Xiao Shi looked at her son. No one knows a child as the mother who bore him — she knew he was not asking out of simple naivety.
“You don’t believe me?”
“Mother, I believe you — that is why I am here with you.” Gu Yanze looked down and toyed absently with the hem of his robe. “But what about you? In your heart — do I hold even the smallest place?”
“You are my son. You are my life. Yanze — saying such a thing is stabbing your own mother in the heart!”
Xiao Shi turned and pointed at Hua Zhi. “You would truly believe her, just because of her prodding?”
“If Maternal Grandfather truly has nothing to hide, then his appearing would solve everything at once, would it not? If he is truly innocent, what is there to fear?”
Xiao Shi was completely cornered and could not find a word to say in reply.
Gu Yanze raised his head, and with a smile, asked very softly, “Even knowing that what lies before me is a path to death — did you ever hesitate, even once?”
“Yanze, your mother never once intended to sacrifice you!”
“Your not sacrificing me does not mean others won’t. If they wanted my life, could you truly protect me?”
“Of course I could — who would dare—!” The words left her mouth, and Xiao Shi knew at once she had made a mistake. She stared at her son in disbelief. “You — you were helping others draw out my words?”
Gu Yanze’s smile looked more like grief. “So you truly are of the Chaoli tribe.”
Xiao Shi did not answer. She turned and looked at Hua Zhi. “Masterfully done, Grand Tutor.”
Hua Zhi smiled and inclined her head pleasantly. “You flatter me. There is no rule in this world that says you may scheme and plot to your hearts’ content while we must remain upright and aboveboard at all times. Compared to what Madam Xiao has done over all these years, this amounts to nothing.”
“And what does knowing any of this matter now? It is already too late.” Xiao Shi stepped forward with a cold laugh. “Father has already laid all the groundwork. You cannot even find him — Great Qing is finished!”
“You think I do not know where they are?” Hua Zhi tilted her chin upward. “The most dangerous place is the safest place. They are right here — in the palace.”
A flash of shock darted through Xiao Shi’s eyes. Brief as it was — no more than a flicker — Hua Zhi, who had been watching her intently, caught every bit of it. She had meant only to test her — and yet they truly were within the palace walls.
With what she needed now in hand, Hua Zhi saw no point in lingering. She said nothing more and turned to walk toward the door.
At that moment, Xiao Shi launched herself without warning at Hua Zhi’s unguarded back. She was almost upon her, and a triumphant smile had already spread across Xiao Shi’s face — all those men her father had sent, and none of them could finish the job; who could have imagined it would end in her own hands?
But she did not know: Hua Zhi was never a careless person. Especially when facing someone who had caused both Gu Yanxi and Shao Yao such trouble, she had kept her guard up without a moment’s lapse. She remembered that Gu Yanxi had once said Xiao Shi’s family ran a martial arts school — she knew how to fight.
The instant she sensed movement behind her, she signaled to the shadow in the corner with a gesture, and closed her hand around the dagger she carried. She let Xiao Shi’s technique extend to its fullest and her momentum commit, then stepped to the side — and drove the dagger in hard. Xiao Shi tried to dodge but it was already too late. She took the full blow, rolled away on the ground, yet she could not escape — Hua Zhi had used this move many times before, and knew exactly how another woman would react. She pressed after her, and drove the dagger into her thigh. Xiao Shi cried out in pain, her injured leg dragging as she retreated unsteadily.
Hua Zhi followed every step, and drew the blade across her other leg before pulling back. As much as she wanted nothing more than to kill this woman, she could not actually do so in the palace — that line could not be crossed. But making her suffer first was entirely within bounds. That was why she had not let the shadow guard intervene; the shadow guard could have subdued Xiao Shi easily, but out of deference to her rank, would not have been permitted to hurt her — and that would have let her off far too lightly.
The door was shoved open. The Crown Prince strode in, gave Hua Zhi a quick, discreet look from head to toe to confirm she had taken no new injuries, and then said in a measured voice: “Take her.”
