On the day the imperial edict arrived at Yue City, Mu Fulan was on Mount Jun, gathering medicinal herbs together with A’Da in the medicine master’s herb garden.

The medicine master had gone down the mountain and outside for more than half a year now. The weather was growing colder by the day. They had to finish collecting this final batch of medicinal herbs before the snow fell.

The most biting cold of the year would be arriving very soon.

Though she was a Princess, everything here Mu Fulan did with her own hands — she was no different from A’Da.

From the time she was small, she had loved being in the herb garden, following her teacher in identifying different medicinal herbs. Busy and occupied, it was a happy thing.

After finishing the last bed of medicinal herbs, when she picked up the bamboo basket, her finger was inadvertently scraped by a sharp sliver of bamboo on the side.

The fine bamboo splinter lodged itself deep into her tender finger.

A drop of bright red blood slowly seeped from the fingertip.

“Princess! Word has come from the city! The Princess Consort is asking you to return — she says an envoy from the palace of the capital has come and is looking for you!”

At this moment, A’Da came rushing in through the garden gate, calling out loudly.

Mu Fulan’s hand paused slightly. She pulled out the splinter that had wounded her, rinsed her hand, handed the remaining work to A’Da, then descended the mountain and boarded a boat to shore.

It had been over a month since then. The various matters agreed upon earlier were proceeding in an orderly fashion.

The path through Zhang Ban had proved correct. The royal brother’s “rashness” and the “hot-headed behavior” that Mu Fulan had deliberately not prevented during Xie Changgeng’s visit had become the Changsha Kingdom’s protective charm. Just a few days ago, word had come through a secret intelligence report: Zhang Ban’s lobbying had been successful, and Empress Dowager Liu should not be moving against the Changsha Kingdom immediately.

Good news had also come from Yuan Handing. Old miners who had spent their entire lives prospecting veins had entered the deep mountains of the Ru territory and, after surveying the terrain, were enormously excited, saying that not only was the mineral vein in the mountains abundant in reserves, but it lay close to the surface and was easy to excavate. The few scattered villages outside the mountains had small populations; Yuan Handing had already moved all the residents out, and several thousand soldiers and craftsmen had begun secretly entering the mountains in batches.

The monitoring official the court had stationed in the Changsha Kingdom posed little problem — the intelligence he could obtain would amount to nothing more than publicly available matters. And prior to this, the attendant that Xie Changgeng had left behind when he departed — a man named Zhu Liuhu — had also been discovered. He had slipped into the city, taken up the identity of a peddler, and settled in a lane not far from the Prince’s residence, carrying his load every day and wandering the streets and alleys of Yue City. A few days later, a young widow named A’Jiao moved nearby and became his neighbor.

Meanwhile, the royal brother had been busy these days, under the pretext of patrolling the waterways, searching Dongting Lake for a suitable island on which to build a military barracks.

Once built, it would be surrounded on all sides by water, shielded by Mount Jun, with a round-trip boat journey of roughly an hour. Half the island would be hilly terrain, half flatlands — extremely suitable for the construction of a military compound.

The Changsha Kingdom would possess a natural and ideal place to train troops.

All of these matters were being conducted quietly under conditions of the strictest secrecy, with an extremely slim chance of being detected by outsiders.

At such a juncture, why would the capital suddenly dispatch a palace envoy? And what was the purpose?

Carrying her doubts, Mu Fulan entered the city, returned to the Prince’s residence, and very quickly understood.

The palace envoy had brought Empress Dowager Liu’s imperial edict, along with gifts of reward, and also a court physician.

After reading the Empress Dowager’s summons, the man said with a smile, “Mu Shi, the Empress Dowager previously heard from Circuit Intendant Xie that your health was not well. If you are truly unwell, the Empress Dowager would naturally not force you. The court physician will remain behind to take your pulse carefully and see you through a few rounds of medication; when your health has been restored in due time, it will not be too late then.”

Mu Fulan knelt to the ground and kowtowed in gratitude.

“I am grateful for the Empress Dowager’s care. My health has already recovered. Touched by the Empress Dowager’s kind remembrance, I can set out for the capital at any time.”

After a moment, she slowly straightened up and said so.

The palace envoy’s smile was full of good cheer. “Wonderful, that is splendid. Since you are able to go, we should not make the Empress Dowager wait too long. Shall we set out first thing tomorrow morning?”

“Everything is at the public official’s arrangement.”

Madam Lu had someone see the palace envoy to his rest. Mu Xuanqing, who had hurried back upon hearing the news, rushed into the Prince’s residence; the moment he saw his sister, he immediately said, “Little Sister, you cannot go! Tomorrow morning I will go and speak — I’ll say your health took a turn for the worse again tonight and you can’t go!”

Mu Fulan did not respond, but simply asked him about the progress of finding the site for the military compound.

