Xiao Nanhui blinked for a moment before nodding and following the attendant official.

So she had come at an inopportune time — right when the Emperor was bathing. And it was already past noon, too. This Emperor certainly had his peculiarities.

Keeping Xiao Zhun’s usual warnings close in mind, she walked with her head lowered the entire way, barely glancing at the scenery on either side. By the time she arrived, she was told that the Emperor had not yet finished bathing.

The Taihe Bathing Garden was the Emperor’s private bathing ground. Outer officials were generally not permitted inside. Xiao Nanhui had no choice but to wait in the outer courtyard outside three layers of doors, and to avoid “offending the imperial countenance,” she had to stand bent forward with her head lowered the entire time.

The garden’s enclosing walls were somewhat lower than those of other palace courtyards — by design, so that the cultivated sweet laurel trees could half-peek and half-droop over the top, a pleasingly graceful sight. Inside the garden there was a hot spring that flowed through all four seasons; it had to be mixed with cooler water before it could be used. The steam rising from that hot spring often drifted beyond the walls, wreathing the entire Taihe Bathing Garden in mist, as though it had become a mythical immortal’s bathing pool that had appeared out of nowhere.

The garden’s main gate faced Xiao Nanhui directly. It was fashioned in the rare shape of a perfect circle, painted in bright yellow and deep green with many graceful patterns that extended all the way down onto the jade stone ground before the gate. The rising vapors blurred her vision, however, so no matter how long she stared, she could not make out what the designs depicted.

The hot, humid air enveloped her on all sides, and the sixth month’s weather had already grown muggy and stifling. Wrapped in her heavy official robes, Xiao Nanhui felt her inner garments soaked through before long. One full incense stick’s worth of time had passed in the blink of an eye, with still not a sound from inside the bathing garden — who knew what on earth the Emperor was doing in there.

Isn’t this supposed to be an audience? She couldn’t even lift her head, and was separated by walls within walls within walls — what exactly was she “audiencing”?

Xiao Nanhui grumbled to herself, and shuffled forward in her bent posture: “Chief Attendant Dan, may I ask when His Majesty will finish bathing?”

Dan Jiangfei replied politely: “It should be soon.” He paused and added: “His Majesty dislikes having anyone nearby or disturbing him while he bathes. General Xiao, please be patient and wait.”

Xiao Nanhui had no choice but to retreat, shifting her weight from foot to foot beneath her long robe — balancing on one side for a while, then the other.

Another incense stick’s worth of time passed, and there was still not a sound from inside.

Xiao Nanhui was already growing drowsy from standing so long. Even the most fastidious Emperor shouldn’t take this long to wash up, surely? A grown man spending this much time on bathing? Was he washing, or was he molting?

But then—

Xiao Nanhui’s mind drifted back to those carriage after carriage of beauties that had entered the city just a few hours ago. Thinking of all that warmth and fragrance soon to be installed in the palace, it would certainly be enough to keep the Emperor quite occupied. Tsk tsk tsk — one a day? Or several a day? At that rate, no wonder he needed to soak a little longer. This was overexertion!

Xiao Nanhui felt a certain private amusement at her own reasoning, and the corners of her mouth curved up involuntarily.

“General Xiao, what pleasant thought has you smiling so subtly?”

Xiao Nanhui looked up straight into Dan Jiangfei’s grinning face and felt an inexplicable chill, hastily composing her expression: “Not at all — Chief Attendant Dan must be mistaken.”

Dan Jiangfei said nothing more and simply stood with a bow to one side.

Time passed — she had lost track of how much — and Xiao Nanhui was drifting in and out of drowsiness when a clear, bright tinkling of bells suddenly rang out from within the garden.

Xiao Nanhui blinked herself awake. The rows of palace maids who had been waiting outside the Taihe Bathing Garden’s walls filed in one by one at the sound of the bells. The circular gate was opened, revealing an inner courtyard within; that inner courtyard held yet another circular gate, and maids opened each door in succession, taking their posts two on either side of each threshold, while the remainder continued further inward.

Layer after layer, one within another — six doors in total. When only the very last remained, the lead female official stopped, stepped respectfully to one side, and waited.

Dan Jiangfei addressed Xiao Nanhui with a deferential air: “General Xiao, please wait here a moment while I go and announce you to His Majesty.”

“After you.”

Dan Jiangfei made his way through all those layered gates, arriving at last at a simple, elegant bamboo chamber within the garden.

“Your Majesty, Xiao Nanhui of Qinghuai Marquis Mansion requests an audience. Will you see her, or not?”

After a long pause, a low, husky voice drifted from inside the room.

“Have her come in.”

Dan Jiangfei returned to Xiao Nanhui’s side with a smile: “His Majesty says you may enter.”

Xiao Nanhui let out a quiet breath of relief, tightened her hold on the brocade case in her hand, and told herself to deliver her thanks, conclude this business quickly, and leave. She truly was not suited to the atmosphere inside the palace — the rules were endless, the unseen eyes watching her were beyond counting, and even the slightest misstep would be more than she could bear. She could not afford to bring trouble upon Qinghuai Marquis Mansion.

