Emperor Zhengyuan was in the Hanyuan Hall reviewing memorials when Liu Cou came to report that Princess Pingyang had arrived.

Emperor Zhengyuan set down his vermillion brush at once and said hurriedly, “Quickly, let Que’nu in.”

A junior eunuch helped Li Shu into the side chamber. Without a word, she dropped to her knees with a thud, her face tilted upward, her complexion deathly pale, the scratch marks still unhealed — a sight of utter wretchedness.

“Imperial Father… your daughter, your daughter…”

So overcome was she that she could not complete a single sentence, and her voice was thick with the threat of tears.

Emperor Zhengyuan felt his heart clench at the sound. Dismissing the junior eunuch, he hurried over himself and helped Li Shu to her feet.

Li Shu nearly collapsed into his arms, as though that ordeal had shattered entirely the mask of strength she wore.

Emperor Zhengyuan had never seen Li Shu this vulnerable before. She was different from his other daughters — his other daughters, whenever they wished to draw out his pity, would appear teary-eyed at the slightest provocation. Li Shu alone was always composed, rarely given to any strong display of feeling.

It was precisely because of this that the sight of her now stirred far deeper tenderness in him. He felt his own vision blur slightly, let out a long sigh, and patted Li Shu’s back. “It is well that you are safe. It is well that you are safe.”

Liu Cou stood to one side and quietly turned away to wipe a tear from his face.

Li Shu steadied herself after a moment and finally composed her emotions. Lifting her face to look at Emperor Zhengyuan, she said, “It is all your daughter’s fault for making Imperial Father worry. Please, Imperial Father, sit down.”

She reached out, intending to help him to his seat, but inadvertently pulled at the wound on her hand. Li Shu let out a soft hiss of pain, then immediately suppressed it and managed a faint smile. “Your daughter has grown useless — I can no longer even help Imperial Father to his seat.”

Emperor Zhengyuan’s heart ached at the sight of it. “Do not say such things.”

Liu Cou brought over a round stool and placed it beside the desk so the two of them could speak at close quarters.

Emperor Zhengyuan sighed. “Why did you trouble yourself to come to the palace? The most important thing now is for you to rest and tend to your injuries. Your coming to pay respects when you are well again would not be too late.”

Li Shu shook her head. “Your daughter feared Imperial Father would worry, and so wished to come and let you see for yourself — I have not lost a limb, I can speak, I can walk, I can eat. Seeing me in person will set your heart at ease far better than anything. Although the imperial physicians have already made their reports to you, there is still a remove between that and seeing me yourself, and your daughter was afraid it might not be enough to ease your concern.”

She looked at Emperor Zhengyuan, her eyes brimming with devoted filial feeling.

Emperor Zhengyuan felt warmth spread through him.

This child was far too thoughtful.

Seeing Li Shu alive and standing before him was indeed far more reassuring than any imperial physician relaying the words “the princess is unharmed.”

She had dragged herself here, covered in injuries, for no other purpose than to ease the worry in his heart.

When Li Shu chose to be so, she could be exceptionally attentive. She was skilled at reading people’s hearts — knowing what others wanted, what they did not want — and so catering to their desires cost her little effort. It was simply that she did not ordinarily care for such tender, accommodating ways.

In this moment, her gentleness and accommodation were not born of any deep filial feeling toward Emperor Zhengyuan. She had suffered a grave ordeal, and she could not simply endure it for nothing. Even exploiting her injuries to gain a measure of his sympathy was better than nothing at all.

Emperor Zhengyuan wore the expression of a doting father and instructed Liu Cou, “Is there not a thousand-year-old ginseng root in my inner treasury — the one presented as tribute by Goryeo last time? Go and fetch it. And the Empress’s chambers should have some blood swallow’s nest; bring it all out for Pingyang.”

He turned back with a face full of affectionate warmth. “You have been depleted of your vitality. You must nourish yourself properly.”

Li Shu bowed her thanks upon hearing this.

What was bestowed mattered less than the act of bestowing itself.

Following the grain requisition affair, to the eyes of outsiders, Princess Pingyang had been reprimanded by the Emperor and had lost imperial favor — and so the stream of visitors to her gate had suddenly dried up.

Now that the Emperor was once again bestowing gifts upon the princess, it was plain to all that he had not cast her aside; if anything, he cherished her more than before.

The desolate quiet at her gate would, without doubt, come alive again by tomorrow.

But this was merely an incidental gain. Li Shu had come to Emperor Zhengyuan covered in wounds, and her true purpose was not this.

Emperor Zhengyuan touched her hair. “Qianfu Temple is built on a mountain and lies outside the city walls. Going there so often is bound to invite mishaps eventually. Do not go to Qianfu Temple anymore after this. If you wish to offer incense, there are temples within the city.”

Upon hearing this, Li Shu fell silent for a moment. Then, all at once, she rose to her feet and knelt down directly on the floor, her expression grave and solemn. “Imperial Father, your daughter did not slip and fall from that cliff. Someone pushed me.”

Emperor Zhengyuan was immediately stunned. “What did you say?!”

His voice sharpened at once.

