“Enter Madam of Xiangzhou’s service?”

Shen Zhuxi involuntarily repeated the words, only then realizing that the “Madam of Xiangzhou” Li Qingman spoke of was herself.

She said in surprise: “You are certain you wish to enter the Madam of Xiangzhou’s service, and not the Prefectural Governor of Xiangzhou’s service?”

“Though Qingman is of modest ability and learning, I would not mix up the person I wish to serve.” Li Qingman smiled.

“But… why?”

“A fine bird chooses its branch with care. Qingman’s wish to enter Madam’s service is naturally because Madam is deserving of it,” Li Qingman said. “Madam may not yet know — of all the women in the realm today who hold genuine power in their own hands, Madam is the only one.”

Shen Zhuxi could not help but be taken aback.

“Three years ago, of all the women in the realm, the one with the greatest power should have been the greatly respected and revered Empress Dowager Bo. Below her, the Empress Muling, mother to the realm. Below the Empress, the Princess of Yue, clothed in splendor. And below her, the wives of powerful officials.”

“Three years later, the realm has toppled. Empress Dowager Bo, Empress Muling, and the Princess of Yue were all killed in the palace catastrophe. Among the sixteen Military Commissioners, not one shares power with a wife. And below them, of all the wives of thousands of prefectural officials across the realm, only the Madam of Xiangzhou is able to assist in governing.” Li Qingman paused, and a bitter and sardonic smile appeared at the corner of her lips. “Even the most brilliantly clear-minded man under heaven, hailed as the greatest young gentleman of the age, only has room for clever women as entertainers.”

“Qingman may be a woman, yet I am not willing to spend my life confined to the inner quarters. The world belittles me, demeans me, slanders me — only because they fear me, only because they are inferior to me.”

Li Qingman rose and walked to stand before Shen Zhuxi, then dropped to her knees without a moment’s hesitation.

“My aspirations, Sui Rui does not understand. Chen Jiu Niang does not understand. Of the thousands upon thousands of women in the world, none understands them — yet I believe that Madam of Xiangzhou will understand.”

“If I surpass every man in ability, why should I sit at home embroidering, handing my fate over to that group of incompetents?”

Li Qingman’s words were like the gentle blow of a heavy hammer, sending powerful reverberations through Shen Zhuxi’s heart.

For a long while she could not speak, only staring in a daze at Li Qingman kneeling before her.

If she surpassed men in ability, why should she sit at home embroidering, while those brothers far inferior to her received instruction from great Confucian scholars in the imperial study?

Why, exactly?

No one had ever told her why. Everyone said it was the natural order of things, it was fate, it was the logic that had held since ancient times — there was no why. Women were born inferior to men, women were born to cook and keep the home, women were born to live within the bounds of their square of sky. There was no why.

Like pigs awaiting slaughter.

Like birds with broken wings.

Like infants waiting to be fed.

They all said: without men, women could not survive. Men gave women food and clothing, bore the burden of everything they needed to live. Given this, it was only natural and right for women to revolve around men like servants.

If one’s knees were insufficiently devout when kneeling, that was ingratitude and impudence.

And yet — it was they who had penned women in, they who had clipped women’s wings, they who had caused women to regress into infants waiting to be fed.

Women were not permitted to sit the imperial examinations. Women were not permitted to engage in commerce. Women were not permitted to show their faces in public. Women were required to be gentle, humble, magnanimous, and meek. Above all, they must never reveal a brilliance of mind that surpassed men — for the moment one violated the rules men had set, one became an aberration in this society, to be expelled by one’s own kind.

She had tried hard to conform, yet she had never been at peace with it.

There had always been a question in her heart that would not leave her, one that made her feel the suffering of something crouching inside a transparent cage.

She was plainly capable of it — so why did everyone say she was not?

Li Qingman was right. Those aspirations — she understood them.

What they were both pursuing was the same thing: the freedom to stretch one’s hands and feet, unbound.

The difference was only that she had met Li Wu while still young and unknowing, and had been encouraged by him to reach out and touch the world. Li Qingman had found her own way alone, searching through the strange and questioning eyes of the world for the possibility of holding her own fate.

