The Yongtong Canal.

Cui Jinzhi stood watching the laborers complete their final tasks, the whole site alive with a roaring, industrious energy.

Three months of toil, and the Yongtong Canal was at last nearly finished. Whatever else might be said, he had accomplished something genuine and tangible for the Crown Prince.

Cui Jinzhi stood with his hands clasped behind him at the canal’s edge, watching the laborers work. He thought to himself: a few more hours and they would wrap up for the day. Tonight he would write a memorial by lamplight and submit it — reporting the completion of the Yongtong Canal. Tomorrow the Emperor would read it and be pleased, and perhaps he would no longer hold the Crown Prince at such a cold distance.

Just then, Cui Lin came hurrying over. “My lord, Miss Qing Luo has come. She’s waiting outside at this moment.”

Cui Jinzhi’s brow furrowed at the news. He was displeased.

This was a proper place of work. What business did Qing Luo have coming here? She ought to have stayed quietly at the mansion. With nothing pressing to do, she shouldn’t be wandering about.

Cui Jinzhi snapped, “Don’t you see I’m busy? I have no time!”

Cui Lin flinched at the reprimand and drew his neck in.

And yet — Miss Qing Luo’s expression had been markedly urgent, as though something truly serious had occurred. Besides, he owed her a kindness from before. It wouldn’t do to leave her standing out there like that.

So he ventured again, “My lord, she says it’s an extremely, extremely important matter.”

Cui Jinzhi’s voice dropped even colder. “Did you not hear what I just said? Send her away!”

Cui Lin had no choice. Seeing that Cui Jinzhi truly was occupied, he had just turned to head back when a thought struck him and he spun around. “Miss Qing Luo says the matter concerns the Princess, my lord. What do you think…?”

Cui Jinzhi turned sharply. “It concerns Li Shu?”

What major affair could Qing Luo possibly have that involved Li Shu?

He beckoned a subordinate to supervise the work in his place, then followed Cui Lin straight out of the Yongtong Canal site.

Beyond the outer gate, a light carriage stood in the shade of the trees. The driver, seeing him approach, bowed in greeting.

Cui Jinzhi walked straight over, threw back the curtain, and demanded, “What is it? And what does it have to do with Li Shu?”

Qing Luo had been seated inside the carriage, frowning as she turned matters over in her mind, when Cui Jinzhi suddenly yanked the curtain aside — his tone impatient. She startled.

Composing herself, she said, “It truly does concern the Princess. But… I’m not entirely certain.”

Qing Luo leaned slightly out of the carriage and spoke in a very low voice. “I feel that… behind the grain seizure, there seems to be the shadow of the Princess’s hand.”

Cui Jinzhi heard this and his pupils contracted sharply. “What did you say?!”

His reaction was so violent that the attendants who had been respectfully bowing nearby all jumped in alarm. Cui Jinzhi quickly waved his hand, ordering them to withdraw to a distance.

A cold light glinted in his eyes — even carrying a trace of something fierce. “What nonsense are you talking? Don’t you dare slander her!”

The words were laden with warning.

Qing Luo had not expected Cui Jinzhi to react with such ferocity.

Slander?

He hadn’t even let her finish laying out all her suspicions and evidence, and he had already unconditionally decided she was slandering the Princess — that the Princess was innocent.

He trusted the Princess without reservation.

Qing Luo’s heart dimmed considerably. She forced the feeling down, bit her lip, and in her habitually soft and gentle voice explained, “I only have some suspicions. They may not be correct. Please hear me out first.”

“On the night the Ministry of Finance went to seize the Princess’s grain, several hundred guards from her estate had been transferred away. I thought that was rather a coincidence.”

“Furthermore, the Princess has recently been clearing out the servants of her household — dismissing specifically those who have connections to you. As though she wishes to draw a clear line between herself and you.”

As Qing Luo spoke, she continued to frown. Though she had a dim and vague sense that these two things were connected, her understanding of the world was confined to the narrow domain of the inner courtyard, and she could not see precisely where the problem lay.

Otherwise she would not have come to find Cui Jinzhi.

She looked up at him, and saw Cui Jinzhi’s expression change violently upon hearing this. He reached out and gripped the edge of the carriage with both hands as though he might snap it apart.

Like a string threading pearls, all the strange scattered fragments suddenly linked together in an instant.

On the day of the grain seizure, Li Shu had abruptly transferred the estate’s guards away.

That night, Li Shu had risked everything to protect Shen Xiao. Looking back now, it seemed as though she had deliberately arranged for Shen Xiao to seize the grain.

On that day in the Hanyuan Hall during the confrontation with Shen Xiao, she had been silent from beginning to end — as though frightened. But what had she truly been?

She had been reprimanded in public by the Emperor and lost face. A woman of her proud and competitive nature — yet she had returned to the mansion and slept soundly, completely untroubled by the matter.

And now she had expelled every servant from the household with any connection to him, cutting all ties completely.

