That night, Jin Wei went to the palace to meet the King—his father in blood, but never truly in name.
Since returning from the border, Jin Wei had never entered these halls as a son. Every meeting had been public, measured, watched. He had stood before the throne as a general, not as family.
So his request unsettled even the King.
No ministers.
No advisors.
No curious eyes waiting to twist words into weapons.
Just father and son.
The royal study was thick with incense and years of unspoken resentment. The King sat behind his desk, documents spread before him—papers he had stopped reading the moment Jin Wei entered.
"You rarely come alone," the King said without lifting his gaze.
"I don't trust rooms with too many ears," Jin Wei replied.
That earned him a slow, assessing look.
"I wish to marry."
The King paused.
"…Speak."
"Xueyi."
For the first time, the King's fingers stilled completely.
"That family," he said after a moment, voice deliberate, "holds influence without craving the throne. Dangerous… and useful. And above all, loyal."
"Yes," Jin Wei said evenly. "Exactly."
The King leaned back, studying him as though seeing him anew.
"You understand what this means? Once you do this, you will no longer be ignored."
"I have no intention of being," Jin Wei replied.
Another pause.
"That girl," the King continued, almost amused, "is sharp. Stubborn. Not easily controlled."
Jin Wei's lips curved faintly. "Neither am I."
That decided it.
The imperial seal came down with a dull, final sound.
"The decree will be issued today," the King said.
"No objections will be entertained."
Because none mattered.
---
The decree reached the **Xueyi household** before noon.
Her father read it once.
Twice.
Then slowly lowered himself into his chair, as though his strength had abandoned him.
"…Married," he muttered. "To Jin Wei?"
Voices erupted around him.
"This was never discussed!"
"Is this some palace scheme?"
"What about the other match?"
Junhao, who had returned from an assignment only that morning, stared at the decree in disbelief. He had not expected *this* to be waiting for him at home.
Xueyi stood quietly, hands folded, her expression calm.
Her father looked at her sharply. "You knew."
"Not officially," she replied. "But I… expected it."
"You *agreed* to this?" he demanded.
"I accepted it," she corrected gently. "The King decided."
He closed his eyes.
"I chose a safe family," he said bitterly. "No ties to the throne."
"And I chose honesty," Xueyi replied softly.
That hurt more than rebellion.
Because it was true.
---
The Crown Prince found out last.
Which felt intentional.
The moment the words reached him—
*Jin Wei. Xueyi. Royal marriage approved*—
his mind rejected them outright.
This wasn't right.
This wasn't how the story was supposed to go.
Memories surfaced without warning.
Xueyi beneath peach blossoms, laughing as she tied a ribbon around his sleeve.
"You worry too much," she had said. "I'll stay with you. I promised, didn't I?"
Another night. Lantern light. Hushed voices.
"When I become king," he had said lightly, almost carelessly,
"I'll bring you into the palace properly."
She had looked at him for a long moment.
"As long as I'm not hidden."
He had smiled.
"Of course."
He had *meant* it.
At least… he thought he had.
Reality crashed down hard.
He had married the Prime Minister's daughter for the throne.
A strategic move. Temporary.
Xueyi's family was too loyal to His Majesty—too clean, too principled. They would never help him seize power. He needed someone who understood schemes.
Xueyi was supposed to come later.
Quietly.
Gratefully.
As a concubine.
That was the plan.
This?
This was defiance.
The anger that surged through him wasn't because Jin Wei had won.
It was because Xueyi had chosen.
Chosen someone she could stand beside.
Chosen a future where she wasn't hidden in shadows.
*Is this because I didn't ask about her health?*
*Is this anger?*
*She can't do this to me.*
Furious, the Crown Prince penned a letter.
Gentle words.
Carefully chosen memories.
Promises whispered beneath trees and lanterns.
The reply arrived before evening.
He opened it eagerly—
And stopped.
She declined his request to meet.
It would be improper, she wrote, to meet alone now that she was to marry his brother.
No accusation.
No nostalgia.
Just a clean, deliberate severing.
The Crown Prince crushed the paper in his hand.
Not because of Jin Wei.
But because the girl who once promised to stay…
…had chosen to walk away first.
---
By nightfall, the capital buzzed.
Jin Wei was no longer invisible.
Xueyi was no longer waiting.
And the palace had shifted—subtly, dangerously.
A marriage had been decided.
And for the first time…
The Crown Prince was not the one holding the future.