The following day brought unpleasant weather. Rain came down in a soft, steady patter.

On days like this in the past, Princess Baohua would amuse herself indoors, and Zhaoxia Palace was never without the sound of laughter. But since the Princess had suffered her nightmare a few days ago, the palace had changed entirely — each day was very quiet. Even the most lively of the little palace maids would soften her footsteps as she walked.

Xie Yuzhang woke from her midday nap. All she could hear around her was the gentle rustling of rain falling on banana leaves outside the hall. She sat up, momentarily dazed, and called out for Lin Fei. “A’Fei. A’Fei.”

Lin Fei came at her call, lifted the bed curtain aside, and knelt beside the sleeping platform with a smile. “Did you sleep well?”

Xie Yuzhang looked bewildered and asked, “Is this Zhaoxia Palace?”

Lin Fei’s face changed color slightly, and she answered with careful caution: “It is.” She was afraid of another nightmare.

Xie Yuzhang listened for a moment and asked, “Why is it so quiet?”

Quiet like the Xiaoyao Marquis manor of later years. No one speaking, no one laughing. The people who lived in that manor had each been like the walking dead.

Lin Fei breathed a quiet sigh of relief and said, “So as not to disturb your nap. Did you sleep peacefully today?”

Xie Yuzhang was quiet for a moment, then said, “Tell everyone there is no need to be this way — they should go on as before.”

That was better. Those easy, cheerful sounds made one feel good just hearing them. Otherwise, why would even the Emperor enjoy coming to Zhaoxia Palace to sit for a while?

Xie Yuzhang had lately seemed to have some air of low spirits weighing on her, and it was all the more reason for the people around her to come before her and cheer her up.

Lin Fei then clapped her hands, and the palace maids filed in one after another to help Xie Yuzhang rise and dress.

Lin Fei said, “This weather really is dull. Hurry and get the Princess dressed, and we’ll go to the covered corridor to play pitch-pot.”

With Lin Fei’s signal, the palace maids were released from their self-imposed restraint all at once and immediately began chattering among themselves.

Zhaoxia Palace was instantly filled with the kind of life Zhaoxia Palace should have.

Xie Yuzhang knelt-sat before the dressing mirror while the palace maids arranged her hair, and through the bronze mirror she watched each of those young and pretty faces. They smiled with bright expressions, filled with vitality.

Xie Yuzhang felt that something of that vivid life was being poured into her own aged and weary soul.

She saw her own reflection in the bronze mirror and broke into a smile — a smile she had not worn for a long time.

Watching the palace attendants playing pitch-pot cheerfully under the covered corridor, she quietly asked Lin Fei, “Has Second Cousin sent someone to reply to me today?”

Lin Fei let out a surprised sound. “I never told Second Young Master it was so urgent. Shall I make another trip?”

Xie Yuzhang thought it over, decided that would be too conspicuous — she could not explain herself to her cousin — and said, “Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

Lin Fei said, “Yesterday Second Young Master agreed right away. He told me that last evening Marquis Weiyuan’s heir was hosting a banquet and he would certainly be able to meet that — whoever it is. He said he would take good care of him, and that Your Highness need not worry.”

“That ‘whoever it is’ — who are you referring to?” For a moment Xie Yuzhang could not figure it out, but when she saw the teasing look in Lin Fei’s eyes, she suddenly understood. Yesterday, in order to give herself an excuse for her behavior, hadn’t she praised Li Gu for being handsome?

“What did you say to Cousin?” She was equal parts annoyed and amused.

Lin Fei took it to mean she was bashful, and pressed her lips into a smile. “I didn’t say anything, really. I just said those two men were very impressive-looking and quite unlike the men of Yunjing, especially that Li Gu — very handsome. Ah, and here I haven’t even seen what Li Gu actually looks like, and I’m already calling him handsome.”

Xie Yuzhang pressed her hand to her forehead.

With what Lin Fei had said, Yang Huaishen had in all likelihood also misunderstood, thinking she was playing matchmaker between herself and Li Gu. She only wondered whether he might do something to make Li Gu misunderstand as well.

But this kind of misunderstanding…

Xie Yuzhang’s gaze drifted past the slender figures of the palace maids and settled on the central courtyard.

Let it be misunderstood then. For her, this kind of misunderstanding… was not without its uses.

“If you want to see him that badly, wait until the Emperor summons Li Ming into the palace, and go over and take a look then,” Lin Fei said with a grin.

When the young women of Yunjing took a liking to some young man, this was the most common way of finding an opportunity to catch a glimpse. The bolder ones would even move close enough to toss a flower, a piece of fruit, or a handkerchief in his direction.

Such youthful infatuation between young men and women was a common sight in the prosperous capital. Adults did not find it objectionable, and if the match was suitable in terms of standing, it might even lead to a good marriage.

Xie Yuzhang gave a noncommittal response.

