News of Hua Zhi’s return to the capital spread from the moment she appeared at the docks. The Zhu family naturally came to know of it.
It was a rest day, but knowing that Zhi’er had returned with the silver, Zhu Bowen, as the Minister of Revenue, naturally had to go to the palace at once. The old madam helped him change into his court robes while sighing, “She wore herself down out there, and now when she gets back, she’ll find out that this kind of talk has been going around the capital. How is she supposed to feel?”
Zhu Bowen raised his arm to let his court robe be settled into place. He wanted to say something to comfort his wife, but when he opened his mouth, he found that all he wanted to do was sigh alongside her. Not everyone’s heart is malicious — yet once one’s own interests are at stake, once one’s allegiances are fixed, attacking another person has nothing at all to do with right or wrong.
In this matter, Zhi’er had plainly acted for the good of the realm — yet the opposing camp had forced the argument onto procedural violations of the law. Even he, who wished to shield her, could not dislodge them on that point. And to make it worse, the Emperor refused to show himself, said nothing, took no position, and let the rumors spread to this extent. Never mind Zhi’er — even he felt his heart go cold.
Would they truly need the Chao Li people to seize Jinyang, to march on the capital itself, before they grasped how grave the danger was? And if that day ever came, what use would panic be?
Zhi’er’s misfortune was in seeing too far and too clearly. She could not bring herself to play the part of the muddleheaded bystander. She was being wronged before their very eyes, yet she was still doing everything she could to prepare — because she understood that if Da Qing fell, none of them would escape.
Turning the situation over in his mind, Zhu Bowen finally could not hold it in and let out a breath. “Enough — what good does all this talking do? Better to spend the time finding a few suitable families for her sisters. The Hua family still has several girls without matches.”
“It is strange, too, that the Hua branch families behave this way — leaving everything to Zhi’er. And she has indulged them, letting them lean on her for everything inside and out. Even another pair of hands would not be enough to keep up with it all.” Even as she grumbled, the old madam was already thinking it over seriously. She might not be able to help with much else, but she would give this particular matter more attention.
Zhu Bowen hurried off to the ministry.
Yet he waited until the palace gates were about to close — until he had no choice but to leave — and still no summons came from the Emperor. Looking back at the towering walls, Zhu Bowen felt his heart sink. Could it be that the Emperor had no intention of depositing this silver into the treasury at all, and was still set on opening the canal?
It never crossed his mind that the Emperor might simply not know the silver had arrived.
Zhu Shi looked at the maid who had come to report, then glanced back at her daughter sleeping soundly, and said, “Can it not wait until tomorrow?”
“The visitor is the Sixth Prince, Madam. From the look of him, he seems quite urgent.” Ying Chun had no wish to wake the young miss, who was obviously exhausted — yet if it were not something urgent, why would the Sixth Prince come to disturb her at this hour? She was not afraid of being reprimanded; what she feared was doing harm to the young miss’s affairs. The young miss had given so much — if things went wrong through her own negligence, no death could atone for it.
Zhu Shi bit her lip. She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her daughter, who had not shifted her sleeping position since drifting off. She opened her mouth several times before sound finally came out. “Zhi’er — Zhi’er—”
Hua Zhi was sleeping deeply, but she had only just returned from outside, and her guard was still up. Zhu Shi had barely called twice before she was awake, eyes opening clear and alert.
“Mother, what is it?”
Zhu Shi looked toward Ying Chun, who stepped forward at once to report, “Miss, the Sixth Prince has come. He says there is an urgent matter.”
Hua Zhi’s heart gave a sharp pull, and the last dregs of sleep scattered at once. She was already throwing off the blankets and getting out of bed as she asked, “What hour is it?”
“One quarter past the seventh hour of the evening.”
Which meant it had been only about two hours since they had entered the palace. What had gone wrong?
