With the last of her words, the study fell suddenly silent.

Xie Changgeng was quiet for a moment, then said: “Consort Mu — when you wished to be rid of me, did you give me so much as a second thought? Now that you have use for me, all these honeyed words come easily enough.”

He gave a slight smile, his voice edged with mockery.

“Did you take me — Xie Changgeng — for someone you can bend to your will however you please?”

Mu Fulan said, “It is true that I wronged you in the past. But what I said just now is no honeyed speech — it is a realization I have come to since arriving in the capital.”

“Today the Empress Dowager summoned me and asked about my plans going forward. I truly do not want to be detained in the capital as a hostage, and I do not want to die here.”

Xie Changgeng gave her a cold look. “You are at least practical. But why should I help you?”

“If you had not come to my door seeking this marriage in the first place, my circumstances today would not be what they are. Setting aside something so far back — even just the other period when you came to Changsha Kingdom, had you agreed then to my request and given me a letter of release, we would have been free of each other, and the Empress Dowager would likely never have thought to summon me to the capital. The reason I find myself in this predicament today is rooted in the Empress Dowager’s distrust of our Mu family — but does it have nothing at all to do with you, Xie Changgeng?”

Xie Changgeng laughed coldly and gave a dismissive grunt. “So it has all become my fault, then.”

Mu Fulan spoke as though she had not heard him, continuing: “You did not release me earlier, you did not release me later — and now, over a misunderstanding about my relationship with the heir apparent of Prince Qi, you have given me a letter of release and sought to wash your hands of me. If word of this were to get out, have you thought about what it would look like? You would be kicking someone while they are down — pushing me completely into the abyss.”

“Changsha Kingdom may be of no use to you now, and it is true that my royal brother and I wronged you over the matter of the divorce — but that is hardly a deep and lethal enmity. And besides, my royal father treated you with no small generosity.”

She went to the desk and picked up the paper lying there.

“Xie Changgeng — you need not help me right now, but you cannot treat me like this.”

Xie Changgeng watched in undisguised bewilderment as she tore the letter of release to pieces with a single motion.

Mu Fulan tore it up and walked back toward him.

“There is also something else I wish to tell you. Some time ago — shortly after you had pacified the revolt of Prince Jiangdu — my royal brother learned that the Empress Dowager intended to move against Changsha Kingdom. At the time, having already offended you, he had no choice but to seek out Zhang Ban and ask him to put in some good words before the Empress Dowager on our behalf. That managed to stave off the crisis for a while. The official who escorted me to the capital on this trip told me, before he left, that he had already made arrangements with Zhang Ban — that Zhang Ban had agreed to look after me. Now that you are leaving, if the Empress Dowager detains me as a hostage, Zhang Ban should go and mediate with her on my behalf.”

She looked steadily at Xie Changgeng.

“I only ask that, for my royal father’s sake, you see your way to making things easier: if Zhang Ban manages to persuade the Empress Dowager, and she asks for your opinion, please do not obstruct it.”

“As for dissolving our marriage — once I have come through this, it can happen at any time.”

“Neither of these things asks much of you, but to me they are matters of life and death. Regardless of whether Zhang Ban ultimately succeeds, I am endlessly grateful.”

She finished speaking, bowed to him in a deep and formal gesture of thanks, then turned and left.

Xie Changgeng watched that slender figure disappear through the doorway. He stood rooted to the spot for a long while, before finally turning around. His gaze fell upon the torn letter of release on the desk. He looked at it, and kept looking.

Two days later, Xie Changgeng was summoned to the palace. After performing the proper salutations, the Empress Dowager had a seat brought for him and said with a smile: “You leave the capital tomorrow — has everything been settled?”

Xie Changgeng replied, “By Your Majesty’s grace, all is in order. We can set out first thing tomorrow morning.”

The Empress Dowager sighed. “The year is nearly at its end, yet that region remains unsettled and you must go back once more. A whole year without rest — it is truly demanding of you, and I feel quite at a loss.”

Xie Changgeng said respectfully, “Your servant has received deep imperial favor and has no means to repay it. This is my duty — and my honor. There is no hardship to speak of.”

The Empress Dowager offered him several more words of encouragement, then said: “Lord Xie, you are leaving the capital — what arrangements have you made for Consort Mu?”

