Xie Baozhu went back inside and asked Prince Shou: “How is it that the emperor actually knows Zhuzhu?”

Prince Shou had cried until he was hungry. He bit into a flatcake and said: “More than knows her.”

Xie Baozhu raised an eyebrow.

Prince Shou chewed away and swallowed the cake, then said: “Back then, when Zhuzhu was sent to Mobei — once we entered Hexi, it was today’s emperor who escorted her the rest of the way.”

Xie Baozhu said in surprise: “So that is how it was?”

Prince Shou said: “That young man — Zhuzhu completely bewitched him. He nearly came to blows with the old khan over her.”

Xie Baozhu was even more startled. When she asked about the details, she fell silent for a long time, then asked: “Where were you at the time, Father?”

Prince Shou defended himself: “I was drunk!”

Xie Baozhu asked: “The following day, Father — did you offer Zhuzhu any comfort?”

Prince Shou said: “Of course! When the khan sent people to deliver gifts and apologize, I was the one who received them! All the formal pleasantries fell on me! Do you think Fifth Prince — that young boy — could have handled any of it?”

But what sort of person her own father was — how much he liked to smooth things over, look after his own interests, and let everyone tend to themselves — Xie Baozhu knew perfectly well.

She could not reproach her father, though — today Li Weifeng had said he was taking her away, and her father had flung himself at him without a thought for his own safety, desperate to protect her, to protect his own child.

He simply did not extend that kind of care to other people’s children.

Xie Baozhu was silent for a long time. Then she said: “Zhuzhu has suffered.”

The Xie Yuzhang that Xie Baozhu knew was the one who had never experienced life on the steppe — the one raised in the deep palace, innocent and unknowing of the world.

Thinking of how that Xie Yuzhang must have encountered all these things from the very first day she set foot in Mobei, and hearing the news she had received about her being given in a second marriage, Xie Baozhu felt a deep, helpless grief.

She thought of the missing Fourteenth Niang, and could only clench her jaw.

Prince Shou bit into his flatcake, then suddenly stopped and came to himself. “You met the emperor?”

Xie Baozhu made a sound of acknowledgment.

Prince Shou looked at her uneasily. “You, he, what, did he…”

Xie Baozhu said: “We exchanged only a few words, and then he let me go.”

Prince Shou let out an enormous sigh of relief, then cursed: “That Beirong Marquis — a turtle’s son!” To think he tried to offer up his own daughter as a gift!

Then he cursed the emperor: “His eyes are broken — what’s wrong with my Da Hu?” He actually turned her away.

Xie Baozhu was at a loss for words. “Did you actually want me to remain in the palace?”

“Of course not!” Prince Shou said. “With that constitution of yours, marriage would be the death of you! None of that, none — Father will keep you for his whole life!”

Xie Baozhu sighed. “Beirong Marquis believes I look like Zhuzhu. He must know about His Majesty and Zhuzhu, which is why he had the idea of sending me to the palace.”

Prince Shou spoke with his mouth full of flatcake: “Like what, she doesn’t look like her at all.”

Xie Baozhu paused, and asked: “Father, you think I don’t look like Zhuzhu?”

Prince Shou swallowed his flatcake. “My daughter, one of a kind — she doesn’t look like anyone.”

Xie Baozhu was silent for a moment, then sighed quietly: “…I see.”

In the palace.

Li Gu had finished his official business and was resting while chatting idly with Fuchun.

“Commandery Princess Kangle?” Fuchun, with perfectly wide-eyed innocence, said with complete fabrication: “Ah yes, she and Princess Baohua were the very best of friends.” He improvised a few stories of sisterly closeness and affection, and when he was done, sighed: “The Princess has gone so far away — she must think of us old companions every single day. Who knows whether the older sisters have taken good care of her — it is such a pity that the Princess’s nanny and senior palace attendant abandoned her at the last moment, refusing to follow…”

Li Gu gripped his teacup and looked up sharply. “What did you say?”

Li Gu had once met Nanny Xia, and having seen how deeply respectful Xie Yuzhang was of her, had always assumed Nanny Xia was Xie Yuzhang’s devoted caretaker.

He had never imagined — that was not the case at all.

Someone had, at that moment, abandoned Xie Yuzhang.

Lady Xu could never have imagined that after so many years away from the palace, someone from the palace would still come to her door.

“A noble personage from the palace wishes to see me?” Lady Xu was utterly shocked.

She collected herself, quickly took out a handful of copper coins and pressed them into the young attendant’s hand, asking ingratiatingly: “Would you happen to know which noble personage it might be? What business is there with this commoner woman?”

The attendant took the coins, yet kept his face cold as ice: “I don’t know.”

Lady Xu was filled with dread, and forced a smile: “Would you permit me to say a few words to the children at home?”

The attendant allowed it.

In those years, when Xie Yuzhang had been sent in marriage and departed, Lady Xu had used her connections and money to petition through a senior attendant in Noble Consort Shu’s service, and at last secured her release from the palace to return home.

