I hadn't expected Song Shuxian to come looking for me.
When A Xiu told me she was at the door, I was sparring with my mother. I blocked my mother's palm with my elbow and asked, "What does she want with me? Didn't we fall out?"
My mother's lips twitched. "You're about to be the Crown Princess, can't you have some sense of the bigger picture?"
"As if you did," I retorted.
"It's different, I was just a humble merchant's wife," my mother said proudly. "The thought of you being confined within the palace walls while I travel the world with your father, oh, it makes me so happy!"
"Is that how a mother should be?" I was so frustrated I almost wanted to run away from the marriage. I pulled away from her, taking a towel from another maid. "A Xiu, please ask Miss Song to wait in the small parlor for tea. Mother, do you want to see her? You quite liked her when she was little."
"Forget it, she's become more like her mother with age, breathing the same air. I won't go out of my way to seek unpleasantness."
But I felt Song Shuxian had come to seek unpleasantness with me, because the first thing she said upon meeting me was a question: "Wang Shichun, are you very pleased with yourself now?"
I put down my tea cup wordlessly, deciding not to drink it lest I spit it out. "You came to find me just to ask this?"
Song Shuxian glared at me, her eyes threatening to brim with tears, looking utterly wronged. "Tell them all to leave. I have something to say to you alone."
I took a few steps back. "No, I won't. If there's no one watching, who knows if you'll deliberately frame me?"
"From childhood, we were both princess's attendants. Is that how you see me, Song Shuxian?"
"Miss, should you perhaps look in a mirror? Your face clearly says you're here to pick a fight."
Song Shuxian's tears began to fall, drop by drop. She must have practiced in front of a mirror countless times, for she truly managed to produce a look of tearful beauty that evoked pity.
"Fine, I'm scared of you. A Xiu, take everyone away."
"Miss," A Xiu stamped her foot in distress but still led the others away.
Only then did Song Shuxian stop crying and stare at me intently.
I stared back. No matter how fiercely she glared, it wouldn't cost me a piece of flesh.
But her prolonged glare began to hurt my eyes. Finally, I couldn't help but speak first. "Wang Shichun, why must you compete with me?"
"There are many who want to be Crown Princess. You can't come to me just because I succeeded. The way you look today, it's as if I stole your man, but the Crown Prince has never shown any interest in you, has he?"
"It's not just that. When we were attendants to the princess as children, you vied for her affection. I did everything better than you, even the governess praised me, yet the princess preferred you."
The princess herself wasn't fond of studying; the etiquette and rules were just a chore to her, so of course, she wouldn't prefer Song Shuxian, who took the governess's words as gospel.
"And the Second Prince. I always tried to please him, but he always only played with you."
I couldn't help but cast a sidelong glance at her. How terrifying was the influence of role models? The education she received in the palace was the same as mine, yet she had completely inherited her mother's disposition. "Miss Song, the Second Prince has always loved martial arts. If he doesn't spar with me, who would he spar with? With your frail physique, you probably couldn't even withstand one of his moves."
"Hmph, no matter what you say, it doesn't erase the fact that you love to snatch. Your mother snatched my father from my mother, and now you're snatching the Crown Prince I like. Why don't you and your mother become bandits?"
"Get it straight, the one who snatched your father was your father's concubine. When your mother met your father, my elder brother was already born. Your mother has a problem with her brain, creating her own love rival. You're even worse, indulging in your own drama. It's not like it's money; why should the princess and the Second Prince necessarily like you? And the Crown Prince, hah, what does he have to do with you? Don't tell me you truly believe the Crown Prince will marry no one but you just because of a few rumors outside saying your family background and appearance are excellent, making you the perfect match for His Highness?"
"But if it weren't for you, the Crown Prince would definitely have married me."
"...Did you catch your mother's illness from her?" I was too lazy to deal with her anymore and loudly called out, "A Xiu, see the guest out."
A Xiu, who had been waiting outside the door, rushed in immediately.
Song Shuxian gave me another fierce glare before following A Xiu out, and finally, she left my house in tears.
When A Xiu returned, she was furious. "She was walking fine the whole way, but the moment we reached the main gate, she started crying. The tears just flowed, as if she'd suffered the greatest injustice. Miss, just watch, by tomorrow the entire capital will be buzzing with news that you're bullying people even before you've become the Crown Princess."
"Let her. Even for Uncle Song's sake, I can't really do anything to her, can I?"
Song Shuxian was counting on that very fact, which was why she dared to provoke me and disgust me like this.
Once stripped of her pretense of being a gentle noble lady, her true nature was like her mother's, prone to unreasonable arguments. However, such arguments were useless beyond making me sick.
Let her say I'm bullying. I don't care about that reputation anyway, and not everyone believes her.