Chapter 5 Here Comes the Princess

yet even whispers of my clinic's noble patronage couldn't deter trouble. One twilight, a drunken marquess' son staggered in, demanding a hangover cure. Instead, his hands roamed greedily.

Mother had fallen ill, Yu Beijing escorting her home. Alone, I reached for a sedative needle. But a scarlet whip lashed his wrist before I could act. "This is the Princess Consort's domain!"

The princess swept in, her crimson gown blazing like embers. The nobleman paled at her eunuch steward and fled. She circled me, her voice honeyed venom. "You spurn my gifts. He spurns my hand. We are… disappointed."

Leaning close, she hissed: "He loves you. I know. But I give him half a moon—then he becomes mine." Her whip shattered the oak desk as she left, leaving splinters like broken vows.

That night, Yu Beijing found me staring at the wreckage. When I urged him to accept the princess, his face drained of color. "You truly desire this?" he whispered. I forced a laugh: "Why not? I've earned comfort."

From then on, I slept at the clinic. Yu Beijing avoided me, and Mother's health crumbled. As I fed her medicine, she gripped my wrist. "His heart is yours. What of yours, Yuniang?" I stoppered the vial. "My heart is ash."

On the princess' deadline, Fan Guangzong burst in, his mother trailing like a wraith. "Traitor!" he screeched. "You abandoned us for gold!" The crowd jeered as I tossed a silver pouch. When he grabbed it, I jabbed a needle into his vein—his scream echoed through the street.

His mother raged: "You killed your father! You whore with your brother-in-law!" The crowd's whispers sliced deeper than her words. "No wonder the princess rejected him…"

Then Yu Beijing appeared, kicking Fan Guangzong aside. "I love my sister-in-law!" he declared, lacing our fingers. His palm burned against mine as he faced the crowd. "Let the heavens judge us."

The princess' laughter froze us. "How touching! But only a triple crown winner may claim her." Her steward pressed a scroll into my hand—"Pass this to your lover." Inside: "Win the palace exam, or lose her forever."

Yu Beijing immersed himself in studies, his eyes haunted. Meanwhile, the princess became a fixture at my clinic, bullying me with sweets and gossip. "He's wasting away over you," she taunted, popping a candied date. "Why not ease his suffering?"

On the day of the palace exam, she dragged me to the imperial gardens. Courtiers' whispers followed us: "The Zhuangyuan's betrothed… the sister-in-law scandal…"

When Yu Beijing's name was announced as the top scholar, the princess whooped and hugged me. "Now you're truly mine!" she crowed. I wept into her shoulder, relief and dread warring within.

But joy shattered when Mother stumbled into the garden, her face ashen. "Beiguo… he's returned," she gasped.

We found him in the courtyard, gaunt and scarred, clutching a child. "This is your nephew," he said hoarsely. "His mother… didn't survive the war."

Yu Beijing stiffened beside me. The princess' steward appeared, bowing deeply. "His Majesty commands the Zhuangyuan's presence. The wedding date is set—with the princess."

As Yu Beijing followed the steward, he pressed a folded letter into my hand. Inside: "Meet me at dawn. We'll flee."

That night, the princess came to my chambers, her eyes glittering. "You think he'll choose you over power?" she sneered. "I'll give you until sunrise to decide—stay and watch him wed me, or vanish into the night."

I stared at the letter, then at the sleeping child. When dawn broke, I placed the scroll in the princess' hands. "He's all yours."

As her carriage departed, Yu Beijing's voice called from the shadows. "Yuniang! Why?"

I turned, tears blurring my vision. "Because some loves are worth sacrificing for."

The princess' laughter echoed in the distance, mingling with the cries of a child who'd never know his father.