The late spring and early summer of Yangzhou was beautiful everywhere, like a painting.

Li Wu headed out in the evening to attend a banquet at Chunfeng Tower, while Shen Zhuxi rode in a carriage to attend a banquet at the Bai Family residence. Throughout the journey, she could not help but crack the carriage window open a sliver, sighing in admiration as she took in the local customs and scenery along the streets.

Unlike the war-ravaged regions around the capital, the prosperous city of Yangzhou seemed as though it had remained frozen in the most glorious era of the Great Yan dynasty. Shops lined both sides of the streets, peddlers weaved through the lanes calling out their wares in an endless stream, and even the ordinary women one could see everywhere wore soft, clean cloth garments, their expressions peaceful and gentle.

Shen Zhuxi drew a deep breath; her lungs filled with the fragrance of food and fresh flowers.

After the carriage stopped at the Bai Family estate, the Bai Family’s head steward personally received her, bowing and scraping as he guided her palanquin inward, his mouth never ceasing its cheerful chatter. One look was enough to know that she was a person of great status who had to be received with care.

The palanquin moved steadily forward, passing through numerous ornamental rock gardens and covered walkways, as well as magnificently opulent pavilions and towers. Shen Zhuxi marveled inwardly at the sight — ever since leaving the imperial palace, she had not seen such a grand estate in a very long time. The extravagance of the Bai Family residence was not far removed even from the imperial palace itself.

The palanquin came to a stop before the main hall of the central courtyard. Shen Zhuxi stepped down, and her gaze passed over the threshold of the main hall, landing on the two elderly figures within.

The steward read the room and called out to the servants carrying the palanquin to trot away. Only Shen Zhuxi remained in the courtyard. The two elders inside hurried out, led by none other than Bai Yougang — a man she had met briefly at an imperial banquet many years ago.

He had aged considerably. The face that had already appeared somewhat sharp in his middle years had grown even more gaunt with age; his prominent, high cheekbones lent him an austere and somber appearance. Yet the redness around his eyes and the emotion in his expression dissolved the distance and unfamiliarity between them.

Shen Zhuxi, tears in her eyes, quickly stepped forward to support the two elders who were about to perform a deep bow.

“Grandfather, Grandmother, please, no formalities.”

Yet Bai Yougang insisted on kneeling, stubbornly performing a full kowtow. Seeing this, the old Bai Madam followed suit and bowed as well.

Only after completing the bow did Bai Yougang allow Shen Zhuxi to help him to his feet.

“Your Highness is of imperial blood — receiving this gesture of respect is only proper. Moreover, this is not merely a greeting but also an apology. To avoid drawing attention, we were unable to come to the gate to welcome you in person. We hope Your Highness will not take offense…” said Bai Yougang.

“I have already resolved to leave the imperial court, so I am no longer a princess. Grandfather and Grandmother need not stand on such ceremony. If anyone owes an apology, it is I who should apologize to you. My identity is complicated, and I have come to Yangzhou without prior warning — I may well bring trouble to you both…” said Shen Zhuxi.

“Is it not the most natural thing in the world for the younger generation to cause trouble for their elders?” Bai Yougang looked at Shen Zhuxi with earnest, tear-filled eyes. “That troublesome boy of mine has caused me no small amount of grief, and I still haven’t thrown him out of the house, have I? So go ahead and cause me all the trouble you like!”

Thinking of Bai Rongling, who was always being looked down upon, Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help but break into laughter through her tears.

“Come inside, come inside —” Bai Yougang pulled her toward the house, his warm and eager manner leaving the old Bai Madam, who couldn’t get a word in edgewise, with an expression of helpless resignation. “Grandfather has prepared many Yangzhou pastries for you — they may not be as refined as what you had in the palace, but see if they suit your taste.”

After Shen Zhuxi was ushered inside the main hall and seated, an assortment of Jiangnan pastries arrived in a steady stream. For the tea alone that accompanied the pastries, Shen Zhuxi was served no fewer than ten varieties, including West Lake Longjing, Huangshan Maofeng, Dongting Biluochun, Junshan Silver Needle, and Lushan Yunwu.

