gu Lan said. "I've finished my tea."
Her cousin was shocked and delighted. She hurriedly addressed Gu Lan as "Your Highness, Heir Apparent," and shook her hand three times. "I had no idea Your Highness and my cousin were acquainted!"
Gu Lan didn't spare her a glance. She took out a handkerchief and wiped her hand, then put an arm around Zhu Yiyun's shoulders and asked with a faint, teasing smile, "My wife, who is she...?"
Looking at her cousin, who had suddenly frozen, Zhu Yiyun leaned into Gu Lan's arms.
Calmly, she said, "An old acquaintance who broke off our engagement."
*
Gu Lan, the second heir of Prince Duan's household, was famous throughout the realm and known as the "Cold-Faced King of Hell."
"Anyone who enters Prince Duan's household is in for trouble. She's so ruthless when interrogating prisoners. How could she know how to treat someone gently?" The young women of the capital gossiped among themselves.
Zhu Yiyun joined in, but in her mind, she saw the scene from the night before, when she left Prince Duan's household:
The usually aloof, imperious Gu Lan had pinned her against the wall, lowered her head to bury her face against Zhu Yiyun's neck, and murmured, "Don't leave me."
⭐ An alternate ancient setting, where women can marry women
Theme: To be added
