Spring quickened its pace. Once the seven-day mourning rites concluded, Prince Ning’s jade coffin was carried up the mountain for burial. The white mourning banners were taken down from the palace, and Yuxiang Mountain showed patches of downy green again, slowly recovering its former vitality. As the day of the new king’s coronation drew near, the palace tightened its guard. The vast palace, quieted by Prince Ning’s recent death, had lost the sound of strings and flutes—once night fell, the silence was frightening.

Inside Yufeng Palace, Queen Wang, the Crown Prince, Wang Yanhui, and Grand Commandant Wang had all gathered. Tomorrow was the fifteenth of March. The oppressive mood before the great battle left the Crown Prince restless, yet also faintly excited. He asked in a low voice, “Mother, why has Fourth Brother seemed like a different person ever since Father passed? Without Father backing him, how dare he act so boldly now!”

Queen Wang thought for a long while before speaking. “In truth, I have always wanted to eliminate Liu Fei. But it’s as if he has a shadow—his guards are hidden around him at all times. Several attempts have failed. We still haven’t seen your father’s final edict. Could it be that he secretly drafted an order to pass the throne to him?”

“The Empress’s worry may well be justified,” Grand Commandant Wang cut in. “Do you remember when the Crown Princess was first chosen, and the King insisted on marrying Chancellor Gu’s daughter to Prince Li? Chancellor Gu is a two-dynasty elder statesman with countless students, and his son Gu Tianxiang has long served in the military with great prestige. With Chancellor Gu’s backing, it’s like adding wings to a tiger. I suspected even then that the King meant to cultivate the Fourth Prince’s power.”

The Crown Prince turned to Wang Yanhui. “If you hadn’t proposed it back then, where would Liu Fei have gotten military authority? Once we had him confined to Feng City, killing him would have been as easy as crushing an ant!” His tone already carried a note of reproach.

Wang Yanhui answered unhurriedly, “If we hadn’t stripped Prince Anqing of command over the Right Flank Army, then the moment he and his son raised troops, neither you nor Fourth Brother would have stood a chance. As things stand now, Prince Anqing and his son at least appear to side with our Eastern Palace. Even if they join forces with Fourth Brother, they’ll only be evenly matched with us! You must understand—though the Right Flank Army is nominally under Prince Li’s command, it won’t move as smoothly for him as it would for Prince Anqing. Its fighting strength will be weakened to some degree. It’s the same with the Southern Route Army under Prince Pingnan. I’ve stripped away most of the strength of my own Wang family’s forces under him, though I still hold two or three parts in hand.”

She swept a leisurely glance over everyone present, then looked to her father, Grand Commandant Wang. He gave a low chuckle, his expression strange. “Word has come from my Southern Army units—one hundred thousand troops remain stationed outside the south gate, twenty thousand soldiers have been moved west, and another thirty thousand have already been divided among the gates of Feng City to guard them. And from the border cities: twenty thousand of the Right Flank Army have already reached Yellow Water Gorge to take up position.”

“Which means there are two possibilities,” she continued. “One—the two of them truly intend to fight it out between themselves. Two—they’ve joined forces and set a trap to devour part of our troops. If it’s the former, once they’ve fought each other to exhaustion, we strike and kill Prince Li in one stroke! If it’s the latter, they’ll still need to put on a show of fighting, and we can just as well strike amid the chaos—together they have no more than fifty thousand troops. Have the Crown Prince claim concern for his two younger brothers’ safety and lead our Eastern Route Army of fifty thousand there, while the Northern Route’s twenty thousand elite troops stay hidden behind, waiting to strike when they’re unprepared.” Wang Yanhui spoke with complete confidence.

Delight showed in the Crown Prince’s eyes; he grasped Wang Yanhui’s hand without thinking. “With my beloved consort’s planning, we truly leave nothing to chance.” Then he grew worried again. “But won’t the palace be left undefended this way?”