She had then lived depending on her elder brother and nephew.

Her home was just outside Yunjing — they had not even waited for Huang Yungong’s arrival before the chaos of Lin Xiupu’s siege of Yunjing descended upon them. Her brother and nephew perished in the calamity.

She had hidden with her grandnephew in a field, pressing her hand over the child’s mouth to silence him, and the two of them survived. After that, grandmother and grandchild had depended on each other to live. The family’s farmland was rented out to others, and she also took in mending and stitching for people — and so she had endured to the present day.

She had not expected that late one evening, a small black lacquered carriage would come for her, to bring her back into the palace after all these years.

Lady Xu could not understand why, but her heart was beating very painfully.

Her grandnephew was now twelve years old, able to work, and quite sensible. Lady Xu instructed him to go to sleep properly, not to wander, and then followed the attendant into the carriage and set off for the city.

The carriage passed through the city gates before they closed for the night.

Once inside the palace, they brought her all the way to a side hall of the Zichen Palace. Lady Xu’s unease deepened further.

She waited a long time before footsteps sounded, and a man walked in.

He had sharp, striking features — commanding, piercing eyes. The robes he wore were the colors of the Son of Heaven.

Lady Xu immediately knelt and prostrated herself. “This subject kowtows to Your Majesty!”

The emperor walked toward her and stopped. Lady Xu dared not raise her head, but stole a glance sideways and could see only a pair of black boots embroidered with gold thread.

The emperor’s voice was cold as ice.

“For a servant, the duty is loyalty.”

“When Princess Baohua was sent in marriage to Mobei, she was only fourteen years of age. Did you ever think — how terrified she must have been, alone, with no one beside her?”

“Those who abandon their charge at the critical moment — what face do they have, to go on living in this world?”

Those black boots did not linger. They turned and walked away.

Lady Xu was drained of all color. She collapsed onto the floor.

The young attendant who had brought her entered: “His Majesty commands me to see you on your way.”

Lady Xu’s lips trembled.

The city gates had already been sealed for the night. A guard produced a written order, the carriage passed through, and Lady Xu was returned to her own home.

The attendant said nothing, only watched.

By this point in the journey, Lady Xu had grown calm. She only said: “Allow me to say a few words.”

She had been away, and her grandnephew had not been able to sleep; he was pleased to see her come back, and said: “A’po, tomorrow I want to eat oil fritters.”

Lady Xu said: “Good. I’ll make them for you tomorrow.”

She took his hand and led him inside, pointing out to him where the silver coins were kept, and told him where the house deed and land deed were stored, that he must keep them safe.

Her grandnephew was puzzled: “Why are you telling me all this?”

Lady Xu held his hand and said: “Because you are grown up now. A man must hold up a household.”

Her grandnephew was pleased at being treated as an adult, and though he was puzzled as to why the attendants and guards were still standing in their courtyard, he was coaxed by Lady Xu and went to sleep.

The attendant went into the room and stood watching.

Lady Xu opened the wardrobe and took out a sash.

……

The sound of a stool overturning came from inside the room.

After a while, once it was confirmed, the attendant came out. Two inner guards in the courtyard followed behind him. The three of them disappeared silently into the darkness of the night.

Returning to the palace, they reported to the head eunuch Fuchun. Fuchun nodded, dismissed him, and went himself to the bedchamber.

“Your Majesty.” Fuchun bowed very low. “Lady Xu has taken her own life.”

From behind the bed curtains came the emperor’s indifferent voice: “Understood.”

Fuchun bowed and backed out, stood outside the bedchamber for a long moment before straightening up, wiped the sweat from the back of his neck, and let out a long, slow breath.

The following day, the magistrate’s office did indeed send people to Xie Family Village. Beirong Marquis Li Weifeng, astonishingly, came in person as well. He had, after all, not broken his word to Xie Baozhu.

The matter of Fourteenth Niang’s case was solved in under half an hour.

Fourteenth Niang’s father, seeing that the situation had blown wide open, finally told the truth — he had given Fourteenth Niang as a concubine to a merchant.

Among the clan members, naturally there were those who raged and those who cursed.

With the truth out in the open, the father no longer pretended to be ill — instead he flew into a temper: “Fourteenth Niang agreed to it herself! Kangle, what do you know! Your family is a princely household, your stipend is better than everyone else’s. How am I supposed to compare with you! Eating bran and washing it down with gruel — who can bear it! The merchant may be lowly, but he can give Fourteenth Niang a good life! What business is it of yours to meddle! What do you think would happen otherwise — really marry her to some nearby farmer to raise chickens and till the fields?”

The garrison officer muttered: “That’s what I told you all along…”

Li Weifeng had, in truth, already yesterday — when he saw the officer stubbornly insisting the aggrieved party must come forward, and the aggrieved party refusing to — guessed roughly what the truth was.