She had long heard that Tiancheng’s sovereign was famously cold and unpredictable — disliking anyone approaching closely in ordinary times, and often conducting meetings with senior officials from behind a screen rather than in person. She had no idea how any of those beauties and consorts managed to get by.

Estimating the most conservative possible distance, she stopped before the second-to-last gate and did not proceed. She then cleared her throat and announced herself in a clear voice.

“Xiao Nanhui of Qinghuai Marquis Mansion, respectfully kneeling before Your Majesty.”

With that, she performed a reverent bow, her forehead slowly lowering toward the ground, and waited in silence for the imperial voice.

After some time, the voice from inside the room finally came — and it seemed not the slightest bit interested in her prepared speech.

“You may raise your head, dear subject. Is it not uncomfortable to speak that way?”

Xiao Nanhui let out a quiet breath of relief and lifted her neck, which had begun to ache, to look toward the bamboo chamber.

The innermost door was a thin gauze screen framed in elegant bamboo — calling it a door was perhaps too generous; “screen partition” would have been more accurate. The gauze was embroidered with the same trailing vine patterns as the outer courtyard gate. Through that layer of silk, one could just barely make out a moving figure within — indistinct, but apparently a man, long hair loose and unbound, dressed in black, his features impossible to make out clearly.

“What is it you are holding?”

Xiao Nanhui only then remembered — she had nearly forgotten the real purpose of her visit. She passed the brocade case in her hands to Dan Jiangfei.

“Your Majesty has bestowed such grace upon your subject — undeserved and deeply felt. This is a small token of your subject’s humble gratitude. I trouble Chief Attendant Dan to convey it to His Majesty on my behalf.”

Dan Jiangfei accepted the item and entered the chamber through a side door, set the item down, and withdrew.

From behind the gauze screen came the rustling sound of movement — the figure seemed to open the brocade case, examine the contents, then close it again.

Two deep crimson deer antlers. If one looked closely, the marks of a blade could still be seen upon them.

“Why does my subject send me this, I wonder?”

Xiao Nanhui did not know why, but she thought of what Hao Bai had said to her on the day of his departure, and so she simply reproduced his words: “Your subject has heard that deer antler, taken as medicine, can strengthen the body and prolong life. These two are exceptionally intact — they were presented to your subject by the Zou family of Huozhou, a household of medicinal herbs. It is said they were taken from young male spotted deer at their first antler-shed, which makes them rather rare.”

What a pity, what a pity. Had it not been for the ambush on the bridge that night, she would have had radish-sized mountain ginseng and umbrella-shaped lingzhi mushrooms galore…

“Your subject ought to know — deer antler is considered a tonic for yang vitality.”

That single sentence struck Xiao Nanhui like a bolt of lightning, rooting her to the spot. The inner garments already soaked from the humid heat suddenly felt cold as ice; a chill crept up her spine and into the back of her skull, making her tremble.

Dujuan, oh Dujuan — what has she done to me. She should have known better than to let Dujuan pick the gift, who only cares about choosing the most expensive thing. But who could have guessed the Emperor would be this young, and she had gone and brought him something that practically implied he was already in decline.

“Your Majesty is powerful and vigorous — naturally, naturally, there is no need for such things.”

There is no need, and yet you brought it anyway!

Xiao Nanhui stared at the white stones beneath her feet, wishing she could dig a hole and disappear into it.

The Taihe Bathing Garden fell into a rather long silence. After some time, the shadow behind the gauze screen seemed to stand. There was a sound as though the brocade case had been kicked to one side.

“Your subject’s intentions, we have received. However, the reason for summoning you today concerns a matter of importance.”

Xiao Nanhui could only ask for this embarrassment to be put behind them as quickly as possible, and nodded repeatedly: “Please speak, Your Majesty.”

“Has Marquis Qinghuai ever mentioned the matter of Bijiang to you?”

“To recover Bijiang is Foster Father’s lifelong wish — your subject has heard him speak of it since childhood.”

“I have heard that you spent some time in the Suyan region when you were young — can you speak the dialect there?”

This Emperor’s sources were certainly well-informed. She had been brought back from Suyan to Chizhou by Xiao Zhun at the age of five or six. The Suyan dialect she had known from an early age, and during her teens she had followed Xiao Zhun to garrison the Lingxi region, where she grew quite intimate with the local-born inhabitants — she also spoke the Southern Qiang people’s tongue with ease. Counting the Chizhou accent, she was someone versed in three regional dialects.

“In reply to Your Majesty — your subject learned it from common folk, and it is hardly fit to be shown before distinguished company.”

“That it is hardly fit for distinguished company is precisely what makes it excellent. Your subject has a matter of importance to entrust to you — will you lend your strength to assist us?”

You are the Emperor; I cannot refuse.

Xiao Nanhui bowed deeply: “Xiao Nanhui is willing to sacrifice her very life in service to Your Majesty’s wish.”

The figure behind the gauze screen curved the corner of his mouth: “Excellent.”