The Xiaoyao Marquis was the one who wanted to weep.

He was no longer the Emperor who could decide the life and death of others. The young woman standing before him was no longer the small daughter who had once buried her face in his lap, crying and begging for his mercy.

She stood there with tears streaming down her face, and yet she made him afraid.

“Deal with him first,” she said.

The Xiaoyao Marquis’s mind was in chaos; he did not follow. “What?” he asked.

“Your son. My Fifth Brother,” she said. “How do you intend to handle him?”

The Xiaoyao Marquis could have eaten the Fifth Prince alive at this moment.

“He — he…” The Xiaoyao Marquis’s expression shifted through several changes. “We…”

He gritted his teeth and began to undo his sash. “We… will give the Emperor an account…”

Xie Yuzhang watched her father undo his sash; she watched as he called the Eighth and Ninth Princes forward; she watched as her two brothers wound that sash around the Fifth Prince’s neck.

She did not stop them.

The Fifth Prince had killed his brother and attempted to kill his father. He deserved death.

In her previous life, the Xie clan had bled rivers of blood on his account. He deserved death.

Even when the Fifth Prince’s eyes bulged from their sockets and he collapsed at her feet, Xie Yuzhang did not shed a single tear for him.

She said to the Xiaoyao Marquis, “Go write a letter of contrition.”

To Madam Yu she said, “Find me a change of clothes.”

And to the Eighth and Ninth Princes she said, “Put your hearts to rest. The southerners only want a puppet. Once power is in a person’s hands, they never wish to relinquish it — they only want to be Emperor themselves. They would never enthrone another Emperor above their own heads.”

Everyone was numb and moved only when directed by her.

Xie Yuzhang walked out of the main hall and ordered her guards, “Watch them closely — especially my father.”

By the time she changed into fresh clothes and walked out of Xiaoyao Marquis Manor, Hu Jin had only just left. The Deputy Magistrate of the Capital Prefecture came forward to meet her. “Princess? Could you tell us what has occurred?”

Xie Yuzhang said, “I have troubled the Deputy Magistrate. There is no need for you to inquire further — I am going to the palace now to beg His Majesty’s forgiveness.”

Within the palace.

Since the Hall of Purple Radiance also served as a workspace for handling state affairs, Li Gu never permitted his consorts to enter it. Hu Jin therefore went directly inside.

Li Gu rose, threw on his outer robe, and came out to see Hu Jin.

“What is it?” he asked.

Hu Jin reported what had happened.

Li Gu was silent for a moment, then asked again, “What did she do?”

Hu Jin had no choice but to repeat himself: “Princess Yongning brought people to seal off Xiaoyao Marquis Manor, saying she was dealing with a ‘family matter,’ and added that once she had finished, she would come to beg Your Majesty’s forgiveness.”

He added, “When I entered the palace just now, I instructed the palace gate attendants that if the Princess arrived, they were to let her in.”

Li Gu was still silent. Liang Chen came in to report, “Princess Yongning has arrived.”

Hu Jin exhaled in relief.

Li Gu said, “Bring her in.”

Liang Chen bowed. “The Princess is kneeling outside the hall and refuses to rise.”

Li Gu paused, then took long strides toward the front hall, crossed through it, and pushed open the great doors.

Carved jade balustrades. On the stone platform paved with blue flagstones, moonlight was scattered across the ground like silk.

Xie Yuzhang was dressed in plain white robes, her hair unbound, kneeling on the ground. At the sound of the doors, she raised her eyes. Seeing him emerge with his outer robe thrown over his shoulders, she bowed her head low, her forehead touching the backs of her hands. “Your Majesty.”

“Rise,” Li Gu said.

Xie Yuzhang raised her face — tears streaked across it.

Li Gu bent down and took hold of her arm. Xie Yuzhang refused to rise. Tears falling, she said, “Your Majesty, please hear me out first.”

Li Gu felt anger stirring in his chest. He sat cross-legged on the ground, directly before Xie Yuzhang, and said, “Speak.”

Xie Yuzhang wept as she said, “Your servant begs Your Majesty to strip Yongning of her princess title as penance for this offense.”

Li Gu asked, “What has happened at Xiaoyao Marquis Manor?”

Xie Yuzhang said, “The Xin Prefecture Gao Clan sought to follow the Lu Clan’s example by propping up a false ruler, and set their sights on Xiaoyao Marquis Manor, making contact with my Third Brother and Fifth Brother. Third Brother and Fifth Brother, deeply grateful for the imperial favor they have received, could not bring themselves to betray it. Third Brother drowned himself; Fifth Brother hanged himself. They have already atoned for their offenses with their deaths.”

