The best proof was to strip and let everything show—better than any words.
Qin Xiang’s face burned red. Yun Qian sat up abruptly, wrapped the blanket around herself, and stared at her with rapt attention, unwilling to miss a single expression.
“You—you—” Qin Xiang wanted to say: your ideas are terrible.
She said frankly, “I won’t undress. I really am a girl.”
The bridal chamber was bright and still. A lamp on the small table before the couch cast Qin Xiang’s small shadow clearly, making her face shimmer with watery light.
She knelt on her ankles, hands helpless in her lap. The red nightclothes were new, the fabric soft, cool against her skin.
She tugged at her sleeve. Her slender figure leaned toward a girl’s beauty.
Yun Qian didn’t answer, only lowered her brows and looked at her.
Under the lamplight, one sat, one knelt. The one on the bed was calm and composed, serene almost beyond beauty; the one kneeling on the footrest was beautiful too, but lacked that quiet authority.
Qin Xiang was as tight-lipped as a gourd. After one statement, she refused to speak again.
Yun Qian couldn’t be bothered to outlast her. She lifted a brow. “Do you have any way to prove yourself?”
Qin Xiang squeezed out one sentence with difficulty: “No.”
Yun Qian nodded. “Then what are you waiting for? Take it off.”
“Is there any other way?” Qin Xiang’s face crumpled. Even if they were both girls, they weren’t familiar enough for such a thing. How could she strip?
Yun Qian mimicked her tone and squeezed out two words: “No.”
Qin Xiang’s heart lurched, as if stuck in a bog. Yun Qian unhurriedly stepped off the bed, her skirt trailing. Looking up from within the lamplight, Qin Xiang watched her stop before her.
This time, Yun Qian’s hand skipped past Qin Xiang’s lips and chin, landing directly on her collar.
The nightclothes were soft and smooth. The hand that touched them was pale and lovely.
Yun Qian poked at Qin Xiang’s collar, her little finger slipping in to tap her collarbone. Qin Xiang went numb all over, not daring to blink.
What was she doing?
What was the sitting Prime Minister doing?
Qin Xiang instinctively covered her collar. Yun Qian, surprised, said, “I need at least a look before I can tell whether you’re a girl. Without evidence, how can I believe you?”
Qin Xiang refused, the corners of her eyes stubbornly lifting. But Yun Qian raised a hand and smoothed them down. “Don’t be angry. A glance is enough. I won’t do anything.”
“You—you—you—” Qin Xiang stuttered for a long while, unable to finish. Finally, with a “hmph,” she dropped her hands.
Unexpectedly, Yun Qian’s hand moved to her waist, casually loosening the sash.
Qin Xiang’s head rang. If you were going for the sash, why did you touch my neck first?
She had put on only the night robe after her bath—it was comfortable in the summer heat, and easy for sleeping.
But Qin Xiang had wrapped her chest. Beneath the night robe lay another layer. Yun Qian’s gaze traveled from top to bottom, catching only the pale skin of her stomach.
She blinked and poked the white chest binding. “Tied so tight—doesn’t it hurt?”
Then she added, “Girls are still growing at this age. Binding so tightly means they’ll never grow.”
Qin Xiang: “…” Listen to you. Is that something a Prime Minister should say?
“It’s—it’s just for these few days.” She was aggrieved, but still answered respectfully.
“Then take it off.” Yun Qian looked thoughtful.
Qin Xiang asked instead, “Do you believe me now?”
“Believe what?”
“That I’m a girl.” Qin Xiang was anxious.
Yun Qian knew when to stop. She’d seen halfway. “I believe you. Loosen it and sleep.”
Qin Xiang was overjoyed and reached for her sash to tie it. Yun Qian caught her wrist. “Untie it first, then tie it. It’s uncomfortable to sleep in.”
Yun Qian’s tone was gentle, like a big sister long used to caring for her younger sister. Somehow, it made Qin Xiang’s heart soften.
Slowly, she moved her hands to her back, fumbling. Yun Qian grew impatient and slapped her hands away. “I’ll do it.”
Before Qin Xiang could refuse, Yun Qian had found the knot at her back. Her body suddenly relaxed.
Done, Yun Qian turned back to bed. Qin Xiang hastily re-tied her sash and looked at the bed. Could she still sleep there?
As if reading her thoughts, Yun Qian spoke like a bodhisattva: “Sleep. We’re both girls—no talk of a lone man and woman here.”
“Prime Minister Yun, I… I came to seek a bride for my brother.” Qin Xiang no longer wanted to hide it. “My parents ordered me to bring my sister-in-law home. They’ll handle everything else.”
Words poured out of her, which surprised Yun Qian. “Are you and Qin Mo full siblings?”
Qin Xiang’s heart clenched. Her lips pressed shut. They were not, but she couldn’t say it.
“We are.”
Yun Qian weighed this in her heart. When Qin Xiang entered the palace, who had sent her? Certainly not the Qin family. No parents would throw their daughter into a pit of fire.
“Sleep for now. We’ll talk tomorrow.” Yun Qian showed a tired smile.
Qin Xiang cautiously got into bed and lay down.
The two lay in different postures: Qin Xiang straight as a tree, Yun Qian on her side, one foot draped over Qin Xiang’s ankle.
Qin Xiang blinked, not daring to move, her heart a boiling pot that refused to settle.
Yun Qian closed her eyes, but she knew: tomorrow, Qin Xiang would surely not share her bed.
The marriage was about to fall apart.
After a quiet moment, she edged over to Qin Xiang. “What’s your name?”
“Qin Xiang. Xiang of the Xiang River.”
“A-Xiang.” Yun Qian mumbled, then asked, “Are you betrothed to anyone?”
