When the business had concluded, they exchanged a few idle pleasantries, and then Eunuch Chen prepared to leave.

As a gesture of courtesy, Li Shu personally saw him out. They walked along the corridor and passed through the connecting gate — and the moment she looked up, she saw Shen Xiao standing alone in the garden, studying with great earnestness a… clump of grass.

Other than its wealth, Princess Pingyang’s mansion truly had nothing worth looking at.

When the Emperor had first issued the decree commanding the third son of the Cui family to wed Princess Pingyang, work on this residence had already begun. Back then, Li Shu had been full of eager anticipation. She had always lived in a remote and neglected corner of the palace, her mother had died young, and she had always felt she had no real home. Because of this, she had cared deeply about the home she would share with her husband after the wedding.

Li Shu had personally overseen the craftsmen throughout the construction.

Once it was finished, she had led Cui Jinzhi proudly through the mansion to show it off — but Cui Jinzhi had winced the whole time, and in the end, unable to find anything else to say, had forced himself to offer one grudging word of praise: “This mansion… is certainly quite dazzling.”

The gold foil had nearly blinded his eyes.

He had taught her so much about court strategy and political maneuvering, but had somehow forgotten to teach her about taste.

Eunuch Chen caught sight of the dark teal official robe and his expression grew puzzled. He turned to look at Li Shu. “And this is…?”

Shen Xiao seemed to hear them only then. He turned around, and saw Li Shu saying with a smile to the elderly eunuch at her side, “This is the Ministry of Revenue’s Supervising Official, Shen Xiao.”

She then raised her eyes to look at Shen Xiao. “Lord Shen, this is Eunuch Chen of the Eastern Palace.”

Shen Xiao met her gaze. He had the distinct feeling that her eyes held a trace of mockery. The words she had spoken in the reception hall were still ringing in his mind, their aftertaste not yet faded.

Shen Xiao stepped forward and bowed in greeting.

When he straightened again, Eunuch Chen’s sharp, narrow eyes swept over him from head to foot. Then he turned to Li Shu and said, “Your Highness has excellent taste.”

And with that he laughed.

His voice was shrill and pointed, and when he laughed it was as though a blade were scraping across bone — a grating, sinister sound.

Was it not excellent taste? Here was this lean and desolate sort of a man, with a stern, cold face that radiated a kind of unyielding, unbroken pride. No wonder the Princess had said she wanted to “amuse herself” with him — Eunuch Chen had imagined it would be like toying with some small cat or dog, but now that he took a look, this “amusement” of hers seemed to carry a rather different flavor. There was something of a romantic game in it.

Being an eunuch, the more he lacked something, the more he liked to dwell on it.

Shen Xiao noticed Eunuch Chen’s eyes, full of malicious speculation, roaming all over him. The gaze was sticky and unpleasant, and it stirred up a genuine revulsion in his chest.

So this was what one of the Crown Prince’s men was like?

If the servants were like this, the master could hardly be better.

Shen Xiao had never had direct dealings with the Crown Prince, but first there was Li Shu — ordinarily so composed — frowning at the mention of him, and now this eunuch with his oozing gaze.

Shen Xiao found he had no goodwill toward the Crown Prince whatsoever.

Among all of Emperor Zhengyuan’s many princes, why had Princess Pingyang chosen to attach herself to the Crown Prince? She was this clever — if she wanted a share in the glory of aiding the right contender to the throne, she should have chosen a prince who kept a low profile but was sharp of mind.

Shen Xiao’s gaze grew slightly distant.

Li Shu naturally heard the hidden meaning in Eunuch Chen’s words. She suppressed a private grimace of disgust.

Who is like you, seeing everything through the lens of carnal affairs?

Fortunately, she would not have to spend much time in the company of such a person.

Li Shu then asked, “Why is Lord Shen alone in the garden? Were the servants not being attentive?”

Before Shen Xiao could answer, there was a sudden rustling along the narrow path, and Hong Luo came running up. Seeing that both Li Shu and Eunuch Chen were there, she caught her breath and hurriedly curtseyed.

Li Shu’s face went cool. “Did I not tell you to take Lord Shen on a tour of the grounds? Why did you leave him here by himself?”

Hong Luo quickly apologized. “Just now the young maids over that way were quarreling among themselves, and this servant went to reprimand them — Lord Shen was left alone for a little while.”

