The Twelfth Year of Chang Xi, Winter.

  Tian Sheng Dynasty’s Capital, Dijing. [1]

  On an early winter morning, a thin gossamer mist floated gently between the sky and the earth as its coolness fell upon the Xi Hua Valley, onto the clear and brilliant dark-red glazed tiles of the Qiu Family Mansion. The mist raised a faint layer of white-pink over the frost flowers on the glaze, softening the splendor and nobility of the building and revealing a gentler and cuter appearance, like a frost-covered persimmon.

  A frozen persimmon……

  Feng Zhiwei swallowed her saliva and rubbed her grumbling stomach.

  A ripe, late autumn scarlet persimmon frosted by the first snows of winter and lightly flavored with the Nine Exquisite Honeys. It was offered on a delicate Jing Feng Snow Porcelain Cup, which was vibrant red, brilliant, and made of precious jade and masterwork glass. With a gentle bite and pursing of the lips, the refreshing coolness spread on the tongue and left the mouth with a subtle aftertaste of sweetness and flavor as it slid smoothly down the throat and into the middle of her chest where it rested. It emanated a soothing balm of ice, calming the unbearable parched heat in her body.

  How unfortunate…… that enjoyment was already a lifetime ago……

  Feng Zhiwei was mesmerized but eventually tore her gaze away and let out a faint sigh, focusing on the slow strokes of here broom. All the snow on the road was swept into the artificial lake.

  The cold wood still had some frost, but even though normal people would have avoided the freeze however they could, Feng Zhiwei only felt a comforting chill.

  At that time, the tinkle of jade spotted the morning air, and brought with it a heavy fragrance. Feng Zhiwei continued her work, pressing on her broom gently. The frost fell to the ground and rolled slightly before coming to a stop.

  “Oh, isn’t this our Young Lady Feng?” The feminine voice was tinged with a smile of scorn and freezing winter air. “What are you doing here so early in the morning?”


  “As you see,” Feng Zhiwei looked back as she gathered the snow, “sweeping snow.” [2]

  “This is servant’s work, how could they let our noble and esteemed niece do this?” The young lady was around twenty years of age, and her face was made up elegantly, with the corners of her eyes turned up slightly and her cheeks dusted with silver-red rouge. This was the popular “Fei Ye makeup” in the Capital this winter. “If your Uncle knew about this, I can’t even imagine how pained he would be.”


  Feng Zhiwei smiled and lowered her eyes.

  “Uncle attends to a myriad of affairs daily, how could I trouble him with insignificant matters? It is enough that Fifth-Aunt cares for me.”


  “That’s true. Your Uncle is both Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies and the Commander of the Flying Shadow Guard. He’s one of the top military officers of Tiang Sheng Dynasty. He has no time to manage the backyard affairs. You know what is appropriate, and Fifth Aunt will take care of you.”


  Fifth Aunt was the fifth wife of Feng Zhiwei’s maternal uncle, and had fallen into disfavor long ago. Fifth Aunt looked at Feng Zhiwei’s amiable and downturned face with satisfaction…… This girl was always good-tempered and wouldn’t react when others pushed her. It was hard to imagine that the shameless Qiu Family Great Aunt could give birth to such a gentle daughter.

  “Aunt, why are you out here alone?” Feng Zhiwei asked, stepping to the side and standing humbly, holding the broom slantwise in a respectful stance. She even omitted the word “fifth”.

  Fifth Aunt was delighted. She tapped her lips with a slender scarlet-painted nail and her smile showed in her beautiful eyes. With a smile, she said, “There are some important people coming over, and I might need to accompany…… En, you don’t need to ask.”


  Feng Zhiwei kept her face downturned and expressionless…… Tian Sheng’s Dynasty had very open customs, and the royalty and ministers were even more dissolute. In their daily interactions, sharing beauties together and gifting concubines was commonplace.

