“Your Majesty.” Xie Yuzhang curtsied.

Li Gu stared at her. “What are you doing here?”

Xie Yuzhang said, “Someone claiming to be the Princess’s attendant brought me here, but—” She turned her head. The palace maid who had been knocked to the ground was nowhere to be seen. She had apparently seized the moment when the Emperor opened the door to roll and crawl away.

Xie Yuzhang was vexed. One moment of inattention, and she had walked right into someone else’s trap.

Li Gu at this point cared nothing for “someone else.” He only looked at Xie Yuzhang’s luminous face, which made his throat go dry. Yet Li Gu was still lucid enough to know that something was wrong.

He asked, “What is going on?”

As he spoke, he stepped forward, descended the stone steps, and stood before Xie Yuzhang.

There was the smell of wine about him — but beneath the wine, something else. A fragrance.

Xie Yuzhang’s expression changed abruptly.

She cast a glance at the open hall doors, weighed things silently for a moment, then looked up. “May I ask Your Majesty — is there anyone else in the hall?”

Li Gu looked at her red lips. “No.”

Xie Yuzhang gave a small bow. “Your Majesty, forgive your subject’s presumptuousness.”

As she spoke, she slipped past Li Gu, lifted her skirts, and strode quickly into the hall.

Li Gu paused for a moment, adjusted the robe draped over his shoulder, and followed her inside.

Xie Yuzhang looked around, pushed open the latticed screen door, and entered the inner chamber.

The inner chamber held a bed and a writing table. Since the people from Hexi had taken Yunjing, the city had gradually abandoned the old practice of sitting on the floor. Tall tables and chairs had replaced the old ways, and the sleeping platforms had similarly been changed to this new style.

That Li Gu was here at all — he had likely come to rest in this quiet spot after hosting the senior ministers, escaping the noise of the spring banquet.

Xie Yuzhang lifted the lid of the incense burner on the table and inhaled, then set the lid back down. She picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea, and from within her sleeve produced a small gold grooming set. Using the tiny gold tweezers, she extracted the incense tray and tipped all of its powder into the tea.

The fragrance that had been drifting through the room began to weaken.

Li Gu stood in the doorway of the inner chamber, watching her do all of this.

“What is it?” he asked — though in his heart, he had already guessed.

Xie Yuzhang said, “This incense is called ‘Spring’s Embrace.’ It has arousing properties.”

She put away the gold grooming set and dusted off her hands. “This is a century-old secret formula from the palace — quite dependable, and causes no harm to the body. Whoever did this had no intention of harming Your Majesty, so please do not be troubled.”

What was given must be returned in kind.

That person had lured her here, intending for her to discover that the Emperor had been subjected to this — so she would not be blamed for exposing it to his face.

“Only,” she added, “prolonged use in men may lead to dependency. Your Majesty is still young. There is truly no need for this.”

Li Gu stood blocking the doorway and looked at her. “How do you know about this?”

Xie Yuzhang maintained a composed and solemn expression. “The nanny who traveled north with me was the head female official who had served my mother — she held a number of secretive formulas that she passed on to me.”

The fragrance in the room had not yet fully dissipated. Li Gu’s eyes were red at the corners — the combined effect of wine and incense — and his gaze was scorchingly intense. Xie Yuzhang had exposed what someone had done, and she knew she had to leave immediately.

“Your Majesty has been drinking — are you feeling unwell? Where is Fuchun?” Xie Yuzhang said. “Your Majesty, please wait a moment. I will go find someone to attend to you.”

She lifted her skirts, intending to leave.

Li Gu raised his arm and pressed it against the door frame.

Xie Yuzhang’s way was blocked.

The tip of Xie Yuzhang’s nose was damp with perspiration.

What was happening? Was the Emperor not the sort of man who, in the past, had done nothing more than stand unmovingly in her path — never once reaching out to touch her?

In the past, her status and her history had both invited contempt and trampling — and even then, he had never laid a hand on her.

Was “Spring’s Embrace” truly this potent? Had he been breathing it for so long?

Xie Yuzhang could indeed feel heat rising in her own body. Perhaps it was because everyone blended the incense in different concentrations — the ones she had blended herself had never been this strong. The residual fragrance in the room was still heavy; if they remained much longer, something truly might happen.

Xie Yuzhang mimicked Li Gu’s usual expression of blank impassiveness, drew her face taut, and looked up. “Your Majesty?”

Li Gu studied her for a long moment, then asked, “You knew immediately — just from the smell?”

Xie Yuzhang stilled.

Li Gu asked, “You’ve used it?”

Li Gu asked again, “Do you use it often?”

With each sentence Li Gu spoke, he took one step closer.

