On the evening of that same day she returned from the imperial banquet, Li Shu put on her outer robe and stood beneath the eaves all night long.

She could not sleep.

Lending grain was not a simple matter. How to lend it, and when to lend it—both required careful consideration.

Carrying the grain openly to the Ministry of Revenue was the most foolish approach. It would be the same as openly betraying the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince, who had always been narrow-minded, would surely do everything in his power to come after her afterward.

She intended to break free from the Crown Prince, but not in such a clumsy way.

And furthermore, lending grain to the Ministry of Revenue in that fashion—aside from earning one word of praise from Father Emperor—would gain her nothing at all. Li Shu had never done business that made a loss.

She needed to extricate herself from the Crown Prince completely and, ideally, see to it that the Crown Prince suffered a hidden loss in the bargain. Only that would be a worthy return for all the years she had spent as his attack dog.

But how exactly to lend the grain—so that the Crown Prince would bear her no grudge, while Father Emperor would be satisfied at the same time? She stood beneath the eaves all night, and still had no answer by the time the sun had risen high. The matter continued to press on her heart, a tangle of threads with no end, and not a trace of drowsiness came to her.

She ate a few cursory bites of breakfast and then walked along the path beside the rear courtyard lake, deep in thought. Hong Luo came hurrying over. “Your Highness, Sir Shen is here again…”

Hong Luo hesitated. “Will you see him?”

After what had happened at the imperial banquet, the Princess’s stance had changed. Hong Luo could no longer tell what Li Shu’s attitude toward Shen Xiao really was.

Li Shu halted.

The moment she heard Shen Xiao’s name, a flash of insight struck her. The tangled threads of the night before suddenly had a beginning and an end, and the problem of lending grain resolved itself—so long as Shen Xiao could be made to serve her purpose.

Sir Shen truly was a helpful man—just when she was at her wits’ end, he had come straight to her door.

Li Shu curved her lips into a smile.

“Of course I will see him.”

*

Shen Xiao followed Hong Luo into the mansion, taking the same route as before: past the spirit wall, east through the courtyard, along a winding covered walkway that led him to the lake in the rear courtyard.

Only this time, they did not stop at the pavilion.

At the lakeside stood an enormous phoenix tree, and beneath it, in its shade, Li Shu sat fishing.

Hong Luo guided Shen Xiao over, then slipped away without a sound.

Shen Xiao stood behind Li Shu, clasped his hands in a bow, and said, “Your servant greets Princess Ping—”

“Shh…”

Li Shu suddenly turned her head and made a silencing gesture at him. “You’ve frightened my fish away.”

She lifted the fishing rod to check—sure enough, nothing on the line. She gave Shen Xiao a reproachful look.

Shen Xiao immediately closed his mouth.

So Shen Xiao stood behind Li Shu without moving, watching her fish for the better part of an hour. The float did not so much as stir. Whether there were no fish in the lake, or whether this princess was simply a terrible angler, it was impossible to say.

Shen Xiao was beginning to grow impatient.

The time for the grain levy was growing shorter, yet the shortfall of two hundred thousand shi had not decreased by a single grain.

What was more, he could not quite tell at this point whether Li Shu was genuinely fishing or deliberately wasting his time.

She had time to spare; he did not.

Shen Xiao could be patient no longer. He spoke up, regardless. “Your Highness, I have come to speak with you today about the grain levy.”

Li Shu made a vexed sound. “Oh no—” The fishing rod had just given a twitch, and then Shen Xiao had opened his mouth. She turned to glare at him. “Sir Shen, you’ve frightened my fish away again!”

Shen Xiao was silenced by the glare, the rest of his words caught in his throat.

So Princess Pingyang could glare at people like that? He had assumed she was only capable of mockery.

That was Shen Xiao’s first thought.

He pushed the thought away immediately, feeling he had truly been left to stand there long enough by Li Shu—so bored that he had actually started paying attention to something as inconsequential as the way she glared at someone.

Li Shu raised the fishing rod, then cast the line again into a fresh stretch of water, and resumed fishing.