With both hands she presented a sheet of paper. “This is the hiding place of the Xin Prefecture Gao Clan. My people have already gone there.”

Li Gu took the paper directly from her hands, glanced at it, and passed it to Hu Jin.

Hu Jin immediately withdrew in haste to make the necessary arrangements.

“Father is at home now writing a letter of contrition.” Xie Yuzhang bowed her head again, pressing her forehead tightly against the backs of her hands. “This matter has nothing whatsoever to do with Xie Family Village. The Marquis of Bei Rong, for the sake of my elder sister, has kept Xie Family Village sealed off so thoroughly that not a drop of water could seep through. No outsider could ever have infiltrated it. The people of Xie Family Village live quietly and peacefully, basking in the grace of the imperial sun, with only the wish that Great Mu grow strong and Your Majesty remain in good health. They harbor no divided loyalties.”

Li Gu fixed his gaze on the line of her bowed back. “Yuzhang, tell me the truth.”

Xie Yuzhang raised her head; tears still traced their marks across her face. “The truth is that my Third Brother and Fifth Brother are both dead. Those within Xiaoyao Marquis Manor who still live are all Your Majesty’s subjects and would not dare entertain any other intentions.”

Li Gu stared at her and asked, “Is this the result of your ‘handling’ of the situation?”

The tears fell from Xie Yuzhang’s eyes again. “It is.”

Her tears were uncommonly plentiful tonight. She needed no effort to summon them, no need to force herself to cry. They burst forth of their own accord and could not be stopped.

She bowed her head again. “I beg Your Majesty’s mercy. Your Majesty’s benevolence toward the Xie family will surely be recorded in the annals of history and praised by all generations to come. It is only that this servant has failed Your Majesty. This servant’s title, this servant’s life — all of it is yours to take.”

And this person herself — if Your Majesty wished to take her too, she would yield entirely.

She had schemed for so long, and it had all been for this very moment. Yet now that the moment had arrived, Xie Yuzhang thought of those eyes beneath the mask — eyes filled with starlight — and in the end she was too ashamed to sell herself to him. In the end, she could not bring herself to speak those final words.

Li Gu sat cross-legged before her, both hands resting on his knees. He looked at her for a long while, then said, “Understood. We will wait until Hu Jin returns before deciding anything. Rise.”

He stood and took hold of Xie Yuzhang’s arm. His grip was like an iron clamp, and Xie Yuzhang had no choice but to get to her feet.

Li Gu pulled off the robe from his own shoulders and wrapped it around her.

Though it was already summer in the sixth month, the nights still carried a chill. Xie Yuzhang had been kneeling on those blue flagstones the whole time, and the stone was ice-cold.

Li Gu said, “Xiaoyao Marquis Manor, Xie Family Village — all of it can wait until Hu Jin returns.”

“Yuzhang,” he said, looking at her, “I cannot make decisions based on your account alone, or on your tears.”

“You are right,” said Xie Yuzhang, head bowed, tears still falling. “It was foolish of this servant to think otherwise.”

And foolish it was, indeed. What manner of Emperor Li Gu was — she ought to have known in her previous life. Yet she had still harbored the notion of swaying his decisions with her own body.

Li Gu said, “Your princess title was not granted on account of Xiaoyao Marquis Manor, and therefore, whatever Xiaoyao Marquis Manor has done, the title will not be taken away because of them.”

Xie Yuzhang said, “The title is not what this servant is concerned about.”

“I know,” said Li Gu. “Xiaoyao Marquis Manor will be dealt with separately. As for Xie Family Village — if the investigation confirms no collusion with the southerners, there will be no collective punishment.”

Xie Yuzhang raised her eyes. “What the Gao Clan wanted was certainly my father. But the ones they made contact with were my elder brothers. Third Brother and Fifth Brother are already dead. Father once served as a puppet under Huang Yungong, and once sat starving in the Hall of Purple Radiance dressed in dragon robes — he understands. He will not be fooled by the southerners.”

Li Gu asked, “How did you discover all of this?”

Xie Yuzhang admitted, “From the time the Lu Clan enthroned a false ruler, I placed people inside Xiaoyao Marquis Manor.”