“No. I… I won’t marry.” Qin Xiang whispered. The Qin family would never let her marry; they didn’t intend to find her a match. That was why they’d so openly sent her to Luoyang to seek a bride.
Yun Qian found this odd but suppressed her curiosity. “Why won’t you marry?”
Qin Xiang bit her lip. “My fate is bad. I’ll kill my husband.”
Yun Qian didn’t understand. In her past life, Qin Xiang had entered the palace at eighteen or nineteen. What had happened in between? She had once investigated the Qin family. Qin Mo had died of a venereal disease. Qin Xiang’s parents had vanished. Therefore, Qin Xiang had no weak point.
A lone woman with no weaknesses was the hardest to handle.
While she pondered, Qin Xiang quietly inched toward the outer edge. Yun Qian snapped back to the present, reached out, and touched her little ear. “Stop moving. You’ll fall off.”
Then she kissed Qin Xiang’s cheek…
Qin Xiang was shocked. By the time she reacted, Yun Qian had retreated to the inner side, turning her back to sleep.
Qin Xiang instinctively touched her cheek. Damp. Her sister-in-law knew she was a girl—why had she kissed her?
The dragon-and-phoenix candles still burned, wax winding down in rivulets, the flames fierce.
Qin Xiang didn’t dare move. Free of the chest binding, she was comfortable, but her heart was uneasy.
The rest of the night passed in silence.
Qin Xiang couldn’t sleep. She only dozed off as dawn approached.
Yun Qian had to go to court. Before leaving, she took one glance at her and ordered the maids, “Burn some Calming Incense. Wait for me to return.”
The maids acknowledged.
Yun Qian climbed into her carriage and left in haste.
But at that moment, someone slipped out of the residence’s back gate and hurried all the way to the Xun Residence.
Old Madam Yun’s second husband had been a Xun. Unfortunately, Lady Yun’s luck was poor: Grandfather Xun died young, and she became a widow again. It was then that Yun Qian began to rise, and the old lady felt she had a support. She stopped thinking of remarrying and clung to Yun Qian like a drowning woman.
A lowly maidservant entered the Xun residence and met Old Madam Yun. The old lady, haggard from a sleepless night, dismissed all the household the moment she saw her trusted servant.
The maid stepped forward, knelt, and said, “Old lady, unknown to you, that young gentleman came to the capital to seek a bride—the bride being Lin Yao, daughter of the Marquis of Chengxin. The Qin and Lin families settled this betrothal a dozen years ago. Somehow, Prime Minister Yun kept the young gentleman by her side and held a wedding. Here is the marriage contract.”
She had secretly copied the contract and stolen it out; now she offered it to the old lady.
Old Madam Yun was overjoyed and took it at once. She had known her son-in-law was a Qin, but never this story.
“With this contract, I’ll go to the Lin residence myself. I’ll tell Lin Zhiting that the Qin boy abandoned his old betrothal and climbed to the top of the tree, and even tricked Prime Minister Yun into marriage. They can beat the boy to death for all I care!”
All the humiliation of yesterday would be repaid by that boy.
At once, the anger in her chest settled.
Old Madam Yun rose on shaking legs, called for her maids to dress her, and ordered the gatekeeper to harness the carriage. She would go to the Lin residence while Yun Qian was at court.
Punish the Qin boy, and her nephew could still marry Yun Qian.
Impatient to be off, Old Madam Yun headed for the Lin residence of the Marquis of Chengxin.
Yun Qian left court at noon.
As she climbed into her carriage, a trusted subordinate reported, “Master, the old lady went to the Lin residence. She may still be there.”
Yun Qian smiled and waved a hand. “Just keep watch on her. Don’t trouble yourselves.”
If her mother stayed quiet, this play would be much harder to continue.
Back at the residence, Qin Xiang had only just woken. After half a day’s sleep, she was in high spirits, wrapped in a crimson Scholar’s Robe, cheeks rosy, eyes bright.
They had lunch together. Qin Xiang glanced at Yun Qian. “I… I should go.”
“You are Qin Mo now. You bowed to me, and last night you slept here. If you leave, what am I to do?” Yun Qian set down her napkin, took a bowl of Iced Cheese from a maid, and set it before Qin Xiang.
Qin Xiang looked at the Iced Cheese and licked her lips. This fine little delicacy tasted better than the ones the Qin family made.
She scooped a small spoonful and carried it to her mouth with great care. Watching her careful movements, a realization settled in Yun Qian’s mind: the Qin family did not treat this girl well.
The two ate quietly, no further conversation.
After the meal, Qin Xiang wanted to raise leaving again. But a clamor rose beyond the courtyard.
The noise came through the wall. Qin Xiang was puzzled. Was it Old Madam Yun again?
Yun Qian smiled and blinked. Before she could speak, the side gate of the courtyard was kicked open.
Qin Xiang’s heart jumped. The Prime Minister’s Residence was like a marketplace—anyone could come and go. Her sister had no control over her servants.
She felt a pang of regret. Then a young woman strode in, cloud-like hair, wasp-waist.
Yun Qian couldn’t help laughing. “Miss Lin kicked my door open. Have you come to fight?”
“I’m here to see Qin Mo.” Lin Yao, surrounded by matrons, strode over, her gaze roaming over Qin Xiang’s face. She sneered. “I wondered what sort of person he’d be. Handsome as a god, yet so weak a gust would knock him down.”
Qin Xiang’s eyes went sharp. The delicate young woman before her was the real sister-in-law.
But this sister-in-law was fierce and menacing. Compared to her gentle, understanding sister… Qin Xiang unconsciously inched toward Yun Qian.
