Tian Liu Yan sat in his room, as he did most of the time he spent at the Zhao estate. The window was slightly open, and the sun, which had been scarce in recent days, sparkled.
The snow reflected the light and cast dancing sparkles on his walls. Everyone in the estate was restless and bustled around all day to prepare everything for the New Year celebrations.
The house was cleaned, and the trees, bushes, and walkways were cleared of ice. New lanterns were hung, and the chambers of the sons of the house were also prepared for their arrival.
Not only Li Wangxi, but also Zhao Jisheng's biological sons, Zhao Yuan and Zhao Yuehao, would be spending the holiday with their family. He had already met Yuan and Yuehao. They were two exemplary sect students and made not only their teachers but also their mother very proud.
Absent-mindedly, he continued to fray his brush, letting the individual bristles slip between his fingertips. Zhao Hua had been ignoring him for several days, which suited him just fine, as it meant he didn't have to endure her senseless punishments or her mockery.
However, it also meant that he hadn't eaten anything for days. Not even spoiled kitchen scraps. He placed the brush neatly beside him and rested his head in his hand as he considered whether it was worth the risk to sneak into the kitchen.
He could easily wait another day or two, but then he would surely be so hungry and weak that he would make more mistakes and no longer be as careful.
It was a beautiful day, and perhaps the absence of pain made him careless, but he decided to try his luck and got up.
From his room, he could sneak up to the kitchen from behind. Since breakfast was already over and the preparations for lunch were almost complete, there was no one in the kitchen at the moment.
Liu Yan looked around in all directions before cautiously stepping over the threshold. Pots were simmering and warm fires were burning in the ovens. As expected, the leftovers from the employees' meal were still on a table in an alcove.
Just as he reached out to take a bowl of half-eaten rice with vegetables, there was a rumbling behind him, and Liu Yan's hair stood on end. He exhaled deeply before turning around and looking into the arrogant face of one of the kitchen boys. The boy wiped his hands on his apron and laughed loudly.
"Who do we have here?" he asked mockingly, taking a step toward him.
Although Liu Yan was a head taller than him, it was he who backed away. One of these idiots rarely came alone, and as if on cue, four more kitchen staff entered behind him. He really had no luck.
They grinned when they saw Liu Yan. As an employee of the house, he didn't often get the opportunity to vent his frustration. Liu Yan was just what they needed. Miss Zhao Hua didn't mind if they took advantage of him.
Liu Yan clenched his hands into fists and hid them under the sleeves of his thin robe, which were much too long.
The five of them surrounded him, even shielding him from the sunlight streaming in. "Your Highness, if you want something to eat, all you have to do is ask," one of the boys cooed, pulling the bucket of kitchen scraps toward him. He began to empty the half-full bowls and plates into it.
Liu Yan swallowed and suppressed a wave of nausea. Normally, the bucket would be thrown to the pigs to eat, but he had a bad feeling about it.
The four remaining men had surrounded him, and one of them kicked him so hard in the back of the knees that Liu Yan sank to the ground. Before he could catch himself, he was pulled back by his hair and his mouth was forced open.
"Your Highness," one of them gasped, straining to hold him down.
Despite his frail and gaunt physique, he was surprisingly strong and resilient.
Liu Yan tried to break free, but one of them pulled him back by his hair while two others held his arms and bent them back so far that it hurt and cracked ominously.
The fourth tried to force his jaw open. When that didn't work, one held his nose, and just as Liu Yan was about to gasp for air, the fifth poured the bucket over him.
Before the stinking, rotten remains hit him, the bucket was kicked aside. Something crashed clatteringly against the jaw of the man who was pulling his hair, and he was released.
Liu Yan collapsed on the floor. As he leaned on his aching arms and looked up, he saw Luo Xinxin's angry face. She had poured a bucket of water over one of them, kicked the trash away, and slammed the metal bucket she had to clean with against the nose of a second one, causing him to bleed.
"Who do you think you are?" she shouted. "Is this how you treat a prince?"
"Luo Xinxin," growled the man who had caught Liu Yan first. Xinxin turned around, swung her arm back, and slammed the bucket so hard against his forehead that it dented. The man staggered back.
"A bunch of spineless good-for-nothings," she said angrily, carefully brushing a strand of hair from Liu Yan's face. He was still terribly pale. His lips were pressed tightly together and his dark, black eyes were cold and emotionless.
"Like master, like servant. Have you thought about the consequences if he dies?"
she asked, looking at the men one by one.
"What's going to happen? That's what he's there for, isn't it? To absorb our bad karma," one of them barked. Xinxin glared at him angrily.
"And if he dies, all the bad karma in the Zhao estate will be unleashed and drive it to ruin," she said threateningly.
The men looked at each other doubtfully. Then they decided it was safer to retreat for the time being and hurriedly left the kitchen. Luo Xinxin helped Liu Yan to his feet and brushed the dirt off his robe.
"You're lying," Liu Yan said hoarsely. When he died, a new curse bond would simply be born to take his place. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in a year, maybe even in a few hundred years. Xinxin looked at him and then shook her head. "Not quite," she contradicted him. "It's true that when the curse bond dies, a new one is born, but that doesn't change the fact that after your death, you can no longer purify your surroundings. So sooner or later, the bad karma would fall back on them.
