Over the course of those two weeks, Shen Xiao kept a constant watch over the memorials in the Secretariat — yet not so much as a single memorial arrived from Luofu, let alone from anywhere else in the entire Henan Circuit. Everything was still and quiet.

With that, Shen Xiao was certain: Cui Jinzhi had resolved to conceal the Luofu flooding entirely.

Shen Xiao had just finished going through the memorials. Now he stood beneath the eaves of the Secretariat offices, watching the rain drizzle down without cease, his gaze drifting toward the distant Eastern Palace.

Li Shu held a private grievance against the Eastern Palace — but he did not. Everything he was doing now was driven partly by his own ambition to serve a future ruler, but more by the conviction that the man presently seated in the Eastern Palace lacked the character worthy of that position.

The next day was the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month.

Li Shu had spent her two months of recuperation developing thoroughly lazy habits. Her schedule had grown increasingly irregular — sleeping late and rising late. By the time her carriage arrived at Xiankelai, the midday meal hour had long since passed.

Li Shu stepped into the private room. She did not know how long Shen Xiao had been waiting. He sat there alone, playing chess against himself. The room was very quiet, with only the sound of pieces being set on the board. The black and white stones were interspersed across it in a complex pattern — clearly a battle had been waged for some time.

Today the rain had let up, and a pale, thin sunlight filtered through layers of cloud and fell on the side of his face by the window, casting a touch of warmth over his cold, austere features.

Li Shu gave Shen Xiao a brief look, and without any particular direction her thoughts drifted: when Shen Xiao was still a mere scholar and had not yet entered official life — how had he managed to be so desperately poor? Plainly, if that face of his were put on the market, it would start at no less than a thousand silver taels. Add in the vigorous energy of youth and the impressive quality of the work, and that price could easily be doubled.

Not, of course, that she actually meant that. It was just an idle private joke. Men of learning set great store by their dignity.

Shen Xiao saw Li Shu arrive and set down his piece to come over. “Princess.”

He stood facing her and looked down at her. “The Secretariat has not received any memorial from Luofu reporting a disaster.”

Li Shu nodded and brought her thoughts back to the matter at hand. “I told you — Cui Jinzhi will go to any lengths for the Eastern Palace. He will definitely bury all of it.”

Shen Xiao asked, “How has your evidence gathering gone?”

As he asked, he leaned his head slightly toward her, and could faintly catch the delicate fragrance from her hair.

Li Shu gestured for Hong Luo to bring over a sheaf of papers and set them on the table.

She explained, “This is evidence of the Yellow River breaching its banks in Luofu, as well as evidence of the Luofu Prefect’s corruption and dereliction of duty.”

Cui Jinzhi had dared to conceal the disaster from the Emperor only because of the inconvenient transportation, the Emperor’s trust in the Eastern Palace, and the fact that the Luofu area was all his own people.

But the Yellow River was still right there — no amount of capability on Cui Jinzhi’s part could make those three flooded counties disappear into thin air.

And so gathering this evidence had not been especially difficult.

Li Shu thought for a moment, frowned, and added, “I have also uncovered some other matters.”

“The Crown Prince has been building his power for many years in the Eastern Palace and has grown formidable. Over the years, whether court officials in the capital or officials in the regions, as many as possible have flattered him and paid him tribute. Among the prefectures along the Yellow River embankments alone, the great majority are closely tied to the Crown Prince.”

“But the Crown Prince favors the great families, and so the men he has installed are all scions of powerful clans.”

Li Shu gave a cold snort. “Great family scions — with a few exceptions like Cui Jinzhi who are genuinely capable, most of them can only pursue pleasure and are useless for any real work.”

Li Shu fixed her gaze on Shen Xiao, her meaning implied but not stated: “In your view, do you think those kinds of people would have properly maintained the Yellow River embankments?”

Shen Xiao heard this and was struck: “You mean — other areas are very likely to breach as well!”

Li Shu nodded slowly.

The Luofu breach was just one small gap in a thousand miles of embankment. The floodwaters surged through with tremendous force, and that small gap would be torn wider and wider until it spread across the entire Henan Circuit.

This would become the greatest flood the Yellow River had unleashed during the Emperor’s reign.

If a disaster of this scale occurred, with displaced people filling the Central Plains — she simply refused to believe the Crown Prince could walk away unscathed. Father’s disappointment in the Crown Prince would be absolute, and with the anger of the common people boiling over, deposing the Crown Prince would become an unavoidable necessity.