Then she turned to Shen Xiao and gave a respectful bow. “Please forgive me, my lord.”

Shen Xiao’s gaze passed from Li Shu to Hong Luo, then slowly back. “It’s all right,” he said at last.

A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, carrying some unspoken meaning.

Having reprimanded Hong Luo, Li Shu composed herself once more and turned back to Eunuch Chen with all her courtesy restored. “The servants lack discipline — please forgive them, Eunuch. This way.”

Shen Xiao stood where he was and watched Li Shu move away.

One moment angry reprimands, the next moment deference, and the next moment jest.

She wore many faces, had many guises, and harbored many schemes.

But not a single one of them could be trusted.

She was a politician through and through, Shen Xiao thought. To speak of sentiment with a politician — that was the most laughable thing in the world.

*

While Li Shu was seeing Eunuch Chen out, Shen Xiao had been shown into the reception hall.

The seat where Eunuch Chen had been sitting still held his cup of pre-rain Dragon Well, not yet cold. The maidservants cleared it away and brought Shen Xiao a fresh cup.

Before long, Li Shu returned.

She had changed into a more formal gown to receive her guest, its trailing skirts sweeping the ground at considerable length. Her brows, too, had been freshly painted — long and faint, the tips of her eyes sharp and cool.

She was entirely unlike the woman who had been dozing quietly against the tree trunk that morning in her plain clothes.

And entirely unlike the woman who, at noon, had raised a sly brow and extorted him into buying fish.

So Shen Xiao’s manner toward her now was equally unlike it had been that morning — he rose to his feet, perfectly polite but just as perfectly distant.

“Your Highness.”

“May I ask when Your Highness will release the grain?”

His voice was cold and hard.

Li Shu seated herself in the principal chair and leaned back against the armchair. “Release the grain?”

She smiled faintly. “What is Lord Shen speaking of? This Princess does not follow.”

Shen Xiao’s expression grew even cooler. “This morning at the lakeside, Your Highness said that as long as this official caught three fish, Your Highness would release thirty thousand shi of grain.”

At those words, Li Shu suddenly let out a laugh — as though she had heard the most ridiculous thing imaginable.

“Lord Shen, one fish for ten thousand shi of grain — and you actually took that seriously? Where in the world is there such a bargain?”

She smiled. “This Princess was teasing you.”

“Lord Shen is truly amusing. To take such words at face value — could it be that all those years of reading books have made you foolish?”

Shen Xiao’s head snapped up. His fierce, proud brows sliced toward her like a blade, aiming straight for her lashes.

Li Shu watched his fury ignite, hooked the corner of her lips in a smile, showed not the slightest remorse, and pressed further still.

“Lord Shen, This Princess has changed her mind now and does not wish to release the grain for you.”

“Oh — and those fish Lord Shen caught — This Princess will not charge you for them after all. Consider them… a gift from This Princess.”

A gift for what?

For amusing her?

Beneath the wide sleeves of his robe, Shen Xiao’s hand clenched into a fist. The veins along his forearm stood out like cords. The line of his jaw pulled tight as a bowstring, as though he might explode the very next second.

“As it happens, I’ve changed my mind today as well, and I no longer wish to recommend you for an official post.”

“In consideration of your performance last night — this is a gift from This Princess.”

Three years ago, Princess Pingyang had humiliated him in exactly this way.

Three years later, she was humiliating him in exactly the same way.

Shen Xiao’s gaze went cold very quickly.

After a long silence, he said not a word — and then turned on his heel and walked away.

Seeing him about to leave, Li Shu called after him at once. “Lord Shen, where are you going? This Princess never said definitively that the grain would not be released. In fact, whether it is released or not depends entirely on This Princess’s mood.”

“If Lord Shen still wants those thirty thousand shi of grain, then he may as well… make This Princess happy.”

Shen Xiao stopped at the doorway of the reception hall, turned back around, and the expression that had been stern and cold just moments before now bore a faint smile at the corner of his mouth — cool and frosty, yet carrying some other quality altogether.

“What would Your Highness have this official do to put you in good humor?”

His voice was cold and low, his official speech impeccable — except that the final notes of certain syllables would occasionally lift ever so slightly, betraying a trace of southern accent that he could not quite erase.

