In the dead of night, Gu Yanxi scaled the wall of the Hua household.

Shao Yao looked up without surprise as he pushed the door open. She did not shift her position, still sitting with her arms around her knees and her chin resting on them, watching Hua Zhi with focused attention.

Gu Yanxi settled on the edge of the bed. The two of them kept watch through the night together — both afraid A’Zhi might have nightmares. And in truth, Hua Zhi did. In the dream, her own head was severed from her body, and she floated in the air above and watched Yanxi clutch her and wail, watched Shao Yao collapsed in a pool of blood, her fate unknown.

Something gripped her heart and wrung it hard. The instinct to live drove Hua Zhi upright, gasping in deep breaths, and then she felt herself falling into familiar arms. She opened her eyes.

Gu Yanxi held her gently and looked at Shao Yao, who had just finished checking her pulse. “How is she?”

“A little depleted — and still in shock. When she wakes up…” Shao Yao registered that Hua Zhi had woken and immediately asked in a sharp voice, “Hua Zhi, are you awake? Is anything hurting?”

“A bad dream. I’m all right.” Hua Zhi looked toward the window where light was just beginning to come through. It was dawn. She reached up and touched Yanxi’s face. “You were hit?”

“A jade paperweight.” Gu Yanxi covered her hand with his. “It’s early still. Do you want to sleep a little more?”

“No. My time is short. Shao Yao, call the others in.”

Shao Yao pressed her lips together and went to open the door. She knew what Hua Zhi meant by “my time is short,” and even if she wanted to urge Hua Zhi to rest a little longer, she could not bring herself to say it. The Emperor’s word was law — Hua Zhi had to find a way quickly, or there would be no saving herself.

The maidservants who had not slept all night were all outside the door — carrying a wash basin, carrying various things, not one of them empty-handed. Even Wu Shi had come early. Seeing the door open, they looked up. Shao Yao stepped aside. “Come in.”

They hurried inside. Seeing the young miss leaning against the man, they were startled — but no one let it show on their face. They had known long since the nature of the young miss’s relationship with the Xiansheng.

Wu Shi did not spend much time in the front courtyard and had not seen Gu Yanxi often. One look at the way the two of them sat together told her something of the nature of their bond — it was probably… But A’Zhi had just narrowly escaped death. She could not bring herself to say anything harsh.

Hua Zhi sat up straight. “Shao Yao, go take care of Yanxi’s injury.”

“Oh.” Shao Yao obediently moved toward the door, then thought of something and pulled a small vial from her medicine case. She shook several pills out onto her palm and held them out to Hua Zhi. “Take these.”

Without asking what they were, Hua Zhi took them and swallowed. Ying Chun quickly offered water to wash them down.

Satisfied, Shao Yao took her medicine case and left. Gu Yanxi lightly smoothed the thin bandage wrapped across A’Zhi’s forehead and followed.

Hua Zhi reached up and touched her forehead herself. A dull ache — but not severe. She must not have struck it too hard.

“Have hot water brought in. I need to wash.”

Liu Xiang set down what she was holding and hurried out.

“Fourth Aunt, please wait a moment.”

Wu Shi quickly waved her hand. “Pay me no mind. I’ll just wait here.”

Hua Zhi was as composed as she always was. If not for the thin bandaging around her head that told plainly she was still injured, it would have been easy to believe the morning was no different from any other.

After her bath, Hua Zhi felt considerably more like herself. Not wishing to leave Yanxi and Shao Yao waiting, she had the maidservants help her to the main hall, where she called for a meal to be served. Whatever great matter lay ahead, it could wait until she had filled her stomach.

The others had little appetite. Even Shao Yao managed only a bowl of congee before setting down her chopsticks.

Hua Zhi could not truly eat either — but she forced herself through two bowls. Her body could not falter, especially not now.

“Does anyone else in the household know what happened?”

Ying Chun answered quickly, “This servant took it upon herself to only tell the Fourth Madam. Even the First Madam has not been informed.”

“Well done.” Hua Zhi offered a word of praise, then turned to Wu Shi. “Fourth Aunt, I will resolve this matter. But in the days ahead I am afraid I won’t be able to attend to affairs inside the household. Unless it concerns one of the younger sisters’ marriage arrangements — in which case please do inform me — I am leaving everything else in your hands. It will be a burden on you.”

“What little help I can give is only this.” Wu Shi smiled ruefully. She too had grown up in a prominent family; she understood well enough that whatever came next was better not heard. She rose. “I’ll return to my rooms. If anything comes up, just send for me.”

“Thank you, Fourth Aunt.”

Wu Shi waved a hand and took her leave.

Hua Zhi turned to the senior maidservants. “All of my businesses — you know them better than anyone. I’m entrusting them to you. Don’t be reckless, and don’t pull back either. I have spent all these years teaching you, and what you know is far more than most people in the trade. Have confidence in yourselves, and look after one another.”

The maidservants all knelt in answer. Even if there were any who still felt they could not bear the weight of it, no one said so now. They needed to ensure the young miss had no worries left behind her.

Hua Zhi smiled. “We have been together for years, and I trust you more than I trust my own family. You have always been wholehearted in your loyalty. I won’t say more than this: everything anyone else can promise you, I can promise you too. And what others cannot promise, I can promise as well. I hope our bond as mistress and servants can weather any test — and that when we are old, we will still be as close as we are today.”

The maidservants who had served Hua Zhi the longest, along with Liu Xiang who had joined them later and risen to senior rank, all pressed their foreheads to the ground in one deep kowtow. “We will not fail the young miss’s trust.”

Hua Zhi nodded. “Liu Xiang has not been with me as long, and she knows less of the commercial side of things. She will stay by my side and attend to me.”

“Yes, miss.”

“All of you may withdraw.”

The three of them — Hua Zhi, Gu Yanxi, and Shao Yao — went to the study. Hua Zhi looked at Yanxi. “Will it cause trouble if the two of you are not back at the palace?”

“No trouble at all.” He did not want to speak of the palace matter now — the more pressing concern was before them. “Do you have a plan in mind?”

“What I alone can do — it’s not possible.”

That was the plain truth. It was no surprise to Gu Yanxi. Even so, watching A’Zhi’s composure, he could not help but hope she had somehow found a way through.

“What should by rights be done with the resources of an entire nation must still, in the end, require the resources of an entire nation. Let me speak first to what I know best — the question of funding. I want to ask — does the Emperor have a private treasury?”

“He does.”

“Then let the Emperor turn it over.” Hua Zhi said it lightly. “The national treasury cannot be touched — it is the foundation of the state. But the Emperor’s private reserves can surely be used. There is no reason I should be running this enterprise on his behalf while also providing the starting capital myself.”

Shao Yao nodded vigorously beside her. Hua Zhi was absolutely right — she could not have been more right.

Gu Yanxi weighed the matter in his mind. “All of it is out of the question, but seven or eight parts in ten should present no difficulty.”

Getting that much already satisfied Hua Zhi considerably. With money in hand, things could be set in motion. “Since it is the Emperor’s enterprise, I trust that as long as money is being made he won’t place restrictions on what kind of ventures I pursue. The sort of small-scale business the Hua Family runs in food and drink would never bring in enough silver.”

“That’s fair.” Gu Yanxi frowned slightly. “But doing business… it’s still too slow. The funds required to build a canal are far beyond what trade alone could sustain.”

“Naturally. That is only the first part.”