Mu Xuanqing said he had already selected a location that day — Zheshan Island, situated to the east of the lake, surrounded on all sides by water and sheltered by Mount Jun. The round-trip boat journey was approximately one hour. Half the island was hilly, the other half flat — extremely suitable for the construction of a military compound.

Mu Fulan said, “Good. Royal Brother, get the military compound built as quickly as possible. You are the Prince of the Changsha Kingdom — be sure to keep your pride in check, act with restraint, and heed Sister-in-law’s counsel. Yuan Elder Brother is a trustworthy man and extremely capable; going forward, the matter of training troops can be left entirely in Yuan Elder Brother’s hands with full confidence. For other matters, consult more with Prime Minister Lu.”

Mu Xuanqing ground his teeth. “You cannot go! The treacherous Empress Dowager is taking you as a hostage! Going there is no different from entering a tiger’s den or a wolf’s lair!”

“If that is so, then all the more reason I must go. If I use some excuse to refuse, the treacherous Empress Dowager will suspect us of having a guilty conscience. Even if she does not act overtly, she will certainly keep a tight watch on us from behind the scenes. In that case, all the previous arrangements will be impossible to carry out smoothly.”

“Little Sister!”

“Royal Brother, I know you have always cared for me since we were small, but do not forget — you are first a Prince, then my elder brother! If our Mu clan cannot even manage to protect itself, and must forever live at the mercy of others, what are we speaking of in terms of avenging our aunt? Right now is our one and only chance. No matter what, we cannot afford to risk losing it.”

Mu Xuanqing clenched both fists tightly, the veins at his temples pulsing.

Madam Lu’s eyes reddened. She stepped forward and took hold of Mu Fulan’s hand.

“Little Sister, once you are over there, you must be doubly on your guard. You will be alone, and that place is nothing like your own home. The treacherous Empress Dowager already harbors malice toward you, and what’s more, relations with Circuit Intendant Xie have now become strained. If you should see him when you arrive, remember to yield and yield again — do not give him further offense.”

Mu Fulan smiled and nodded.

“Royal Brother, Sister-in-law, you need not worry overly much. As long as the Changsha Kingdom continues on a good path after I leave, that is my greatest support. I will be alright. I will find a way to come back as soon as possible.”

That night, Madam Lu was busy preparing the gifts for the palace envoy and packing Mu Fulan’s traveling things for the capital. Mu Xuanqing, too, spent the night preparing tribute goods, selecting escort officials, and arranging the details of seeing his royal sister to the capital the following day.

The siblings were bustling about on her behalf, and Mu Fulan was all the more moved, her heart surging, unable to sleep and tossing and turning.

Just when she thought everything was gradually beginning to turn for the better, she had not anticipated that events would suddenly undergo this kind of change.

This was an unexpected variable she had not foreseen.

That Empress Dowager Liu would summon her to the capital in this manner was clearly with no good intentions.

And what role had Xie Changgeng played in all of this?

She had no prior advantage to rely on, and the people she would have to face were each more ruthless than the last.

She had to summon twelve parts of her full vigilance, to tread carefully and respond with measured steps at every turn.

On the morning of the second day, Mu Fulan and Nanny Mu, along with the maidservants accompanying her, boarded a warm carriage, and following the palace envoy departed from the Changsha Kingdom, setting out on the road north. After more than half a month of travel, they finally arrived at the capital in the twelfth month of that year.

When she arrived, snow was falling from the sky. The clouds hung heavy and low, as though pressing down upon the distant top of the imperial city. The carriage wheels rolled over the snow-covered road outside the city — trodden by pedestrians and vehicles into a stretch of mud and slush — passed through the tall southern gate of the capital, and entered the Son of Heaven’s imperial city.

Xie Changgeng had left the city two days prior to attend to official business in the capital’s outskirts, and had not yet returned. After Mu Fulan was brought to his residence in the northern part of the city — separated from the imperial palace by no more than two streets — the accompanying envoys from the Changsha Kingdom, carrying tribute goods, set off without stopping to pay their respects to the Emperor and Empress Dowager Liu at the palace.

The steward of the residence had not known the Lady of the household was coming, had never seen Mu Fulan’s face, and stood dazed for a moment before making sense of the situation. Only then did he hastily lead the household servants to pay their respects to her, and proceeded to guide Mu Fulan to the master bedroom in which Xie Changgeng resided.

The room was large, but furnished sparingly. Aside from a necessary bed, couch, and table, there was also a bookshelf. Near the bed, a half-worn man’s winter outer robe hung from the rack; beside it hung a long sword with cloud patterns engraved on its scabbard. Beyond these there was nothing more, giving the room an air of emptiness.

No brazier had been lit either; it was ice-cold.

When one thought of it, it was rather absurd.

