Lai Fu seized the opportunity to say, “This matter must be handled with restraint. Regardless of who is behind it, it would be unwise to pursue the matter too aggressively.”
“I understand. Please set your mind at ease, Eunuch.”
Lai Fu let out a breath of relief. He had feared precisely that the young miss would refuse to let the matter drop. From the Emperor’s perspective, so long as a prince had not done something that threatened the throne itself, transgressions warranted no more than a nominal punishment with a stern warning. Moreover, the young miss had merely been injured. Making a great scene of it would only bring further harm to the young miss herself — that would be most unwise.
Upon returning to the palace, Imperial Physician Liu gave a full account of Hua Zhi’s condition. “The injury to the Hua woman is neither severe nor can it be called entirely unserious. In this physician’s assessment, that arrow was aimed at her heart — she managed to deflect it somewhat, which is why she kept her life. Yet that location is where the heart meridian runs, and even having narrowly avoided it, caution is still necessary in her recovery. Otherwise — I fear it may affect the length of her years.”
The Emperor suddenly recalled the words Shao Yao had spoken on the day Hua Zhi collapsed in the palace. Hua Zhi had shielded the Hua family — sparing them from having to offer daughters in exchange for protection, from having to exhaust their accumulated foundations, and even preserving their dignity. Yet in little more than a year, her body had been worn to a riddled ruin. This was the price she had paid. Whether as a daughter or as an elder sister, she had fulfilled to the utmost what could be done.
The Emperor suddenly found himself very curious: did she have any regrets?
With the thought came an urgent desire to know the answer. He made no effort to suppress it, and rose to his feet. “Prepare the imperial conveyance — we go to the Hua household.”
Lai Fu was taken aback. His Majesty was…
The Emperor’s arrival caught everyone off guard. Those present who had not yet left received him in their positions, still uncertain how to proceed, when Shao Yao came striding over with fierce energy. She dropped to one knee in a soldier’s salute. “Hua Zhi cannot rise to receive you herself and has sent me to beg your pardon on her behalf.”
“Lead the way.”
In public, Shao Yao still knew where the boundaries lay. She showed the Emperor every due courtesy and led him respectfully into the courtyard.
Madam Zhu grew uneasy and instinctively moved to follow, only to be held fast by Old Madam Sun. “The young miss can handle this.”
Madam Zhu had every faith in her granddaughter, yet — “She is still injured…”
Old Madam Sun watched the Emperor’s retreating figure, a faint chill in her eyes. Her husband had submitted three successive memorials requesting that a portion of the military rations be converted to the kind Hua Zhi had produced — dried meat strips would be difficult, but the crisp biscuits were not costly to make at all. Why could that not be approved? And not only had it not been approved — the Emperor had also said he would not prevent her husband from solving the problem himself, then proceeded to delay the ration disbursements on that very account. Just whose realm was her husband guarding?
An Emperor like this — and one dared to hope he would give any thought to Hua Zhi? Wishful thinking!
Inside the room, Hua Zhi sat up slightly and inclined forward. The Emperor sat and looked up at her. “You may rise.”
“This subject gives thanks to His Majesty.” The movement of inclining had pulled at the wound. Shao Yao started to say something, then ultimately held her tongue and placed a pillow behind Hua Zhi to spare her some effort.
The Emperor looked at Hua Zhi, who remained silent and seemed to bear everything without complaint. “You have no wish to implore this Emperor to seek justice for you?”
Hua Zhi answered without hesitation, “This subject implores His Majesty to seek justice.”
“…” Caught by his own words, the Emperor found himself with nowhere to turn — unable to breathe in or out.
Hua Zhi seemed entirely unaware of this, and continued calmly, “In broad daylight, beneath the walls of the Imperial City itself, someone dares to act so outrageously. If they dare to attempt my life today, who can say they will not dare to storm the Imperial Palace tomorrow? For the sake of Your Majesty’s safety, the culprit must be brought to justice.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“This subject does not know — which is precisely why she implores Your Majesty to seek justice.”