So many peculiarities — he had seen them all along. He ought to have realized long ago what role Li Shu had played behind the grain seizure…

Only he had simply never thought to look in that direction.

He had never once entertained the possibility — that Li Shu would stand on a different political footing from him.

Little Sparrow… how could she…?

Qing Luo saw Cui Jinzhi had been silent for a long while, his complexion as dark as it could possibly be. She quickly grabbed his arm and gave it a shake. “Sanlang, you —”

Cui Jinzhi was jolted out of his reverie by her call. He fixed both eyes on Qing Luo, stepped forward, and seized her by the wrist with a grip so crushing it nearly bent the bone.

His voice was merciless, his phoenix eyes turned to ice. “Who else have you told about this?”

Qing Luo was frightened by his manner, and shook her head in terror. “No one… I haven’t told a soul. You know me — I rarely go out, I have almost no contact with outsiders. Whatever happens, I always bring it to you first.”

Even her voice had taken on a faint note of weeping.

Hearing this, the coldness in Cui Jinzhi’s gaze eased slightly, and he released Qing Luo’s wrist.

She didn’t have the audacity to speak recklessly, nor the channels to do so.

Qing Luo rubbed her wrist and saw that Cui Jinzhi’s face had gone an ashen grey.

She had been with him too long, and was far too skilled at reading expressions. She knew precisely what every shift in his face meant.

She said softly, “So… those were all no coincidence. The Princess planned all of this deliberately…”

Cui Jinzhi’s jaw tightened. After a long moment, he slowly nodded.

Every scheme had been hidden in the dark, as though everything had simply unfolded of its own accord — all natural, all effortless. Behind the hidden threads, she had been the one pulling the strings, manipulating hearts.

This was classic Li Shu. He knew her. He could not be mistaken.

She had schemed it all — using herself as bait, laying a trap, calculating the Crown Prince straight into it…

Her grasp of human hearts was precise to the point of being terrifying.

She had calculated that when he faced Shen Xiao’s grain seizure, he would react exactly as he did — seizing the opportunity to stir up trouble and rally the officials to impeach Shen Xiao in court.

She had calculated the delicate relationship between the Emperor and the Crown Prince: while His Majesty was still alive, the Crown Prince had the power to unite the hundred officials and corner the Emperor in open court. How would the Emperor feel about that?

And she had even calculated the Emperor’s intention to promote men of humble birth: the harder the great clans pressed to suppress Shen Xiao, the more the Emperor — to demonstrate his commitment to protecting those of common origins — would elevate him.

See through the hearts of men, and then manipulate those hearts. That was Little Sparrow. That was her true ability.

And Shen Xiao — what role had he played in this scheme of hers? Had she made use of him? Or was he… working together with her?

At that thought, Cui Jinzhi’s complexion darkened further. She and Shen Xiao were collaborating — scheming together to move against him!

Cui Jinzhi’s fury reached its peak, and then, strangely, he let out a slow quiet laugh.

She was his own creation. And now she had become a blade plunged straight into his heart.

Qing Luo, seeing Cui Jinzhi laugh in the extremity of his rage, also began to see through to the deeper logic.

Though she was not like the Princess — privy to the great affairs of the court — she did know that Cui Jinzhi was a staunch partisan of the Crown Prince’s faction. This much she had always known.

But Princess Pingyang’s actions had plainly been a betrayal of Cui Jinzhi — a trap laid for the Crown Prince.

When political allegiance and personal feeling came into conflict, what would Cui Jinzhi choose?

Qing Luo looked at him and thought: he would surely sever ties with the Princess completely.

A complete and final severance.

That word lit something warm inside Qing Luo’s chest.

If the Princess withdrew entirely from Sanlang’s life, would she not occupy a far greater place in his heart?

At the thought of that possibility, the pair of clear gentle eyes that usually held only tenderness suddenly turned fiercely, ardently bright.

She did not covet any formal title, nor any wealth. All worldly things she was willing to relinquish. She wanted only more of his heart.

Many years ago, when the Third Young Master of the Cui family had first come to the Changle Ward, she had fallen in love with him — and had followed him without complaint or regret ever since.

But Cui Jinzhi was silent. After a long while, he slowly exhaled.

“Not a word of what you’ve just told me may leave this place. Do you understand?”

Qing Luo was taken aback, and quickly asked, “Then the Princess…?”

Cui Jinzhi cut her off. “I’ll go speak with her myself.”

He sighed, as though resigned. “I’ll ask her plainly what she is thinking.”

And then he would do everything in his power to talk her back.

She could not be allowed to stand on the opposite side from him.

The ardent brightness in Qing Luo’s eyes went dark at once.

Cui Jinzhi’s meaning was plain — he was unwilling to sever ties with the Princess. Even now that the Crown Prince had stumbled over her.

Qing Luo thought blankly: in truth, the bond between Sanlang and the Princess ran deeper than most feelings in this world. It wasn’t even a matter of romance between man and woman. It was more like the long trust forged through years of companionship and shared labor.

