That very afternoon Shen Xiao had proposed the matter of grain requisitioning, and the following day the Minister of Finance summoned him to draft a memorial for submission to the throne. By the afternoon, the memorial was sitting squarely on Emperor Zhengyuan’s desk.

Emperor Zhengyuan read it and clapped his hands in approval.

Zheng Pushe happened to be present as well. Emperor Zhengyuan bade him read the memorial through, and when he had finished remarked, “I seem to recall Aiqing Zheng once suggesting that the talent recruited through the imperial examinations might be nothing but bookworms unfit for practical affairs. By my assessment, this Shen Xiao is precisely the sort of man who gets things done. With the great drought in Guanzhong and the Ministry’s grain stores running short, grain requisitioning is exactly the right solution.”

His tone carried more than a touch of self-satisfied pride.

Zheng Pushe smiled without contradicting him, and offered a few words of praise to follow the Emperor’s lead.

In his heart, however, he was privately dismissive. Conceiving a solution and being able to actually implement it were two entirely different matters. This top examination graduate was courting his own destruction. The Second Prince had sent him to requisition grain — the Second Prince himself had clearly reached a dead end.

Praises notwithstanding, Emperor Zhengyuan understood perfectly well the difficulty of grain requisitioning. On the spot, he picked up his brush and personally wrote out an imperial decree for grain requisitioning, directing Shen Xiao to carry the decree and use it to conduct the requisitioning. For an eighth-rank minor official, this was already an honor beyond measure.

But Emperor Zhengyuan had clearly underestimated the difficulty of the task.

From the end of the third month, when the grain requisitioning scheme was proposed, it was now the beginning of the sixth month — two months had passed. In that time, Shen Xiao had carried the imperial decree and gone around requisitioning grain, paying calls on the local gentry and great houses of various prefectures and counties in Guanzhong no fewer than three or five times each. Yet of the three hundred thousand piculs of grain needed, barely one hundred thousand had been collected — and the greater part of even that had been contributed by the families who were on good terms with the Second Prince.

Meanwhile, over at Yongtong Canal, Cui Jinzhi was using the grain the Ministry had issued to curry favor with the laborers. Working on Yongtong Canal had become the most coveted job in Chang’an — good food and drink to go around, and if one man worked, the whole neighborhood would not go hungry. The Second Prince was furious enough to grind his teeth. Even the great families who stood behind the Second Prince were now grumbling — Shen Xiao was using their grain to subsidize the Crown Prince’s cause. Whose side was he really on — the Second Prince’s or the Crown Prince’s?

“Master Shen is having quite a time these days, carrying the Emperor’s grain requisitioning decree around Chang’an and hitting a wall at every turn. With only one month left to go, there is still a shortfall of two hundred thousand piculs. Word has it he stands watch outside the gates of various great households every day, and yet no one is willing to see him. The Second Prince, however, appears not to be worried in the slightest — he has not even assigned Shen Xiao so much as a single assistant to help with the requisitioning.”

The servant bowed respectfully and reported the recent state of affairs to Li Shu.

Yesterday had been the first day of the sixth month, and Li Shu had gone as usual to Qianfu Temple to pray for her late mother’s soul. She had only just returned from Qianfu Temple to her country estate when she found a servant from the main residence already waiting at the gate.

Ever since the Second Prince’s side had proposed grain requisitioning, Li Shu had known she could not escape being targeted for it herself. She had therefore taken the pretext of avoiding the summer heat and moved to her country estate outside the city. She had now been living there for two full months. All the major and minor affairs at court were reported to her regularly by her household servants. Fortunately, over the past two months, neither the Crown Prince nor the Second Prince had made any particularly dramatic moves, and there had been no great events at court — the only person run ragged was Shen Xiao.

This country estate was situated halfway up a mountain. At the summit was Qianfu Temple, and the mountain also had clear springs — cool and pleasant in the summer months. Li Shu came here every summer to escape the heat.

The servant followed Li Shu into the estate, bowing as they walked along the winding corridors, reporting all the recent events at court — with particular attention to Shen Xiao’s situation.

Li Shu gave a faint “mm” and said nothing further.

