This year, a grand banquet was held in the imperial palace for the New Year’s festival.

On this day, the Emperor and Empress first went with court officials to the imperial temple to burn incense and worship heaven, announcing the new era name. Afterward, the officials dispersed while the imperial couple ate a vegetarian New Year’s meal at the imperial temple before returning to the palace in the afternoon.

Later, officials brought their families to the banquet to celebrate the New Year together.

The banquet was set in Qiongfang Garden, adjacent to the Imperial Garden, where the palace greenhouses were located. The pavilions were spacious, and the floor was warmed by heated clay pipes beneath.

In the afternoon, officials’ families arrived one after another. This was the time when everyone gathered most completely. With the border conflicts ending in a great victory—the Western Liang King admitting guilt, ceding territory, and fleeing, and the Zhongshan Prince and his son executed—Great Xia finally found stability after several years of turmoil.

The court had stabilized as well. After Deng Yi was shot dead by the Empress, apart from officials too deeply connected with him, the court concluded that others had either been deceived by Deng Yi or had misjudged him, and investigations were halted.

This allowed officials both high and low to breathe a sigh of relief.

The atmosphere at today’s banquet was light and joyful. Officials gathered in small groups, chatting and laughing. Women who arrived early arranged to tour the Imperial Garden together.

As before, these banquets were also opportunities for Chu Zhao and Chu Tang to meet and talk.

The two sat by the window, reviewing the guest list together.

“Everyone’s gotten married without us noticing,” Chu Zhao observed as she looked at the register. Young ladies who had once been daughters of certain families had changed their status, becoming wives in other families.

“Not everyone could attend the banquet,” Chu Tang said. “Some married too far away, and others don’t qualify.”

Not everyone could marry into families with the privilege to enter imperial banquets. Even if they did marry into such families, they might not qualify to enter the palace, such as if they were wives of younger sons or daughters-in-law of lower status.

At this, Chu Tang smiled again.

“But some who originally didn’t qualify gained qualification through their merit.” She flipped through the register. “Do you remember Cong Ashan?”

Chu Zhao did remember: “The young lady who liked fishing and competed in fishing at Chu Garden?”

Chu Tang nodded and pointed her out: “Last year, she married the youngest son of this family’s second branch. Her husband hasn’t entered official service, but this time when the family matriarch attends the banquet, she’s bringing not only her two daughters-in-law but also this granddaughter-in-law.” She leaned closer and whispered with a smile, “I heard from the maids that the two daughters-in-law were somewhat dissatisfied, but the matriarch said they’re counting on this granddaughter-in-law to earn a cup of wine from the Empress, and to gain face for her two sons before the Emperor. The Emperor will assume personal rule in two years, which concerns their future careers, so the two daughters-in-law no longer object.”

Chu Zhao didn’t laugh at this story but smiled at Chu Tang: “Your maids seem to know everything.”

Chu Tang pressed her lips into a smile: “As a maiden living alone in the capital, I must keep my ears and eyes open.”

Besides watching over the house, Little Tu and the others had also trained Chu Tang’s maids and servants in gathering information.

During the year or more that Chu Zhao had been away from the capital, Chu Tang had regularly sent her news from the city streets and the inner chambers of noble houses.

Chu Zhao smiled gently at Chu Tang: “A-Tang, you’re not so young anymore. What about your marriage?”

Chu Tang pretended to be shy, raising her sleeve to half-cover her face: “My parents’ command and the matchmaker’s words—” Then she lowered her sleeve, dropping the act and speaking frankly, “Father and Mother have taken a liking to a disciple from the academy.”

A disciple from the academy… Chu Zhao thought of Chu Tang’s marriage in her previous life and couldn’t help asking: “How is his family background?”

She couldn’t clearly remember which family Chu Tang had married into in her previous life, only that they were local gentry.

Wealthy gentry who sought power had married the Empress’s sister, but eventually couldn’t tolerate the Empress’s sister’s overbearing manner. The whole family had written a tearful petition to the court requesting a divorce, causing her to lose face before Xiao Xun and further tarnishing the Chu family’s reputation—though now, thinking about it, that too might have been arranged by Xiao Xun.

“He’s from a local great clan,” Chu Tang said. “However, the clan is large with many people, and this disciple belongs to a thin, distant branch.”

Thin? Chu Zhao smiled: “How could Uncle and Aunt approve? Our A-Tang is a commandery princess.”

Chu Tang smiled: “I told Father and Mother that now that I’m a commandery princess, I don’t want to lower myself for others or be used to decorate someone’s gate, so they chose him.”

His family background was acceptable, but he wasn’t a prominent figure in his clan. If Chu Tang married him, her husband’s family’s status would change. The husband would rely on his wife, while the wife would belong to this small family. Their connection to the clan could be close or distant, kept under their control. This way, Chu Tang would maintain a superior position both inside and outside the family.

Chu Zhao sighed: “Parents always choose the best for their children’s marriages.”

