Pledge Allegiance

[Upcoming novel "Spring's Hidden Glow". See the blurb at the end.]

For years, Jiang Zhiyu passed herself off as a man and was a welcome guest at poetry gatherings, wine parties, horse races, and hunting trips. She lived freely, carefree and content.

But her performance was so convincing that even the emperor was fooled.

Then one day, an imperial edict suddenly arrived at the marquis's residence, summoning her to the palace to serve as the Crown Prince's reader and help him govern.

Jiang Zhiyu pressed her temples. This joke had gone too far.

Worse still, there was a prince in the palace who was completely at odds with her. He dragged her into every mess and often teased her for being so petite that she didn't look like a proper man.

Jiang Zhiyu often ground her teeth in anger.

This prince was one of a kind, a true oddball.

He called the emperor and empress "Dad" and "Mom," occasionally teased the white-bearded tutor, and often sneaked a taste of the strong liquor sent as tribute from the borderlands, then got drunk for an entire day. He was the very picture of irreverence.

He was always puzzled that the young Lord Jiang was a man, yet more delicate than a woman, barely reaching his shoulder even on tiptoe. So he loved teasing him, and took great delight in seeing him vexed and helpless.

But little by little, that delight began to change...

By the Qinhuai River, the evening breeze stirred beneath a waning moon, and stars filled the water's edge.

Jiang Zhiyu and Jian Shizhi both collapsed drunk between heaven and earth.

As their warm breaths mingled, Jian Shizhi saw her disheveled black hair, soft as silk, and a red mole on the tip of her ear.

In an instant, his heart stirred like the lights along Yangzhou's ten-mile road.

His eyes shimmered with moisture, and his voice low and hoarse, he said only:

"I think... I've fallen for you."

Jiang Zhiyu pledged herself to Jian Shizhi.

In the end, however, it was Jian Shizhi who bowed his head.

"You made a sword of roses and bait of moonlight, and made me bow my head, gladly becoming your servant."

[Short scene]

After the morning court session, Jian Shizhi pulled Jiang Zhiyu under the veranda.

"Lord Jiang, we have the day off today. Let's go bathe together."

Jiang Zhiyu: ???

"A day off is a day for resting and bathing, isn't it? It'll be a perfect chance to try the traditional scrubbing technique practiced by the bathhouse attendant at my residence."

"Um... I have something to do, so I'll pass..."

When Jiang Zhiyu tried to run, Jian Shizhi grabbed her by the collar.

"We're both men. What are you embarrassed about? Come on, let's go."

Jiang Zhiyu failed to break free and could only be dragged along by Jian Shizhi...

All the while muttering to herself, "Jian Shizhi, you bastard. Who are you calling a man...?"

---- Upcoming novel "Spring's Hidden Glow" ----

Clever, unhinged maid x upright, noble prince

Born in a time of chaos, Yaoyao's greatest wish in life was to survive. She was no saint, and she schemed every which way to stay alive and make money.

Later, when she learned she was actually the daughter of a marquis, her wish was simply to live well.

So she dealt with her wicked younger sister, kept her scumbag father in line, and dreamed of reaching the very heights of power.

*

What was there at the very top? Yaoyao thought it meant unparalleled glory.

By a twist of fate, she became a maid to Chen Jingheng, the emperor's second son, and was caught up in the struggle over who would be named heir.

People said Chen Jingheng was a violent, tyrannical man, unfit to bear the weight of the state.

She spied on him, schemed against him, and made him her enemy, intent on killing him.

But later, she realized the world had staged a whole play to condemn him to death.

He was accused of forming a faction when he was simply eager to recruit talent.

He was falsely accused of expanding his influence when he was simply good at recognizing and appointing people.

The emperor's suspicion and his brothers' rivalry nearly cost him his life amid the snow and wind of the capital.

*

What was there at the very top? Cold, a bone-deep cold that stripped the flesh from your skin.

For the first time in her life, Yaoyao felt compassion.

The sword she had once aimed at him became a cloak she draped over him to shield him from the frost and snow of the cold night.

Chen Jingheng told Yaoyao that if a person bent their back and broke their bones for the sake of profit and desire, they were no different from a trapped beast.

So Yaoyao never imagined that someone as base and shallow as her would one day yearn, for all the people under heaven, to see barren mountains become green with spring.

*

If asked what Yaoyao had done in her first sixteen years, she would answer: "Scrape by, chase profit."

If asked what she did after meeting Chen Jingheng, she would answer: "For one person, I hold a candle and wait for spring."

Theme: The days of our youth, when we rode out in bright clothes