Rationally, she knew she should be cultivating more contact with Li Gu and showing him goodwill early. That was why she had entrusted her maternal cousin to do this.

But emotionally, something in her heart resisted the idea of being too close to Li Gu. That was why she had not gone herself, but had sent her cousin in her stead.

This self-contradictory heart of hers left even herself confused.

The rain did not stop. Zhaoxia Palace seemed to have recovered its energy. Pitch-pot, double-six board games, and then musicians and dance performers were summoned to entertain Princess Baohua.

Those performers had been practicing dance with Princess Baohua every day and were greatly favored by her. When they finished dancing one piece, they called out to Xie Yuzhang one after another: “Won’t the Princess dance a piece herself?”

“My body isn’t quite well yet.” Xie Yuzhang declined, casually slipping the gold bracelet inlaid with treasure from her wrist, and said with a smile, “You all keep dancing. Whoever dances best gets to keep this.”

The performers let out a cheer. The musicians also smiled — performing here for Princess Baohua was nothing like performing for other people of rank, who were strict and demanding. If they occasionally made an error, the princess would only correct them with a gentle voice, and had never punished them for it. She always rewarded them generously as well. Everyone took heart and tuned their instruments again, giving their full energy to accompanying the performers.

Having been reborn into her younger years for several days now — moving from confusion and disorientation to gradually forming some plan — Xie Yuzhang had, on this one day, remarkably managed to relive a perfectly ordinary day of her life as a young girl.

By evening, just as Zhaoxia Palace was about to be locked for the night, someone from the Eastern Palace came quietly and knocked at the door.

The person who came was an eunuch whom the Crown Prince trusted greatly. Xie Yuzhang sent the palace attendants away; Lin Fei went to stand watch outside the room. The eunuch stayed for only a brief moment, said what needed to be said, and then slipped away quietly in the cover of darkness.

Lin Fei saw the man off and returned to the inner chamber. She found Xie Yuzhang’s gaze fixed on the floor, the candlelight flickering and falling across her face, alternating between light and shadow.

Lin Fei sat down beside her and asked softly, “What did the Crown Prince say?”

Xie Yuzhang raised her eyes and looked at her.

“Yesterday the envoys formally raised the matter of the marriage alliance with the Emperor. Their stance was firm — they explicitly stated they would not accept a girl from the imperial clan posing as a princess. Only a true princess would be worthy of their Ashina Khan.”

It was all exactly as Xie Yuzhang had foreknown. Lin Fei’s heart clenched tight.

“What did the Emperor say? Did he refuse?” she asked, tense, for she still held some small thread of hope.

Xie Yuzhang shook her head. Lin Fei’s heart sank.

“Father Emperor did not immediately agree, but he did not refuse either. He only said to ‘deliberate further.'” Xie Yuzhang said in a flat tone. “But last night he slept at the Yuzao Palace, and this morning Noble Consort Chen summoned her sister-in-law, Lady Chen, into the palace. By evening, the Chen family’s people were making their way furtively to the diplomatic lodge…”

The sleeping chamber was so still you could hear a needle drop. Lin Fei felt her mouth turn dry and bitter.

All of it… all of it was exactly as they had anticipated.

“We — we should go and appeal to our maternal uncle’s household as well…” she said.

“A’Fei, it’s useless.” Xie Yuzhang cut her off. “Don’t you understand yet? This matter — we don’t have the power to change it. No one can help me.”

Noble Consort Chen was using the art of working with the momentum of events, moving with the current of the times. Even the Emperor was compelled to bow to the situation before him.

Lin Fei understood this all too well, and that was precisely why she felt as though a great stone were pressing down on her chest.

And her princess… why could she be so calm?

Lin Fei was too anxious to sleep a single moment all night. Yet Xie Yuzhang, having confirmed what she had suspected from her previous life, slept that night profoundly and deeply.

The next day dawned clear. Princess Baohua seemed to be in reasonably good spirits, but Lin Fei looked hollow-eyed, dark circles under her eyes, wearing a forced smile — a sight that quietly puzzled the palace attendants.

This puzzling situation continued for several days, and a rumor even began circulating that “Lady Lin had taken ill with a heart condition.”

Even Noble Consort Chen heard this gossip and said to Xie Yuzhang, “That Lin family granddaughter of yours — if she is not well, send her away.”

Xie Yuzhang looked at Noble Consort Chen’s face, full of maternal affection, and said with a smile, “It is only her monthly ailment causing her stomach pain.”

Noble Consort Chen immediately assumed an expression of relief, and bestowed some medicinal materials on Zhaoxia Palace.

Xie Yuzhang thanked Noble Consort Chen, but her gaze was focused only on the two younger sisters who had come together to pay their respects.

Fu Kang and Jia You sat quietly and properly on their mats, not swaying, not fidgeting — clearly they had learned proper etiquette and decorum extremely well.