Li Shu’s fingers tightened. She let out a cold, quiet laugh. The Eastern Palace was weaving its own trap!

Shen Xiao’s mind went blank for an instant, and then he immediately reached out to take the sheaf of evidence from the table.

“I must report this to the Emperor at once. The Yellow River disaster is about to become a catastrophe, and it is imperative that troops and laborers be mobilized quickly. While the embankments can still hold for a time, the people along the river banks must be evacuated without delay. This matter cannot be put off!”

He said this as he moved toward the door, urgent and resolved.

“Stop!”

Li Shu’s voice came from behind him. Shen Xiao had just reached out to open the door when Li Shu rushed over and grabbed hold of his arm.

“We cannot tell Father now!”

Shen Xiao paused, slowly turning around.

Li Shu looked up at him. Her eyes were cold. “What if — what if we were the ones to conceal the Luofu breach?”

Shen Xiao appeared to have understood what Li Shu was saying — or appeared to have not understood — or perhaps simply refused to understand.

His voice dropped lower. “What do you mean?”

She still had a tight hold on his arm, standing inches away from him. They were physically so close, and yet Shen Xiao had the feeling this was the greatest distance there had ever been between them.

A scheme took shape in Li Shu’s mind with swift precision.

“As long as we wait a little longer, more areas along the Yellow River will certainly flood one after another. A disaster on that scale — Cui Jinzhi alone could never hold it back. By then, with the Central Plains inundated and displaced people everywhere — whose fault is all of this? The Eastern Palace’s!”

Her words came in rapid succession, as though any slowness would leave her behind her own racing thoughts.

“We cannot tell Father about Luofu now. We wait — we wait until the Yellow River floods beyond any hope of control, and only then do we bring the evidence before Father and make our accusation.”

“By then — Father will depose the Crown Prince on the spot!”

Li Shu’s expression had become very cold. Even a faint savagery showed in it.

Shen Xiao stood there in silence by the door, looking down at Li Shu with eyes full of something unfamiliar — as though he were meeting Li Shu for the very first time.

This was Li Shu’s true face: willing to do anything for the sake of seizing power.

The person before him was deeply familiar — someone who had appeared many times in his dreams — and at the same time utterly a stranger.

Shen Xiao found his voice after a long silence. “Do you know what you just said?”

Knowing that the embankments along the Yellow River were all at risk of breaching, Li Shu wanted to stand by and watch, letting the floods run unchecked.

“Li Shu,”

Shen Xiao called her by her full name for the first time. His tone was very cold. “With one light sentence you consign countless people to their fate — have you truly thought through what the cost would be?”

What had the people along the Yellow River done wrong? Simply because of a power struggle at court, they deserved to be made refugees — or lose their lives?

Shen Xiao’s expression was this severe. Li Shu was startled by it.

The scheme had formed in her mind within moments. She had not given a single thought to the people living along the Yellow River.

Compared to the seizure of power at court, that was simply a negligible consideration.

Shen Xiao fixed his gaze on Li Shu and slowly reached out, prying open the fingers Li Shu had gripped around his arm.

His stance was unyielding. “I am going to report the Luofu disaster to the Emperor. Mending the fold after the sheep has strayed — better late than never.”

“Shen Xiao!”

Li Shu was urgent. “This is a tremendous opportunity to bring down the Eastern Palace! If we only—”

“— Only stand by and watch while so many people are driven from their homes by the floods?”

Shen Xiao cut her off and said through gritted teeth, “I would not do this even if Seventh Prince could use this affair to rise directly to the throne.”

“If we did this — what difference would there be between us and the Eastern Palace? What meaning would there be in toppling the Eastern Palace?”

Li Shu replied coldly, “Of course there is meaning — is supreme power not enough of a meaning?!”

Shen Xiao looked at Li Shu and gave a sudden, cold laugh. “Apart from power — is there anything else in your eyes?”

Was there anything else that could enter her heart?

Shen Xiao’s words were like a sharp blade driving straight into Li Shu’s chest. Li Shu flinched for an instant — then immediately raised her defenses.

“I am this kind of person. Surely this is not the first day you have known me?”

She was ruthless. She was unscrupulous. She had endured enough hardship as a child; now she would be no one’s inferior.

All the intangible feelings in the world could not be held — only power could be grasped in the hand.

