Li Shu arrived at the Empress’s palace. A maidservant guided her through the doorway and into the east reception room.
Seated on the daybed was a woman of about forty, dressed in crimson splendor with a nine-tailed phoenix hairpin—the Empress. Right beside her sat Princess Anle, laughing and saying something with all the mannerisms of a pampered daughter.
The hall was full of people: imperial princes and their consorts, princesses and their consorts, as well as numerous noble ladies and their daughters, all smiling as they watched Princess Anle play the coquette. Princess Jincheng was there as well, though she was tucked away in the crowd at the back and drew no notice.
When Li Shu entered, she swept a quick glance around the room. Princess Jincheng gave her a timid smile; Li Shu returned a cool nod.
In the end, she furrowed her brow.
Where was Cui Jinzhi?
The Empress noticed Li Shu’s arrival and let the tender affection she had shown Anle vanish from her face. Though she still wore a smile, it was now one of polite courtesy. “Pingyang has come. Come, sit. Your Father Emperor really—in this heat, he calls you over to Hanyuan Hall. What couldn’t wait until the banquet to be said?”
This sounded like a complaint on Li Shu’s behalf—that the Emperor had no sense of care in such sweltering weather—but if one listened closely, there was always something more beneath the surface.
Li Shu smiled and replied, “Your daughter hasn’t entered the palace for two months. Father Emperor specifically summoned your daughter to give her a thorough scolding, saying your daughter had been too busy enjoying herself and had forgotten all about him.”
Anle, leaning against the Empress, gave a quiet derisive sniff upon hearing this. Good. Father Emperor should scold Pingyang. Let him scold her properly. It served her right for always stealing her Father Emperor, her Mother Empress, and her elder brother the Crown Prince.
No one else heard it, but the Empress and Yang Fang, who stood nearby, heard it plainly. The Empress patted Anle’s back gently, a silent rebuke not to be so unruly.
Though the Empress had also long disliked the Emperor’s regard for Pingyang, the inner palace was a place where face had to be maintained. Whatever one felt inside, one had to keep smiling on the outside.
In truth, the Empress did not particularly dislike Pingyang as a person. Her attitude toward all the concubine-born princesses was the same—since they were of no great standing, they ought to stay quietly in the inner palace and not wander about drawing attention and getting in people’s way.
Having been silently reproved by the Empress, Anle pouted, then looked up to find Yang Fang, who stood nearby, smiling apologetically at Li Shu—as though making amends on Anle’s behalf for what she had just said.
Li Shu returned a faint smile.
Anle immediately took issue with that. Wasn’t it enough that she had already stolen Cui Jinzhi? Was she going to try to steal Yang Fang as well? Anle promptly shot Li Shu a glare.
Li Shu looked away. She had no patience for Anle today.
She had long grown accustomed to being glared at by Anle every other day. Besides, Anle’s head was not capable of devising any real scheme against her, so all she could do was send these harmless glares.
The Crown Prince, noticing when Li Shu entered that she was looking around, understood she was searching for Cui Jinzhi and explained, “Something urgent came up at Yongtong Canal and he rushed back to handle it. I told him to go quickly and return quickly—he should be able to make it back for the banquet.”
Li Shu nodded.
The Crown Prince’s consort exchanged a glance with the Crown Prince, then came over and took Li Shu’s hand. “It’s only been a moment apart—and you’re already searching for him everywhere. You two really do have a wonderful bond.”
Li Shu smiled politely and withdrew her hand from the Crown Prince’s consort’s grasp. Her mind was occupied with what Father Emperor had told her, and she had little desire just now to exchange pleasantries that meant nothing.
Anle’s eyes went wide at that.
She knew it was the sore spot in Anle’s heart—for years, no one had dared mention the relationship between Cui Jinzhi and Li Shu in front of her. Yet now the Crown Prince’s consort was actually fawning over Li Shu about it.
What was this for? It looked exactly like deliberately trying to flatter Li Shu.
After sitting in the hall for a while, Li Shu found the air stifling and made an excuse to step outside. She had barely stood on the veranda for a breath of fresh air when she heard footsteps behind her.
She did not need to turn around to know it was the Crown Prince who had followed.
She suppressed a sigh inwardly.
The Crown Prince drew near. “Pingyang, what did Father Emperor just summon you for?”
Not a moment’s peace.
Li Shu smoothed away the irritation from her face, was silent a moment, and then, knowing it was pointless to conceal anything—concealing it would only make the Crown Prince more suspicious—she decided to tell the truth.
“Second brother still has a shortfall of two hundred thousand shi of grain. Father Emperor wants me to offer him some grain on my own initiative.”
The Crown Prince let out a cold laugh. “Father Emperor really does dote on Second Brother!”
He was the legitimate eldest son—by what right did Father Emperor spend these past years propping up Second Brother to oppose him? A mere concubine-born prince, and he dared to compete with him.
The Crown Prince fumed for a moment, then asked in a none-too-pleasant tone, “So what did you tell him?”
