That evening, the palace hosted a small banquet, though the word "small" hardly captured the grandeur. Lanterns glowed like molten gold, their light spilling over polished marble floors. Intricate tapestries swayed gently from the high walls, catching flickers of candlelight and painting the hall in warm hues of crimson and amber. Ministers murmured among themselves. Concubines rustled in silk robes, their jewelled hairpins catching the light with every subtle movement. Scholars bowed politely, their scrolls held tight to their chests.
XiaoQi wanted nothing to do with it. Her stomach twisted at the thought of sitting among this sea of eyes, each one scrutinizing her with quiet judgment or outright curiosity.
But a young palace servant had appeared, bowing low and murmuring, "The Crown Prince requested your presence, Your Highness."
She groaned inwardly but allowed herself to be led through the corridors, her hands clenched at her sides. The scent of incense and roasted meat mingled in the air, making her stomach churn.
When she finally entered the banquet hall, her eyes immediately found him. DongZe sat at the high table, regal and unyielding, yet somehow impossibly relaxed. His sharp gaze landed on her the instant she stepped forward. The world seemed to narrow until she could only see him.
"There she is," he announced, loud enough that every voice in the hall fell silent. "My crowned princess."
The words hung in the air like a striking bell.
Concubine Lian's fan snapped shut with a sharp crack, drawing all eyes. Ministers stiffened, exchanging uneasy glances. A few scholars shifted nervously, unsure whether to look at her or down at their scrolls. XiaoQi stumbled slightly over the hem of her skirts, cheeks burning.
"Stop calling me that," she hissed under her breath, dragging her feet toward the table. Her voice trembled, sharper than she intended, betraying her inner fury.
DongZe rose smoothly, his movement fluid and confident. He reached for her wrist, and despite herself, XiaoQi felt a spark shoot through her at the touch. He guided her toward the seat beside him with a measured gentleness that mocked her resistance.
"Why should I stop?" he asked, his lips close enough that she felt the warmth of his breath. "The entire world should know. You belong to me, XiaoQi."
Her pulse spiked, a wild, chaotic rhythm that seemed to drown out the whispers and murmurs around them. "We are not married!" she snapped, struggling to pull her wrist free.
DongZe only smirked, as if her resistance delighted him. "Not yet."
The banquet resumed, though the atmosphere had shifted. Conversation was quieter now, whispers punctuated by poorly hidden glances in their direction. XiaoQi tried to ignore the weight of so many eyes, but DongZe made that impossible.
Every time her cup was near empty, his hand was already reaching for the wine jug. He refilled hers before anyone else's, his sleeve brushing lightly against her arm. When he leaned close to murmur some teasing remark, the husk of his voice sent an involuntary shiver down her spine. More than once, his fingers grazed hers beneath the table, casual enough to feign accident, but the curve of his lips betrayed the truth.
At one point, he lifted his chopsticks, a piece of roasted duck held delicately between them. He raised it to her lips, his eyes never leaving hers. "Eat," he said softly, the command wrapped in velvet.
XiaoQi's face burned hot. She turned her head away, glaring. "I can serve myself."
"But it will taste sweeter if I feed you."
Gasps fluttered across the hall. A minister coughed into his sleeve to mask his shock. Concubine Lian pressed her fan so tightly against her palm that her knuckles blanched white.
XiaoQi's humiliation flared hotter than the wine in her cup. Her hand trembled as she shoved his chopsticks aside. "Shameless prince. Have you no dignity?"
DongZe's laughter rumbled low in his chest, unbothered, his eyes glinting like embers. "Dignity?" he echoed. "What use is dignity when weighed against you?"
Before she could retreat, he leaned forward in full view of everyone. His lips brushed lightly over her temple, a touch fleeting yet searing. The hall erupted. Ministers whispered behind their sleeves. Concubine Lian gasped so violently she swayed in her seat, one hand pressed against her chest as if the scandal might stop her heart.
XiaoQi sat frozen, her breath caught in her throat, her mind a blur of shock and fury and something far more treacherous. Her heart betrayed her, beating too fast, as though it had been waiting all along for this very madness.
And DongZe, utterly at ease amidst the chaos he had created, simply leaned back with that insufferable, knowing smile.
XiaoQi endured the banquet as long as her pride would allow.
Every laugh sounded like mockery. Every stolen glance burned against her skin. She sat stiff beside DongZe, a puppet forced into place, while ministers muttered into their sleeves and concubines fanned themselves with trembling, furious hands.
DongZe did not flinch. He poured her wine as if she were his honoured guest, leaned close as if the hall were empty, and fed her words that set her heart into chaos. His ease only sharpened the sting of her humiliation.
When the final dish was cleared, she could bear no more.
Her chair screeched loudly against the polished floor as she shoved it back and stood. The sound cut through the hall, drawing startled looks. XiaoQi ignored them. Her face burned, but her chin remained high. "I am leaving," she declared, her voice tight but firm.