Xie Changgeng had already received word of this: the Empress Dowager had seen Zhang Ban, and Zhang Ban had argued that there was no need to detain anyone as a hostage. He had spoken with considerable skill, and the Empress Dowager appeared to have been somewhat swayed — yet she had not agreed outright.

He replied: “By Your Majesty’s generous grace, she was brought to the capital before. I had originally intended to send her back to Xie County — but my mother at home is quite displeased with her. The reason she returned to Changsha Kingdom in the first place, besides not being suited to the climate, was that my mother took a disliking to her. My mother has no wish to lay eyes on her, and the household is not short of people to wait upon her. Since your servant is leaving the capital, I plan to bring her with me to Hexi instead. The Military Governor’s residence may not be large, but there are a fair number of social obligations to manage in the region — having her there would at least be of some use.”

The Empress Dowager gave a slow nod. “That arrangement seems sound enough — you do indeed need someone to manage household affairs there. Even so, Lord Xie — if I were to keep her here in the capital, what would you say to that?”

Xie Changgeng replied: “Please instruct me, Your Majesty.”

The Empress Dowager said, “You are one of my most trusted confidants, so I shall speak plainly. I wish to keep Consort Mu here as a hostage for Changsha Kingdom. What is your view?”

Xie Changgeng seemed to hesitate for a moment at this and did not reply immediately.

“What is it — are you unwilling?”

The Empress Dowager’s gaze came to rest on Xie Changgeng’s face, carrying with it a slight air of scrutiny.

Xie Changgeng said quickly: “Your servant would not dare. Should Your Majesty truly wish to detain her as a hostage for Changsha Kingdom, your servant has no objection — she may remain.”

The Empress Dowager fixed her eyes on him. “Lord Xie — you are deceiving me! You clearly have something else on your mind!”

Xie Changgeng dropped immediately to his knees. “Your servant is guilty! Just now, I did indeed have a private thought.”

“Speak. I pardon you.”

Xie Changgeng thanked her for her grace and said: “Then I shall take the liberty of speaking plainly. Should Your Majesty be gracious enough to permit it — might I take her with me?”

“Why?”

The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes, waiting.

“If Your Majesty keeps her in the capital, though it will not be stated openly that she is held as a hostage, would the court officials not understand what it means? As it is, people have long been gossiping behind my back — saying that I entered government service in the first place only through the patronage of the Prince of Changsha. Now, not even a year into the marriage, if she were to be kept in the capital as a hostage, it would inevitably prompt more talk — that I, having risen to power, have abandoned those who once helped me, showing no integrity or loyalty.”

“Should Your Majesty need to move against Changsha Kingdom in the future, once clear and irrefutable charges of treason have been established, I will sever all ties with Consort Mu in service of the court — and no one would find fault with me. But now, if I show no concern, it is no different from having already cast her off, and the taint on my name would follow.”

“Your servant comes from humble origins. In this life, I seek two things: first, to serve the court and Your Majesty with loyalty; second — nothing more than to bring honor to my ancestors. Words are a fearsome thing, and I have borne a great deal of them these past years. I am not afraid — but I do fear that they will tarnish the good name of those who came before me.”

“Your servant deserves death for this — for failing in loyalty to Your Majesty and harboring a selfish thought. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!”

He kowtowed and remained prostrate for a long while.

The Empress Dowager, having first felt surprised and then displeased when he showed reluctance to support keeping Consort Mu in the capital, and being inwardly suspicious — wondering if he had been influenced by Consort Mu and was now speaking on her behalf — finally understood, upon hearing this entire confession. Not only did every last trace of doubt evaporate, but she was moved to genuine indignation: “The court maintains those officials, yet in times of difficulty they cannot help me, and the moment I bestow any favor upon you, each one of them turns red-eyed with envy and comes at you with slander! Utterly despicable!”

Having said this, she could not help but hesitate.

Xie Changgeng had laid out his concerns so plainly. If she still insisted on keeping Consort Mu in the capital as a hostage, she would risk making him lose face.

She thought, too, of Zhang Ban’s earlier counsel — that the present priority was appeasement, and that given Changsha Kingdom’s meager strength, there was no need to keep a hostage, for fear of stoking vigilance and creating more enemies among Mu Xuanqing and the people of Changsha Kingdom, which would only make future action more difficult.

Now that Xie Changgeng also valued his reputation and had expressed such concerns, it would be better to go along with the current and show him the depth of her favor.

