Page 1 of Dynasty of the Wicked

1

Blood drippedalong the edge of Zhi Ruo’s sharp, black-scaled dagger—or more precisely, herbrother’sdagger, which she had stolen this morning. She had never used a weapon before, until that moment, when she’d chopped a man’s finger off. He was still screaming in the background, but she was instead more fascinated by the scarlet rivulets that ran down in the hollowed central ridge of the blade and collected there.

It was a fine weapon. Short enough that she could strap it to her ankle, and long enough to swipe at a man’s grubby, straying fingers.

The man in front of her remained on his knees, his free hand bunching over his injured one. Blood spotted the polished wooden floors. He trembled like a young child caught stealing, his screams having abated.

“P-princess,” he whimpered.

Father would kill her for this.

She had just severed a noble’sfinger.

“Princess Zhi Ruo, I swear I didn’t mean to do anything,” the man said through clenched teeth, his Adam’s apple bobbing from the obvious lie. Sweat poured down the sides of his pale face and his gaze darted from Zhi Ruo to the guards, who hadconveniently only showed up once he started shrieking. “Please, believe me. It was an accident. I swear on my family’s life.”

Her heart was pounding so loudly, the blood rushing to her ears, that she could barely decipher his words.

Father would certainly hear of this.

“Your family’s life?” Zhi Ruo ripped her gaze from the weapon and pointed it at the man. She was sure her smile was disconcerting to him, because he avoided her stare. If she pretended like this—pretended that she was powerful, important, domineering—she could keep her own flesh from shaking. “Remind me who your family is again?”

The man swallowed. “My … my family name is Deng.”

“The Deng family?” She raked through her mind, trying to remember who he or his family were, but she couldn’t think of anything on the spot. So many noble families, even lesser-known ones, were invited to the palace for the Winter festival, so they all blurred together in her mind. “You must be from the south, then? I’ve never heard of your family.”

“C-correct.”

Even a small noble like him thought he could do whatever he wanted with her, the disgraced, wicked princess. The rumors must have spread down there too, then.

The two palace guards flanking the man shifted on their feet. She could already tell they didn’t want to be here. There were probably better places to be, like with her brother or her perfect sister. Or with the rest of the festivities being held at the palace. Or anywhere else that didn’t involve her. It was just their bad luck that they’d had to be guarding this hallway when the man had groped her, attempted to force himself onto her, and she had sliced his finger off. A finger that she couldn’t even spot on the floor anymore.

Zhi Ruo stared at the edge of the dagger once more. She hadn’t expected the blade to bethissharp. In truth, she hadn’tmeant to cut him that deep. She had only meant to scare him off, to push him a little, but she had panicked when his grubby hands had touched her and when he had brought his sour-wine smelling mouth against hers.

“Please.” He clutched his wrist tighter, the blood dripping down from his fingerless stub in gushes.

Zhi Ruo peered down at him with growing distaste. “Youaccidentallygrabbed me?”

“I thought … you were someone else,” he whispered, gaze skating over the walls and floors.

“Truly?” She tightened her hold on the weapon. “And who did you think I was?”

He gulped again. “I … I …”

Silence filled the hallway. The two guards shifted on their feet again, exchanging glances with one another. Zhi Ruo remained rooted in place, staring down at the wretched man who probably would have gotten away with doing whatever he wanted if she hadn’t struck him. Would these two guards have even come to her aid if she had screamed? Or would they have ignored her and thought the wicked princess was pulling a prank? Her hands grew clammy.

“Your Highness,” one of the guards said, clearing his throat. “The man made a mistake. I think it’s better to let him be on his way. You’ve punished him enough.”

She stiffened. A mistake. If it had been Ying Yue who had been groped in such a manner, she doubted they would trivialize it like this. No, this man would have been left to hang in front of the entire empire if he dared such an insult to the royal princess. But Zhi Ruo didn’t count.

She gripped the hilt of her weapon so tight that her fingers grew numb. She couldn’t make more of a scene, because then she’d be in even more trouble than she already was. She was sure she would be punished for this, even though it wasn’t her fault.Or perhaps Father would go back to ignoring her like she didn’t exist. She wasn’t sure which she’d rather he do, but she didn’t want to make her situation worse, so she exhaled deeply and nodded to the guards. They visibly relaxed.

She pointed the dagger at the man’s face. “I should gut you like the pig you are. Leave my sight at once. Don’t ever show your face in front of me again, or Iwillkill you.”

The man eagerly bobbed his head and scurried down the hall, flicking blood down the corridor. Zhi Ruo watched him disappear at the bend and it was only then that she could release a shuddered breath. But the two guards were still there, watching her with those unsure looks on their faces. She hated the uncertainty.

Zhi Ruo held her hand out to one of the guards. “A handkerchief.”

“Huh?” The guard blinked at her, at the bloodied dagger, and then fumbled with the folds of his uniform. He leaned his spear against the wall and yanked out a crisp white piece of linen with a small tiger embroidered in the corner. He reluctantly handed it to her. “Here, Your Highness.”

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