“So you made up all sorts of stories to deceive him?” Xie Yuzhang asked.

Fuchun was still kneeling on the floor, tears and mucus streaming freely down his face. “His Majesty would occasionally ask about Your Highness, and this servant… this servant was never part of the Zhaoxia Palace household. How could I truly know so much? Yet I could not dare say I did not know, so I had no choice but to make things up.”

He wore the expression of a junior palace attendant from years past. Xie Yuzhang let out a helpless sigh. “Get up quickly — you are the inner court’s Chief Steward now. What kind of conduct is this?”

But Fuchun would not rise, saying only, “Your Highness, please hear this servant out first.”

Xie Yuzhang said, “I know — it was just a matter of pinning the story of Noble Consort Li rescuing the little cat onto me, and concocting the claim that Lady of Kangle and I were very close.”

But Fuchun wept aloud. “Your Highness, spare this servant’s life!”

Xie Yuzhang was taken aback, and frowned. “What else is there?”

Fuchun wept, “This servant truly did not mean any harm. This servant just said it offhandedly — who could have guessed that His Majesty would actually order someone put to death…”

Xie Yuzhang’s heart lurched at those words. Her expression turned grave. “Fuchun, I do not have much time. If you cannot speak plainly at once, you are wasting your own time.”

Fuchun’s weeping stopped abruptly.

Xie Yuzhang said, “What was this thoughtless thing you said? And whom did His Majesty put to death?”

Fuchun, his voice catching with sobs, recounted the death of Nanny Xu.

Xie Yuzhang was silent for quite some time.

Fuchun watched Xie Yuzhang’s expression closely and wept, “This servant truly did not mean to harm anyone. It was entirely beyond expectation that His Majesty would fly into such a terrible rage…”

Xie Yuzhang let out a sound that was half a laugh, half an exhale of breath. “What terrible rage?”

Fuchun was stunned. He raised his eyes. The princess who had been tempered by eight years on the steppe and had returned from it all was not quite the same as the little Your Highness he remembered.

She said, “The emperor was displeased. The emperor had her killed — and so she had to die. To the emperor, it was no more than moving his lips. That does not rise to the level of terrible rage.”

Xie Yuzhang shifted her gaze downward to settle on Fuchun’s face, and warned him, “Fuchun, now that you stand beside the Son of Heaven, you must understand the principle that ‘a single flash of the emperor’s anger lays a hundred thousand corpses.’ If he had truly flown into terrible rage, how could only one person have died? And how could that person have died so peacefully? If he truly raged — that would be a matter of… many people dying.”

Xie Yuzhang seemed to think back to that year — the people of the Xiaoyao Marquisate’s household trembling and not daring to show their faces, the female members of the Xie clan in Xie Family Village placed under surveillance, while only she herself had been free to come and go as she pleased. In the end, it had been she and Lin Fei who collected the bodies of those clansmen who had died unjustly under the instruments of torture.

Xie Family Village had run with rivers of blood. That — was the fury of a Son of Heaven.

Nanny Xu’s death was nothing more than a passing impulse on the emperor’s part. Simply because he was the emperor, a passing impulse meant a human life.

And this Son of Heaven — his reputation for ferocity was enough to make men tremble. All along the road he had traveled to reach this throne, heaven only knew how many bodies he had walked over, how many rivers of blood he had waded through.

A discarded servant like Nanny Xu — in his eyes she was like a deserter fleeing the battlefield — and so on a passing impulse, Nanny Xu was dead.

Just now in the hall she had felt he was like that young man again. Now, he was like that emperor again.

In any case, the distance was too great, and the face too indistinct. Yet Xie Yuzhang had no wish to draw closer — she felt that being separated from him by this much distance was in itself quite fine.

She fixed her gaze on Fuchun’s round face and said, “The lies you told before — I can help you make them all consistent. But if you wish to meet a good end, never again try to play tricks or deceive our emperor. There is no one who can save you.”

Her gaze was deep and difficult to read.

Fuchun did not dare underestimate her. This princess had gone to the steppe at coming-of-age age, spent eight years, come back alive, and somehow transformed herself into a princess of the Da Mu dynasty. The Former Zhao ministers might not think much of a princess, but Fuchun — the kind of person who survived entirely on the favor of the emperor — absolutely did not dare underestimate Xie Yuzhang.

Fuchun knocked his head against the floor twice with a thud. “This servant will never dare again! Your Highness has given me a second life.”