She hadn’t expected her unreliable uncle and aunt to select such a suitable candidate.

Although she was an Empress with a resounding reputation, without parents, there was a corner of her heart that could never be filled. Chu Tang used to envy what others had, but now she knew that no one could have everything they wanted. Gains came with losses; if you wanted sweetness, you had to taste bitterness too.

“Family always cares for family,” she said, looking at Chu Zhao and asking softly, “So, I also want to ask you, what do you think?”

She was comforting her; Chu Tang was her family. Chu Zhao smiled gently, looking at her: “A-Tang, it’s not what your parents think, nor what I think, but what you think. Remember, in marriage, the most important thing is that you like him.”

She patted Chu Tang’s hand lightly.

She had already found a different life, and she hoped Chu Tang could find one too.

Like… Chu Tang was silent for a moment, then smiled: “I know. I’ll leave for the academy tomorrow to celebrate the New Year with my parents and to see this person with my own eyes.”

Chu Zhao smiled: “I wish you happiness.”

At this moment, A-Le entered: “Your Highness, His Majesty is ready.”

As before, at palace banquets, the Emperor and Empress would appear together before everyone.

Chu Tang quickly rose to take her leave.

Chu Zhao added: “Take more people with you when you return, and be careful on the journey. Make a grand display. We should be cautious, but when people need to know something, we should let them know.”

Chu Tang smiled, nodded, and acknowledged. As she watched Chu Zhao rise to change into formal attire, she suddenly said: “A-Zhao, do you have someone you like now?”

Chu Zhao paused slightly, looking at Chu Tang.

But Chu Tang hurriedly turned and left, patting her chest fearfully. She had asked the Empress such a question—it was practically treason. How could she wait for Chu Zhao’s answer?

She didn’t know why she had asked such a thing. Perhaps it was because of the sincere look in Chu Zhao’s eyes when she had cautioned her earlier, which had warmed her heart yet made her somewhat sad.

The Empress was the Emperor’s wife.

But for Chu Zhao, it was just a title.

She didn’t believe Chu Zhao had become the Emperor’s wife because she liked him.

So did that mean Chu Zhao would never have someone she liked in this lifetime?

“What is Miss A-Tang saying? Have what? Like?” A-Le asked, confused. She hadn’t been attending them closely and didn’t know what they had been discussing.

Chu Zhao smiled faintly, her fingers lightly flicking the ornaments hanging at her waist.

“Talking about liking,” she said. “I have that too.”

……

……

As dusk fell, Qiongfang Garden was brilliantly lit, gleaming like glazed porcelain.

Everywhere, groups of people chatted and laughed, while palace maids wove through them serving fine wine and fruit drinks.

Liang Qiang stepped into the hall and sensed his mother’s hesitant footsteps behind him.

“Mother?” he turned and inquired softly.

Liang’s mother’s face flashed a nervous smile: “It’s nothing, I just haven’t seen so many people in a long time.”

His mother had been back in the capital for over a year, and the Liang family name had been rehung outside their mansion. But after Deng Yi’s downfall, the Liang family’s already unstable foundation immediately began to totter, and they had practically shut their doors to the outside world.

Upon his return to the capital, due to his merits in the campaign against Xiao Xun, he had been restored to the rank of Mobile Corps General, allowing the Liang family to breathe easier.

This time, he had also received an invitation to the banquet, and to be like others—proper and dignified—he had brought female family members.

To truly establish a firm footing, relying on himself alone wasn’t enough; he needed to make his family members… useful.

Making connections, engaging in conversation, maintaining relationships—these were the roles of the women in the family.

His mother had once been a young lady from a wealthy family and the wife of the second branch of the Liang family. She had attended many palace banquets, but now she seemed somewhat uneasy, showing how much her previous hardships had worn her down.

Perhaps he should give his mother time to adapt, but—there was no time.

“Don’t worry,” Liang Qiang reached out to support his mother, saying softly, “Our seats are in the back rows. We won’t draw too much attention.”

Liang’s mother nodded with a smile: “I know. Don’t worry, A-Qiang.”

As mother and son were talking, someone pushed between them, accompanied by a somewhat childish voice: “Brother, it’s so beautiful here!”

Liang Qiang looked down to see his sister.

His sister’s eyes were full of amazement and joy. As a child without worries, she was already captivated by her surroundings and eager to rush inside.

She looked at the bejeweled ladies in the hall, her eyes shining. She was like them; she was one of them.

Just then, melodious music rose, accompanied by the eunuchs’ loud announcement: “His Majesty, the Empress, has arrived!”

The chatter in the hall immediately ceased. Everyone stood still, bowing toward the front.

“We welcome His Majesty and Her Highness the Empress—”

Liang Qiang and his mother also bowed with the crowd. Little Miss Liang couldn’t resist peeking curiously through the gaps between the adults, seeing a boy about her age, dressed in dragon robes, holding the hand of a young woman in a phoenix crown, walking slowly forward.