She pursued power. What was wrong with that?

Li Shu extended her hand, her face cold. “Shen Xiao, give me the evidence you are holding.”

Shen Xiao slowly placed his right hand behind his back, his expression unyielding.

Li Shu stared at Shen Xiao and pressed further. “Hand it over.”

Shen Xiao held her gaze without blinking.

Li Shu gritted her teeth. “Shen Xiao, do not force me to call the guards in.”

Shen Xiao looked at Li Shu. “Do not walk down the wrong road.”

His gaze was utterly unfamiliar — even filled with disappointment.

Looking into his deep, dark pupils, Li Shu saw her own reflection at this moment.

Her eyes were full of ruthlessness, of resolution, and of fanaticism — the fanaticism of someone consumed by the desire for power.

Li Shu froze.

Time shifted; the scene changed.

That day after she had fallen off the cliff and been rescued — the moment when Cui Jinzhi had demanded the jade ornament from her neck — how closely it resembled this moment.

Cui Jinzhi had pressed in step by step, until she had nowhere left to retreat. Cui Jinzhi, in order to keep the Eastern Palace’s position unshaken, had sacrificed her entirely.

For Cui Jinzhi, power had always triumphed over everything.

Today she was the ruthless Cui Jinzhi of that day. Today’s Shen Xiao was herself as she had been then.

For the sake of seizing power, she was prepared to leave the lives of countless people along the Yellow River to their fate.

On either side of the scales — the single word “power” outweighed everything else in the world.

Li Shu’s expression showed a visible moment of stunned vacancy, and her gaze went opaque with confusion: from what point had she become the kind of person that Cui Jinzhi was? Or perhaps from the very beginning there had never been any difference between her and Cui Jinzhi.

She was fighting the Eastern Palace — yet the Eastern Palace was also corrupting her. If she truly succeeded one day in placing a prince on the throne, it would be nothing more than the Crown Prince wearing a different face.

Li Shu suddenly let go of Shen Xiao’s arm and stepped back one pace. She had lost this standoff.

“Shen Xiao, go.”

Li Shu finished speaking and quickly turned away, refusing to look at Shen Xiao any longer.

As though she were a person of unspeakable ugliness, fleeing from others’ eyes.

This was who she was — hungering for power, willing to do anything to reach her goal. She and the enemy she sought to defeat were no different whatsoever.

Shen Xiao had finally seen her in her truest, most unguarded form. And in her most unsightly form.

Would he — still choose to continue working with her?

Would he still — choose to remain by her side?

From behind her came a long silence. Then at last Li Shu heard the sound of the door being pushed open.

Her body went rigid all at once. Yet her face wore an expression of complete indifference.

Let him go if he wished to go.

Shen Xiao held the evidence in hand and crossed the threshold — ready to leave, yet after a moment’s pause he suddenly turned back, looking at Li Shu’s taut, unyielding back.

He let out a quiet, almost imperceptible sigh, and spoke on his own initiative: “I will go to the palace first. Once this matter has passed — I will come and find you again.”

He would continue working with her. And he would continue to stay by her side — as long as she was willing.

Shen Xiao seemed to know what was turning over in Li Shu’s mind, as though through flesh and bone he could see the turmoil and fear within her.

He fixed his eyes on the plain gold hairpin at the top of Li Shu’s hair and suddenly said, “Li Shu — you are not the same as them.”

At least she had, in the end, let go of the demand for the evidence.

She was full of thorns. She was cold and distant. It seemed as though her eyes held nothing beyond power and wealth.

Yet she stubbornly wore a plain gold hairpin, and had hopelessly loved Cui Jinzhi for five years. Her great sprawling residence was full of things she had accumulated — and yet, in truth, her hands held nothing at all.

Beneath that hard armor was her most tender and vulnerable interior.

She had faults and she had weaknesses.

Fault and weakness together made her who she was. The past and the present converged into her.

That was who she was.

The person he loved.

Shen Xiao held his gaze on Li Shu for a moment, then turned and descended the stairs.

He stepped out of Xiankelai, in no hurry to board his sedan chair. He raised his eyes toward the third floor. Shen Xiao caught the outline of Li Shu’s figure — but she quickly drew back behind the window, clearly not wanting him to see her.

Shen Xiao tightened his grip on the papers in hand, and a faint smile rose on his face. Then he lifted the hem of his robe and got into the sedan chair.

“To the palace.”