Another quarter of an hour passed in exactly this fashion, with the float showing no sign of movement whatsoever. Even if he waited all day, she would likely not catch a single fish.

Shen Xiao steeled himself and no longer paid any mind to her fishing. “The imperial decree on the grain levy is perfectly plain—every great household in Guanzhong is required to contribute grain. Your servant has called upon Your Highness numerous times, yet Your Highness has repeatedly resisted the levy.”

There was a thread of warning in Shen Xiao’s voice. “Your Highness is opposing His Majesty.”

At that, Li Shu’s gaze finally shifted from the fishing rod to him. She let out a derisive laugh. “Opposing Father Emperor? Sir Shen, you heap such a lofty charge upon me—I can only say I am unworthy of it.”

“In that case, please tell your servant plainly, Your Highness—what is to be done now? According to the grain levy decree, how much grain is Your Highness required to contribute?”

Shen Xiao started, then quickly replied, “According to the decree, Your Highness is to contribute thirty thousand shi of grain.”

“Thirty thousand shi?”

Li Shu raised an eyebrow. “Sir Shen, you truly have a bold appetite!”

Shen Xiao explained, “This figure was not set at your servant’s whim—it was calculated by the Ministry of Revenue based on Your Highness’s food-tax estate and landholdings. Your Highness is a person of considerable wealth, and it is only natural that you contribute more than others.”

“Considerable wealth?”

Li Shu put on an expression of great aggrievement, as though she were deeply pained by the state of her grain stores. “Sir Shen, your servant’s annual food-tax income amounts to only ten thousand shi. You ask for thirty thousand shi at a stroke—that is the equivalent of three full years of this princess’s household savings.”

A thought seemed to occur to her, and she gave a sudden short laugh. “Could it be that you consider this a debt owed to you? Three years ago, Sir Shen spent one night in my service—and now you come to collect thirty thousand shi of grain as compensation?”

Shen Xiao’s body went rigid at this.

Li Shu made a clicking sound with her tongue. “Thirty thousand shi… Sir Shen’s price is quite high. It is fortunate your servant only called upon you for one night. If it had been two or three nights more, your servant truly could not afford you now.”

At those words, the color drained from Shen Xiao’s face and flooded back again. The line of his jaw went taut, his hands clenched beneath his wide sleeves, and he stood with a face set in cold severity, saying not a word.

His price?

Did Princess Pingyang take him for one of those for-sale men in a brothel?

He felt at this moment a powerful urge to sweep his sleeves and walk out.

For all that Shen Xiao had always been cool and composed, in front of Li Shu he found himself repeatedly losing his composure.

After a long moment, Shen Xiao breathed out the tension he was holding, pressing all emotion down beneath the surface.

Now was not the time for anger.

He had come today to levy grain.

Shen Xiao said, “Thirty thousand shi of grain is a mere trifle to Your Highness.”

Over these two months of levying grain, he had heard similar speeches aplenty—some complaining the quota was too high, others pleading poverty.

In any case, all of them used every excuse imaginable to avoid handing over grain.

Shen Xiao said, “Your Highness, I urge you to go out beyond the city and take a look, and you will understand how severe the disaster is now. The poor have gone gaunt and sallow, abandoning their land and fleeing as refugees. Yet the wealthy…”

Shen Xiao cast a glance at the fishing rod in Li Shu’s hand, a hint of contempt flickering in his eyes. “…pass their days in idle pursuits.”

“Since the calamity falls unequally upon rich and poor, then the levy, too, falls unequally upon them. The poor contribute less grain; the wealthy contribute more. Your Highness, therefore—”

“—Shh! Shh!…”

Li Shu cut him off again, her voice low in warning. “Don’t speak!”

It seemed a fish might be nibbling at the line.

Shen Xiao was truly infuriated now by Li Shu’s manner! He had said all of this, and Princess Pingyang hadn’t taken in a single word—she had plainly been playing with him all along.

He would have liked to say—what was worth fishing for here? But the thought that crossed his mind was not what he said.

Li Shu was intently focused on pulling the rod, when suddenly a pair of hands reached in from beside her and snatched the rod right out of her grasp.