“I…”

Shen Zhuxi opened her mouth. Under Li Qingman’s expectant gaze, her expression became steadier and more resolute with each passing moment.

“I understand.”

The tension in Li Qingman’s face relaxed all at once, and a bright, brilliant light shone in her eyes.

Shen Zhuxi rose from her chair and helped the woman before her to her feet herself — the way an unquestionable, mature leader would.

“Although the system of female officials has been abolished for a hundred years, and I cannot obtain a formal official position for you, I will, within my means, provide you with treatment equal to that of any man. My lifelong wish is that one day I might see the realm clean and the seas at peace.” Shen Zhuxi looked into her eyes with sincerity. “Qingman, will you lend me your strength?”

Li Qingman’s fingers slowly wrapped around her arms, and she said, word by word:

“Qingman is willing to serve with all she has.”

After Shen Zhuxi had her sit down again, she humbly asked: “From the way you spoke just now, it seems you still have a method to persuade the wealthy households of Xiangzhou to open their purses?”

“I have no method,” Li Qingman said — surprising her. “Whoever holds in their hands what the wealthy households of Xiangzhou desire — that person has the means to make the wealthy households of Xiangzhou obey without question. That person is Madam, not me.”

“I hold something the wealthy households of Xiangzhou desire?” Shen Zhuxi was puzzled.

Li Qingman gave her a further hint: “Madam might do well to think carefully — husband and wife are of one body. Between you and the Prefectural Governor, might you not hold something that the wealthy households of Xiangzhou would want?”

Her and Li Wu? Meaning not something she herself possessed, but something Xiangzhou possessed…

At that moment, it struck Shen Zhuxi like a flash of revelation!

“Salt licenses!” she blurted out.

Li Qingman’s eyes showed approval: “Precisely. And not only salt licenses — the mining rights within Xiangzhou’s boundaries can also be exchanged through such arrangements with wealthy merchants.”

Li Qingman left it at that, leaving the rest for Shen Zhuxi to work through herself.

“To negotiate and trade with wealthy merchants, one needs someone who understands the intricate web of relationships in Xiangzhou and who will not hesitate to take the hard line and make enemies of the powerful clans. Does Madam have a suitable candidate in mind?”

Fang Tingzhi’s face rose immediately in Shen Zhuxi’s mind.

“Yes.” Shen Zhuxi gave a certain nod.

“In that case, the rest will follow naturally.”

“Many thanks for your counsel, Qingman — I know what to do now!” Shen Zhuxi said with genuine feeling.

Li Qingman smiled: “Madam is keenly perceptive. Even without me, you would have arrived at this realization sooner or later. Qingman only happened along at the right moment, and chanced to say a few words just before Madam’s sudden understanding. Nothing more.”

With the problem in her heart resolved, Shen Zhuxi felt considerably lighter. The question that had been nagging at her from the beginning suddenly surfaced.

She asked with curiosity: “After coming to Xiangzhou, what have you two been living on?”

“What does Madam think I have been living on?” Li Qingman smiled and put the question back to her.

Shen Zhuxi answered honestly: “…Writing letters for people?”

Li Qingman laughed at that.

“…What are you laughing at?” Shen Zhuxi could not help feeling self-conscious. “Perhaps giving instruction to the young girls nearby?”

“Madam is pure of heart and clean of mind… no wonder Li Wu chose you.”

Li Wu’s name came out of nowhere. Shen Zhuxi blinked. But Li Qingman gave her no time to linger on it, and continued:

“Madam’s guess was already quite close. Qingman does not earn a living by writing letters for people, but she does earn one by copying and selling rare out-of-print books.”

“Copying and selling out-of-print books?” Shen Zhuxi was a little puzzled. “Do you have many rare editions in your collection?”

“I need not have them — as long as others have them.” Li Qingman smiled.

Seeing confusion still on Shen Zhuxi’s face, Li Qingman explained further:

“Xiangzhou is prosperous and has a long history. Of families with rare out-of-print books, there is no shortage. Among those families, there will always be one or two men of a frivolous and pleasure-seeking character for whom it is no great matter to lend a book to catch a glimpse of a beauty, or to pay a high price to acquire a copy handwritten by a lovely woman. Compared to what they truly want to obtain — a well-read, refined, compatible wife of good official breeding — what they give out is truly negligible.”