“Who was it?!”

He fixed Li Shu with a penetrating stare, but Li Shu shook her head. “Your daughter… does not know.”

Without evidence, one could not make reckless accusations — to do so would be slander.

Li Shu understood this clearly, and so did Cui Jinzhi.

Imperial Father’s feelings for the Crown Prince ran deeper than for any of his other children. For the Crown Prince’s sake, he had even been willing to tolerate the great families encroaching upon his power.

To rashly implicate the Crown Prince would only invite Imperial Father’s displeasure.

The key to bringing down the Crown Prince was first to let Imperial Father slowly grow disappointed in him — and the beginning of that disappointment was to plant the seed of suspicion.

Li Shu knelt on the floor, her eyes slowly reddening again, as though the terror she had barely managed to suppress was rising once more to the surface.

“Imperial Father, someone wants to kill your daughter…”

As she spoke these words, she shuffled forward on her knees, knelt at Emperor Zhengyuan’s feet, and pressed her face against his knee, weeping softly with utter desolation. “Someone wants to kill your daughter!”

Emperor Zhengyuan felt Li Shu’s body trembling faintly beneath his hands — trembling with the terror of one who has survived catastrophe.

The hall fell into a stillness broken only by Li Shu’s muffled, quiet sobs.

Very soon, Li Shu swallowed her tears back and lifted her face from his knee. “Your daughter has been impertinent. Imperial Father labors over the affairs of the court, and yet your daughter has placed her own troubles before you, only to distract you.”

Her eyes were tinged with red — at once fragile and yet resolute — and even now, she was thinking of Emperor Zhengyuan’s burdens.

Overflowing with fatherly tenderness, Emperor Zhengyuan reached out to help her up. “What are you saying? When a daughter suffers a grievance, she should come to her father and speak of it.”

“Tell me exactly how you came to fall from that cliff — every detail, from beginning to end.”

This was a matter of gravest severity.

Her eyes still rimmed with red, Li Shu nodded and told Emperor Zhengyuan the full account of her fall and how she had been rescued — concealing only the jade ornament and Shen Xiao.

“Imperial Father, your daughter has no evidence, and ordinarily she should not have brought up the matter of the cliff to trouble your mind. But… but your daughter cannot help feeling that something is strange. Of course your daughter has political opponents at court, yet in all these years, apart from enduring a few memorials of impeachment, nothing has ever threatened my life. Why is it only recently that something like this has happened?”

“Your daughter has not offended anyone of late!”

Recently. Those two words fell upon Emperor Zhengyuan’s ears, and the hand patting Li Shu’s hair stilled for a moment.

Recently — who had Que’nu recently offended?

The seed of suspicion fell softly upon his heart. Li Shu would slowly water and tend it; sooner or later, it would grow into a great tree, its roots splitting through the floor of the Eastern Palace.

When a man of integrity seeks justice, ten years is not too long to wait.

A long silence settled over the Hanyuan Hall.

After some time, Emperor Zhengyuan let out a quiet sigh. All of it was still only his suspicion — it could not be taken as truth. Que’nu had been prudent; she had said nothing explicit.

He gathered his composure and offered words of comfort. “I will conduct a thorough investigation into this matter and see that justice is done for you.”

He patted Li Shu’s hair. “You have few guards of your own to begin with. I have several men by my side — I will assign them all to you.”

Li Shu quickly replied, “Your daughter is deeply grateful, Imperial Father.”

The imperial guards who served at the Emperor’s side were all capable and trustworthy men. They would not give their entire loyalty to her, but at the same time, their presence would serve as a deterrent to the Crown Prince as well.

With Imperial Father’s protection, she would no longer have to fear for her life.

Emperor Zhengyuan offered further comfort. “You have suffered a grievance. Is there anything you wish for? Say it freely — I will grant it.”

Bestowing gold and silver and treasures always felt somewhat distant and impersonal, and Li Shu had never, in her ordinary manner, shown any particular fondness for anything. Emperor Zhengyuan was somewhat at a loss.

Upon hearing this, Li Shu suddenly looked up at Emperor Zhengyuan. “Imperial Father, your daughter wants for nothing — but there is one matter in which she wishes to seek your permission.”

Her expression was very grave, even suffused with a trace of despair.

“Your daughter wishes to seek a separation from Cui Jinzhi.”

“A separation? Why?”

Emperor Zhengyuan was taken aback.

Cui Jinzhi had been dissolute in his early years, but after the marriage he had settled considerably, as though he had collected his wandering heart. Whenever the two attended imperial banquets, they appeared to treat each other with mutual respect; there had been no reports of discord between them.

It was therefore with great surprise that Emperor Zhengyuan received these words.

Why would she want a separation?

Li Shu fell silent for a long while, kneeling there with her head bowed, without speaking. The reasons were too many — political, personal — and in the end, it came down to a single sentence. “Imperial Father, I am tired.”

“Cui Jinzhi and I have been married for five years. From the outside, it appears to be a union in full flower, but the heart of it is entirely rotten. We are incompatible in feeling, and we quarrel often.”

