Three days later. The Eastern Palace.

Ever since the grain-in-lieu-of-money affair had begun in the aftermath of the Guanzhong drought, the Crown Prince had felt that fortune was against him — nothing had gone his way, one thing after another.

The grain-levying affair had seen Li Shu betray him, and he had been reprimanded by the Emperor.

Then because of the incident in which Li Shu fell off the cliff, he had also lost control of the Ministry of War. Even Cui Jinzhi had been mentally adrift for a long stretch of time following the divorce, frequently failing to appear at his official post.

And now, before he had even finished suppressing the Second Prince, the Seventh Prince suddenly popped up out of nowhere and managed to place that Gui Zhi in the Ministry of Revenue.

The Emperor’s praise of the Seventh Prince from the day before still rang in his ears: “When you have free time, why don’t you learn from your seventh younger brother — compose yourself a little and stop spending all day trying to curry favors and forge connections!”

Learn from his Seventh Brother? He was the Crown Prince — why should he learn from an illegitimate-born child!

The Crown Prince entered a side chamber of the palace, reached out and picked up a teacup to drink — then hurled it to the ground.

How utterly cursed his luck had become!

The Crown Prince ground his teeth, his heart seething with resentment.

He absolutely could not allow the Seventh Prince’s power to grow. He had to suppress him right now, while he had just barely poked his head out. Otherwise another Second Prince would appear, and would there even be any place for him left to stand in this court!

The Crown Prince’s gaze turned vicious. Just then, from outside the hall came the sound of swift, hurried footsteps, followed immediately by a small eunuch entering to report that a message had arrived from the Henan Circuit.

A courier had ridden day and night without stop from the Henan Circuit all the way into Chang’an, his thighs rubbed raw with bloody blisters from the saddle, his body soaked through with rain. Mixed with the weeping sores on his legs, diluted blood dripped steadily onto the smooth, mirror-like floor of the Eastern Palace.

He collapsed to his knees with a thud. “Your Highness! The Yellow River — the Yellow River has had an incident!”

The Crown Prince shot to his feet at once, immediately casting aside all thoughts of the Seventh Prince.

If the Yellow River had an incident, it meant displaced people spreading across the land. If things reached that point — there would be no need for any prince to contend for anything. The Emperor would drag him out of the Eastern Palace himself.

The courier hastily pulled a leather-wrapped envelope from inside his clothing. The small eunuch quickly received it and delivered it with a bow to the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince’s hands trembled as he took the envelope. He read it in one sweep, then gripped the paper tightly — the thin page threatening to be crushed in his fist. His voice caught in his throat and emerged as a panicked, peculiar tone: “Quickly! Quickly summon Cui Jinzhi to the palace!”

*

Li Shu had been cooped up in her residence for a full two months. Aside from using her network of informants to look into Gui Zhi on the Seventh Prince’s behalf, she had expended almost no energy on anything else.

There was nothing she could do about it — Senior Official Shen had proven far too capable.

She had been all prepared to charge the front lines, injuries and all. Who could have anticipated that Senior Official Shen would, with hands tucked in his sleeves, set the winds and clouds in motion — first quietly assembling a group of talented men of humble origins for the Seventh Prince, and then directing the Seventh Prince to recommend Gui Zhi for the Ministry of Revenue. That affair had greatly distinguished the Seventh Prince in the Emperor’s eyes and earned him a reward of a hundred bolts of silk.

Li Shu thought with helpless resignation: it seemed that with Shen Xiao around, she could do nothing at all and simply coast through her remaining years in comfort.

Speak of someone and they appear — Li Shu had just been musing about Shen Xiao when she happened to glance downward and spotted that four-man sedan chair of his drawing to a perfectly timed halt right outside Xiankelai.

The curtain lifted; Shen Xiao stepped out in his casual robe and entered Xiankelai.

Li Shu smiled faintly and raised a hand to beckon Hong Luo over. “Go and see what Senior Official Shen has come for. If it’s nothing important, invite him here.”

As it happened, Senior Official Shen had come today with no particular purpose whatsoever — purely to pass the time.

A single vacancy in the Ministry of Revenue had set the Crown Prince and the Second Prince against each other. Add to that the unrelenting rain, and the Secretariat had been inundated with memorials every day — everyone was run off their feet. Shen Xiao had been working without rest for who knew how many days, even sleeping in the guest quarters of the Secretariat offices.

Now that he finally had a day off, his colleagues all rushed home to their beloved wives and beautiful concubines, seeking rest and relief. Shen Xiao alone returned to his own residence — tried to sleep and found he couldn’t manage it after half a day; tried to read and found he couldn’t focus on a single word.