Bai Yougang’s hospitality was impossible to decline; he seemed to want to bring out every good thing in the house to entertain her. Shen Zhuxi ate her fill of pastries and drank cup after cup of tea, and before she could even catch her breath, the Bai Family’s evening banquet was ready, and she was whisked to a dining table laden with all manner of delicacies.

In front of Bai Yougang, Shen Zhuxi seemed to turn back into a child who had not yet learned to eat on her own. Without her needing to lift her chopsticks, the food piling up in her bowl kept growing and growing.

“All right now, if you add any more, there will be no room left in Her Highness’s bowl,” the old Bai Madam said, unable to watch any further, and gently remonstrated him.

“There’s plenty of room, plenty of room —” Bai Yougang looked at Shen Zhuxi with an expression full of doting affection, his hands making repeated gestures urging her to eat. “Her Highness is far too thin. She must have endured much hardship since leaving the palace, but now that she’s home, she should eat whatever she wants, and make up for everything she has lost.”

Shen Zhuxi smiled shyly and said in a quiet voice, “…Li Wu treats me very well. I have not suffered much.”

Bai Yougang wore an expression as though he wanted to say something but thought better of it. He had just opened his mouth when the old Bai Madam beside him gave him a firm jab with her elbow.

He swallowed whatever he had been about to say.

Shen Zhuxi knew what he had wanted to say. She knew that Li Wu was good to her, but others did not. She could not fault her grandfather for this. She believed that, given enough time, she would surely be able to change his mind.

Her confidence came from the overflowing affection the two elders so openly showed her; she was confident she could win their concession.

After dinner, a full spread of rare delicacies had made its way around the table. Shen Zhuxi truly could not eat another bite — over the course of the afternoon and evening, she had eaten what amounted to nearly two days’ worth of food. The very thought of sitting down yet again to drink tea made her feel overwhelmed.

Fortunately, the old Bai Madam seemed to notice her predicament and suggested taking her for a walk around the estate.

Bai Yougang agreed at once and enthusiastically led the way.

After introducing the gardens, ornamental rocks, and pavilions along the route, Bai Yougang led her into an exquisitely appointed courtyard lush with greenery and rich with color. The gorgeous beauty of the surroundings caused the cheerfulness that had been gleaming in his eyes moments ago to dim. Stripped of that excitement and brightness, his eyes returned to the dull quality particular to the elderly, and a trace of wistfulness and sorrow rose upon that murky sea. Even his footsteps seemed suddenly to slow.

Even without him saying a word, Shen Zhuxi could guess what this place was.

Bai Yougang fell silent, and it was the old Bai Madam beside him who spoke in his stead.

“This is the courtyard where your mother lived before she married into the imperial family. Everything is arranged according to her preferences. The Bai Family has produced sons for generations — it was only after much difficulty that we had a daughter —”

Her face took on the expression unique to a mother recalling her beloved child: a faint smile at the corner of her lips, her words carrying a note of playful reproach, yet her eyes holding nothing but tenderness.

“Your grandfather spoiled her utterly.”

“You speak only of me,” Bai Yougang muttered in protest. “You were no less indulgent yourself back then.”

Though their mother had lived in the palace for many years, the courtyard she had occupied before her marriage remained clean and bright as if new — one could well imagine that the two elders had been tending this residence all these years.

Perhaps they had still been hoping that one day, their daughter who had entered the palace as a consort might receive the imperial grace to leave and visit home, and live once more in the place where she had grown up.

That hope had shattered completely after the palace coup.

This magnificent dwelling seemed to hold a strange power, turning three people who had been talking and laughing into those who spoke little.

When the three of them reached the doorway of the house, Bai Yougang suddenly stopped. He walked toward a swing not far away and reached out to touch it, his expression full of feeling. “This swing… I made it for your mother with my own hands when she was six years old…”

Shen Zhuxi looked at the swing, which had clearly rotted away considerably, and in her mind arose the image of a little girl with twin buns, gentle and graceful, standing on the swing with a radiant smile on her face.