Grand Commandant Wang smiled. “Rest easy, Your Highness. Eight or nine parts in ten of the Imperial Guards are already under my control. Vice Minister Cheng has long since arranged things according to my instructions. Just because they don’t move doesn’t mean I won’t. The moment word comes from the west, my Eastern Route Army will have men inside the east gate ready to let them into Feng City. The city’s defenders number no more than thirty thousand—how could they stand against my one hundred and fifty thousand troops? And besides, Yanhui will be holding the palace.”

“Won’t the hundred thousand Southern Army show any movement at all?” Queen Wang asked.

Wang Yanhui smiled. “Mother, you may not realize—the hundred thousand Southern Army can’t move right now either. He still has to worry about my one hundred and fifty thousand Eastern Route troops holding the rear. In sheer numbers, his forces are still inferior to the Eastern Route Army, and we can’t even be certain yet that Prince Li has truly allied with Prince Anqing and his son. We can only defend, not attack. We know the two of them intend to fight at Yellow Water Gorge, but they don’t know whether we’ll go, or when. That head start belongs to us.”

The Crown Prince thought it over and broke into a satisfied smile. Then, on second thought, he said, “Whether or not the two of them are truly fighting over a woman named Li Qingluo, her importance to them is obvious. We must find some way to bring her into the palace.”

Wang Yanhui smiled. “That depends on whether Your Highness can bear to part with someone.”

The Crown Prince looked at her, puzzled. “I’ve observed that Li Qingluo may not be especially close to her elder sister or the Right Chancellor’s household, but I’ve noticed she genuinely dotes on Xin’er.”

“No! Xin’er is still too young—she cannot be put at risk!” the Crown Prince refused flatly.

Wang Yanhui’s smile didn’t waver. “I knew Your Highness couldn’t bear it. So I’ve only brought her maidservant into the palace. That guard of hers turned out to be quite skilled, though—he wounded a dozen or so of my best men. Well, no matter. I let him go back to deliver the message.”

“Won’t that alert the snake in the grass?”

“I think the two of them already have feelings for each other. I only told him that Li Qingluo alone should know—if more people find out, they might as well start preparing the coffins. Besides, tomorrow is the fifteenth. It hardly matters now whether others know or not.”

As Wang Yanhui spoke these words, Liu Ying, covered in blood, was kneeling before Liu Jue, recounting everything that had happened in detail. Liu Jue frowned. “Then why didn’t you tell A’Luo alone?”

Liu Ying smiled faintly. “My master instructed me—above all, protect the young lady. If I told her, she’d rush straight into the palace, no doubt about it. I’ve already sworn my loyalty to her. How could I let her know something that would only bring her harm?”

Warmth filled Liu Jue’s eyes. “Don’t worry. I will bring your Xiao Yu back to you whole, without a hair out of place.”

“Thank you, my lord. I shouldn’t show my face before the young lady—I’ll go find somewhere to tend my wounds.”

“If your injuries aren’t serious, go stay with the Pigeon Group for now. Anye has other urgent matters to attend to. In the meantime, the Pigeon Group is under your charge.” As Liu Jue spoke, he tossed a bottle of medicine to Liu Ying.

Liu Jue closed his eyes, thinking slowly. The Eastern Palace didn’t fully believe he and Prince Li had truly fallen out, yet they couldn’t be certain the two houses had joined forces either. This was exactly the situation his father had anticipated, and every arrangement had been made with this in mind. Tomorrow was the fifteenth of March—everything would come to an end on that day. He suddenly felt uneasy. Opening his eyes, he walked toward the bedchamber.

Inside, A’Luo was plucking the strings of a zither, softly singing a tune she had once sung back in Linnan: “The soaring bird brushes the river’s edge, the jade dragon lies across the mountain’s waist, all under heaven scattered with jasper and jade. I think of begonias blooming red, but truly it is longing for you that has left me drunk.”