He was from humble origins himself. What sordid affairs had he not witnessed?

He had also guessed that Xie Baozhu had been blinded by her closeness to the situation — she had almost certainly not imagined that her own elder clan-relatives would give away a daughter as a merchant’s concubine.

The father cursed for a while and, the more he spoke, the more convinced he became of his own righteousness. He worked himself up into high spirits and looked to continue cursing.

Xie Baozhu said coldly: “Do you bear resentment toward His Majesty’s benevolence?”

The magistrate’s people were still there. Beirong Marquis was still there. That father immediately choked and said hastily: “Nonsense, nonsense!”

Prince Shou stepped forward to smooth things over: “All right, all right, it’s a family matter, between consenting parties — now that we know what happened, that’s enough. Everyone go, go on home.”

He dispersed the clan members, then offered his thanks to the magistrate’s people and saw them off.

Li Weifeng, however, did not leave. He gave the garrison officer a thorough scolding. The officer had clearly known about this, which meant he had certainly been paid off.

The officer tried to defend himself: “Among the household registers in the village, women are not counted.”

Women followed their fathers while unmarried, followed their husbands once married. Clan women of the Xie family, even if they married a farmer, would all eventually be married out sooner or later. What truly needed to be kept watch over were the male descendants carrying Xie blood.

Strictly speaking, as long as this officer had not been involved in trafficking people himself, merely accepting a small benefit and turning a blind eye — he had not technically violated any regulation.

Li Weifeng was momentarily stuck, and said with irritation: “Don’t think I don’t remember you! Your surname is Zheng — you used to be in the Yin Division under Old Luo, didn’t you!”

The officer said with delight: “My lord still remembers me!”

Li Weifeng said: “Of course I do. I personally supervised the construction of this village!” He gave him another round of scolding.

Officer Zheng said with grievance: “They really were willing, both of them. The young woman nodded herself, truly!”

Li Weifeng didn’t care — he scolded away, winning on the dignity front, then sent Officer Zheng packing.

Li Weifeng turned around to find that the Xie clan members had scattered in twos and threes, but Xie Baozhu alone was still standing there.

She still had on that peculiar hat of hers, face still covered — but she stood there alone, slender-waisted and slight, head slightly bowed, gaze drifting down to settle on the dust at her feet. The sight of her was genuinely pitiful.

Li Weifeng felt a pang and walked over to say something. “The thing is, actually, ugh…” Not a single word of comfort actually made it out.

Xie Baozhu said softly: “From now on, they will learn by example. Of the Xie clan women, there is no telling how many more will end up as a merchant’s concubine.”

The desolation in her words left Li Weifeng without any response.

Xie Baozhu raised her head. The phoenix eyes beneath the hat brim looked at Li Weifeng for a moment. She curtsied: “I thank Beirong Marquis.”

She turned and walked away.

Li Weifeng watched her slender retreating figure, rubbed the back of his neck, and felt a vague discomfort.

The following day Xie Baozhu brought a gift to Officer Zheng to apologize: “It was my rashness that caused Officer Zheng to be scolded.”

Officer Zheng also felt a little awkward, and assured her: “Though I did act as the go-between, the young woman truly did agree.”

Xie Baozhu nodded: “I know. I believe you.”

Among the men in Xie Family Village, they outnumbered the women.

Of the Xie clan, many of the women had already been taken back by their maternal families. Of the women remaining in the village, those who still had maids to serve them could be counted on one hand.

The clan-younger-sisters, too, had all been pampered daughters raised in sheltered comfort. Suddenly having to wash and sew their own clothes, naturally some were unable to bear the hardship and were willing to become concubines.

She had been foolish. She should have thought of this long ago.

Saying so made Officer Zheng’s tanned face flush red.

When she made to leave, Officer Zheng called after her: “Eldest Miss Xie!”

Xie Baozhu turned to look at him.

Officer Zheng’s face was deep red beneath his tan, and he said gruffly: “We Hexi soldiers — our military discipline is strict, and we never do anything disorderly or unlawful, none of that plundering and pillaging. You don’t have to go around with your face covered every day in this village — it’s awfully hot. But if anyone dares to be fresh-mouthed with you, come tell me, and I’ll beat him to death!”

Xie Baozhu’s phoenix eyes looked at him for a moment. She reached up and removed the face veil hanging from her hat, and smiled slightly: “That was small-minded of me. Thank you, Brother Zheng.”

From Officer Zheng he had been promoted to Brother Zheng. Officer Zheng’s face grew even deeper red, and he waved his hands vigorously: “Don’t thank me, don’t thank me!”

One month later, Grand General of Might and Prestige and Marquis of Settled Valor Jiang Jingye led eight hundred thousand royal troops northward, in a campaign against the tribes of Mobei.

Li Gu personally went outside the city to offer Jiang Jingye a farewell banquet.

He could not go himself. But his people went.

Yuzhang — you must be well and wait for me.