  The Qiu Family Mansion had many concubines. Among them, Fifth Aunt was young and was not favored by Feng Zhiwei’s uncle, and so she was lonely. Today, she had dressed up and headed to the front yard alone likely because she had heard that one noble or another had come over and so she planned to have a “beautiful encounter” with him and maybe regain some status and change her fate.

  Feng Zhiwei just didn’t know who the poor devil was.

  “How can there be no one to serve you, Aunt?” Feng Zhiwei put down her broom and reached out to take Fifth Aunt’s arm. “Allow me.”


  “No! Your hands are dirty!” Fifth Aunt yelled as she slapped Feng Zhiwei’s hands away, her eyes looking down disdainfully at the latter’s snow-covered fingers. She turned her eyes from Zhiwei’s fingers to the unhealthy redness between her brows and took a step away as if she was near a seriously ill person.

  Feng Zhiwei smiled humbly and withdrew her hands into her sleeves.

  “You are already fifteen, you shouldn’t be always staying in the backyard.” Fifth Aunt stood by a pile of snow and glanced at Feng Zhiwei. “Some other day, I’ll talk to the madam to match you with a man. You know him, Front Yard Manager Liu’s son. He’s not bad.”


  Not bad at all. Even after five full years in a private school, he still couldn’t memorize the Three Character Classic.

  Feng Zhiwei kept her smile which became gentler and calmer. On her slightly pale face, a pair of beautiful misty eyes shone brightly, decorating her face with a dancing light, gradually giving birth to charm and elegance.

  Fifth Aunt cast another glance at her and was moved. This girl, if it wasn’t for her unhealthy color, then she would be a real beauty. No wonder people said she looked like that person……

  But what was a beautiful appearance? With such an infamous birth, what was this sickly, short-lived girl? An empty beauty, destined to wither and fall in the mud.

  Fifth Aunt smiled coldly and felt that she had already wasted too much time talking with this girl. Any other day, she wouldn’t even be in the mood to say anything to her. If she wasn’t happy because Prince Chu was coming and had asked her to meet him in the backyard secretly, she would have never cared about this girl’s marriage.

  She lifted her chin and snorted coldly. Prince Chu was known as the most handsome and romantic man in Tian Sheng Dynasty. When Fifth Aunt thought about how she would no longer face these lonely days in the Qiu Family Mansion, even the tip of her eyebrows and the corners of her eyes were filled with happiness. She lifted her foot and started to walk.

  “Chi……”


  Her foot suddenly slipped on the ice, and she slipped backward screaming. She flailed and grabbed at the air, and her fingers reached for the broomstick stuck in the snow.

  Feng Zhiwei moved quickly and took her broom.

  Fifth Aunt only caught air as she fell heavily against the slippery ice on the ground and slid over to the lake. The winter water’s coldness could pierce through the bone.

  Fifth Aunt yelled out in a panic while she slid uncontrollably. “Help! Help!”


  Feng Zhiwei watched as the woman slid on the ground and unhurriedly returned her hands into her sleeves, saying gently. “No, my hands are dirty.”


  “Putong!”


  The sound of a person falling into water was in the end so light and subtle. Feng Zhiwei smiled and walked over to the shore with her broom in hand. Surprisingly, Fifth Aunt knew some moves and was still struggling in the water, but the lake was so cold that her face was already blue. Her smooth hair bun had already fallen apart, and wisps of her hair were stuck to her face like small snakes swimming around. She was too cold to make a sound, or maybe she knew that Feng Zhiwei was not going to save her, so she struggled back to the shore……

  [1] 帝京– Loosely translated, King (/emperor) Capital

  [2] “如您所见,”凤知微回头,将扫帚拢拢,”扫雪.” There’s some nice flavor here that is difficult to translate smoothly, so here’s a general explanation. Feng Zhiwei uses 您 which is the formal second person form of address. This indicates a formal respect, at least on the surface. However, she does not stop what she is doing and doesn’t turn around fully to face the speaker, and she replies tersely and without addressing the other with their appellation (title/position etc.)