Paired with that word, “humor,” it fell on Li Shu’s ears with a tone that was oddly, unmistakably tender.

Li Shu’s brow furrowed slightly.

A moment ago she had clearly been the one commanding this scene. How was it that the tide seemed to have turned all at once?

Li Shu lowered her voice to something cool and even. “Lord Shen, do you still want the grain or not?”

Shen Xiao stood in the doorway, his cold, firm voice carrying across the hall. “Naturally I want it. But I will not trouble Your Highness over it.”

He gave a short, quiet laugh. “This official has his own way.”

With that, he turned and left.

*

When Shen Xiao left Princess Pingyang’s mansion, the sun had already moved to the western half of the sky.

He came out through the vermilion gates, paused at the foot of the steps, turned back, and looked up at the mansion’s signboard. After a moment, something resolute and icy flashed in his gaze. He flicked out the hem of his robe and stepped into his palanquin.

Princess Pingyang was never going to give him the grain willingly.

Shen Xiao went straight back to the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue was increasingly frantic of late, frantically busy and frantic with fear — like headless flies waiting for the end of the sixth month to arrive, like condemned men watching the noose being fitted around their own necks.

With no rice in the pot, a clever housewife cannot cook without ingredients. The granaries were empty, yet every direction had hands reaching out to the Ministry of Revenue for grain. Every official in the Ministry was anxious, and they had nothing kind to say to Shen Xiao when they crossed his path.

Shen Xiao had just stepped through the Ministry’s door when a colleague came walking toward him. Seeing that Shen Xiao had returned empty-handed, the man let out a cold, scornful laugh. “Lord Shen, where is the grain?”

Shen Xiao looked at him. He saw the scorn written all over the man’s face.

Since the grain levy had begun, Li Yan had given Shen Xiao particular prominence, which had bred considerable resentment toward him among the Ministry’s officials of every rank. Now they could see that after nearly three months in the Ministry, Shen Xiao had accomplished nothing — and it looked as though the grain levy was about to collapse entirely — so naturally they took the opportunity to kick a man while he was down.

Shen Xiao glanced at the man, and then, out of nowhere, smiled. “There will be grain tomorrow.”

The words were quiet, yet they fell like an axe cleaving wood.

The colleague was startled, and was about to ask more — but Shen Xiao paid him no mind and walked on, turning the corner and disappearing from view.

The official watched him go, then spat under his breath.

Tomorrow? Keep dreaming.

Every household that could be approached for grain had already been approached. The ones remaining were all the Crown Prince’s most steadfast supporters — every single one of them untouchable. Who would lend them grain?

Supervising Official Shen had surely lost his mind!

Shen Xiao made his way straight to the main hall, bowed, and came directly to the point. To the Ministry of Revenue’s Minister, seated behind the writing table, he said, “This official requests the loan of five hundred soldiers.”

The Minister of Revenue frowned. “What for?”

Shen Xiao paused for a beat, then let two words drop from his mouth: “To transport grain.”

They struck the ground with a ring.

Five hundred soldiers to transport grain?

The Minister’s heart gave a jolt. That implied the grain was no small quantity — at the very least, tens of thousands of shi.

The only people who could be approached for tens of thousands of shi were those who could shake the capital with a single stamp of their foot — every one of them deeply entangled with the Crown Prince. How could Shen Xiao possibly have borrowed grain from such a household?

The Minister leaned forward in his seat. “Whose grain will be transported?”

Who had turned against the Crown Prince, and was now ready to throw in their lot with the Second Prince?

What a tempest this would be at court — and yet he had not caught the faintest whiff of it.

Who?

Shen Xiao gave a cold laugh.

From beyond the carved window lattice bearing the pattern of blessings and longevity, he had heard Li Shu’s voice drifting from the reception hall.

“Since I find myself at leisure recently, I may as well use the grain loan as a pretext to amuse myself with him.”

Shen Xiao clenched his fist.

She wanted to amuse herself — but she should first ask whether she was dealing with a lap dog or a wolf.

“The Minister need not ask further, and this official will not say more. Only give this official five hundred soldiers, and by tomorrow the grain will be brought back.”

“Whatever consequences follow, this official will bear them entirely alone — and will not implicate anyone else by so much as a fraction.”