The wine, the arousing fragrance, and the man’s own presence pressed toward her. With each step he took, Xie Yuzhang retreated one step: “Only — only occasionally.”

But Li Gu’s footsteps did not stop. Xie Yuzhang stepped back again and again, until her body finally met the edge of the table — there was nowhere left to retreat.

She murmured, “Only occasionally… to set the mood…”

“Occasionally?” Li Gu pressed both palms against the table, locking Xie Yuzhang in before him. “And yet you recognized it instantly?”

Xie Yuzhang’s every breath was filled with Li Gu’s presence.

She held her breath and said with difficulty, “Ashina Wuwei… he was shattered by Marquis Jiang’s defeats, living in fear day and night, and in that period he became very dependent on this incense — he couldn’t do without it… You… you mustn’t use this…”

The name Ashina Wuwei struck something in Li Gu. The red at his eye corners deepened.

“Xie Yuzhang!” He stared at her. “Knowing this incense as well as you do — you still dared to come in?”

What was she relying on? Nothing but his own restraint and self-control!

Had she ever once considered how difficult it was for him!

Li Gu drew his arms inward, pulling Xie Yuzhang tightly against him, and said with fury: “You are too much!”

Xie Yuzhang had always been far too at ease around Li Gu. She had never imagined she would capsize today. Now she regretted it deeply — she should never have put herself in danger just to strike back at Li Zhenzhen.

Her mind raced, thinking of how to manage the situation. But the fragrance of “Spring’s Embrace” was making her body go soft.

Li Gu felt the figure in his arms turn pliant as boneless silk.

That day she had wept and thrown herself into his arms — he had not been able to hold her properly then. The fleeting sensation of that brief moment had never left his heart; it had only been forcibly suppressed.

Today she had walked into the trap herself. Holding her again, pulling that impossibly slender waist against him, Li Gu felt something scalding roll and surge within him, close to eruption.

He lowered his head toward her.

Xie Yuzhang turned her face aside. The kiss landed on her earlobe. Li Gu bit down.

Xie Yuzhang’s breathing fell into disarray. She pressed her arms between them, bracing against his chest. Li Gu’s body pressed tightly against hers — the spring clothing was thin, and the hardened urgency of the man was felt with startling clarity.

“Your Majesty, this is only the effect of the incense. It is not real,” she said, forcing herself to stay composed.

Li Gu bent down and lifted her into his arms.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please calm down…” she said.

“You brought this on yourself,” Li Gu said. “I have been holding back all this time.”

Watching that smile that sent light scattering in all directions. Watching those lovely eyes that beckoned and danced. Watching her joy, watching her pique, that effortless mastery, that endless, brilliant liveliness. Did she know how he had endured it?

The sheer audacity of her! It was truly infuriating!

Xie Yuzhang bit her lip, and finally relented.

“Your subject was wrong,” she said. “The Imperial Noble Consort set a trap for me — she wanted to deliver me to Your Majesty’s bed. I was angry, and wanted to expose what she had done to the incense right to Your Majesty’s face. I was wrong…”

Li Gu’s footsteps did not stop.

The bed was only a few steps away.

“The General once said, ‘In matters like this, men cannot be trusted.'” The soft voice of the woman in his arms drifted up quietly. “Yuzhang did not listen to the General’s words. Yuzhang was wrong.”

Li Gu’s footsteps stopped.

Xie Yuzhang’s arms were around his shoulders, her eyes carrying a veil of something like mist, lips bitten, as she pleaded with him: “General — forgive Yuzhang this once…”

The bed lay right before his eyes.

A voice inside Li Gu said: You are already the Emperor. You can take her. You can take any woman you want — especially her. That is what power is for. Otherwise, why do the heroes of this world fight so fiercely to seize it?

But Xie Yuzhang’s voice sounded again near his ear: “…General?”

Trembling. Tentative.

She was frightened.

Though perhaps even this was pretense — another deception, another way of teasing him and taking advantage of him.

Li Gu’s breath was heavy, but in the end he let go of his arms.

Xie Yuzhang slid down from him and her feet touched the ground.

Li Gu said furiously: “Get out!”

Xie Yuzhang did not hesitate for even a moment. The instant her feet hit the floor, she hoisted her skirts and fled — and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Li Gu seethed.

Xie Yuzhang ran out of Feiyan Hall and stood outside the doors, drawing in great lungfuls of air. She cursed Li Zhenzhen inwardly — that incense had been blended far too thick and far too potent.

She caught her breath for a moment, not daring to linger, and set off at a brisk pace with skirts in hand. After walking some distance, she heard someone call her name: “Yongning?”

Xie Yuzhang turned her head. Coming along another path, a graceful and beautiful woman approached, attendants in tow.