Liu Jue stood outside the door, listening, entranced. So, even back then, A’Luo already had feelings for him. A tender smile spread across his face. He gently pushed the door open, teasing as he entered, “I’m drunk too!”

A’Luo’s face flushed. She stopped playing. Today she had specially had Sihua style her hair with care. Her pale spring robes stirred in the night wind, hazy as mist, her glass-clear eyes flickering with an emotion Liu Jue couldn’t quite read. A’Luo blinked, rather pleased with the effect she’d created. Having finished dressing, she’d caught her own reflection in the mirror and been startled by herself. She said softly, with a faint smile, “Going to ask again who told me to dress like this? Doesn’t it look good?”

Liu Jue was at a complete loss, all his usual easy charm nowhere to be found. He stammered, “No—that is—it looks good.”

A’Luo smiled sweetly. “Men in love are fools!”

Still dazed, Liu Jue nodded without thinking, then caught himself and said fiercely, “You’re only allowed to dress like this for me!”

“Oh, so I shouldn’t wear any clothes at all when I go out from now on?” A’Luo thought, I haven’t even made any of those more revealing outfits yet—wouldn’t want to frighten you to death!

“Wha—how dare you say something so scandalous!” Liu Jue’s face turned crimson. When had this girl become so bold?

“I can not only say it, I can do it too!” A’Luo slowly loosened the sash of her robe; the outer garment slipped to the floor, leaving only a jade-colored underdress and skirt, baring her arms and neck.

Startled, Liu Jue stepped forward and snatched up the light robe to wrap around her. “What are you doing!”

“Don’t you want me? If something happens to you tomorrow, I don’t want to have any regrets!” A’Luo answered calmly. She didn’t share the ancients’ notion of devotion to only one man in a lifetime—but she was afraid she might never meet another man like Liu Jue again.

“There won’t be any ‘if’! I will come back safely, and once everything is settled, I’ll marry you properly into my household—I want a proper wedding night!” Liu Jue declared solemnly.

A’Luo sighed. There was no helping it—people here were simply stubborn like this. When she wasn’t offering, he wanted to devour her whole. When she was willing to give, he turned righteous and refused. It seemed she’d overestimated this body’s charms after all. She’d really thought he’d be smitten the instant he saw her.

Liu Jue carefully helped straighten her clothes, then gently pulled her into his arms. “A’Luo, promise me you’ll stay in the manor and wait for my return. It’s too chaotic out there—don’t go anywhere. Have a little faith in me, all right?”

A’Luo looked up at him; the more she looked at that face, the more handsome she found it. Everything felt so good it made her wonder—could there really be no more storms after this? Could they grow old together in happiness and peace? Liu Jue had never told her the details of tomorrow’s battle at Yellow Water Gorge, but from how he’d been rushing about these past days, she could guess how dangerous it was. This was a war for the throne, fought with cold steel—crueler, in some ways, than one fought with guns and cannons. The thought of bodies strewn across a battlefield, of rivers running with blood, made her shudder. She wanted to ask about the situation, yet worried she had no military experience and might say something wrong that could cause harm. But not asking left her uneasy all the same. “Will you tell me about the situation at Yellow Water Gorge?”

Liu Jue’s first instinct was not to worry her—war was men’s business. But hearing her ask, he thought it over, and decided it might help him organize his own thoughts once more. He picked up a brush and sketched a rough map of the terrain on paper, explaining it to her.

As Liu Jue described how the grass on the plains was too short to conceal an ambush, A’Luo suddenly recalled a film she’d once seen and asked, “What if the soldiers wore cloaks made of grass and painted their faces in camouflage, so their clothes blended with the grassland, and they hid their banners while lying in ambush on the plains? Wouldn’t that be nearly impossible to spot?”

Liu Jue froze for a moment, then broke into delighted surprise. “You always come up with these little ideas—yet they turn out to be enormously useful.” He kissed A’Luo fiercely, then turned and dashed out of the room.

A’Luo laughed softly to herself.