Having knocked his head in obeisance, he straightened up and said, “Your Highness has shown great kindness to Fuchun, and Fuchun will conceal nothing from Your Highness. There is one matter Your Highness ought to know.”

He lowered his voice and told Xie Yuzhang the full story of how Zhang Fen had missed her chance at the position of empress.

Xie Yuzhang had never imagined anything like it — that Zhang Fen could have lost the empress position in such a way. Her emotions were immensely complicated, and she vaguely felt that toward Li Gu — perhaps she had miscalculated and struck too hard.

Yet Li Gu, if he had wished to take her, had found his moment perfectly in the great hall earlier today — and yet he had chosen instead to first make good on words he had once spoken.

Xie Yuzhang lowered her eyes.

Just then, there came a light knock at the door.

Both people in the room fell silent. Xie Yuzhang glanced at Fuchun. Fuchun pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his face in one pass, and in an instant had restored his composed expression entirely. He went over and opened the door.

A young palace attendant at the door whispered something to him in a low voice. Fuchun came back and bowed toward Xie Yuzhang. “Your Highness — please.”

The two of them exchanged no further glances. Xie Yuzhang smoothed her skirts and rose from her seat with unhurried ease.

Now that she had the rank of princess, when Xie Yuzhang met the three consorts, she had no need to bow as she had in her previous life. She exchanged greetings with the three of them. Noble Consort Li Zhenzhen’s color was excellent, and she smiled and said, “From now on, we are sisters.”

The years had carved everyone into a shape different from what they had been before. In Noble Consort Li Zhenzhen’s smile, Xie Yuzhang could no longer find the frank and open quality she remembered from the past. This Li Noble Consort smiled with a deep and keen satisfaction.

But why? What did she know?

Consorts Cui and Deng both stared at Xie Yuzhang, their expressions distant and dazed.

Li Zhenzhen’s remark brought them back. Their gazes shifted and their expressions changed. But very quickly, Cui Yingniang suppressed her feelings and followed along with a smile. “Quite right — though I wonder which of us is the elder sister, and which the younger?”

Deng Wanniang said nothing.

Xie Yuzhang gave her age. It turned out that Deng Wanniang was the same age as she, while Cui Yingniang was actually one year younger.

Without Zhang Fen as empress pressing down on them from above, all three consorts were far more vivid and alive than they had been in the previous life. Li Zhenzhen especially so.

In the previous life, she had lost in the competition for the position of empress. Xie Yuzhang could now see clearly, she must have used the method of feigning retreat in order to advance — putting on the appearance of a woman devoted to fasting and prayer, making Li Gu feel guilt. She had indeed managed it: although she only held a consort position, she was the most singular presence in the entire rear palace. If she made a scene and gave Zhang Fen a rough time, Zhang Fen had no choice but to pinch her nose and endure it. Li Gu, that man, clearly did not regard disputes among women as important matters, but when the empress and the noble consort quarreled, it was invariably the empress Zhang who received the reprimand.

Li Zhenzhen also knew when to stop. Each time it always seemed as though Zhang Fen had forced her past the limit of endurance before she struck back. Li Gu, that sort of person, obviously did not look on women’s affairs as important — but when the empress and the noble consort were at odds, it was always the Empress Zhang who was reproached.

Everyone knew that Li Zhenzhen was the orphaned daughter of Li Ming, and that her marriage to Li Gu was one of name only. Li Gu regarded her as an elder sister. No one would remonstrate with him for being excessive in his favor toward her over his principal wife.

This had always infuriated Empress Zhang.

Li Zhenzhen smiled and said, “Now that Yongning has come back, you must visit the palace often. There are too few people in the palace; we often feel lonely. It would be far more lively if we sisters were all together.”

These words were such that even the gentle and accommodating Cui Virtuous Consort had no wish to respond to them.

Deng Worthy Consort gave an even more dismissive laugh.

Xie Yuzhang was rather taken aback — the Li Zhenzhen before her was so entirely unlike the Li Zhenzhen in her memory who would stand her ground and volley back at Empress Zhang with cold-faced retorts, leaving Zhang Fen flushed with rage. How had she turned into this?

Xie Yuzhang smiled and said, “The Consort’s warmth and regard is an honor. Only Yongning’s status as one recently widowed makes such visits truly inappropriate. Your Highness’s kind intentions — Yongning takes them to heart.”