Gu Yanze pushed himself to his feet against the armrest and knelt before the Crown Prince — but said nothing. He had made his position clear in the moments just before. Saying anything now would be excessive.
Hua Zhi endured the tearing pain in her shoulder and looked at the figure on the ground. Brilliantly clever, born with a calculating heart — a pity it had grown in the wrong direction. Otherwise, His Highness might have had another capable ally.
The Crown Prince stepped forward and personally helped the person who stood a full head shorter than him to rise. “This has nothing to do with you. Cousin may rest and recuperate here in the palace for the time being. Laifu.”
“This old servant is here.”
“Arrange a palace residence for our cousin and see that capable attendants are assigned.”
“Understood.”
This amounted to keeping the boy directly under his own eye — and he did so openly. Even those who understood perfectly well that it was a precaution could find no fault with it.
Gu Yanze had the sense to know his place, and allowed Laifu to lead him away.
The Crown Prince walked alongside Hua Zhi, one hand loosely supporting her arm, as they headed out. “Now that we know they are in the palace, this becomes manageable. We will search every stone until we find them.”
The procession filed out, seemingly unaware of the Ling Wang standing outside, who looked as though he had aged ten years in a single night. Hua Zhi did glance his way. She felt nothing but a cool satisfaction. You were the one who broke the promise of a hundred poems, who cast aside your marriage vows first — and then brought harm to Gu Yanxi and Shao Yao after that. A blow like this is nothing. What will truly gnaw at him, through every sleepless night for the next several decades, will be regret.
“Your Highness — shall we go to the side hall?”
The Crown Prince understood at once. The group made their way to where the terrain model was kept.
Hua Zhi smoothed away the previous arrangement on the sand table and began tracing the layout of the capital with the long pointer — and was grateful, in that moment, that it was her left hand that had been injured.
After a moment, she passed the pointer to the Crown Prince. “The palace, if you would, Your Highness.”
The Crown Prince accepted without hesitation. Only he could map the palace — in anyone else’s hands, it would be a crime of spying on the imperial residence.
Hua Zhi studied the rows of palace buildings laid out before her, turning over in her mind where the Strategist might be concealed at this very moment.
The Grand Preceptor knitted his brow. “Might we work from the angle of those who entered the palace but never left? The Strategist is of irreplaceable value to the Chaoli tribe — surely he would not have come in alone.”
“That approach is worth pursuing, though I doubt it will yield much. They have come this far — they would have planned ahead for exactly that line of investigation. We will find nothing they intended us to find.”
The Grand Preceptor, being of the imperial family and also holding duties as an advisory official, had frequent access to the Empress Dowager, and was therefore well acquainted with the workings of the palace. He spoke now: “Since the late Emperor’s passing, the Empress Dowager has confined all the consorts to the rear quarters and issued strict orders that none may move freely or approach the forward sections. This means that a great many palace buildings are likely standing empty.”
The Crown Prince gave a slight nod, touching the long pointer to several points on the terrain model. “Someone — bring Fu Gang’s orders to lead the Imperial Guards in a full sweep of all vacant palace buildings.”
“Understood.”
Once the messenger had gone, the Crown Prince spoke again: “Shadow One.”
Shadow One appeared soundlessly and knelt.
“Fu Gang will move in the open to draw the enemy’s attention. Dispatch a team to conduct a covert search in parallel.”
Shadow One acknowledged the order and withdrew.
Hua Zhi gave an approving nod. Good — the Crown Prince would not become the puppet she had feared. He had his own thinking; he was becoming more resolute and decisive with each passing day. No one would ever be able to lead him by the nose. Good.
“Your Highness, Nanny Yuxiang requests an audience.”
The Crown Prince glanced at the water clock. At this hour…
“Let her in.”
Yuxiang’s expression was one of rare distress. As she crossed the threshold, she stumbled, and in her agitation forgot even the proper courtesies. With a voice broken by panic, she cried out: “Your Highness — the Imperial Lady has fainted!”
Author’s note: One update today — I need to take a breath. There is a great deal to write and I feel like I have been rushing it. As for what comes next, readers are welcome to guess in the book review section.