"You're my mother?"
The words left my mouth before I could choose them.
A hairpin slid from my fingers. The sound it made when it struck Lady Liu's robe was small and sharp. It found the seam at her breast and kept going.
Gasps filled the Red Hall like thrown powder.
"How dare—" Lady Liu's voice broke in two. Her hand went to the wound. Her face went white in a way that showed training, not fear.
"You sold me," I said. "You sold me for a title and a favor. You planned this since the day I wore your favor in my hair."
An attendant lunged. "Seize her!"
"Stop!" I pushed off the low platform. My knees were unsteady, but my tongue held.
"Miss Zhou," someone whispered, and then louder, "Shame! Who brought this up at the wedding?"
Old Madam Zhou stood, every movement ceremonial. "Huan, child, what is this? Sit."
"I will not sit," I said. "Not today. Not when they've already chosen the other daughter to be bride, while I stand here to be shuffled away like a jade cup when the wine's gone."
A maid shoved my shoulder. The shove should have hurt. It did not. It made me angrier.
Lady Liu laughed. It was smooth and soft. "Absurd. You speak like a street hawker. You were always impulsive."
"Impulsive?" I moved closer until the hem of her sleeve ticked my hand. "You signed the papers. You paid the matchmakers. You