The pretense of a benevolent ruler was nowhere on his face now. He stared at Li Shu, his urgency edged with impatience.
Exactly as if he were addressing a servant or a slave.
Li Shu heard the tone in the Crown Prince’s voice.
This was the true Crown Prince—whatever talk of benevolence and magnanimity was only a facade he wore for others. He had never thought to show her genuine respect.
But so what. He was the exalted Crown Prince, and she had climbed to her present position by attaching herself to him.
Li Shu swallowed her resentment. “I did not agree to Father Emperor’s request to release the grain.”
The Crown Prince gave Li Shu a suspicious look, as though he was not entirely convinced.
Only a few days before, Pingyang had just come back from the mountains, and her very first act had been to receive Shen Xiao at the mansion. At the time, the Crown Prince had been alarmed, fearing that Pingyang was about to break away from him. It was only when Cui Jinzhi gave his personal assurance that the Crown Prince had grudgingly set his mind at ease.
Pingyang’s wings had been growing stronger in recent years, and the Crown Prince was not entirely at ease with her.
In her early years she had been obedient and clever, and had helped him think through many schemes. In return he had elevated Pingyang accordingly.
But over these past few years, Pingyang had gradually developed her own calculations, and even the Crown Prince could no longer read her anymore. Fortunately there was still Cui Jinzhi. Cui Jinzhi held great influence over Pingyang—when the Crown Prince wanted Pingyang to do something and conveyed his wishes through Cui Jinzhi, it succeeded eight or nine times out of ten.
When Pingyang had once taken Cui Jinzhi from Anle, the Crown Prince had been displeased, and he had taken Anle’s side in both open and hidden ways. In hindsight, that marriage had turned out to be a good thing. Without Cui Jinzhi, he would likely have lost his hold on Pingyang altogether.
Just as they were speaking, the Empress’s young eunuch came to summon them, announcing that the banquet was about to begin and that His Majesty would arrive shortly. The two of them hurried back.
Everyone had barely taken their seats when Emperor Zhengyuan arrived. He settled at the head of the table and swept a glance downward. Seeing Li Shu sitting alone, he frowned. “Where is Cui Jinzhi?”
The Crown Prince quickly rose and replied, “Something came up at Yongtong Canal and he went back to deal with it.”
Emperor Zhengyuan: “Yongtong Canal?”
The Crown Prince shot a glance at Li Yan seated below and gave a cold snort. “That question would have to be put to Second Brother. The Ministry of Revenue has cut off supplies to Yongtong Canal again these past few days—without food, of course there will be unrest.”
Li Yan quickly rose at this and addressed Emperor Zhengyuan: “Your son has just arranged for a shipment of grain. He will dispatch men to deliver it to Yongtong Canal this very afternoon.”
Then he put on a look of difficulty. “I won’t hide it from Father Emperor—in order to keep Yongtong Canal supplied, the Ministry of Revenue has been hollowed out. Father Emperor previously issued a decree to levy grain, yet the ministry’s men who go out with the decree return with very little…”
Li Yan glanced at Li Shu. “These past few days, someone from the ministry has been calling upon younger sister Pingyang’s residence, hoping to obtain some grain from Princess Pingyang—only to be turned away at the door.”
In that instant, every gaze in the hall fell upon Li Shu.
Li Shu’s hand paused on her wine cup, and she slowly set it down.
The weight of those stares pressed in on her from all sides. Father Emperor’s coercion, the Crown Prince’s silent threat, Second Brother’s displeasure, and the watchful eyes of countless princes, nobles, and powerful clans—all of it bore down on her at once, pinning her to her seat so that she could not so much as stir.
Pulled in all directions, hemmed in front and back. She sat alone in the middle of the roaring banquet, surrounded by people on all sides, yet she felt utterly without a single ally.
For the first time, Li Shu wished that Cui Jinzhi could be at her side. Even if he said nothing—simply sitting there beside her would have been enough. She could draw strength from his presence.
But he was not here.
She could only rely on herself.
Li Shu tightened her grip on the wine cup until the tips of her fingers went white. After a long silence, she steadied herself and smiled. “Second Brother knows me—I have always been sensitive to the heat, and when the weather turns like this I am not at my best. I have not been reading calling cards these past few days; the consort has been handling all of that for me.”
Li Shu had passed the problem off to Cui Jinzhi—and thereby, to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince faltered, not expecting that this time Pingyang would not shield him. He felt more keenly than ever that Li Shu and he were drifting apart.
He must not allow this. The moment Cui Jinzhi returned from Yongtong Canal, he had to persuade Pingyang. He could not allow her to go over to Father Emperor’s side over this grain matter.
The Crown Prince had no choice but to answer for it himself. He looked at the Second Prince, his tone carrying several shades of irritation. “Cui Jinzhi has been busy overseeing the construction of Yongtong Canal. When has he had time to see people from your Ministry of Revenue?”
Emperor Zhengyuan looked at the Crown Prince at this, a hint of displeasure in his gaze.