Li Shu closed her eyes. Thinking of Cui Jinzhi’s name now, she regarded him only as a political opponent’s name inscribed in black ink on white paper.

“He has kept a kept woman outside for years — a woman named Qing Luo, formerly the most celebrated courtesan of the Changle Ward. For the sake of household harmony, I have endured this for five years, hoping he would repent and change his ways. But…”

“Do you know what happened? When I fell from that cliff, he was not by my side at all — he was with that kept woman instead. The way of husband and wife is built upon mutual support and reliance, yet he has utterly failed to fulfill that duty, and time and again he has caused me grief.”

“Imperial Father, what is the point of going on like this… Your daughter implores you — please let me separate from him.”

Having said all this, Li Shu pressed her forehead deeply to the floor, her brow touching the cold marble. She forced her body to tremble slightly and to project an image of heartbreak.

Yet in truth, not a single emotion showed on her face.

The time had come to tear away all pretense. Whatever sordid evidence could serve as a stumbling block beneath his feet — she would use it all.

Bringing Qing Luo into this was in truth a blow to her own face as well. Once it was known, others would mock her for being unable to hold her husband’s affections.

But what did it matter? What others said was of no importance. What mattered was this: when dealing with a political enemy, one struck to kill.

Emperor Zhengyuan listened, stunned for a moment, and then erupted in fury. “What did you say? A kept woman outside the household!”

His voice rang out through the hall.

A prince consort keeping a kept woman — was this not a humiliation to the princess? Was it not a humiliation to the imperial family?

“Why did you not tell me sooner!”

Li Shu lifted her face, and with what appeared to be a grief-stricken smile — the very picture of a wronged woman — she said, “Your daughter… your daughter always believed he would find his way back…”

Emperor Zhengyuan pulled Li Shu to her feet, so furious he could have overturned the desk and kicked over the stools. “I actually thought he had changed his ways after the marriage. To think that… that he still has this profligate nature!”

Emperor Zhengyuan slapped the desk. “Where is Cui Jinzhi? Go and summon Cui Jinzhi before us at once!”

A palace attendant received the command and hurried off immediately.

After a moment, Emperor Zhengyuan’s fury subsided somewhat, and he began to consider in earnest the feasibility of what Li Shu had asked — the matter of separation.

A princess was of course entirely free to seek a separation whenever she wished. In the present dynasty, not a few princesses had done so, and remarriage was quite commonplace. Furthermore, the Cui Family now had only Cui Jinzhi to carry the entire weight of the household name. As long as Emperor Zhengyuan issued the command, they would have no power to resist the imperial house.

But…

Emperor Zhengyuan looked at Li Shu and suddenly said, “Que’nu, I will certainly punish Cui Jinzhi — and whatever disreputable woman there may be, I will clear them all away for you. From now on, he will not dare to carry on in such a manner!”

“But you know that Cui Jinzhi is not merely Cui Jinzhi. Behind him lies a dense and intricate web of great family connections. I need someone beside him to watch him on my behalf.”

Shen Xiao had only recently been promoted, and Emperor Zhengyuan still wished to elevate more scholars of humble birth — a course that would inevitably provoke even fiercer resistance from the great families. Those men on the verge of ruin, who knew what schemes they might devise.

If Que’nu were beside Cui Jinzhi, his understanding of the great families would also deepen by another layer.

Li Shu was taken aback.

Even at this point — even now that Cui Jinzhi had become what he was — Imperial Father still… still wanted her to remain in that pit of fire.

All his fatherly warmth of a moment ago had been entirely false. Even her own father, when faced with the choice between power and family, chose the former.

Li Shu let out a sudden cold laugh.

What difference was there between Imperial Father and Cui Jinzhi?

“Imperial Father, I beg of you — I truly… truly do not wish to go on with Cui Jinzhi any further.”

But Emperor Zhengyuan’s voice turned cold. “Que’nu, have you forgotten what you said to me that day in the Hanyuan Hall? Cutting away the rot to save the life, scraping the bone to treat the wound — and someone willing to be that blade.”

Li Shu knelt on the floor. Emperor Zhengyuan watched as she closed her eyes, concealing those clear, piercing irises — and only then did he seem to realize that she was, in truth, nothing more than a young girl.

No different from Anle at all. Yet she had borne far heavier burdens than Anle ever had.

Li Shu closed her eyes. A chill spread through her entire body. After a long silence, she heard her own voice say, “Very well, Imperial Father. I will not seek a separation from him.”

“Your daughter does not feel well. She will take her leave now.”

With that, she rose to her feet, without so much as glancing at Emperor Zhengyuan, and turned to walk out.

She reached the entrance of the side chamber and seemed, all at once, to lose the strength to stand. She leaned against a pillar and steadied herself for a moment.

Emperor Zhengyuan watched her retreating figure and suddenly called out, “Que’nu — do you resent me?”

A long silence passed before Li Shu finally turned around. She pressed down all the feeling within herself and even managed a faint smile, meeting Emperor Zhengyuan’s gaze. “I do not, Imperial Father.”

This was her fate. She had always known it. No one loved her — they only wished to use her.

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