She did not wait for permission. She turned on her heel and strode from the hall, the weight of dozens of eyes following her.
The corridor beyond was cooler, shadows stretching between lanterns that flickered softly along the stone walls. She thought she was free, but before she could vanish deeper into the quiet, a hand caught her wrist.
"XiaoQi."
She spun, yanking against his grip. DongZe had followed her, his crimson robes trailing behind him like fire in the dim light. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes burned with intent.
"Let go," she snapped, her voice sharp enough to cut glass. "Do you enjoy humiliating me? Do you take pleasure in turning me into the court's mockery?"
He did not release her. His gaze held hers, unwavering. "If I wanted to humiliate you, I would have left you in the shadows. I would have allowed them to ignore you, to call you cursed, to pretend you did not exist. Is that what you would rather? To vanish, unseen, while they tear you apart with their whispers?"
Her breath hitched, her anger faltering for a moment under the weight of his words. She forced herself to lift her chin higher. "Better that than to be paraded around like some toy for your amusement."
His fingers loosened slightly, though he still held her wrist. His voice dropped lower, roughened with something heavier than jest. "Is that what you think I see when I look at you? A toy?"
She opened her mouth to retort, but no words came. His nearness unsettled her. The scent of sandalwood and wine clung to him, rich and dizzying. The fire in his eyes was not the gleam of idle amusement. It was too steady, too raw.
"You are insufferable," she whispered, more to herself than to him.
"And yet," he murmured, leaning close enough that the warmth of his breath brushed her cheek, "you are trembling."
Her pulse leapt. She tore her gaze away, trying to disguise the storm in her chest. "I tremble from rage, not from you."
His smile curved, slow and knowing. "Then prove it."
Her eyes snapped back to his. "What?"
"Strike me," he said, his voice low, each word deliberate. He leaned in further until his forehead nearly touched hers, the space between them charged with unbearable heat. "Strike me now, XiaoQi, and prove that what I saw in your eyes tonight was nothing but hatred."
Her hand lifted before she realized it, trembling in the air between them. The urge to slap him burned hot in her chest, but her arm faltered, her palm hovering just inches from his face.
DongZe's gaze never wavered. He caught her wrist with ease, not with force but with a gentleness that disarmed her. Slowly, he guided her hand down. His expression softened, the edges of his smirk fading into something quieter, something that made her heart pound harder than anger ever could.
"You cannot," he said softly.
The words sank into her like stones into water, rippling through every layer of her defences. She stumbled back, her spine pressing against the cold stone wall of the corridor. "Stay away from me," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Stay away from me, Crown Prince."
He studied her for a long moment, shadows shifting across his face in the lantern light. There was silence, but in that silence was the thunder of everything left unsaid.
At last he inclined his head, his voice softer than she had ever heard it. "As you wish. For tonight."
He stepped back, the distance between them filling with the faint rustle of his robes. Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving her pressed against the wall, her chest heaving, her heart beating wildly with anger, confusion, and a dangerous longing she refused to name.
The lantern flames flickered, casting restless shadows that seemed to echo the turmoil inside her. She pressed her trembling hand to her chest and shut her eyes.
It should have been fury alone that consumed her. Yet all she could feel was the ghost of his touch, the heat of his words, and the terrifying truth that she had not struck him when she had the chance.
That night, XiaoQi could not find sleep.
Her chambers were still and hushed, lit only by the faint glow of the moon spilling through the latticed windows. The silk curtains stirred with the wind, whispering against the floor like restless spirits. She lay flat on her back, eyes fixed on the dark beams overhead, and every breath seemed heavier than the last.
The banquet replayed in her mind with cruel clarity.
The crack of Concubine Lian's fan. The murmurs of ministers. The way the hall had gone so deathly silent after his brazen declaration. But most of all, it was him. Always him.
The warmth of DongZe's hand clasping her wrist. His voice, low and taunting, cutting through her defences. The ghost of his lips against her temple.
Her pulse quickened just remembering it. She pressed both hands to her face and groaned into her palms.
"Shameless prince," she muttered bitterly, her voice muffled by her sleeves. "Utterly shameless."
From the foot of the bed came a soft, throaty chuckle. "You say his name in your sleep and in your waking hours," drawled Bai Hu, her fox spirit companion. "If I did not know better, I would think you wanted him to haunt your dreams."
XiaoQi shoved the blanket aside and sat up, glaring at the pale-furred creature sprawled across her pillows. Bai Hu's nine tails curled elegantly around him, his amber eyes gleaming with mischief.
"I do not," she snapped, cheeks burning hotter than she liked. "He forces himself into everything, even my thoughts. It is infuriating."
Bai Hu stretched, his fur catching the moonlight like spun silver. "You said that but your heart races whenever you speak of him. You are very amusing, XiaoQi."
"I am furious, not flustered," XiaoQi hissed, though her voice cracked slightly. "He embarrassed me in front of the entire court. He made me look like a fool."