When weighed against each other — keeping Xie Changgeng well-settled and utterly devoted to her cause, versus the threat posed by Changsha Kingdom — the answer went without saying.

The Empress Dowager considered for a brief moment, then quickly made her decision: “Lord Xie, I will not deceive you — I had originally intended to keep Consort Mu in the capital, to prevent Changsha Kingdom from causing trouble. But since you have this concern, I naturally must put you first. Take her with you.”

Xie Changgeng kowtowed with great gravity to give his thanks, saying: “The grace Your Majesty has shown your servant — even ten thousand deaths would not be enough to repay even a fraction of it!”

The Empress Dowager laughed. “Enough — rise. The last time you suppressed the revolt of Prince Jiangdu and rendered such great service, you received no more than a noble title for your mother — I always thought that was too little. Consider this part of your reward.”

Xie Changgeng bowed with all due respect, once more conveying his gratitude, before finally withdrawing.

At dusk, Mu Fulan leaned by the window, gazing at a cluster of withered banana leaves outside — the remnants of winter. Her thoughts were unsettled.

Tomorrow at daybreak, Xie Changgeng would be leaving the capital, and at this very moment, her own fate still hung uncertain.

Word had come from Zhang Ban during the day — he said he had been working on persuading the Empress Dowager, whose stance had already begun to soften somewhat. Even if he could not bring about an immediate change of mind, given time and repeated entreaties, he would eventually succeed. He asked her to be patient and wait.

Though Zhang Ban had sent such reassurances, Mu Fulan felt some unease. If he could not manage to convince the Empress Dowager quickly, and had to make the same appeal again and again on her behalf, it might draw the Empress Dowager’s suspicion. Once Zhang Ban realized that possibility, even if he still wanted to lay hands on evidence against Xie Changgeng, he would not risk speaking up for her repeatedly at the cost of falling under suspicion himself.

There was hope — but also too many uncertainties. She could not be fully at ease.

As for Xie Changgeng, these past two days he had given no reaction whatsoever. He still went out early and came back late. When he returned at night, he seemed as though she did not exist in the room at all, and slept alone on that couch.

As though nothing had happened at all.

But based on Mu Fulan’s estimation, after that conversation between them in the study, he should not be so utterly heartless as to actively sabotage Zhang Ban’s efforts with the Empress Dowager.

She could only hope that once Xie Changgeng left tomorrow, Zhang Ban would manage to persuade her quickly, so she could slip free of the capital.

Gradually it grew dark. A maidservant came in to light the lamps, and the room brightened.

The wind blew in through the window, and the lamplight flickered and shuddered.

“My lady, there is quite a wind — be careful not to catch cold.”

The maidservant came over to close the window and gently urged her.

Tomorrow morning the Military Governor was leaving the capital, and their mistress might very well be detained by the Empress Dowager as a hostage.

These past few days, the mood among the household had been low as well — everyone walked and spoke with more caution than usual.

Mu Fulan pushed down the jumble of thoughts in her heart and turned to go further inside. The room door was suddenly pushed open, and it was Nanny Mu who swept in with quick, urgent steps, her face wreathed in smiles.

Since their mistress had married into the Xie family at the start of the year, the maidservants had not once seen that kind of smile on Nanny Mu’s face. They all stopped in their tracks and stared.

“My lady! Good news! Good news!”

She rushed toward Mu Fulan, grabbed her hands in excitement.

“Just now, the steward brought word from the Military Governor’s quarters — he is taking my lady with him to Hexi tomorrow morning. He says we are to pack up our things!”

If Xie Changgeng was taking their mistress to Hexi, it meant the Empress Dowager had changed her mind and would not be detaining her as a hostage after all.

It dawned on the maidservants at once. A sigh of collective relief went through the room. Everyone was delighted, and the atmosphere that had been so subdued for so many days immediately lifted.

“Quickly — start packing!” Nanny Mu said.

The others answered in unison and set to work busily.

Mu Fulan watched Nanny Mu leading the maidservants in their frantic preparations for tomorrow’s departure. After the initial bewilderment in her heart settled, something gradually began to take shape in her understanding.

Zhang Ban had already seen the Empress Dowager that day — it was unlikely he would have gone back in to make the same petition for her a second time on the same matter so soon. Yet this news had come so suddenly all the same.

She thought quietly for a moment, then slowly let out the breath she had been holding.