So then — in all those moments when she had been with him, her bright smile lighting her face, had she perhaps been anxious inside about Xiaoyao Marquis Manor and the Xie clan?

Li Gu did not press her on how exactly the former Crown Prince and the Fifth Prince had died. In the end, she had gone; they had died; she had prevented something far worse from unfolding.

Her actions had been nothing short of swift and decisive.

“You handled it well,” said Li Gu. He took her hand and led her toward the Hall of Purple Radiance.

Xie Yuzhang’s tears continued to fall. “I did what I could.”

“I know,” said Li Gu. “Don’t cry.”

Xie Yuzhang wiped her tears away. Li Gu had already made his position clear — so long as Xie Family Village had not been involved in any collusion, there would be no collective punishment. Whatever else might happen, Xie Family Village could be preserved.

The crux of this life had been the Fifth Prince. No one from Xiaoyao Marquis Manor had actually escaped to the south, and so everything could still be salvaged.

In truth, she had been frightened into this by her previous life. But this life, in the end, was not the same as the last.

Li Gu held Xie Yuzhang’s hand and walked with her through the front hall to the rear quarters. His steps did not slow; he led her onward into the side chamber — what might be called a secondary room in an ordinary household but, within this grand palace complex, was a proper side chamber.

Xie Yuzhang had never entered this place before. This was already Li Gu’s private living quarters, deeply intimate. To pass through another set of doors farther in would bring one to Li Gu’s own bedchamber.

Yet there was no alarm or suspicion in Xie Yuzhang’s heart. She held his hand and followed his footsteps inside.

Li Gu had her sit on the brocade stool, then seated himself behind her and gathered up the great cascade of her hair.

Liang Chen, with admirable discretion, brought over a tray bearing a set of combs and several hairpins. Li Gu picked up a comb and drew it through her hair from the crown downward, gently combing through the dark waves.

Xie Yuzhang sat quietly and let him.

After a long while, Li Gu said, “If Hu Jin returns and confirms what you have told me, then hereafter, Xiaoyao Marquis Manor will be assigned additional soldiers to stand guard.”

Xie Yuzhang’s shoulders eased at last, the tension fully leaving them.

Li Gu’s gaze was sharp. He said, “Yuzhang, you have long since become a woman of your own household.”

Xie Yuzhang smiled faintly, tilting her head slightly. “Does Your Majesty have family of his own?” she asked.

Li Gu said, “All those in the imperial harem are my family.”

But Xie Yuzhang replied, “That is not what I mean. I am not asking about wives taken in marriage or children born in later years. I want to ask — where is Your Majesty truly from? Where were you born, where did you grow up? Who are your father and mother? Do you have brothers or sisters?”

Everyone knew that the Emperor had been orphaned young, had once survived by begging, and had joined the army at a very young age — it was only when Li Ming took notice of him that his life took a different course.

But the details of his background before he joined the army were unknown to the world. When he had been preparing to ascend the throne and the civil officials asked about his origins, he said only, “My father’s name was Ping’an; my mother’s surname was Sun,” and would not speak another word. As for genealogical records, those were entirely out of the question.

The officials had agonized greatly over this, scratching their heads for several days before — since his own surname was already Li — constructing a lineage starting from Li Ping’an, working backward, and artificially connecting him to a branch of the Li clan that had died out two hundred years prior, grafting him onto a genealogy by sheer invention.

But in truth, no one knew what the Emperor’s actual origins were. He himself never spoke of it, and even Li Weifeng did not know.

Xie Yuzhang said, “If Your Majesty once had family of his own, he would know that a person’s bond of blood is not severed simply because a daughter is married out.”

Li Gu held her hair in his hands, and for the first time, a murderous impulse toward the Xie family arose within him — along with the thought of wresting Xie Yuzhang free from that bloodline entirely.

Yet it could only ever be a thought. What bound her, what she sought, was the survival of those very people.

Footsteps sounded outside. Hu Jin’s voice rang out from the front room of the rear quarters: “Your Majesty!”

His voice and tone were not quite the same as usual. Li Gu heard it and knew at once that something had happened. He paused, set the comb in her hands, rose, and went out.

Hu Jin’s expression, when Li Gu saw it, confirmed his instinct that something was wrong.

Li Gu asked, “What is it?”

Hu Jin said, “Xiaoyao Marquis Manor is on fire!”

The night was deep and still. Through the intervening door, they heard it — the sound of a comb striking the floor of the side chamber and shattering against the tiles.