Shen Xiao’s expression was dark as iron. He flung the rod to one side. “Your Highness, please forgive your servant—but I ask only that Your Highness hear your servant out before saying another word!”

He lowered himself into a bow as he spoke.

His tone was quite insistent.

Li Shu looked at Shen Xiao, then looked at her discarded rod.

Well, well. This Shen Xiao actually dared to rebuke her—and even dared to throw her things!

His boldness had grown considerably.

…She was pleased.

If Shen Xiao lacked the nerve, her scheme would come to nothing.

Li Shu looked at her own palm, where the rod had left several red marks across her skin. She spread her hand open with a helpless sigh. “All right, all right—go ahead and speak.”

She rose from the stool, crossed her arms, and faced him. “You speak. Your Highness is listening.”

Those clear, lucid eyes of hers settled on Shen Xiao’s face, and she seemed not in the least annoyed. Only her arms were folded, and she watched him with an air of calm curiosity. Shen Xiao noticed that her irises were quite pale.

Shen Xiao looked back at her with cold composure. “Your Highness, according to the grain levy decree, you are required to contribute thirty thousand shi of grain.”

Li Shu gave a resigned look. “You have already said this sentence. Did you fling my fishing rod away just to say it again?”

“Because Your Highness has not yet given your servant a clear answer.”

“You want an answer, is that it?”

Li Shu said, “Then first pick up my fishing rod.”

Shen Xiao clenched his teeth, bent down, picked up the rod, and extended it toward Li Shu—but Li Shu stood there with her arms folded, making no move to take it.

“Originally three fish had taken the bait, but they were all scared off by Sir Shen.” She used her chin to gesture toward the lake surface. “Catch me three fish.”

“I—” Shen Xiao objected, on the verge of refuting her.

He was not her servant—why should he catch fish for her!

“Three fish in exchange for thirty thousand shi of grain…”

Li Shu curved her lips into a small smile. “How does that trade strike you?”

Shen Xiao was taken aback, barely trusting what he had just heard.

Was she… had she just agreed to release the grain?

Every time the matter of the grain levy had come up before, Princess Pingyang had been utterly evasive, as though she could not flee from him fast enough. What had changed today?

Shen Xiao’s brow furrowed. His instincts told him something had happened at yesterday’s imperial banquet that had altered Princess Pingyang’s stance.

Shen Xiao tightened his grip on the fishing rod. “Does Your Highness truly mean this?”

But Li Shu did not give him a direct answer. She simply pointed toward the lake again. “Catch the fish.”

She held up three fingers. “Three.”

Shen Xiao refused to let it go and pressed for a definitive commitment. “Three fish, in exchange for thirty thousand shi?”

Li Shu nodded. “Three fish, in exchange for thirty thousand shi.”

“But what if Your Highness goes back on her word?”

Shen Xiao had no faith that Li Shu would keep her word.

Three years ago, she had sent for him to warm her bed—before he climbed in, she had promised him an official post; after he climbed out, she had pretended the whole thing had never happened.

He did not trust Li Shu.

Seeing his guarded, tense expression, Li Shu shook her head with a smile. “If you keep stalling and refuse to catch the fish, I just might change my mind.”

“Sir Shen, it is only three fish. Even if I truly changed my mind, you would have lost nothing. And besides…”

She curved her lips. “Whether I change my mind or not, you have no other choice.”

Shen Xiao heard those words, and something clenched inside him.

She was right. He had no other choice.

If Li Shu refused to release the grain, no other great house would release grain either. The only path left open to Shen Xiao was to wait for everything to collapse. Whether these three fish would bring grain or not—he had no choice.

Even if Li Shu was toying with him deliberately, he still had no choice.

Li Shu saw Shen Xiao still standing there with knitted brows deep in thought, and urged him on: “Sir Shen, your servant is waiting for fish broth. Are you going to fish or not?”

Shen Xiao snapped back to attention.

Right now she held the advantage, and he could only do as she said.

He cast the line. It fell into the water, and Shen Xiao stood beneath the tree, his posture perfectly upright.