In her previous life, Mu Fulan had married Xie Changgeng at sixteen, and died at twenty. Those four or five years had been spent almost entirely in the Xie family’s ancestral home in Xie County, Kuizhou.

This was the first time she had ever set foot in this residence of his in the capital.

She swept a glance around, then her gaze suddenly froze.

The steward, knowing she was the Princess of the Changsha Kingdom, thought nothing of her striking beauty — even the few maidservants accompanying her wore fine and refined clothing. Assuming she found the place shabby, he hurried at once to have someone start the brazier while also explaining, “Please do not take offense, Madam. The Circuit Intendant is rarely in the capital for more than a few stays a year, and he never asks for furnishings to be added. The place is a little plain. The Empress Dowager’s invitation for Madam was also without prior notice, so we have been remiss in our welcome.”

What the steward was saying, Mu Fulan heard not a single word.

Her gaze fell upon the long sword hanging at the head of the bed, and almost in that same instant, her entire body went rigid; she could not even draw breath.

Were it burned to ash, ground to dust, crushed to earth, she would still know it.

This sword, now hanging quietly at the head of the bed with its cloud-patterned engravings — this was the sword Xie Changgeng had given to Xi’er.

It was also the sword that Xi’er had used to cut his own throat before her memorial tablet.

Mu Fulan stared fixedly at the sword and felt as though a stabbing pain had struck her heart again; she nearly could not stand.

Nanny Mu, seeing her complexion suddenly go pale, hurried to grasp her and steadied her, guiding her to the nearby couch to sit.

“Princess, what is the matter with you?”

Mu Fulan closed her eyes, then said softly, “I am fine. Just a little tired, perhaps — I’ll rest a moment.”

Nanny Mu quickly told the steward to take the maidservants off to familiarize themselves with the kitchen and cooking quarters, then helped Mu Fulan to lean against the couch. Feeling that her palms were ice-cold, she covered her with a fur blanket they had brought along, told her to rest first, and then joined the others in unpacking and organizing the luggage.

Before long, a palace eunuch came from the palace and conveyed a message to Mu Fulan on behalf of Empress Dowager Liu.

Mu Fulan gathered her composure and went to receive him.

The eunuch was still very young — barely twenty — with an oval-shaped face and a tall, slender figure. He wore a purple robe and appeared quite agreeable in manner. He smiled and said, “I am called Cao Jin. Acting on the Empress Dowager’s orders, I have come to convey a message to Madam. The Empress Dowager says the journey must have been tiring, and with the snow here in the capital, the Princess should first rest and recover her spirits before entering the palace — there is no hurry.”

Mu Fulan bowed her head to acknowledge the message. Nanny Mu offered a gratuity. But the eunuch would not take it, waved it off with a smile, and said, “It is nothing more than conveying a message on Madam’s behalf — how would I dare accept Madam’s reward. Circuit Intendant Xie may not return today, but at the latest he should be back tomorrow. Madam, do rest first — I will take my leave.” He cupped his hands in farewell and withdrew.

Nanny Mu hurried to see him out.

Mu Fulan walked to the window and slowly pushed it open, fixing her gaze on the young eunuch’s gradually receding figure across the snowy courtyard.

This young eunuch — he was the very one who, in former times, acting on Xie Changgeng’s orders, had strangled Qi Lingfeng to death.

Gradually the sky darkened. Lamps were lit inside the room, and the brazier had been stoked to a warm and cozy glow.

After eating a quick meal and bathing and changing clothes, knowing that everyone was exhausted from the road, Mu Fulan sent Nanny Mu and the maidservants off early to rest.

Snow-light reflected through the window. All was still. A single candle flame danced silently in the room. She sat alone on the edge of the bed, her eyes fixed on the sword hanging at the head of the bed. Finally she stood, and walked toward it, one step at a time.

She stopped before the sword, looked up at it for a long while, then reached out and took it down.

The sword was heavy in weight, somewhat cumbersome to hold.

One hand gripping the hilt, the other hand clasping the scabbard, she slowly drew the sword from its sheath — inch by inch.

The blade’s gleam was cold and sharp, reflecting the candlelight behind her as though the eyes of a venomous serpent, pale and white shot through with red.

Stare at it long enough, and that gleam seemed to come alive, transforming into flowing pools of blood.

The blood seemed to accumulate more and more, flowing from the sword, from the four corners of the room, slowly surging toward her, swallowing her whole.

She shut her eyes. The hand gripping the sword tightened and tightened, until at last it almost trembled.

From behind, a hand suddenly reached out and took the sword from her grasp.

Mu Fulan jolted, her eyes snapping open sharply as she turned her head.

Xie Changgeng, without her ever noticing, had entered — and was standing right behind her.

He took the scabbard from her other hand as well. With a “clang,” the long sword returned to its sheath.

“A sword is a deadly weapon, not a plaything. Touch it less when there is no cause.”

He hung the long sword back in its original position and said these words.