The Reborn Consort's Retribution

It was common knowledge that the most prosperous nation under heaven was Great Liang. Within Great Liang, the most flourishing city was the capital, Serenity. And within Serenity, the most exquisite beauty was the granddaughter of Grand Tutor Silas Sutherland: Arden Sutherland.

Her beauty was not merely a matter of skin and feature, but a grace that seemed to reach the very marrow of her being. Arden was not only peerless in appearance but also possessed a brilliance that few could rival. Her calligraphy in the Small Regular Script was so elegant that even her grandfather, Silas, admitted he could not match her. Her paintings of birds and beasts were so lifelike that rumors claimed a peony she once painted had attracted a swarm of bees, leaving the Emperor himself in awe. On more than one occasion, the Emperor had remarked to Silas, "If Arden were a man, she would surely be a top scholar!"

People often whispered that with such beauty and such mastery over the arts, no ordinary man could ever be a match for her. Only the Imperial House, dwelling in the heights of the heavens, was worthy of Arden Sutherland.

As it happened, the Imperial House did possess a man whose looks and talents were a perfect match for her: the Crown Prince, Alistair Tillinghast.

Among the Emperor's five sons, Alistair was the eldest. Though his mother was deeply favored, her humble origins meant she was never crowned Empress before her death. However, his mother's low birth did not diminish Alistair's standing. From a young age, he had displayed extraordinary insight and mastery of both the literary and martial arts. The Emperor was extremely fond of him, often saying the boy took after him more than any other. At ten, Alistair was named Crown Prince. Now twenty, he had yet to select a consort. Being four years older than Arden, he was, in terms of age, appearance, status, and intellect, the only logical choice for her husband.

Unfortunately, Alistair Tillinghast did not like Arden Sutherland.

Arden, however, had harbored a secret love for him for years. At fourteen, she had once disguised herself as a young scholar to attend the Serenity Poetry Gathering. Drawn by the dense crowd around a pavilion, she had squeezed through to see what the commotion was about. A man from the Kingdom of Kucha stood there, boasting that he had devised a remnant game of Imperial Chess that no one in Great Liang could solve. The scholars of the capital, stung by his arrogance, had attempted to break the puzzle, but one by one, they failed. As the Kucha man mocked the lack of talent in the empire, Arden stood on the periphery, her brow furrowed in thought. After a few moments, she clapped her hands and laughed softly. "What is so difficult about this? That man is far too full of himself."

Just as she prepared to step forward, a man's voice, as clear and cold as jade striking stone, cut through the air.

"How dare a small border kingdom act so insolently?"

Arden turned. A man stood there, looking as if he had stepped out of a dream of moonlight and pines. He wore robes of snow-white silk, his hair as dark as ink and bound in a jade crown. He stood tall and upright like a mountain pine, idly waving a folding fan. He moved with an innate nobility and a quiet, commanding presence, as if nothing in the world was truly worthy of his notice.

The man walked to the board, picked up a piece, and with a light flick, solved the puzzle with ease.

Knight to C2. It was the exact move Arden had intended to make.

Fascinated, Arden looked up at the gentleman. At that exact moment, he happened to look down at her. His features were as fine as carved jade, his eyes as deep and dark as a moonless night. Arden felt her heart leap like a frightened deer. She lowered her head in a panic, but a deep crimson flush already stained her cheeks.

The gentleman in white, having solved the puzzle, prepared to depart with his attendants. Fearing she might never see him again, Arden cast aside her reserve and called out, "Please, wait!"

The man turned. Arden's face was burning. She stammered for a moment before managing to say, "That chess puzzle... I could have solved it too."

He gave a soft, light laugh, appearing not to believe her. Arden felt a prickle of annoyance, as if she were being looked down upon. "Truly, I could. It seemed like a dead end, but there was life hidden within the trap. By moving the knight as you did, the game is won."

The man's eyebrow arched. He clearly hadn't expected her to actually understand the strategy. Seeing that he no longer dismissed her, Arden gathered her courage. "In fact, there is a second solution. If you move the rook forward, you can also win."

"The rook?" he mused. "If the red pawn takes the rook, is that not simply seeking death?"

"No, it is placing oneself in a death trap to find life. If the red pawn takes the rook, I can use the black pawn to checkmate in three moves. If they do not take it, I can use the black rook to finish the game in five."

The man thought for a moment, then a slow smile spread across his lips. "So, the lady scholar is quite brilliant after all."

By calling her a "lady scholar," he made it clear he had seen through her male disguise from the start. Arden's face flamed again. Before she could find her voice, he laughed softly and walked away with his retinue.

After returning from the gathering, Arden could neither eat nor sleep, her mind filled with the image of the man in white. To soothe her longing, she painted his portrait and wrote a poem alongside it: "The gentleman should only be seen in a painting, in this I alone know the way. Written to the end of the water and the edge of the sky, surely he is no person of the dust."

She had read those lines before and wondered if such a celestial being could ever truly exist. Now that she had seen him, she knew that he was indeed a figure stepped out of a masterpiece.

What delighted her even more was the sense that he was her kindred spirit. They were of one mind, solving the same impossible puzzle with the same logic. She felt as though they shared a soul.