That's not a lie."
Tian Liu Yan looked at her and watched Xinxin straighten his clothes and put the bucket aside. He didn't ask her how she knew who he was. No one in this family made a secret of the fact that they "took care" of the curse bind. Liu Yan straightened his clothes himself and remained coolly distant.
"I don't need your help," he said coldly.
"So you would have liked to eat garbage?" Xinxin asked, crossing her arms.
"I would have liked to eat anything," he replied frostily.
Xinxin looked at him skeptically for a moment, then seemed to understand. She didn't question whether Zhao Hua could be cruel enough to deny him food. She untied a small pouch from her belt that dangled from her hip and gave him the mantou that was inside.
Liu Yan tensed, making no move to take the bread from her. Unhappy memories from his life in the palace flooded him.
More than once, there had been people. Servants, visitors, even his own brothers, who approached him with seemingly friendly intentions, only to betray him and mock his naivety. He clenched his jaw.
His stomach contracted painfully, and although the mantou was already cold, the smell emanating from it was heavenly. Noticing his hesitation, Xinxin broke the dumpling in half and demonstratively bit into one of them. Then she took Liu Yan's hand and placed the other half in it.
"I have no interest in hurting you," she said quietly. When she looked up, he saw something like resignation in her eyes.
"There will always be people who subjugate and humiliate others. Unfortunately, you are no exception. But just because you were born with a curse, that's no reason to have to endure everything silently. You are also a human being with feelings and a will of your own. You are a prince of this country. You don't have to let yourself be bullied," she said emphatically.
Liu Yan snorted. Now she had almost made him laugh. He gave her an appraising look. He needed neither kindness nor care; she should mind her own business.
Without another word, he walked past her, unconsciously clutching the dumpling in his hand tightly.
The men who had gathered outside, treating each other's bloody noses with ice scraped from the bushes, scattered when Liu Yan came out of the kitchen.
He paused briefly. The sight of the young men who usually seemed to tower over him, looking down on him mockingly and humiliating him with violence, made them look at him for a moment with a mixture of suspicion and fear.
Liu Yan hid the hand holding the half-eaten mantou behind the fabric of his thin robes before rushing past them and running back to his room.
He closed the door behind him and made sure the windows were closed before carefully placing the food on the table in front of him.
It still smelled heavenly, even though the bread was already crumbly and the filling was dry. It didn't look as if it had been deliberately dragged through the dirt again or that spoiled food had been used in it.
It was a mantou like the ones the servants were given to eat. He carefully tore off a piece of the dry bread and put it in his mouth. The taste of the fine dough melted in his mouth and he felt his mouth water.
So this was what unspoiled food tasted like? He bravely tore off a little more of the bread with the meat filling. Hesitantly, he held the bite in the air and looked at the meat juice running down his finger. Just one drop.
But his hunger was too strong. He put the bite in his mouth and chewed longer than necessary. Because he didn't want to waste any of it.
It tasted really good, it was neither over- nor under-seasoned. There were no hidden shards of glass or sharp bones, he could even taste vegetables. As he swallowed, he realized that he had eaten faster than he intended, and only tiny bread crumbs remained on his table.
Normally, bad food ruined his appetite and he couldn't look at it for several days afterwards. This was the first time he wanted more. His stomach growled and demanded more of the tasty dumpling.
The feeling was even more unpleasant than the pain when he fought nausea to keep the garbage inside him.
He took one of the old scrolls from his shelf and tried to distract himself, but today he felt particularly uncomfortable. The hunger after tasting something delicious. The coldness of his room and the hateful glances after he had tasted the fear that could be directed at him tugged at him.
After a short time, he put the scroll aside and contented himself with staring into space. In front of him were neatly stacked copies of the family rules, as well as the most common books Zhao Hua knew and had him copy.
The brush holder stood next to it, exuding a sharp, pungent smell along with the dried inkwell. For purely decorative purposes, he had an incense burner on the table, which he had also found in this storage room.
But he had neither incense nor anything to light it with, so the dull brass with the twin lion heads just stood on the table and gathered dust.
Liu Yan liked his room, even though Zhao Hua had certainly not given it to him to make him feel comfortable. Unlike many others, he enjoyed learning, and acquiring new knowledge was fun for him.
For him, it had been like a refuge to bury himself here in all the books and ancient knowledge. His handwriting was among the most beautiful and had even been praised by Zhao Yuan and Zhao Yuehao.
Sometimes he was allowed to make talismans for them. The cleaner the writing, the more reliably they worked.
Liu Yan was not only a friend of knowledge and learning, but also very tidy. He always kept his room clean, regularly dusted the bookshelves, and wiped the surfaces until they were sparkling clean.
He was certainly very conscientious and eager to learn, a curious young man who could have become a handsome prince if he had not been cursed at birth.
He exhaled heavily. The afternoon was dawning, and Zhao Hua still hadn't summoned him. Although he was reluctant, he was also curious about what had caught her attention, causing her to literally forget her fiancé, whom she otherwise bullied and beat half to death day in and day out.
Liu Yan got up. He would give in to his curiosity and go and see.