At dusk, the crimson clouds had deepened to a dark red. The wind blew in gusts, one after another — a fine evening.

Hua Zhi stepped down from the carriage at the palace gates. She glanced up briefly, then fell into step behind the imperial envoy without pause, following him inside.

People feel fear in the face of the unknown — but once something had already come to pass, she found she was no longer afraid. Whatever the reason for this summons, as long as the Emperor had not yet found the funds to open the canals, he would not kill her.

As for whether he might humiliate her… Hua Zhi looked up once more at those deep red clouds. She too wanted to see just how far the Emperor had gone. Emperors who drew near to death were, as a rule, the most addled in judgment.

The imperial family’s banquet was not so different from any other household’s — every imperial relative and kinsman who could still walk on their own two feet had come. Though the imperial family still appeared populous on the surface, its numbers had already contracted considerably compared to years past; the purge following the Emperor’s ascension had claimed too many lives, deserving and undeserving alike.

Hua Zhi had not imagined she would truly be brought before such a gathering.

The banquet had only just begun. At the center of the great hall, palace entertainers were exerting their every art to please the most exalted gathering in all of Daqing.

The Empress Dowager sat in the highest position; half a step below her was the Emperor; all others were seated in descending order.

Hao Yue, as the favored consort, had been specially designated by the Emperor to sit at his side. Her gaze had been drifting vaguely toward the entrance all along — she was the first to notice Hua Zhi’s arrival.

She pressed discreetly against her own chest. The faint throb of pain was a reminder of her present humiliation. Why should only she have to bear this? For every mark upon her body, Hua Zhi should not be spared a single one either!

A smile crept to the corners of her eyes. Hao Yue leaned against the Emperor, soft and yielding, and murmured in his ear: “Your Majesty, would that person out there happen to be the widely renowned eldest young Miss of the Hua Family?”

The Emperor followed her gaze, and gave a cold, amused huff. “That is indeed her.”

He clapped his hands lightly. The entertainers ceased at once and withdrew in orderly fashion.

The Emperor glanced at Lai Fu. Lai Fu understood; he felt his throat tighten, yet he had no choice but to raise his voice in a steady, ceremonious tone: “Summon — Hua Zhi to audience.”

The assembled noble figures turned as one toward the entrance. The Sixth Prince was nearly unable to stay in his seat.

The Empress Dowager quietly furrowed her brow. Her gaze swept to the seat beside her second son — the Shizi’s place was empty. This year, Yan Xi had again not appeared. Barring the unexpected, he ought to be somewhere within the palace right now. What was the Emperor trying to do?

Hua Zhi unfastened her cloak. She let the cold wind scatter the warmth from her body. Her gaze was lowered, yet her back was held perfectly straight. She entered the hall at a composed, unhurried pace.

“Your subject, Hua Zhi, pays reverence to Your Majesty.”

Hua Zhi knelt in obeisance — reverently, yet without a trace of abasement. Her bearing alone could have served as a model for the proper instruction of daughters in any household.

The Emperor could not help but think of Hao Yue’s repeated praise of Hua Zhi over these recent days. He said: “Lift your head.”

“As Your Majesty commands.” Hua Zhi straightened her posture and raised her head, keeping her gaze properly lowered, not presuming to look upon the imperial countenance.

Well — on looks alone she could indeed surpass a great many others. But what was truly compelling was not that. It was the air about her — outwardly pliant, yet concealing beneath that surface a pride that would not yield. The kind of person who made one want to find out whether those bones were truly as hard as they appeared.

Hao Yue watched as the Emperor rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. A faint smile flashed at the corner of her mouth.

“Emperor.” The Empress Dowager’s voice broke the silence that had fallen over the room. There was no reproach in her tone — it sounded, on the surface, like simple curiosity. “This is a family banquet. What is the meaning of calling an outsider here?”

“An outsider? Not necessarily.” The Emperor returned the remark with a meaningful smile. “Speaking of which, the Empress Dowager has done the Hua Family a kindness — why not have her come to the palace and attend upon Your Ladyship?”

The Empress Dowager was inwardly startled, but kept her expression composed. “I am an old woman who spends her days in the Buddhist hall. What need have I of a young lady in the prime of her years to attend me? Having Yu Xiang here is quite enough.”