But who was he? Which noble house did he belong to?

Arden would stare at the portrait until she felt lost in it. Soon, the servants at the Sutherland Estate began to whisper that their young mistress was wasting away, and even the Grand Tutor was at his wits' end. Little did they know that Arden was suffering from a profound sickness of the heart.

Later, the servants said that Mistress Arden's lovesickness was finally cured—by her cousin, Julian Marlowe.

Julian Marlowe was the son of Marcus Marlowe, the Marquis of Eternal Peace, and the Emperor's sister, Princess Quintina. Since Marcus was the brother of Arden's mother, Julian was Arden’s elder cousin by a year. They had grown up together and shared a deep bond.

Julian was born with every advantage, yet he was notoriously wild and unbridled, showing no interest in a career as a court official. He befriended everyone from high-born lords to common street vendors, which led the refined scholars of Serenity to look down on him. Most noble families wouldn't dream of marrying their daughters to such a rogue. In all of Serenity, only Arden Sutherland seemed to think well of him.

She had even defended him during a royal hunt. Julian had outridden everyone, securing the most game of the day. He had looked striking in his black riding leathers, his hair tied back in a high ponytail as he galloped on a white horse, his bow drawn. He didn't have Alistair's icy coldness; instead, he was handsome, quick to laugh, and full of youthful vitality. Had he chosen the path of a soldier, he would have been a magnificent general.

When Julian returned with his haul, far surpassing the preening noble sons, Arden had clapped until her hands were sore. But one noble girl, bitter that her own brother had lost, mocked Julian while he was away, saying she had threatened to hang herself just to get her father to call off a potential match with him. This drew laughter from the crowd. Then, another scholar who hadn't even participated in the hunt sneered, "A man should have ambitions. Julian is the son of a Princess and heir to a Marquisate, yet he refuses to serve the throne or guard the borders. He spends his days with rabble and commoners. He is a disgrace to his father's name!"

The crowd roared with laughter, but Julian, who had just returned, simply smiled. He had heard it all before. He began unloading his game to give to Arden, but before he could, Arden stood up in the viewing stands and addressed the scholar.

"Does one only live a worthy life if they are a general or an official?" she asked clearly. "There are millions in this world, yet how many are officials? How many are generals? Does that make everyone else beneath contempt? As for commoners—the ancients said the people are precious and the sovereign is light. If the Emperor himself respects the people, do you, Master Liu, think yourself more noble than the Son of Heaven? If not, how dare you look down on the common folk?"

The scholar turned red with embarrassment and snapped, "Arden Sutherland, Julian is your cousin! Of course you would take his side!"

Arden smiled. "I would say the same even if he weren't my cousin." She cast a disdainful look at the youth. "Besides, Master Liu, you don't even have the strength to lift a bow. What right do you have to judge my cousin's worth?"

She then turned to the girl who had mocked Julian. "And as for you, Lady Jiang... you say you threatened to hang yourself to cancel a marriage? To my eyes, you are merely flattering yourself. My cousin is a filial son and a protector of the weak—a fine man indeed. Why would he want a foolish woman who speaks nothing but slander? Even if you hadn't threatened to hang yourself, he never would have looked at you twice."

The girl trembled with rage. Arden continued, her voice light and pleasant. "Gentlemen, whether one earns a title or an office is of little consequence. What matters is being a person of integrity. If you spend your time gossiping like hens, you are truly less than the commoners you despise."

The crowd was furious, but because Arden was the beloved granddaughter of the Grand Tutor—the Emperor's own mentor—they had to swallow their resentment.

After everyone had dispersed, Julian said to her, "I'm used to their insults. You didn't have to lower yourself to deal with them."

"You might be used to it, but I'm not. You caught the most game today; no one was better than you," Arden insisted stubbornly. "Why should they get to mock you? I won't have it!"

"But aren't you afraid of offending the entire social circle for the sake of Serenity's most notorious rogue?"

Arden looked at him, her eyes bright and a proud smile on her lips. "Let them be offended. To me, you are the best man in all of Great Liang."

Julian’s heart skipped a beat. He looked away, a faint smile touching his face.

As they grew older, Julian remained wild, but his bond with Arden only deepened. Though they had to maintain a proper distance now that they were of age, he never failed to bring her back curious trinkets from his travels. They weren't siblings, but they were closer than most who were.

Arden’s health had declined due to her constant pining for the gentleman in white. When Julian heard of this, he rushed over from the Princess's Estate. He crept into her room and saw her staring at a portrait with a look of deep melancholy. He pushed the door open, grinning. "What are we looking at then?"

Arden jumped, trying to hide the painting, but Julian was faster. He snatched it from her hands. "Let me see. Oh? A man? 'The gentleman should only be seen in a painting...' It seems my cousin is truly lovesick."

"Give it back!" Arden cried, blushing furiously.

Julian danced out of reach. "Let me see the face. I want to know who has managed to enchant my cousin so thoroughly."

Arden lunged for it, but at over six feet tall, Julian held it far above her head. He laughed as he looked at the face, but then his expression suddenly froze.

"This is... the Crown Prince?"

It turned out that the man Arden had been pining for was none other than Alistair Tillinghast.

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