Chapter 17: On Their Knees

The Prime Minister's son was the first to move.

He crossed the hall to the altar and bowed to the prefect, then to the Grand Princess.

"Highness. The betrothal is ended," he said. "I will tell my father myself."

He did not look at Lingxue as he went out.

Two constables stood at her elbows.

She had stopped crying, and she was staring at the bowl with her lips pressed white.

The Marquis was already on his knees.

He had gone down so heavily that the dais boards shook.

"Ruyun," he said.

She had not heard him say her name in three years.

"Daughter. I was deceived. We were all deceived by a wicked girl. Come home, and let me put the name back on you."

Madam Fan crawled across the floor on her hands and caught Ruyun's skirt.

"Forgive me. Forgive your mother. I will do anything."

Ruyun looked down at the gold pin hanging out of her hair.

"You slapped this hand," she said, and held out the left one.

"Yes."

"For eighteen years. Every meal."

"I did not know you were..." Madam Fan's mouth shook. "I thought it was a bad habit. I wanted you to be proper."

"You knew I was yours."

"I did not know."

"You did not ask," Ruyun said.

The relatives along the wall had gone silent.

Even the clan elders sat with their hands in their sleeves.

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