She had nothing to say. Court affairs were not a child’s game. Behind every brush stroke of ink and paper lay the glint of blades and the shadow of swords. One careless step and there would be nothing left but bones. Shen Xiao wanted to climb higher — but whether he had the ability to climb was another matter entirely. He had entered the Second Prince’s service, taken a wrong path, and if at the end he fell and was broken to pieces — that was his own burden to bear.

Li Shu continued along the corridor. The servant bent lower and reported again: “Your Highness, the artisans have completed the white jade carving — a white jade Guanyin standing a full person’s height, without a single flaw. It is now stored in the treasury. The steward says to ask when you will return to the main residence to inspect it, as the Empress’s birthday is approaching, and the household has not dared to relax about this matter.”

Li Shu heard this and nodded. “I will return tomorrow.”

The servant was relieved, and ventured further: “Also, regarding the Cui household — a few days ago you mentioned sending an invitation to Duke Cuiguo and the two elder sisters-in-law, to ask whether the Cui Family would attend the palace banquet. But there has been no reply to this day. His Lordship the Prince Consort has also been overseeing the construction at Yongtong Canal for two months and has not returned, so none of the servants have dared go and ask.”

Li Shu showed no surprise at this. “If the Cui Family does not reply, then they do not reply. When I sent that invitation, it was only a passing gesture of courtesy.”

Cui Jinzhi had two elder brothers by his principal wife, both of whom had followed old Duke Cuiguo into military service. Five years ago, they set out to suppress a rebellion in the southern frontier, and both brothers had died in battle one after another. From that time on, the Cui Family’s power and influence had never recovered. Old Duke Cuiguo, in his later years, lost two sons in succession. After that, he withdrew from public life and refused to involve himself in politics anymore. The two widowed sisters-in-law spent their days chanting prayers and burning incense, attending no banquets of any kind.

The Cui Family in Chang’an was now as though they did not exist.

Had it not been for Cui Jinzhi, who had propped up the Cui Family’s name through sheer force of will by clinging to the Crown Prince’s coattails, most people would have long since forgotten how the Cui Family had once dominated Chang’an.

Li Shu’s relationship with the Cui household was never close. If they had no wish to attend banquets, she would not press them. A life of simple, detached contentment was perfectly fine.

The Empress’s birthday fell on the eighth day of the sixth month. For Li Shu to only now return to the main residence to make preparations was already rather late — after all, this was the Empress, and from the exchange of social courtesies to the birthday gifts, to what she would wear and what jewels she would carry, not a single detail could be overlooked. Fortunately, what her household never lacked was rare and precious treasures of every kind. The gift had been ready long ago — white jade from Xinjiang, commissioned from the artisans to be carved into a full-length white jade Guanyin, a process that had taken nearly a year.

It was not a particularly inspired gift — it merely had the virtue of being extraordinarily valuable. That made it acceptable, if unremarkable.

Were her gift to stand out too brilliantly, overshadowing Princess Anle’s, Anle would be petty enough to take offense, and then the Empress would also give Li Shu a cold reception. She had been through this sort of thing before and no longer wished to bring trouble upon herself.

That evening Hong Luo busied the maids with packing, and early the next morning, while the air was still cool, Princess Pingyang’s carriage set out along the main road back toward the city. By the time they reached the Thirteenth Prince’s Ward, it was nearly midday.

The carriage had grown stifling inside, and Li Shu had no more patience for reading. She closed her book, opened the curtain, and let in some air.

The carriage turned the final bend, and ahead lay Princess Pingyang’s residence. The red lacquered gates were thrown wide open, waiting to receive the Princess’s return. At the foot of the steps, flanking two enormous stone lions on either side, stood… Shen Xiao.

Li Shu gave a slight frown.

She had been living in the mountains for two months, and he had already shown up the moment she returned. Shen Xiao had clearly not served as an official these past months in vain — his sources of information were impressively quick.

The carriage came to a smooth, steady stop at the gate. Li Shu stepped down. She knew perfectly well what Shen Xiao was here for, and so she had no intention of acknowledging him.

She acted as if she could not see Shen Xiao at all and walked straight past him toward the gate, but she had barely climbed one or two steps when Shen Xiao called out from behind her: “Eighth-rank Director Shen Xiao of the Ministry of Finance, paying his respects to Princess Pingyang.”

His voice was still composed and cool, yet carried a thread of hoarseness — as if he had gone a very long time without water.

