On that same day, Xie Yuzhang had come to the palace specifically to meet Jiang Jinye, and they spoke together in the Zichen Hall.
Jiang Jinye said: “The killing of Dielitele was the work of Tuchutang. I only provided support from behind. Old ginger truly is more pungent than new.”
The various tribes had all pledged allegiance to Great Mu, but the grudges between the tribes themselves were beyond Mu’s concern — at most, they would mediate if fighting broke out, keeping a careful watch to prevent any single tribe from swallowing too much and growing too powerful.
Xie Yuzhang asked: “And Dielitele’s mother — Ashina De Zhada Yali, what became of her?”
Jiang Jinye said: “That woman has been propping up one of Dielitele’s younger brothers. A half-brother, really — his mother was reportedly a slave woman in Dielitele’s mother’s tent. The boy inherited the Khan’s seat, but right now the Ashina side of things is entirely in that woman’s hands. I separated the Ashina De clan and had one of the woman’s nephews take charge of it.”
Xie Yuzhang was silent for a moment.
In the end, Yunjing’s air and water suited its people well — this princess, upon her return, had grown even more beautiful. But Jiang Jinye kept his eyes scrupulously averted, not allowing himself a single extra glance.
Li Weifeng passed a scroll painting to Xie Yuzhang: “Your sister sent this as a birthday gift for you.”
Xie Yuzhang smiled warmly: “Many thanks, Seventh Brother.” Then, in a tone of perfectly innocent observation, she added, “The rest day has not yet come around, and Seventh Brother has already come out to play.”
Li Weifeng slammed the table in outrage: “You all went off to enjoy yourselves for ten days, while I sat alone holding down Yunjing without going anywhere! And I cannot take a few days off for myself?!”
Xie Yuzhang said: “Seventh Brother is so fierce — he has frightened me terribly. I shall have to go stay in Xie Family Village for a few days to recover.”
Li Weifeng immediately deflated: “Seventh Brother was wrong. Please don’t.”
Xie Yuzhang then said: “I was actually just about to ask His Majesty for a favor. I would like to take my younger sister and Lin Shi to the hunting grounds for a few days.”
Li Gu said: “Have you not had enough fun yet?”
Xie Yuzhang said: “I want to bring my sister along.”
Li Gu said: “Granted.”
Xie Yuzhang turned to Li Weifeng: “Will Seventh Brother come with us?”
Li Weifeng had heard from those who had returned that the hunting grounds were impressive, and felt a genuine pang of longing. But the Emperor’s gaze had settled on him, and all he could say was: “Can I really be as free and idle as you? I am devoted to the service of the nation, day in and day out, thoroughly occupied.”
Xie Yuzhang offered her most admiring tone: “Then may Seventh Brother continue to give his all in loyal service.”
Li Weifeng was going to be driven to his grave by her.
Jiang Jinye’s eyes were wide with astonishment. Once they were out of the Zichen Hall, he hooked his arm around Li Weifeng’s neck and said: “When did you become ‘Seventh Brother’ to her?”
Li Weifeng said: “She and your daughter Wenwen are quite close. She may well end up calling you ‘Uncle Jiang.'”
“Get away from me,” Jiang Jinye said. “Give me a sense of how I should treat her.”
Li Weifeng said: “Simple enough. I think of her as my younger brother’s wife.”
That framing was clear and uncomplicated. Jiang Jinye said: “Understood.”
Then he cast a sidelong glance and asked: “And what is this matter about Xie Family Village?” He had caught a hint of something.
Li Weifeng went instantly on guard, every instinct bristling: “My territory, my people! Keep your hands off!”
Jiang Jinye: “Ha, I have a whole courtyard full of women from the northern tribes at home.”
Li Weifeng said with disdain: “You could only ever manage that sort.”
He privately felt that his own taste in women far exceeded Jiang Jinye’s by at least ten thousand li, and congratulated himself accordingly.