Her expression was calm and breezy. “Qingman lost her parents young and has only a good-for-nothing younger brother at her side. Fortunately, my parents left me a passable face, which has allowed me to get what I sought… Does Madam find this contemptible?”

Shen Zhuxi said at once: “You neither steal nor rob, you earn your living by copying books — why would I find it contemptible?”

A smile appeared on Li Qingman’s face.

“I am glad Madam sees it this way. Qingman has always thought — if intellect can be praised as a worthy means to an end, why should beauty be any different? Intellect and beauty are both exceptional gifts. As long as one’s goal is achieved — and as long as no harm is done to anyone — what does it matter what method one uses?”

Shen Zhuxi listened attentively, finding herself in wholehearted agreement.

There was no sense of time having passed, yet imperceptibly the sky outside had grown dim.

Li Hong poked his head in from outside the door, rubbing his hands and grinning: “Madam, would you like to stay for dinner? Sister, sister — give me some silver, I’ll go buy some good wine and food for the Madam…”

Li Qingman raised an eyebrow and gave him a slow, lazy look, then said in three words:

“Get out.”

Li Hong pursed his lips, shrank back, and went off again muttering something under his breath.

“Madam, please pay him no mind. My worthless younger brother, though he is useless, does occasionally come in handy. If he has been rude in any way, I hope Madam will be lenient with him, for my sake.” Li Qingman said in a gentle tone.

Shen Zhuxi promptly assured her she would.

Li Qingman invited her to stay for dinner. Shen Zhuxi, mindful of the duck, the Kun, and the Que waiting at home, made her farewells. Li Qingman accompanied her all the way to the courtyard gate and watched as Tiniang helped her into the carriage.

After the carriage set off, Shen Zhuxi leaned out the window. She saw Li Qingman, facing the direction the carriage had gone, give a slow, graceful curtsy.

After Li Qingman straightened up, she met Shen Zhuxi’s eyes.

She broke into an unclouded smile and waved to her — like a friend.

Li Qingman paused, then found herself smiling in return.

“…Sister, that’s rather silly,” Li Hong said beside her with a complicated expression, once the carriage had departed.

Li Qingman came back to herself and noticed she had also been waving.

She folded her hands before her, gave Li Hong a cool, measured glance. He made a gesture of pinching his own lips shut, and slunk away into the house ahead of her.

Li Qingman looked once more in the direction the carriage had gone, and as her smile faded, her expression grew ever more contemplative and profound.

If a woman had held power a few years earlier, why would she have needed to rack her brains over her appearance, and pin her hopes on going through a man’s hands to lay a finger on the power in those hands?

“Fox spirit! Shameless! Everyone come and look! This is the fox spirit who flirts and preens, who stole someone else’s husband!”

Li Qingman withdrew her gaze and looked calmly at the woman who had appeared at the mouth of the lane, pointing at her in fury.

The schoolteacher’s wife — the woman who had stood out in the matchmaker’s recommendations on the strength of being hardworking and fertile, who bore her husband’s contempt and loathing while keeping a deferential smile, attending upon him with the utmost decorum.

Ignorant. Pitiable.

Meekly resigned. Lamentable.

An unwitting accomplice. Hateful.

Kneeling with both knees on the ground, not daring to lift one’s gaze — a posture of servitude — yet dressed up as a mark of mutual respect and love between husband and wife.

The very thought of the day she herself might be forced to make such a humiliating display was enough to keep Li Qingman from resting for a moment.

She had clawed her way upward by every means at her disposal — all so that she could live like a human being.

If there ever came a day when she knelt and bowed deferentially before a man, it would only be to lull him into lowering his guard — so that she might turn the tables and reveal her true hand.

“You have misunderstood,” Li Qingman said softly. “Not everyone is willing to bow their head and be a servant.”

Li Qingman turned and walked back into the small courtyard. The bolt clicked shut behind the gate.