He was at loose ends no matter what he did.

So he decided to go out for a walk.

But Chang’an was enormous. There was no end of places to wander — where exactly was one heading? Was he going to burn incense at a temple, or visit the pleasure quarters?

Shen Xiao sat in his sedan chair, and after a long, labored pause, managed to squeeze out three words for his servant: “Xiankelai.”

As though those three words were a secret of heaven not to be spoken aloud — one utterance and his innermost thoughts would be exposed.

Very well, Senior Official wishes to dine at Xiankelai.

And so a sedan chair carried him through three and five lanes and alleys, meandering its way to Xiankelai.

Now standing before Xiankelai’s gilded entrance, Shen Xiao lingered there, reluctant to go in.

This hour was awkward — too late for lunch, too early for dinner. Shen Xiao cursed himself inwardly. How had he managed to pick such an ill-timed moment?

At this time, she probably would not be here.

Was he really going to wait here until evening?

But what if she didn’t come for dinner in the evening either?

Would he not have squandered the entire day for nothing?

Ten thousand thoughts wheeled through Shen Xiao’s mind. The shop assistant had been bowing so long and so deeply that his back was starting to ache. Only then did Shen Xiao make up his mind and stride inside.

Yet the moment he took the steps up to the third floor, he was met head-on with a row of seven or eight guards standing outside the Jinyu Pavilion.

He felt his heartbeat skip half a beat.

She had been cooped up in her residence for two months, but had finally consented to go out. Shen Xiao could not help feeling a faint resentment: they had agreed to work together — what kind of partnership involved never seeing each other?

Just as he was thinking this, the door suddenly opened quietly from the inside. The maidservant who always attended her stood in the doorway, smiling warmly. “Senior Official Shen, the Princess requests your presence.”

And at that, every trace of resentment immediately dissolved.

She at least knew to invite him in on her own initiative. Shen Xiao thought with considerable self-satisfaction: she had probably been thinking of him too.

When Shen Xiao entered, Li Shu had just finished eating.

Her hand injury had recently healed, and for the first time in a long while she was free of being fed like an infant. Today she had come to Xiankelai for a thoroughly satisfying meal.

Having eaten a bit too much, and since Shen Xiao was someone she knew well — someone she had seen quite candidly many years ago — there was no need to stand on ceremony between them. Li Shu lounged lazily against the bolster cushions on the arhat daybed by the window, doing no more than offering a languid nod. “Senior Official Shen, you’ve come.”

Outside, the rain continued its endless patter. The sky remained gray and overcast. She lounged there with casual ease, yet the moment Shen Xiao entered, it was as though the sky had cleared and the air had brightened.

A smile touched the corner of his lips. “Princess. It has been quite some time.” He walked over toward her.

A rare smile on that cold, stern face — Li Shu raised an eyebrow at it. “So it is just because Seventh Brother received a word of praise from Father that you are this pleased.”

She assumed Shen Xiao was pleased over Li Qin’s recommendation of Gui Zhi and the Emperor’s commendation of the day before.

Father had rewarded the Seventh Prince on the spot with a hundred bolts of silk.

Though a hundred bolts was a modest reward, for someone as low-key as Li Qin, it was already an excellent beginning.

Well — that too was worth being pleased about.

Li Shu raised her teacup in a gesture mimicking a toast. “This is entirely Senior Official Shen’s achievement.”

Shen Xiao saw that she was now drinking tea rather than wine and the smile at his lips deepened.

Quite obedient she was — he had told her not to drink wine, and so she had not. Which suggested she had probably not been up to anything reckless these past two months while confined to her estate.

He did not deny Li Shu’s assumption. “I am pleased.”

Seeing her was reason enough to be pleased, with or without any other cause.

Li Shu shifted position, settling more comfortably against the bolster, and asked, “I heard that the Crown Prince was given quite a dressing-down by Father?”

Her network of informants was extensive, but it did not quite reach as far as the Emperor’s immediate circle, and so much of what happened in the Hanyuan Hall reached her only secondhand.

Shen Xiao nodded, a faint trace of disdain crossing his eyes. “The Crown Prince tried to place a man from a great family in the Ministry of Revenue. Against Gui Zhi, however, not a single one of the Crown Prince’s recommended candidates amounted to anything. His Majesty very nearly hurled the Seventh Prince’s memorial at the Crown Prince’s face — he rebuked the Crown Prince, asking how the Seventh Prince could see what the Crown Prince’s eyes failed to see. He ordered the Crown Prince to learn from the Seventh Prince’s calm and wisdom.”