Xie Yuzhang obtained the Emperor’s permission and took Jia You and Lin Fei to the hunting grounds. She had no private estate in the western mountains, so she borrowed the use of the Yang Family’s. With no one else at the imperial hunting grounds, and the guards watching over everything, Jia You was far less constrained than usual.
The whole party enjoyed themselves thoroughly for several days. When they returned to the capital, they were greeted with two pieces of good news: Zheng Zhaoyi and Su Zhaoyuan had been found to be with child, one right after the other.
Xie Yuzhang let out a quiet breath of relief as well.
By then, summer had passed and the harvest season had come. The cloud-patterned cotton had been gathered — but the yield was a disappointment to Xie Yuzhang. It had produced noticeably less than it had back in Mobei.
The estate manager said: “It is still a matter of soil. The earth in the capital region is not the same as the earth in Mobei. We will need to keep working at it slowly, feeling our way forward.”
Xie Yuzhang said: “You are right. There is no rush — let us try again next year.”
She also tested the newly constructed cotton gin, which performed quite well — the seeds were being separated very cleanly. That alone was an achievement worth noting.
Xie Yuzhang made good on her promise and rewarded the several craftsmen who had collaborated on the project with twenty liang of gold each, and instructed them to produce several more of the devices.
When she entered the palace, however, Li Gu noticed and asked: “Why are you unhappy?”
Xie Yuzhang was somewhat startled, and tried to deny it: “I am not.”
Li Gu held her gaze.
She could not hold out against that look, but she genuinely found it astonishing. She asked: “How did Your Majesty notice?”
Li Gu said: “I did not notice. I simply sensed it.”
He had looked at her so many times over the years that he could now tell the difference between a true smile and a practiced one, between words that were real and words that were not, between what was genuinely felt and what was performed. There was no logic to it — it was pure feeling.
Xie Yuzhang was at a loss for words for a long moment.
Li Gu asked: “What is troubling you?”
Xie Yuzhang had no choice but to tell him: “It is not really a significant matter. I had hoped to have a proper gift ready for Your Majesty’s birthday celebration next month, but it did not come together as I had hoped, so there is nothing to present.”
Li Gu felt a warmth spread through him.
He said with studied restraint: “What is the need for gifts — the thought is what matters.”
Then, seeing that Xie Yuzhang was about to take advantage of his words and open her mouth, he immediately reversed course: “Send whatever you like, it is all the same to me.”
He had even brought out the royal we for that.
In truth, since his coronation three years prior, Li Gu had never made a particular occasion of his birthday. When the day came, there would at most be a small banquet in the inner palace — a meal with family — and a separate gathering ahead of time to host a few senior ministers. He did not require tributary gifts from regional officials either.
The new dynasty had not yet developed a custom of competing over elaborate and extravagant birthday offerings to the Emperor.
Xie Yuzhang said with a helpless expression: “The word ‘whatever,’ Your Majesty — how easy it rolls off the tongue, and how difficult it is to act upon.”
Li Gu smiled and said: “I am confident it will not be beyond you.”
Xie Yuzhang gave him a sidelong glance and said: “Had I known, I would have held onto those three hundred jin of iron in the first place and not been so quick to hand it all over to you — I could have presented it next month instead.”
The meteorite iron was extraordinarily rare. That she had gathered three hundred jin of it was proof that from the moment she first arrived on the grasslands, she had spent years — day after day, little by little — accumulating it.
Yet she could not have known, when she first went, that she would ever find her way back to the Central Plains. So why had she done it?
Each time this question surfaced, a raw, aching tenderness rose in Li Gu’s chest — something too sharp to touch.
Xie Yuzhang, seizing the moment to negotiate, added: “Very well, I will of course present a birthday gift in due course, but in return, Your Majesty must make the occasion of my Second Brother’s wedding to Lin Shi a matter of honor.”
Yang Huaishen had returned to Yunjing with Jiang Jinye, and as Lin Fei had foretold, he had been awarded the title of Guangping Earl in recognition of his military service. This northern campaign had produced four such earls in total, Yang Huaishen among them.