The ways of the world are unpredictable. Back then, the young Bai Mi could not have imagined — nor could anyone else — that the Bai Family’s most treasured and beloved daughter would come to such an end.

“…Why did Mother enter the palace in the first place?” Shen Zhuxi could not help but ask.

Her question seemed to touch on something forbidden. Neither of the two elders spoke. After a moment, Bai Yougang let out a cold laugh and said: “An emperor’s whim — if he wants you to live, you live; if he wants you to die, you die… There is no ‘why’ about it.”

“Master —”

The old Bai Madam looked at him with disapproval. What daughter in this world would be glad to hear ill words spoken of her father? All the more so when that father had once sat upon the throne of the Son of Heaven.

She turned back to Shen Zhuxi and said gently, “In those years, the late Emperor made his first southern inspection tour after ascending the throne, and among the many families in Jiangnan, he selected our family to receive him as host. By a twist of fate, Mi’er and the late Emperor crossed paths on several occasions. It must have been from then that the late Emperor took notice of Mi’er, for during his subsequent southern tours, he repeatedly requested our Bai Family as his host.”

The old Bai Madam’s voice grew low: “After that… the imperial edict arrived, and Mi’er entered the palace. The late Emperor promised us he would treat Mi’er well, and in the beginning, it was indeed so. From the moment she entered the palace, Mi’er was the most favored consort in all the six palaces, and that favor lasted for more than ten years — for an emperor, that was extraordinary. Just as we were about to set our hearts at ease, word came from the capital that your mother had fallen from favor and been placed under house arrest in the Cold Palace…” She paused, then could not help but ask, “Does Your Highness know what happened back then?”

“…I am not entirely certain either.”

Shen Zhuxi shook her head, and distant memories began slowly to loosen.

“It seems that sometime, Father Emperor suddenly began to favor other consorts. Mother was furious — she made loud scenes, but it only pushed him further away. At some point… Father Emperor stopped coming to her palace altogether. Much later, Noble Consort Shu, who was with child, came to flaunt herself before Mother. Mother slapped her across the face in front of everyone. After Noble Consort Shu went and complained to Father Emperor, he confined Mother to her quarters… and never pardoned her again. I went to Father Emperor to plead on her behalf and was only ordered to move out of Mother’s palace and live alone.”

“What on earth happened in between…” the old Bai Madam said, furrowing her brow.

“What could have happened? He simply grew tired of the old and craved the new!” Bai Yougang said irritably.

His words once again earned him a warning glare from the old Bai Madam.

As they talked, they made their way into the inner chamber. Shen Zhuxi’s gaze was drawn to a roomful of rare treasures and precious objects — all of them valuable items that the old master of the Bai Family had gathered from near and far for his beloved daughter. Even compared to the Wangshu Palace, overflowing with gold and silver at the height of her mother’s favor, these were in no way inferior.

But what Shen Zhuxi found most captivating was a yellowed scroll of painting she discovered in an otherwise empty drawer.

She looked at the lifelike depiction of her mother as a young girl and exclaimed in delighted surprise:

“Whose hand did this come from?”

Her casual question unexpectedly drew a glance exchanged between the two elders, and a brief flash of discomfort crossed both their faces.

Meeting her puzzled gaze, the old Bai Madam finally spoke: “…This was not painted by any renowned master.”

Shen Zhuxi, slower to catch on, noticed something unusual about the scroll that bore no inscription or seal: “Then who painted it?”

The two elders exchanged another look, as though uncertain whether to tell her. After a moment, it was still Bai Yougang who spoke:

“Someone who accompanied the late Emperor on every one of his southern tours, always by his side.”

Shen Zhuxi was taken aback, and several names immediately surfaced in her mind.

Those who had the standing to accompany the Emperor on his southern tours were few; those who accompanied him every single time, and remained always at his side — there were only a handful.

If one were to narrow the field by sex and age, there was only one possibility.

Bai Yougang sighed and spoke the name she was already thinking.

“It was Fu Ruzhi —” he said slowly, “the current Chief Minister of the court, Fu Ruzhi.”