The way he held the rod had the ease of long practice. The Jiangnan region had clearly left its mark on him.

Not even the span of one stick of incense had passed before the float began to bob—a fish had taken the bait.

Shen Xiao was just about to reel it in when Li Shu suddenly spoke beside him: “It has been many days since we last met, Sir Shen—you seem to have grown even thinner than before.”

She let her gaze travel over him. “And darker.”

The fish was frightened off at once.

Shen Xiao clenched his teeth, unable to tell whether Li Shu had done this deliberately or not.

He turned to look at her. Li Shu was seated right beside him, the dappled shade of the tree falling across her, scattered points of light landing on her face and neck—where they seemed to take on the quality of jade.

Li Shu sat on the stool, chin resting in her hand, head tilted toward Shen Xiao. Entirely guileless in expression.

Shen Xiao suddenly remembered the dream from that day. He quickly averted his gaze and focused on the lake, recast the line, and went on fishing.

Less than a quarter of an hour later, the float stirred again. Shen Xiao was about to reel it in when a voice came from beside him again.

“Sir Shen—does your household have no women? There is no one to look after you.”

The fish was frightened off a second time.

Shen Xiao’s grip on the rod tightened. His jaw was locked.

Li Shu was doing this on purpose!

He kept his voice cold. “There are none. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.”

If it were not for the strict divide between subject and sovereign, Shen Xiao would have lost his temper by now. He had lived all these years in unbroken composure, yet only in front of Li Shu did he find himself tripped up again and again.

He drew a long breath and cast the line once more.

After the span of one stick of incense, the float began to move again. Shen Xiao started to reel in the line—

“Sir Shen, you are not young anymore—how is it that your household has not even a single woman? Ah—could it be that Sir Shen has some difficulty that is hard to speak of?”

Li Shu let her gaze slip downward briefly to Shen Xiao’s lower half. Could it be that the night she had kept him in her service three years ago had left him so traumatized by women that he had lost all interest in them entirely?

For the third time, the fish was scared away.

“Your Highness!”

Shen Xiao wheeled around abruptly, his brow fierce. “Could you please remain quiet for a moment and let your servant catch three fish before saying anything further?!”

Li Shu, subjected to this rebuke from Shen Xiao, showed not the slightest anger. She laughed instead. “But you scared away my three fish just now…”

Was she not allowed to take a little revenge?

Shen Xiao felt he was about to explode.

Did she take him for someone blind? He had watched her fish for the better part of an hour, and not a single fish had come anywhere near her line.

Shen Xiao had no more patience to so much as look at Li Shu. He took the rod and the basket and moved to stand in a different patch of shade, far enough away from her.

Fortunately Li Shu did not follow. She remained seated beneath the willow, her gaze tracking him as he moved, then drifting away.

Shen Xiao no longer paid her any attention. With focused concentration, he quickly caught three fish.

The lake was stocked mostly with carp. Pampered in their sheltered waters with no natural predators, the three fish he pulled up at random were each plump and splendid.

Shen Xiao let out a quiet breath of relief at last, picked up the basket, and started back toward Li Shu.

But as he drew closer, he found that Li Shu had—impossibly—already fallen asleep.

She was still seated on the stool, knees bent in front of her, body half turned to lean against the tree trunk. The dappled light played across her, and she wore a simple, unadorned short jacket of plain Songjiang cotton weave—the only skin visible was her neck and her wrists.

She was extraordinarily pale.

Shen Xiao stood there, caught off guard. He glanced around—the maids were standing far away, keeping their distance as servants were expected to do when their mistress was speaking.

Shen Xiao thought to go wake a maidservant, but the moment he took a step, Li Shu seemed to sense something. She furrowed her brow.

Yet she did not wake.

So Shen Xiao did not dare move again.

Asleep, she was utterly quiet. With her eyes closed, the edge of her gaze—too sharp, too piercing when open—was concealed entirely, and the whole of her person became something altogether different: a stillness, an entirely different kind of calm.

Shen Xiao felt he was seeing a wholly unfamiliar version of her.