Great Mu was beginning to build its own new layer of meritorious nobility. Generals and commanders were now sharpening their ambitions, eager for the day when imperial forces would move south, willing to stake their lives in the hope of earning a marquisate or an earldom.
Yang Huaishen, having earned his title, also now had his own Guangping Earl’s Manor, and his wedding to Lin Fei was set for the twelfth month.
For one’s life to have arrived at such a moment — it was truly a season of full bloom.
This bargain was agreeable, and Li Gu accepted without hesitation.
On the day of his birthday, he naturally could not be with Xie Yuzhang. She came to the palace to see him on the day before.
She brought her zither with her and said: “I will play a piece for Your Majesty as a birthday offering.”
Between the two of them at this point in their lives, gold and silver and jewels were hardly remarkable things. What was genuinely rare and valuable was the intention behind a gesture. What Li Gu wanted was simply this: to know that she had remembered his birthday, and that she had given it thought.
And so he was very happy.
Xie Yuzhang prepared the incense burner.
She first placed one type of incense powder into it, and the scent rose quickly — it was not pleasant.
Li Gu did not know much about the art of incense, but he had a perfectly serviceable sense of smell — whether something was pleasant or not required no expertise. He wrinkled his nose and endured it.
Shortly afterward, Xie Yuzhang added a second type of incense powder. The second scent that rose was, if anything, even less appealing.
Considering what he knew of Xie Yuzhang’s temperament, Li Gu began to genuinely wonder whether she was having some fun at his expense.
Xie Yuzhang caught his look of suspicion and let out a small laugh. “It is not pleasant, I know. But this incense requires patience.”
She had said as much, so Li Gu endured it a while longer.
Then, after a brief interval, the two scents at last began to meld together — and all at once, the air transformed. A clear, crisp fragrance rose and spread through it, so deeply refreshing that Li Gu drew in a long, slow breath without thinking.
“This comes from the southern seas,” Xie Yuzhang said. “With the southern trade routes still closed, you cannot find it anywhere on the market. I have very little left, and have always been reluctant to use it. Consider yourself fortunate.”
Xie Yuzhang had been back in the capital for close to a year, and it had become clear to everyone that she was a woman of considerable means.
She also carried with her a certain air of refined extravagance from the former dynasty — her standards for food, dress, and daily living were on a level no one else could approach. Even Li Zhenzhen had mentioned it to Li Gu with undisguised admiration in her voice.
If even Xie Yuzhang considered something too precious to use lightly, it was beyond any doubt an exceptional thing indeed.
Perhaps it was the sheer loveliness of the fragrance, but Li Gu felt a deep ease settle into his chest and spread through him. He resolved privately that when the trade routes to the south finally opened, he would send her ten or even a hundred times this quantity to make up for it.
Outside the hall, an autumn rain was falling in a soft, steady murmur — carrying with it the first hint of cold. Inside the Zichen Hall, the warming brazier had been lit early on Xie Yuzhang’s behalf.
Within those walls, Xie Yuzhang played a piece for Li Gu on the zither.
Long after the music had faded, Li Gu said: “Yuzhang, your heart is very still.”
He might not have understood the language of music, but he had ears, and he had a heart. Xie Yuzhang murmured in affirmation, and said: “It is because Your Majesty is here.”
But she did not dare meet his eyes. She was afraid of moments like this — too achingly beautiful — afraid that when their gazes met, she would no longer be able to keep herself contained.
Li Gu, too, drew his gaze away from her, fixing it instead on the rain beyond the windows.
“The weather has turned cold,” he said. “Remember to put on more layers.”
Xie Yuzhang pressed her lips together and smiled.
In the eleventh month, an extraordinary snowfall descended on the capital region — the heaviest in a hundred years.