She tidied herself quickly and hurried to the front courtyard, where she found that it was not only Xiao Liu — Chen Qing was there as well. For the sake of propriety, he had never before come to the Hua residence after nightfall.
“Shifu.”
Xiao Liu was pacing back and forth in the room. When he saw her, he immediately came forward to meet her.
“What has happened?”
“We submitted a request for an audience from just before the fourth hour and have had no reply from the palace to this moment.” Xiao Liu took the tea from Nian Qiu and held the cup out with both hands to his Shifu. “Chen Qing tried reaching out through separate channels and was unable to get word to Laifu either.”
Hua Zhi looked at Chen Qing. He nodded in confirmation. “I tried both the Office of Seven Lodges’ channel and the Shizi’s. Both went in without anything coming back.”
Hua Zhi’s mind leapt immediately to a larger implication. Counting by this alone, the Emperor had now gone several days without receiving anyone. Was it that he would not see them — or that he could not?
“Has this ever happened before?”
“Never.” Chen Qing’s voice carried the weight of knowing exactly how serious this was. “First Young Miss, what should we do?”
Hua Zhi furrowed her brow and thought in silence for a moment. “Where is Magistrate Zhu?”
“I had him taken to the Shizi’s residence.”
“Have him reach out to those in the capital who share his background. Ask whether they know anything. Also — Yanxi once said that if he was ever absent, you were to seek out the former head of the Office, Gu Yelin. Go yourself. Go now. This cannot wait. If you discover anything irregular, come and report to me immediately.”
“Understood.”
The moment Chen Qing left, Xiao Liu could not hold back any longer. “Shifu, has something happened to Imperial Father?”
“There is no precedent for this. I cannot say for certain.” Hua Zhi pressed her fingers against her aching temples. “Whenever the Emperor has not held court in the past, he has always left Yanxi to take charge of things. Nothing like this has ever occurred before.”
“Then what—”
“And precisely because nothing like this has ever occurred is why we must be on our guard.” Hua Zhi suddenly stopped speaking. A historical event had come to her mind: in the Han dynasty, Crown Prince Liu Ju had been falsely accused, and with no means of reaching Emperor Wu of Han, had been cornered step by step until he was driven into raising an army — he had harbored no rebellious intent, had taken up arms only because he believed his father was being controlled by others and wished to rescue him. Yet in the end, even Emperor Wu believed he meant to rebel, and he died at the hands of petty men.
If they made any rash move now — could they become the next Liu Ju?
She did not want to imagine the worst, yet once the thought had taken root she could not turn it away. She felt as though she could hear the sound of blades being sharpened somewhere in the distance. A chill went through her, and without thinking she drew her shawl closer.
“We do nothing. Tomorrow is the grand morning court. If the Emperor still does not appear, you continue to submit requests for an audience.”
“Understood, Shifu.”
“Go back. Whatever happens, do not let panic take hold of you. When you face any situation, think of who you are. A prince is one who holds up the sky for the people — not one who hides behind others. When two opponents meet on a narrow path, the braver one prevails. Do not frighten yourself before the other side has even made a move.”
“Yes, Shifu.”
The two of them had come quickly and left quickly. Ying Chun came over with the hand warmer and pressed it into the young miss’s hands, speaking softly, “Fu Dong has gone to prepare something to eat. Please eat a little before sleeping.”
Well, she supposed she needed to fill her stomach and sleep soundly before she had any strength to fight. Hua Zhi felt a helpless irony in it all. The other side had timed this deliberately, knowing she was a worn-out army, hoping to catch her exhausted enough to make a wrong move. If she didn’t see Yuepin’s hand behind this, she would write the character Hua backwards!
“Ask Wang Rong to come.”
Wang Rong arrived quickly.
“Go to the Zhu residence now. Tell my maternal grandfather that the palace has likely run into some trouble, and ask him to join with the senior officials at court tomorrow to find some way to press the matter and force the Emperor to show himself.”
“Yes.”