Peasants.

Li Shu fell silent for a moment. Her thoughts were not on Shen Xiao at all — instead, they drifted back to that year when she and Cui Jinzhi had traveled to Wuxing. The carriage had made its way along the roads of the Jiangnan region during rice-planting season, and the fields had been full of peasants bent at the waist, their legs caked with mud.

The Guanzhong region was suffering a great drought. She wondered what conditions were like among the common people there now.

Li Shu felt she understood Shen Xiao to some degree. People born of humble origins — even when they stood at the lofty heights of the imperial court — kept their gaze trained downward. Unlike people such as herself, who had been floating up in the heavens since the moment of their birth.

Li Shu smiled faintly and said to the Crown Prince, “Indeed — he had barely received his eighth-rank official’s robes before he turned around and started throwing his weight around. A man with so little sense of propriety — I rather want to see how long he lasts at the Censorate.”

The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes slightly and studied Li Shu for a moment before saying, “Princess Pingyang speaks well. Then let us wait and see how long he can hold on.”

How odd. This was the first time he had ever seen Princess Pingyang speak in defense of some minor eighth-rank official — and one who had impeached her at that. Though her words carried a tone of contempt, it was plainly clear that she hoped the Crown Prince would leave Shen Xiao alone for the time being and let him quietly make his way at the Censorate.

The Crown Prince could make no sense of it and tucked the puzzlement away in his heart. Since even Li Shu — the one who had been impeached — bore no grudge, there was no need for him to meddle further.

Li Shu, seeing that the Crown Prince had relented, felt her own tension ease. Only then did she let slip the first genuinely felt smile of the day.

It was rare for her to speak up for Shen Xiao two times in a row. By her count, she had now saved him twice.

Cui Jinzhi glanced over at Li Shu. Seeing the sincerity of her smile, his gaze darkened by a few degrees.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, Grand Princess Kangning requests your presence.” A handmaid from Kangning’s side stepped forward and spoke.

Li Shu turned to look. Over by the water pavilion, the noblewomen were engaged in a game of pitch-pot. Grand Princess Kangning waved in their direction, beckoning them to come over quickly.

And so the group made their way toward the water pavilion. Grand Princess Kangning walked a few steps forward and said, “What were you all whispering about, huddled together like that?”

The Crown Prince smiled and called out, “Aunt Kangning,” then said, “Nothing of consequence.”

Grand Princess Kangning bore the title of Grand Princess, yet she wielded little say in matters of state, spending her days in the pursuit of handsome men. For the Crown Prince to speak to her of court affairs would be a sheer waste of time.

But Grand Princess Kangning was not entirely pleased. She turned to the Crown Prince and said, “What is it that you can tell Pingyang but not me? Just now Anle was telling me that in your heart, Pingyang is your one and only true sister, and that you have entirely forgotten Anle. I didn’t believe her at the time — but looking now, it seems my own nephew has forgotten this true-blood aunt of his as well.”

These words were spoken without any attempt to lower her voice, and Princess Anle, who was still playing pitch-pot, overheard them clearly. She pursed her lips at the Crown Prince and turned back to her game. She had always been doted upon by the Crown Prince, and today his sudden favoritism toward Li Shu had put her in a foul mood.

The Crown Prince hurried to offer apologies. “What is Your Highness saying?”

Li Shu stood to one side and said nothing. Grand Princess Kangning was close with Princess Anle, and naturally bore little warmth toward Li Shu. The words she had just spoken dripped with insinuation about “true blood,” clearly taking underhanded jabs at Li Shu’s birth as a daughter of a concubine.

She then heard the Crown Prince explain to Grand Princess Kangning, “We were only chatting casually. The subject of the newly top-placed examination candidate, Shen Xiao, came up.”

“Shen Xiao?” Grand Princess Kangning raised an eyebrow. “Ah — that impoverished scholar at the Qujiang new examination banquet last time, the one dressed in that worn, neither-new-nor-old plain cloth robe?”

The Crown Prince was amused by Grand Princess Kangning’s description and laughed. “Precisely — the Shen family of Wuxing. Commoners of no standing whatsoever. No wonder he appeared before His Majesty dressed like that.” There was a note of disdain in his voice.

To their surprise, Grand Princess Kangning remarked, “Threadbare clothes aside, the man himself had a rather refined and distinguished air.”

Li Shu cast a glance at Grand Princess Kangning. She was sharp-eyed — and she noticed too the cluster of young noblewomen behind them playing pitch-pot, several of them watching Grand Princess Kangning and smiling with knowing looks. Naturally, only a man of refined and distinguished bearing could catch Grand Princess Kangning’s eye.

On the other side, Princess Anle had missed her throw at pitch-pot and stamped her foot in displeasure. The Crown Prince, determined to coax her good humor back, walked over and volunteered to throw on her behalf. It was a rare sight — the usually composed and elegant Crown Prince playing pitch-pot — and the crowd gathered around to watch.

Li Shu stood on the outer fringe of the group and noticed that the Second Imperial Prince, Li Yan, had also not moved to join the spectacle. Dressed in a deep crimson princely robe, he was staring in their direction — clearly having listened with care to the exchange between Grand Princess Kangning and the Crown Prince.

Feeling Li Shu’s gaze on him, Li Yan’s expression turned cold. He returned her look briefly, then turned and said something to a young palace eunuch — “I have business to attend to, I shall leave first” — and simply departed from the palace banquet.

The clamor of the water pavilion fell away behind him as Li Yan strode off at a brisk pace.

One name echoed through his mind: Shen Xiao.

Shen Xiao, who had dared to impeach Princess Pingyang on his very first day in office. Shen Xiao, who came from a humble background and had absolutely no ties to any of the great aristocratic families at court.

This man might well be the key to unraveling the “grain-in-lieu-of-currency” scheme.

Li Shu watched with a furrowed brow as Li Yan hurried away. What had come over Second Elder Brother? He seemed as though something of grave importance had seized him.

At that moment, the Crown Prince’s pitch-pot throw landed true, and the crowd erupted in cheers, snapping Li Shu out of her thoughts. She came back to herself and arranged her expression into a smile matching everyone else around her — as though sinking an arrow cleanly into a pot were the single most cause for celebration in the entire world.