So much so that even as the Princess sought to break free of that bond, he still wanted to hold her back.

Unwilling to accept this, Qing Luo pressed further. “Then… will you tell His Highness the Crown Prince about this?”

If the Crown Prince learned of the Princess’s scheming, he would surely be furious — and he would force Cui Jinzhi to cut all ties with the Princess.

No one wished to see a trusted general entangled with an enemy.

But Cui Jinzhi, upon hearing this, snapped his gaze toward Qing Luo. He bit out each word carefully. “What do you mean by that? I said — not a single word of this may go any further. Not a single word!”

His fury was so severe that his eyes filled with malice.

Qing Luo shrank back in fright. After a moment’s hesitation, she slowly nodded.

The Princess had betrayed the Crown Prince — had even trapped him. And yet Cui Jinzhi still intended to cover it up.

How deeply he depended on the Princess, that he would be willing to risk defying the Crown Prince rather than let their paths diverge.

Cui Jinzhi had no more heart for overseeing the Yongtong Canal. He handed matters to a reliable subordinate, then swung himself onto his horse and rode hard back toward the city.

Little Sparrow had planned this scheme with great care — yet she had not covered her tracks cleanly. If Qing Luo could detect the strangeness from a few words spoken by Steward Liu, others might as well.

Cui Jinzhi cracked his whip, driving it hard into the horse beneath him.

First he had to secure Steward Liu — he couldn’t let that mouth of his keep talking.

Then every servant on the Wanning County estate had to be controlled, and this matter buried completely.

It absolutely could not reach the ears of the Crown Prince. If it did…

Cui Jinzhi knew better than anyone just how petty and volatile the Crown Prince could be. The son of heaven, haughty and proud — the one thing he could never stomach was betrayal.

Cui Jinzhi tightened his grip on the reins.

If the Crown Prince found out, Little Sparrow would be finished.

*

Qing Luo rode in the carriage back toward Yankang Ward. The horses moved at a slow and unhurried pace — like the murky, nameless shadows in her heart.

Sometimes she thought Cui Jinzhi liked her. After all, he came here often to see her.

But other times she felt he did not like her at all — that he simply used this place as a quiet refuge from the storm.

The person he liked most, the person he most wanted to protect, was still Princess Pingyang.

Qing Luo felt a pang in her chest, yet told herself she had no right to feel it. They were husband and wife — that was how it should be.

So what did she amount to, then?

The carriage rolled slowly into Yankang Ward. Qing Luo had only just stepped down when the gatekeeper hurried over. “Miss, about half an hour ago, Master Cui suddenly came by and carried Steward Liu away with him. This servant noticed his expression was dark — has something happened?”

Qing Luo just shook her head. “Nothing. He simply needed to speak with Steward Liu about something.”

She was about to go in when she heard the sound of galloping hooves from behind. The rider dismounted and came striding toward her. Qing Luo recognized him as one of the Eastern Palace guards, frequently sent to pass messages to Cui Jinzhi.

The Crown Prince often had urgent matters requiring Cui Jinzhi, but Cui Jinzhi was like a cunning hare with three burrows — the Princess’s mansion, the Cui family’s old estate, the official office, the military camp, and various other residences where he might lodge. There had been several times before when the Crown Prince had sent men to find him and searched the whole city without turning up a trace.

The Crown Prince had flown into a rage over this on more than one occasion.

Later, Cui Jinzhi had reported all his usual haunts to the Crown Prince — including Qing Luo’s courtyard in Yankang Ward — so that the Crown Prince could find him in an emergency.

It was only at that time that the Crown Prince had learned Cui Jinzhi kept a concubine outside the household. But since he relied heavily on Cui Jinzhi, and since Pingyang was not the Crown Prince’s true sister by blood, the Crown Prince had been wholly indifferent to the matter of the concubine.

The guard asked Qing Luo, “Is Master Cui here? His Highness the Crown Prince has need of him.”

The Yongtong Canal would be completed tonight, and the Crown Prince wished to discuss how to use this achievement to please Emperor Zhengyuan the following day — hence he was looking for Cui Jinzhi.

Qing Luo shook her head. “He’s not here. He left quite some time ago.”

The guard asked again, “Do you know where Master Cui has gone?”

Qing Luo shook her head again. “I don’t know.”

She was quiet for a moment. Then, as though arriving at some decision, she slowly opened her mouth.

“I seem to recall… he was going to find Princess Pingyang.”

If the Crown Prince learned what the Princess had done, he would surely force Cui Jinzhi to part from the Princess completely, wouldn’t he?

“Sanlang said something just before he left… something about how the grain seizure had all been the Princess’s scheme, and he was going to call her to account for it. Perhaps he has gone to Princess Pingyang’s mansion — you might look for him there.”

Qing Luo’s words came out very, very slowly.

She only hoped she could occupy just a little more space in Cui Jinzhi’s heart.