The fox yawned lazily. "Or perhaps he only made you visible. You forget how many pretended you did not exist before tonight. At least now their eyes are on you."
Her lips pressed into a thin line. The truth of his words stung, though she refused to admit it. She drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "I do not want his protection. I do not want his claims. I only want peace."
"Peace and quiet," Bai Hu mused, resting his chin on his paws. "And yet your spirit bristles too much to remain still. If you hated him so deeply, you would have struck him when he dared you to."
XiaoQi stiffened. The memory of her hand raised, trembling in the air between them, filled her with fresh shame. Why had she faltered? Why had she let him lower her hand so gently, as though she belonged to him?
Her nails bit into her sleeves. "I should have slapped him."
"Then why did you not?" Bai Hu's tails swayed, brushing lazily against the bedding.
She had no answer. Only the pounding of her heart, the way it had betrayed her in that moment. With a frustrated cry, she flung herself back against the pillows.
"He thinks he has won," she muttered. "He thinks he can claim me, play with me, unravel me as he pleases."
Bai Hu tilted his head, his ears flicking. "So what will you do about it?"
The question pierced her thoughts, pulling her from being frustrated to something sharper. Her eyes narrowed.
"What will I do?"
Her lips curved into a smile, sly and dangerous. "I will remind him that I am not so easily conquered."
Bai Hu's ears twitched with interest. "Oh?"
A spark lit in her chest, chasing away the heaviness that had weighed her down all evening. She tapped her chin thoughtfully, considering. A harmless prank. Something that would puncture his pride without endangering her head. Something so ridiculous he could not punish her without lowering himself.
Salt in his morning tea. Ink spilled over his precious scrolls. Perhaps a live frog waiting in his boots.
At that last thought, laughter bubbled from her lips, soft at first, then spilling free until she had to cover her mouth with both hands. She could already imagine it. The proud, imperious Crown Prince sliding his foot into a boot only to leap back at the cold, slimy squirm of a startled frog.
Bai Hu's tails flicked, and his grin widened to reveal sharp white teeth. "Ah, that is the spirit. Mischief suits you better than sulking. What will it be, then?"
"A frog," XiaoQi whispered gleefully, her eyes glittering. "Tomorrow, I will make him jump like a child. Let him learn what it means to underestimate me."
The fox chuckled approvingly. "Delicious. I shall even help you catch the fattest one in the garden."
Relief unfurled in her chest like a slow bloom. For the first time since the banquet, her heart no longer felt heavy.
The palace corridors were silent under the cloak of midnight. Lanterns hung like golden droplets, swaying faintly in the cool breeze that filtered through the latticed windows. Shadows stretched across the polished floors, long and quiet, as XiaoQi crept along them. Bai Hu padded silently beside her, tails curling in lazy spirals behind him, amber eyes glinting in the dim light.
"Are you certain this is wise?" Bai Hu's voice was low, teasing, but laced with genuine concern. "We are sneaking into the Crown Prince's chambers. If we are caught, punishment will not be subtle."
XiaoQi's lips curved into a mischievous smile. "Punishment is less sweet than revenge. I cannot wait until morning. I want him unsettled now."
The fox chuckled softly. "Very well. Lead the way. I shall ensure no harm comes to you... or to your pride."
They moved like shadows through the corridors, footsteps soft against the cool stone. Guards snored at regular intervals, oblivious to their approach. XiaoQi's heart hammered in her chest, a mixture of excitement and fear. Her hand hovered over the carved wooden latch of DongZe's door.
She slid it open slowly. The hinges barely whispered. Inside, the room was bathed in the golden glow of a single lantern on the low table. The shadows of furniture and drapery softened the corners of the room, turning every detail into a subtle silhouette.
And there he was.
DongZe stood with his back to her, a towel wrapped around his waist, damp hair clinging to his shoulders. The lines of his chest and arms were defined in the lantern light, taut and strong. His movements were deliberate as he reached for a robe on a chair, unaware of her presence.
XiaoQi froze, her pulse spiking. Heat flooded her cheeks and chest. She had never seen him like this, stripped of the armour of his title, the mask of the prince.
Bai Hu let out a quiet, throaty laugh. "I see. Fascination, not fury, paints your face red tonight."
"I am not fascinated!" XiaoQi hissed, pressing her palms against her cheeks.
The fox flicked his tail, eyes gleaming with amusement.
XiaoQi took a careful step back, her knees weak, but her eyes scanned the room. Her gaze landed on a small wooden box near the wardrobe. Inside, she could place a frog to surprise him in the morning. The idea sent a thrill through her, replacing some of her embarrassment with mischievous determination.
She crept forward, Bai Hu at her heels. Every footstep was careful, measured, yet her heart raced so fast it threatened to betray her. The soft rustle of her robe seemed deafening in the quiet room.
DongZe shifted, and his gaze swept the room. For a heartbeat, their eyes met.