In the past, she had only thought of the two young sisters as adorable and well-behaved. But thinking about it now — at their age, she herself had been so jumpy and mischievous that she gave her mother the Empress constant headaches.

At this age, were children not supposed to be at their most active, most impish?

It was not known whether it was that the incident with the medicinal materials had been an ill omen, but the little Lady Lin of Zhaoxia Palace remained perfectly well, while Noble Consort Chen suddenly took ill.

The inner palace was thrown into a flurry of activity — the Imperial Physicians of the Imperial Medical Court held a group consultation, and monks from the imperial temple came to pray and chant sutras for Noble Consort Chen’s blessing. After several days of this confusion, Noble Consort Chen showed no improvement. When Xie Yuzhang went to pay her respects, she was turned away at the door — they said they were afraid of passing the illness on to her.

Xie Yuzhang returned to Zhaoxia Palace. Lin Fei still remarked, “What on earth has come over Noble Consort Chen this time? Her illness came on so suddenly and forcefully.”

But Xie Yuzhang was silent.

She still remembered this event. Noble Consort Chen had suddenly fallen ill, and medicine and treatment had no effect. Later, the Emperor invited the abbot of the imperial temple, Master Yihe, to take a look, and then…

In the Li residence on Vermilion Bird South Street, Li Ming was listening to a report from a subordinate.

“What happened?” Li Ming asked.

The subordinate replied, “The Master said that a junior family member should pray for Noble Consort Chen’s blessing. Princess Anle volunteered herself, and has gone to the Baochong Convent on the hill behind the imperial temple to take the vows of a lay devotee for three years. Within those three years, she is not to speak of marriage or betrothal. The whole of Yunjing now knows of this matter, and everyone is praising Princess Anle’s pure and devoted filial piety.”

Li Ming’s expression was very grim. He dismissed the subordinate, and in his fury swept everything off the low table in front of him, sending it all crashing to the floor.

Li Gu and Li Weifeng looked at each other, and spoke up: “Sir?”

“What is she — nothing more than the daughter of a petty city gate official!” Li Ming fumed.

Noble Consort Chen came from the family of a petty gate official in Yunjing. After she entered the palace and obtained the Emperor’s favor, the entire Chen family rode her coattails to prominence. With the late Empress gone and Noble Consort Chen supreme in the inner palace, the Chen family had assumed the air and appearance of a proper, legitimate household of national uncles.

Li Weifeng consoled him: “Sir, please calm your anger.”

But Li Gu asked, “May I ask, Sir, why are you angered?”

Li Ming said with bitterness, “Just a few days ago I entered the palace to seek Princess Anle in marriage for Fourth Son. I turn around and she has gone off to become a lay devotee. Very good — very fine indeed!”

A look of undisguised surprise crossed Li Gu’s face.

Li Weifeng meanwhile glanced at him with an expression that said: You see — you guessed wrong.

Li Gu thought for a moment and clasped his fists. “Sir, Princess Baohua is the legitimate daughter of the late Empress. Her nature appears good as well. Why not seek Princess Baohua for Fourth Brother?”

“Princess Baohua… cannot be sought.” Li Ming waved a hand, his mood thoroughly sour. “As if I truly coveted her anyway. A mother so short-sighted she can only play tricks of the inner household — how clever could the daughter possibly be? Enough — forget it. There are countless fine women in the world. Can it be that I, Li Ming, am unable to find a good wife for my own son?”

“Enough. The two of you may withdraw. I want some quiet.” He said.

Li Gu and Li Weifeng bowed and withdrew.

“Even you can guess wrong sometimes,” Li Weifeng said with a low laugh once they were some distance from the study. “Sir had his eye on Princess Anle.”

Li Gu, however, turned and looked back in the direction of the study, his brows drawn together.

Li Weifeng caught the look, dropped his teasing manner, and asked quietly, “What is it?”

Among all of Li Ming’s adopted sons, he and Li Gu had been through life-and-death on the battlefield together. Li Gu’s judgment of affairs was uncommonly accurate, and Li Weifeng had always held him in complete trust. In front of others, Li Weifeng was the elder, and Li Gu never competed with him for anything. But between the two of them, it was Li Weifeng who followed Li Gu’s lead in all things.

But Li Gu said, “Nothing.” And he stepped forward.

Just now, Sir had not said he had not sought Princess Baohua. He said Princess Baohua “cannot be sought.”

Why could she not be sought?

It had touched on Li Ming’s sore spot, and Li Gu could not ask further.

He could only press this question down into the depths of his heart.

He thought: he had assumed she might be able to go to Hexi. With the realm now showing signs of chaos, the forces of Hexi were strong and their army well-equipped — going to Hexi would surely be better than going to almost anywhere else.

Now… he did not know where she would end up being sent. And the man she would marry in the future — would he be capable of keeping her safe?

He was only one of Li Ming’s twelve sons, living under another’s authority. These faint, drifting thoughts could only be kept hidden beneath a calm and undisturbed face.