Shao Yao turned her face away, gripping the corners of her mouth with all her might to keep from laughing. Hua Zhi was magnificent!
The Emperor gave a snort. She did not know — how could she not know? Counting off those bold enough to act this way, there were only so few. She simply knew that he could do nothing to them and could not be bothered to even investigate.
“Can you swallow this grievance?”
From the moment she’d learned the Emperor was coming, Hua Zhi had been trying to work out his purpose, yet she could not arrive at any conclusion. Not knowing what kind of answer he sought, she was on the verge of giving some casual deflection when he added, “This Emperor has not come here to go in circles with you. This Emperor wants to hear the truth.”
The truth? Hua Zhi smiled. For her, speaking the truth was far easier than speaking falsehoods.
“I cannot swallow it — yet this subject knows what is expedient.”
“Oh? And what exactly is expedient?”
Hua Zhi pressed her hand lightly over the wound. “The capital is only so large. Those who ought to know are aware that both the Salt Administration and the Transport Bureau came from my hands. Even if I have made some enemies over this past year, the benefits those two bureaus have brought to everyone are more than sufficient to offset them. Those who would still bear a grudge against me to the point of wanting my life are very few indeed. Knowing clearly that I cannot afford to provoke them — if I were not expedient, what could I do?”
“You could incite this Emperor’s great-nephew to stand up for you.”
“He need not know. The matter at Jinyang admits of not the slightest misstep. I do not know how many in Great Qing today have forgotten the threat posed by the Chao Li tribe, but the Hua family’s ancestors wrote it into our ancestral precepts — no one in our family may ever forget.”
This Hua Zhi truly had no fear of him — the Emperor confirmed it once again. Even as she continued to present herself as a proper subject ought, she had betrayed herself in that instinctive protectiveness she’d shown the moment he mentioned Yanxi. The fearlessness exposed in her gaze was like that of a newborn calf unafraid of the tiger.
Truly — most interesting.
“You have protected the Hua family and its people very well. That much everyone must concede.” The Emperor leaned forward. “Even should the Hua family one day rise again to glory, with everyone resplendent and flourishing, they will honor you as the great contributor who made it possible — yet your body will have collapsed. What good is a life of glory when you cannot even bear children? In the prime of your years, your hair will turn white before its time; even your span of years will fall short of those who did nothing at all. Are you… truly at peace with this?”
Hua Zhi considered the question with genuine seriousness, then smiled. “Only when I think of Bailin growing up healthy and well — his temperament broad and warm, generous and loyal, with a handful of true friends, a beautiful and devoted companion, becoming the person he wished to become — I feel that nothing could be more beautiful. What does it matter if I have no children of my own? Bailin is one I helped raise myself. An elder sister is as a mother — I will not feel my life is wanting in anything. As for the others…”
Hua Zhi silenced Shao Yao with a look. “In the beginning, all I wished to protect was my mother and Bailin. Everyone else was merely incidental. In the days of the Hua family’s prosperity, I would barely see those brothers and sisters of mine a handful of times in a year — our ties were no more than superficial. Yet perhaps the Hua family’s roots are truly strong, because even though many of them had their own faults before, over this past year they have drawn together instead. They have learned to pull in one direction, to support one another. They have come to feel warmth for me and to care for me. Even those little ones who barely reach my waist have set their hearts on protecting me. It is only now that we have truly become a family. To give something for one’s family — why should one be at peace with any less?”
“Such noble sentiments?”
Hua Zhi suddenly understood the Emperor’s purpose in coming. This was sowing discord. Without a moment’s hesitation, she struck back, “Yanxi has done much for you — and sacrificed much. To Your Majesty, does that also count as noble sentiments?”
The Emperor fixed his gaze upon her.
Hua Zhi gave him her answer. “The difference between one person and another is simply that some are willing to give everything for love and kinship — while others are simply incapable of such feeling.”