Li Zhenzhen sighed. “In those days when the Eleventh Prince was escorting you to Mobei, you were still such a young girl. We all thought you were never coming back. Fortunately — fortunately, Eleventh Prince always kept the north in his thoughts, and in the end he brought you home…”

Xie Yuzhang’s pupils contracted slightly. What was Li Zhenzhen trying to do?

Li Gu had served as escort for the bridal departure back then, and at that time his standing had not yet been prominent. Not many people knew of it. Now that Li Zhenzhen had said this much, both Consort Cui and Consort Deng’s eyes shifted in expression.

Xie Yuzhang had endured tremendous hardship to return to Yunjing and wanted nothing more than a peaceful life — and yet right here on her very first day back, Li Zhenzhen had managed to make two enemies for her in the rear palace without any cause!

Xie Yuzhang had endured tremendous hardship to return to Yunjing; she only wanted a peaceful life. Even now she still wore a smile on her face — but inwardly she very nearly had the urge to give Li Zhenzhen a thorough beating.

Fortunately the morning’s time was not long. There were further arrangements afterward, and Fuchun appeared at the right moment to invite Princess Yongning to attend the banquet.

“Go, go,” Li Zhenzhen said with a warm smile. “You’ve just returned; there are long days ahead. We can talk more at our leisure.”

Xie Yuzhang took her leave of the three consorts and followed Fuchun out. All the way until she had walked out through the hall doors, she could still feel multiple gazes following her from behind.

She felt keenly that this opening had not gone well.

Watching for the junior attendant leading the way ahead and the palace maids pressing close behind to be at a sufficient distance, Xie Yuzhang stepped up and drew close to Fuchun, lowering her voice. “The Noble Consort keeps drawing connections between me and His Majesty. What is going on? Does she know something?”

“She likely does not know,” Fuchun thought for a moment before answering. “Only… the Lady of Virtuous Consort Cui has borne the emperor’s first prince. Three months ago, Worthy Consort Deng gave birth to the emperor’s second prince.”

Xie Yuzhang had grown up in the depths of the rear palace. How could she not understand the unspoken warfare between women in these inner chambers? She let out a quiet sigh.

Fuchun looked left and right and murmured in reassurance, “Your Highness need not be afraid. His Majesty has a place for you in his heart.”

Xie Yuzhang thought of the inner court’s Chief Steward in her previous life — always smiling warmly at her with an expression of mild benevolence whenever he saw her, that erstwhile fallen-dynasty girl. She knew he would never truly understand her, and only smiled with faint amusement.

After she had gone, Li Zhenzhen dismissed Consorts Cui and Deng and said with a smile, “I wonder if those two will be able to eat their lunch today.”

A trusted maidservant sighed, “I truly could not have imagined — this princess turned out to be quite so beautiful.”

“Indeed,” Li Zhenzhen said with a dismissive smile. “Those two, in ordinary times, likely all think of themselves as great beauties. Now they know what a true beauty looks like.”

She was pleased with herself, and murmured to herself, “Never would have expected — so it was her all along. Excellent. Truly excellent.”

The maidservant was completely at a loss.

Deng Wanniang and Cui Yingniang left Noble Consort Li’s sleeping quarters and walked side by side in silence for some time, neither saying a word.

When they reached a fork in the path, both stopped. They looked at one another, and each saw in the other’s eyes the same unspoken question.

In those years when Li Gu had taken three wives, he had dragged his feet and been unwilling to consummate the marriages with the two of them. It was Li Zhenzhen, as the eldest, who had pressed the matter before he finally did. Both women were perceptive enough to have long since guessed that at the time, there had been someone else in Li Gu’s heart.

They had originally believed that as all matters gradually settled and Li Gu’s power grew, that woman might eventually be brought into the household.

But that woman had never appeared.

They had suspected she had perhaps already missed her chance and been wed to someone else; or perhaps she had simply died in the chaos of Hexi.

Whichever it was, the woman had not appeared again, and they had gradually let it slip from their minds.

Who could have anticipated that today this Former Zhao princess would arrive seemingly from out of nowhere, her appearance utterly arresting.

Li Zhenzhen’s words had awakened them. So it turned out that the person in their husband’s heart had indeed married another — she had been wed to the steppe as a Khan’s consort.

Now, she had come back.

The moment she returned, the emperor had given her the title of princess.

This… was surely better than being taken into the palace as a consort, was it not?