Li Shu halted, turned around, and looked at Shen Xiao.

Standing on those two steps, she discovered to her mild surprise that she was eye-level with Shen Xiao. From a distance she had never been able to tell — it turned out he was quite tall. Probably because he was on the lean side, his height was not immediately apparent.

Li Shu studied Shen Xiao carefully. He was still in that deep teal official robe, which made the concentration of his features even more striking. But his face was flushed and his lips had gone pale — in this mercilessly scorching weather, who knew how long he had been standing under the blazing sun. Li Shu ran a strict household, and her servants had received strict instructions: without the mistress’s orders, they did not dare admit any idle passerby into the residence.

Seeing that Li Shu had stopped, Shen Xiao quickly pressed forward: “This official has a matter to discuss with Your Highness. Would Your Highness be willing to—”

“Master Shen,” Li Shu said with a smile, cutting him off. “This Princess has just returned from the country estate and is somewhat weary. If there is important business to discuss, it would be better to speak of it at a later time.”

Shen Xiao saw that Li Shu was refusing him and persisted: “This official will be brief and will not take up much of Your Highness’s time.”

“Brief?”

Li Shu smiled. “There is no need to be brief — if you say it briefly, everyone in Chang’an can guess what you have come to say.”

Li Shu held up two fingers and gave them a little wave. “Two words. Grain requisitioning.”

Shen Xiao’s gaze contracted sharply, and then he understood. Of course — a person as astute as Princess Pingyang could hardly fail to guess what he had come to say.

Li Shu continued: “This Princess is tired, Master Shen. I have no time to see you today. And in the days ahead, this Princess will be occupied preparing birthday gifts for the Empress — I will have no time to see you then, either. If Master Shen truly wishes to request an audience, perhaps wait until… the end of the sixth month…”

The end of the sixth month — that was the final deadline for Shen Xiao’s grain requisitioning. By then everything would have been settled. What would be the use of seeking an audience with Li Shu at that point? This was obviously an excuse to avoid lending grain.

With that, Li Shu turned away and walked toward the gate, paying Shen Xiao no further mind. She assumed he had taken his rebuff and slunk away long ago.

She returned to her room, changed into something light and cool, rested for a while, then summoned the various household stewards to the flower hall and listened to their reports on the household’s affairs, handled several important domestic matters, and reviewed the past month’s account books from the various business dealings.

All the while, the young gate attendant was bobbing his head around anxiously, but all the stewards who might have a word with the Princess were inside the flower hall making their reports, and the Princess’s personal maids were busy waiting on her. He could find no opening.

Not until Li Shu went to the treasury to personally inspect the white jade Guanyin did the young gate attendant finally seize his chance. He rushed over and pulled Hong Luo aside.

“Oh mercy!” The gate attendant stamped his foot. “That Master Shen is still standing outside the gate! You tell me, what are we supposed to do? The guards told him to leave, but he insists he must see the Princess. And the guards can’t exactly throw him out.”

Hong Luo shot the gate attendant a sharp glare. “What are you in such a panic about — do you want to disturb the Princess?” She thought for a moment, then said: “Just ignore him. If he wants to wait, let him wait. You just saw the Princess’s attitude — it’s plain she has no wish to see him.”

But the gate attendant grew more fretful: “That’s… well, just look at this sun outside. Half an hour of standing in it would leave you dizzy. Master Shen has been standing there since midday — that’s two or three hours in the sun already. If this keeps up… if something happens to him right here outside our gate, what are we going to do?”

The way Master Shen stood there straight as a pillar, he was clearly determined not to leave without seeing the Princess. If he was truly struck down by heatstroke, having that happen right outside Princess Pingyang’s gate would leave an impossible stain to wash off. The accusation that Princess Pingyang had mistreated a court official — he, a mere gatekeeper, could not bear that responsibility. Was he expected to carry that and just quietly drop dead?

The gate attendant hesitated, then said cautiously: “Perhaps… perhaps Hong Luo, you might let the Princess know, so we have some idea of what to do.”

Hong Luo glared at him again. “What is there to say? Can’t you see the Princess is busy right now?”

But at that moment, Li Shu had already stepped out of the treasury and, seeing the two of them lurking behind a corridor pillar, frowned and said, “Hong Luo, what are you two talking about?”