At the vegetarian hall for quite some time now, Fu Dong’s culinary skills had improved further, and the spread of dishes on the table was perfect in color, aroma, and taste.
Even with things weighing on her mind, Shao Yao ate with her head down without pause. Hua Zhi served food into her bowl while eating little herself, while Gu Yanxi leaned against the headboard with a small pot of soup, taking occasional sips.
Though each was silent, the atmosphere was warm and cozy.
“Once news of this spreads tomorrow, the capital is going to be lively.” Setting down her chopsticks, Hua Zhi said lightly.
“Then let it be lively — what does that have to do with us?”
“You two have no need to go out, but during the first month I still need to go out and pay New Year’s visits.”
“It’s fine. They are most skilled at reading the winds and knowing when to act — they won’t make rash moves before the Emperor has expressed his stance.” Gu Yanxi had long since seen through the coldness of human nature, and having overseen the Seven Lodges Division for many years, he understood the temperament of those civil and military officials all too well. “This is actually a good opportunity to see certain people clearly. It will be their last chance.”
Hua Zhi looked at him. “You’re so confident we can get through this safely?”
“We can.” Gu Yanxi’s tone was certain. “The one who is in the wrong is already at a disadvantage from the start, and I wounded myself right in front of him — the guilt in his heart will only deepen.”
“Did you plan this from the very beginning?”
Gu Yanxi stared up at the canopy overhead, finding the soup tasted remarkably like medicine — the kind brewed with a double portion of coptis root. “When would I have had time to plan? Many people entered the palace today. My responsibility for palace security doesn’t fall under the Seven Lodges Division. By the time word reached me, you had already entered the hall. Once I knew what he intended to do, there was only one thought in my mind — I’m done with this. Whoever wants to do it can have it. Freed from this palace, I’d be like a fish returned to the sea, with no need for daily toil. How wonderful.”
“And the Chaoli Tribe’s affairs — you’d just leave that alone? And release your hold on Jinyang as well?”
“I would only be leaving — the people of the Seven Lodges Division would still be there. The arrangements that needed to be made have already been made. When decisions need to be taken, they can seek the Emperor. With me or without me, it’s the same.”
It wasn’t the same, and Hua Zhi knew it. The Chaoli Tribe came with fierce momentum, harboring who knew how many schemes, while the vast Jinyang had already become a city of gamblers — one wrong step could blow their cover. A Seven Lodges Division without Yanxi would be a scattered mess.
As for the Emperor — Hua Zhi’s smile turned cold. Who would dare rely on an Emperor who wasn’t far from death? But that wasn’t what she wanted to say right now.
“You said you had no time to plan.” The anger Hua Zhi had been storing up finally erupted. “So when you drove that dagger into your chest, you never thought that you might die!”
“I had restraint in my hand…”
“If you truly had restraint, you could have stabbed your arm, your thigh, or even the soft flesh of your abdomen — but you stabbed your chest! Your idea of restraint was to angle it just slightly off-center and push it in just shallow enough so you wouldn’t die immediately! What if Shao Yao hadn’t been found in time? What if she had arrived a little slower? Ha — then the name Hua Zhi would live in infamy for ages to come. An uncle and nephew coming to blows over one woman, the nephew unable to prevail and dying suddenly from the fight — more than enough material for countless plays to be sung in the generations that follow.”
“A’Zhi…”
“Did you think of me, separated from you by only a single wall? Not far from me at all, and my man nearly died!” Hua Zhi spoke each word with sharp, forceful clarity, pressing relentlessly, as though she were pouring out every last bit of the terror she had felt. “You didn’t think of me. You truly intended to die in front of the Emperor — to make your imperial uncle regret it. You gambled with your own life on this.”
Gu Yanxi had no way to refute it. Just as he understood A’Zhi, A’Zhi understood him equally well. At the very start, that truly had been his intention — yet when he held the dagger in his hand, he thought of the same material he had once used to craft several weapons, all given to the same person.
A’Zhi — the one to whom he had pledged his life.
When the dagger had gone in, he was thinking of A’Zhi as well — thinking of exactly how she looked in this very moment, her eyes bright with fury, her face all the more vivid and radiant for it. At least in this moment, her eyes and her heart were entirely filled with him.
“A’Zhi, I promise — there will never be a next time.”
“Your promises aren’t worth much. Just a few days ago you swore to me that you would consult me before revealing your identity.” Hua Zhi covered her eyes. She looked terrible — she knew she looked terrible like this. If she could, she would have preferred to let herself cry freely, make a scene, pour out every last bit of fear and grief — but her reserved nature made that impossible.
At some point, Shao Yao had set down her bowl and chopsticks. She abruptly stood up and took the soup from Gu Yanxi’s hands — he had barely drunk any of it. “Don’t pretend like nothing is wrong right now. If your vision goes dark, just pass out.”
Gu Yanxi gazed plaintively at A’Zhi. Hua Zhi wanted to harden her heart and ignore him, but the moment her eyes fell on his chest she couldn’t stop herself from softening. This man — he always knew exactly where her weakness lay.
She rose and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hand was immediately taken in his, and she did not pull away. In a hoarse voice, she said: “Sleep.”
Almost the moment the words left her lips, the man closed his eyes and fell unconscious.
Shao Yao came over to take his pulse, then ran a course of needles for him. Only when his breathing had grown more even did she stop.
“I know what he was relying on.”
Shao Yao pulled a small sachet out from around her neck. “Master has only ever managed to make two life-saving pills over all these years — one for me and one for Yanxi-brother. The one he had was given to you to swallow back at Yinshan Pass. If he hadn’t shown restraint toward himself afterward today, if the angle had been just a little more off — that pill would have had to be used.”
Hua Zhi pressed her hand to the man’s forehead, silently praying he would not develop a fever.
“Has there been anything unusual in the palace lately?”
“I haven’t noticed anything unusual. What I did see was the former favorite consort and the current one going back and forth, fighting quite spectacularly.”
“Noble Consort Xu and Hao Yue?”
“Just those two.” Tucking the sachet away again, Shao Yao edged closer and draped herself across Hua Zhi’s lap. “Noble Consort Xu has a son to back her up, so she has plenty of confidence. Hao Yue may have a thinner foundation, but she has her ways — she’s charmed the Emperor into spending nine out of every ten nights in her Rulan Palace.”
“Doesn’t the Empress Dowager intervene?”
“Hmph — dogs fighting each other, a mouthful of fur for all of them. Let them go at it. None of us have let the Empress Dowager know.”
Hua Zhi couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Hao Yue was someone who had been reborn — she was almost certain of that. If so, wasn’t she adapting to palace life a little too quickly? Shouldn’t she be trying everything to escape, to go on pursuing Yanxi?
And yet here she was, happily locked in battle with Noble Consort Xu. Could it be that the Emperor’s consorts all ended well in the end? And knowing that outcome, she no longer wished to fight for him?
But she had just set a trap for Hua Zhi not long before this — she was clearly not so free of desire!
“Is there anything else unusual?”
Shao Yao thought for a moment. “There is one more thing. Hua Hua, you know how keen my nose is — that Hao Yue carries a very faint smell of blood on her. She burns incense every day, so you can’t detect it unless you get close.”
“You mean… she has a wound on her? She’s slipped out of the palace in secret?”
“Anyone else might be possible, but not her. Never mind that the Seven Lodges Division would have eyes on her — the Emperor himself would never allow it. Lately the Emperor goes directly to Rulan Palace every day after court. She has had no opportunity to leave.”
A palace consort — and one who was constantly at the Emperor’s side, at that. How could she possibly have the smell of blood on her?