Xie Yuzhang’s heart brightened and she quickened her steps. “Noble Consort Shu!”

Everyone knew that compared to Noble Consort Xian Cui’s gentle warmth, Noble Consort Shu Deng had something of a proud nature — less soft. But from the moment Xie Yuzhang had returned to Yunjing and seen her again, she had already become a mother, and every time Xie Yuzhang saw her, she felt a softness between the woman’s brows that was entirely unlike her previous life.

Coming close now, she could smell a faint, sweet trace of milk clinging to her — the gentle scent that young children leave on those who hold them — particularly pleasant.

Deng Jiu’s matter she had handled with clean decisiveness, giving a glimpse of her principles as a person. Xie Yuzhang genuinely thought well of her — she was an outstanding woman, and in every way worthy of Li Gu.

Xie Yuzhang came right up to her, voice carrying a note of complaint: “What is going on in this palace? I’ve been running all over the place and can’t find a single person.”

Noble Consort Shu Deng paused, but then Xie Yuzhang continued: “His Majesty is in Feiyan Hall — he’s had some wine, and Fuchun is nowhere to be found. I’ve been searching everywhere for someone to attend to him and can’t find anyone. I’m half beside myself. Noble Consort, please go quickly.”

Xie Yuzhang then added: “The palace maid who was guiding me said she needed to answer nature’s call, went off, and never came back. The Princess is still waiting for me to come appreciate the qin, and now I don’t know where to find her. This is hopeless. I’d better go back to the banquet and find someone there.”

Noble Consort Shu Deng said at once: “You can’t wander around alone. That’s no way to be.” She turned and gave instructions: “You two — escort the Princess.”

Then with an apologetic expression: “The palace has always been a bit short-staffed. Today with so many guests and so much happening, everyone has been dispatched to the imperial gardens. Please bear with us.”

Xie Yuzhang said, “Yes — the Noble Consorts have had a tiring day of it. More palace maids and attendants really should be brought in.”

Noble Consort Shu Deng said, “His Majesty insists on keeping things lean, and won’t hear of it.”

“Oh, His Majesty!” Xie Yuzhang said. “Never mind — Noble Consort, please go quickly.”

Noble Consort Shu Deng said, “Right. I’ll go now.”

And so they parted ways there. Two palace maids were assigned to Xie Yuzhang; the two women went their separate directions — one toward the imperial gardens, one toward Feiyan Hall.

Xie Yuzhang returned to the banquet. Lin Fei had been looking for her: “Where did you go?”

Xie Yuzhang said, “Just walking about. Getting some air. The weather is beautiful today.”

Lin Fei said, “Of course it is — the Bureau of Astronomy selected this date after reading the omens.”

Xie Yuzhang said, “The Bureau of Astronomy is often wrong about the weather, you know. Do you remember that time Fifth Brother organized everyone for a hunting outing, and specially consulted the Bureau of Astronomy first? One of the masters swore up and down it would be a clear day — and then we all ended up soaked to the bone…”

But Lin Fei did not pick up the thread of conversation. She fixed her gaze on Xie Yuzhang and asked, “Why does your face look like that?”

Xie Yuzhang said, “My face always looks like this.”

Lin Fei said, “Phft.” Then: “Particularly flushed — better than rouge.”

She looked more closely, her expression shifting with surprise. “And why is there a red mark on your ear?”

Xie Yuzhang said, “Probably a little insect bit me.”

Fortunately, Feiyan Hall was some distance away. She had walked quickly the whole way, and any trace of that fragrance had dispersed entirely from her clothes.

Just as they were speaking, Princess Hexi arrived with her companions: “Your Highness, I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Xie Yuzhang smiled. “I went for a walk to clear my head after the wine.”

Princess Hexi said, “They’ve already finished preparing the incense. Shall we go appreciate the qin? Lin Family Young Lady, please come too.”

Xie Yuzhang clapped her hands. “Wonderful. I know a thing or two about the qin — but for incense appreciation, I couldn’t hold a candle to Fei Niang.”

Lin Fei said, “It would be an honor.”

And so the group went off together with laughter.

Noble Consort Shu Deng had arrived at Feiyan Hall with her attendants. All was quiet, and sure enough, Fuchun was nowhere in sight. Fuchun was supposed to remain at the Emperor’s side at all times — Noble Consort Shu Deng found this peculiar.

The outer doors were left slightly ajar. Noble Consort Shu Deng left her attendants outside and walked in herself: “Your Majesty? Your Majesty, are you there? It is your subject.”

The inner chamber’s door was also ajar, but no one answered.

After a long silence, Li Gu’s low voice came from within.

“Wan Wan,” he said. “Come in.”