The roofs of some of the poorer households collapsed under the weight of it. Beggars froze to death in the streets. The destitute people living outside the city, whose homes had crumpled under the snow and left them without shelter, began flooding into the capital in large numbers, seeking refuge. The Capital Prefecture organized workers to build temporary shelters to take them in, while also managing the removal of bodies from the streets. The Assistant Prefect was so run off his feet that he barely had a moment to himself.
The great households of the capital set up gruel stalls one after another to distribute food to the displaced, doing good works and building their reputations at the same time.
Xie Yuzhang went to Lin Fei’s home to add gifts to her dowry, and told her: “Our aunt has shut him up in the courtyard and refuses to let him go out — determined to get his color back before she is satisfied. I went to see him just yesterday, and he has already lightened up some.”
Lin Fei only laughed.
Xie Yuzhang took her hand and said: “To think that you are about to become my sister-in-law — it feels like something out of a dream.”
When it was time to leave, Lin Fei rose to see her out. As a bride-to-be, Xie Yuzhang only allowed her to walk as far as the gate of the courtyard before stopping her from going any further.
Lin Fei said: “Walk slowly on your way — be careful not to slip.”
Xie Yuzhang promised she would.
But on the path home, she encountered Lin Zi.
Lin Zi stood in the snow with an umbrella, and from a distance, he looked like something from a painting of immortals.
When he saw Xie Yuzhang, he smiled. Just as Xie Yuzhang had always said — the sight of a beautiful face invariably lifted the spirits. For Lin Zi, it was no different.
“Third Brother!”
“Your Highness.”
Xie Yuzhang asked with curiosity: “Third Brother, why are you home at this hour?” It was still only morning.
Lin Zi said: “I have been at it since yesterday without stopping until now.”
Xie Yuzhang knew that Li Gu was also occupied. Everyone was working tirelessly over the matter of the snow disaster, which was why she had not gone to the palace these past two days, not wanting to disturb him.
She said: “You have been up all night? Third Brother, please go and rest at once.”
Lin Zi said: “I am not yet tired. Let me walk you home.”
Xie Yuzhang said: “We are practically family — there is no need for such formality.”
Lin Zi said: “Precisely — which is why there is no need for you to decline.”
Xie Yuzhang laughed in spite of herself, and let Lin Zi accompany her. He held the umbrella to shield her from the wind and snow. As they walked, they talked about the wedding that was approaching, and about how busy the Yang Family must be in their preparations.
“The Guangping Earl’s Manor has already been put in full order,” Xie Yuzhang said. “When she goes there, she will be the mistress of the house from the first day — she will have real authority. That is something to look forward to.”
She expressed no small measure of pride on her elder brother’s behalf.
Lin Zi smiled faintly and said: “These days, many noble households are having their women set up gruel stalls to aid the displaced. Has the Princess’s manor set one up as well?”
Xie Yuzhang tucked her hands into the warm marten fur muff at her waist, tilted her head back, and said with a smile: “Mine has not. I am of the Xie surname, after all.”
Lin Zi said: “Your Highness is a perceptive woman.”
Xie Yuzhang said: “Third Brother need not worry about me. I understand all of it. All I need is a slight reputation for being formidable — just enough that anyone who thinks to take advantage of me will stop and consider twice before acting. A good reputation is something I have no need of.”
Whether she was the Princess Baohua of old, or the Princess Yongning of now, she was still a Xie. In the eyes of others, she had always been bound up with the Xiaoyao Marquis’s manor.
Under ordinary circumstances, in times of harmony and goodwill, that connection was invisible. It was only in a moment of real crisis that one would feel the pressure of those ropes, tightening and cutting in.
She had established her footing firmly in the Great Mu dynasty, but she had no need — none at all — to accumulate any further good reputation. Because whatever good name she built would extend its reach over the Xiaoyao Marquis’s manor and over Xie Family Village as well. And for those people who bore the Xie surname, a good reputation was a blade that could hasten their end.
Lin Zi looked at her for a long moment, then nodded with quiet approval.