A stilted tension settled over the banquet. Everyone knew that behind the volleys of sharp words lay swords concealed. No one dared speak.
Only Anle had understood perhaps half of it. She looked at Father Emperor, then at her elder brother the Crown Prince, then finally turned to look at Li Shu, seated below.
Why had everyone suddenly gone silent?
She turned to Yang Fang beside her in puzzlement. Yang Fang gave her a slight shake of the head, signaling her not to make a move.
The Empress smiled as though mildly reproaching them. “Now, now—we rarely get together as a family for a proper meal, and here you are already talking about court affairs again.”
The taut atmosphere eased a fraction. The Empress and the Crown Prince’s consort exchanged a few pleasantries, and the matter was smoothed over.
The imperial banquet proceeded as tediously as always—nothing but people selecting the most pleasing words to say to the Empress. Li Shu’s thoughts were elsewhere, and before she knew it the meal had been cleared and a theatrical troupe had set up a stage outside to perform.
She found it hard to breathe and had been thinking she might slip away for a moment of quiet, but the Crown Prince’s consort came over and linked arms with her warmly, steering her toward the stage.
“Pingyang, what’s the matter? Your color doesn’t look good. It is quite hot today—could it be the heat?”
She promptly instructed her maidservant, “Quickly, bring Princess Pingyang a bowl of lotus seed soup.” Then she turned to Li Shu and said, “The lotus seeds were picked just yesterday—perfect for fighting the heat.”
Li Shu let herself be led along, with no good way to shake the arm loose.
Anle, who had been standing beside Li Shu, had thought the Crown Prince’s consort was coming for her, and had just put on a smile—only to watch the Crown Prince’s consort walk straight past her and head directly for Li Shu.
Why did it seem like everyone today was keeping their eyes on Pingyang and ignoring her?
Anle stamped her foot and stormed off in a huff.
The Crown Prince’s consort had drawn Li Shu over to sit by the Empress near the stage. Mid-performance, the Empress suddenly said, “I remember it has been ten years since your mother passed.”
Li Shu startled—she had not expected the Empress to remember. “Yes, ten years.”
The Empress sighed. “She bore a child for the Emperor; these years her memory has been neglected. Another day I shall mention it to His Majesty—the dead deserve honor, and her rank ought to be elevated.”
It was the first genuine surprise Li Shu had felt all day. “Thank you, Your Empress.”
Her mother had longed for exactly this in her lifetime.
Beside her, the Crown Prince’s consort saw Li Shu’s pleasure and patted her hand affectionately.
Only then did Li Shu understand—this was not the Empress’s own idea. It must have been the Crown Prince’s doing. He feared she would go over to Father Emperor’s side and was dangling this before her as a reward to taste.
Seeing the Empress suddenly grow warm toward Princess Pingyang, everyone came forward to speak with Li Shu. Anle sat to one side, feeling snubbed. She bit her lip and slipped away without a sound. At this moment everyone was gathered around Li Shu, and no one noticed her leave.
After the full performance of “Rong Niang” had concluded, the Crown Prince’s consort rose to change her clothing, and Li Shu finally seized the chance to step outside for air. She had barely entered among the ornamental rocks of the imperial garden when she heard quick footsteps from the path outside, followed by Princess Anle’s furious voice: “Leave me alone! I want to go back to the mansion!”
“Anle, stop right there!”
The Crown Prince’s voice rang out behind Anle. “Today is Mother’s birthday. What do you think you’re doing? Leaving before the banquet is finished? What will Mother think?”
But Anle cried, “She is Pingyang’s Mother Empress, not mine! And you—you are Pingyang’s elder brother, not mine! Father Emperor is Pingyang’s father, not mine!”
The Crown Prince: “What is that supposed to mean!”
Anle was full to bursting with grievance. “Why is everyone being good to Pingyang today? Father Emperor singles her out for a private audience. Mother also talks to her. Even your consort is friendly with her. You’re all ignoring me. Why should I stay at the banquet?”
The sun blazed overhead, and the grain situation left him uncertain about Li Shu’s stance. The Crown Prince was losing patience, and it was rare that he turned a scolding face on Anle. “Listen to yourself—does any of that sound like something an adult would say?”
But Anle refused to back down. “Pingyang is the adult—go talk to her. Leave me alone!”
The Crown Prince was truly beside himself with exasperation. This sister of his had been spoiled beyond saving. His mood already sour, and seeing no one nearby, he said to Anle: “What are you competing with Pingyang for? She is nothing but a dog I keep. Right now she happens to be of use, so of course I have to throw her a few scraps. Otherwise I’m afraid she won’t run my errands.”
The Crown Prince raised his voice at Anle for once. “You resent us for favoring Pingyang today—why don’t you ask yourself: if you had half of Pingyang’s ability, if Yang Fang had half of Cui Jinzhi’s ability, how much greater would my support at court be? Would I still need to go around flattering a mere attack dog!”