Li Shu responded with a cold laugh. “Learn from him? That would be strange indeed. He was born as Heaven’s favored son, surrounded by the great families and powerful houses. His eyes have been pointed at the sky since birth — he simply does not look down at the ground.”

Li Shu’s hand unconsciously stroked the teacup in her hands, her gaze turning cold. “To him, everyone else is nothing more than a dog at his feet.”

Shen Xiao watched her hand. The Jinyu Pavilion provided only the finest things — the white porcelain teacup was thin as paper, and through it glimmered the pale golden color of the half-remaining tea inside.

The way she moved her hand along the teacup was slow. In Shen Xiao’s eyes, it looked almost like a caress — and since the porcelain glaze was as fine and smooth as human skin, the gesture carried an undercurrent of something difficult to name.

Shen Xiao had been dreaming often lately of that one night three years ago.

She had been seated atop him, leaning down to look at him from above. The wine had made her eyes as bright as stars, yet at the same time veiled them in a misty haze — as though she were lucid, and yet not quite lucid.

She drew closer, her breath carrying the faint scent of wine. Half-drunk, brow furrowed, as though with great difficulty trying to determine exactly who he was, her hands moving across his face — from his lashes, to his nose, to his jaw.

Shen Xiao, breathing in her scent, felt his own consciousness grow hazy with intoxication. He suddenly reached out and took hold of her hands, guiding them to trail slowly downward.

“Shen Xiao?”

“Shen Xiao?”

Shen Xiao snapped back sharply to the present. Li Shu across from him was frowning at him. “What were you thinking about? You didn’t answer me.”

Realizing what he had just been thinking, Shen Xiao’s face blazed scarlet all at once. He hastily snatched up a teacup, steam curling upward to provide a merciful veil over his expression. “I was just… just thinking about nothing.”

Li Shu stared at Shen Xiao and decided not to repeat “are you out of your mind” a second time.

But she genuinely did think Shen Xiao had something slightly wrong with his mind. Senior Official Shen was undeniably sharp — yet he had a habit of drifting off, and in her presence no less, his spirit frequently leaving his body for some distant place.

How did a person like that manage to attend morning court? Would he make the Emperor call him back to attention when discussing affairs of state?

Shen Xiao collected himself and quickly said, “I did not hear what the Princess just asked.”

Li Shu shot Shen Xiao a dissatisfied look. Shen Xiao averted his eyes from that piercing gaze. Li Shu then said, “I said — the Crown Prince is petty-minded. He will likely make things difficult for Seventh Brother now. What is your next move?”

Shen Xiao replied, unhurried as ever, “There is no need for concern. With the torrential rains in the Henan Circuit, the Yellow River and the Ministry of Works alone will keep the Crown Prince too preoccupied to tend to anything else.”

“As for the next step — it is still the same four words: act when the moment is right. Seize the opportunity when it comes; when no opportunity presents itself, lie in wait.”

When it came to discussing affairs of state, he was entirely the picture of a man with everything under command.

Just then there was a small commotion at the door. Hong Luo hurried over to open it, and a moment later returned with a slip of paper, which she handed to Li Shu.

Li Shu glanced at it, then said at once, “The moment has already come. It seems the Crown Prince will be too preoccupied to think of anything else.”

Li Shu passed the note to Shen Xiao. He looked at it — on it were a few hastily written characters: “Cui entered Eastern Palace at the hour of noon, departed Chang’an at the hour of the sheep.”

Li Shu’s fingers tightened.

After the divorce, Cui Jinzhi had been stripped of his position in the Ministry of War. But the Crown Prince protected him, and since he had previously earned merit in overseeing the construction of the Yongtong Canal, he had been transferred laterally to the Ministry of Works as Left Deputy Minister.

The Left Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Works suddenly leaving Chang’an — with the Yellow River growing restless these days, what else could Cui Jinzhi be going there for?

But had the Yellow River actually had an incident? Perhaps Cui Jinzhi was merely making a routine inspection, as was customary — yet if that were the case, why had his departure been so urgent?

Something had certainly happened. She simply did not know yet exactly what.

Who knew that Shen Xiao, holding the note in hand, did not immediately turn his thoughts to the Eastern Palace or the Yellow River. The first notion that surfaced in his mind was —

She still pays this much attention to Cui Jinzhi!

The thought had barely formed before Shen Xiao’s mouth moved of its own accord: “You are already divorced — and you are still keeping track of his movements?”

Li Shu was taken aback for a moment.

Why… why did those words carry the faint sound of grievance?