“But if Hua Zhi were willing herself, that too would be an expression of her sincerity, would it not? Hua Zhi — what do you say?”

So this was where the trap had been laid.

Hua Zhi turned and bowed in the direction of the Empress Dowager. “My grandmother, before she passed, always spoke of wishing to come before Your Ladyship to offer her thanks. Today, this humble woman has the honor of an audience, and on behalf of her grandmother — and on behalf of the Hua Family — she humbly pays tribute and gives thanks to Your Ladyship for your protection.”

Before the Empress Dowager could speak, the Emperor’s expression had already darkened. “We asked you — whether you are willing to enter the palace!”

“It would be this humble woman’s honor to enter Your Ladyship’s Buddhist hall to copy sutras and offer devotion. This humble woman is willing to go and pray for the wellbeing of Daqing.”

Brilliant!

Those among the gathered nobles who had already understood the Emperor’s true intention — friend and adversary alike — could not help but admire the quickness of Hua Zhi’s mind. With that single turn of phrase, her entering the palace and the Emperor’s version of her entering the palace had become two entirely different things.

The Emperor’s fingers rubbed together faster. Even across that deeply aged face there crept a flush of something like excitement. The Empress Dowager saw it plainly, and her alarm deepened. The Emperor was — was he actually intending to contend with his own nephew over a woman? If some things were once spoken aloud, how would he ever face Yan Xi, who had risked his life for him time and again?

But it was already too late to intervene.

“You should understand Our meaning.” The Emperor gestured toward the hall full of imperial kinsmen. “We grant you the right to become one of them.”

“Imperial Father!” The Sixth Prince seized upon an argument that he knew would matter to his father. “Hua Zhi can only earn you great sums of money from outside the palace.”

“Does she need to do that herself? She need only come up with ideas — those can be had from anywhere.” The Emperor dismissed this without a second glance, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on Hua Zhi. The Hua Family was in his hands; whether those connected to them — the Zhu Family and others — fared well or ill rested entirely on his word. No matter how capable she was, she was still only a woman. As long as she was his, whether wealth-bringer or advisor, could she not still serve him?

Hao Yue was right — a person like this, left outside the palace, was truly a waste. As for Yan Xi…

The thought of his great-nephew sent a flicker of hesitation through the Emperor’s mind, followed almost immediately by a wave of ease. For the sake of his own great and lasting legacy, Yan Xi would understand. And he would not treat Yan Xi poorly — it was, after all, only a woman. He could give him a hundred.

Satisfied with this reasoning, the Emperor leaned forward, regarding her like a fish already caught in his net. “Well? Have you considered?”

The Empress Dowager was suppressing her fury, on the verge of speaking, when the commander of the Imperial Guards, Fu Gang, stepped in to report: “Your Majesty, the head of the Seven Lodges requests an audience.”

Hao Yue covered her lips and laughed softly. “How quickly he comes.”

The Emperor’s gaze drifted to her, the ferocity in his eyes cutting off her laughter abruptly. She lowered her head, not daring to make another move. In any case, her purpose today had already been achieved. After what had happened tonight, the relationship between the Emperor and the head of the Seven Lodges could never return to what it had been — it would not be surprising if they came to an open rupture. And Hua Zhi, who had caused the rift between the two of them, would find no favorable footing anywhere, likely to be branded a seductress who brought ruin in her wake. How satisfying — deeply, wholly satisfying.

She would need to plan further. The outcome could still be changed — as long as the two of them fell out with one another, as long as the head of the Seven Lodges lost the Emperor’s trust, there was no certainty he would still have the chance to take that position.

Lost in these thoughts, she heard the Emperor say: “Tell him to guard the Seven Lodges.”

The smile in Hao Yue’s eyes deepened. She turned her gaze on Hua Zhi — a gaze suffused with something that could only be called triumph. All at once Hua Zhi turned her head, and their eyes met — cold, and utterly composed, as though looking at something no more significant than a crawling insect. The force of it nearly made Hao Yue crack a back tooth.

Just wait, Hua Zhi — just you wait!