Hua Zhi spread her arms wide as her maids gathered around her, some standing, some kneeling, dressing her layer by layer in her wedding gown. The vivid crimson was festive and warm, and far from looking gaudy, it only made her skin appear whiter than snow and brought a rosy flush blooming across her cheeks.

The only pity was that her lips were a touch too pale.

Zhu Shi’s heart ached. She carefully helped Hua Zhi sit down, then walked in front of her and personally applied her makeup — rouge and powder, drawn brows and a golden forehead ornament — not delegating a single task to anyone else, pouring into this moment all the skill she had accumulated over her decades of life.

Once color graced her lips, Hua Zhi came alive. Hers was a face that suited all manner of adornment; bare-faced she was elegantly enchanting, but dressed with such deliberate care as today, the allure she usually kept concealed emerged without reservation.

“My daughter is truly beautiful.” Zhu Shi looked her over from the left, then the right, nodding with thorough satisfaction.

“Daughter takes after Father. They say Father was quite the famously handsome young gentleman in the capital when he was young.”

Zhu Shi shot her a look, then gave a proud little hum. “He’s still not bad now.”

“That’s right — otherwise how would Daughter have turned out so lovely?”

“Such a cheeky mouth.” Zhu Shi laughed despite herself, gesturing for the maids to come and pin up Hua Zhi’s hair. “Your father told me that your grandfather actually holds himself in tremendous guilt. Were it not for him, your grandmother would not have died so young, and you would never have had to toil so hard. I won’t say I never harbored any resentment — I did. But afterward, when I saw you become the kind of woman no woman before you had ever been, I also felt a measure of pride. My daughter is so capable. She is not the least bit inferior to any man. Had none of this happened, she would have lived her whole life as an ordinary person — what a shame that would have been.”

Zhu Shi gazed at her daughter’s face, still not yet restored to its former fullness, and her lips trembled. “Only — the price was far too high.”

These were things Hua Zhi had long known.

She knew of her grandfather’s guilt and self-reproach. Had she not fallen gravely ill at precisely the moment she did — leaving her grandfather no time to dwell on his grief — he would not have crossed that threshold of her grandmother’s passing so easily. Theirs had been more than a marriage of mutual courtesy; in a world where a man taking three wives and four concubines was perfectly ordinary, her grandfather had taken only two concubines, both of whom had been with him for many long years. This alone spoke to how deeply loyal he was. For his first wife to simply leave him like that — one could well imagine the sorrow in his heart. Looking back now, she thought that her illness had come at precisely the right time.

She wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist and leaned gently against her. “The divine physician once said that my body would be fortified through breaking — that a few years of careful nursing would set things right. You all know what worries you, and Yan Xi actually understands this better than any of you. If he were truly concerned about it, he would not have insisted on marrying me.”

Hua Zhi smiled and lifted her eyes to her mother, who was once again shedding tears — this woman made of water. “He knows my temperament. Having married me, he could not possibly take concubines. And yet he has insisted on marrying me — clearly he has prepared himself to face every consequence that may follow. You need not worry about me. No matter what the future holds, I am capable of managing it. Do not forget — I am the Emperor’s Grand Preceptor. I have waded through fire and blade. Whom could I possibly fear?”

If you’re not afraid, your mother is, Zhu Shi thought, smoothing a hand over her daughter’s head. She gestured for the maids to bring the phoenix coronet. The exquisitely wrought crown, several times lighter than the one she herself had worn on her own wedding day, put her mind somewhat at ease. Everything arranged with Hua Zhi’s well-being as the first priority — everything thought through for Hua Zhi’s sake — never any carelessness toward matters concerning Hua Zhi. This devotion was real. Only — how long would it last?

She settled the phoenix coronet carefully and smoothed the silk cape, then stepped back to look. The brilliance of her daughter’s beauty left her utterly satisfied. Her daughter — talented, and beautiful. The Prince Regent would have to be blind not to know that no one in the world could surpass her.

“Has food been prepared?”

Fu Dong quickly replied, “Yes — some of Miss’s favorite pastries have been brought along.”

“Do not eat too much at once. Seize small moments to take a bite here and there. When one is rushed and exhausted, eating too much brings discomfort. Nothing must go wrong today.”

“Yes, this servant will remember.”

Looking over the four senior maids, each neat and tidy in their attire, Zhu Shi pressed down the thought that had risen in her heart. These were all good girls, every one of them devoted to Hua Zhi heart and soul. If they were to be elevated to become secondary wives…

She drew a quiet breath and buried the thought a little deeper. She had come to understand, at least somewhat, that with Hua Zhi’s pride, she would never give any of her personal maids to her husband as concubines. She would never stoop to that manner of securing favor.

Footsteps sounded from outside. Zhu Shi turned and pressed the corners of her eyes, then quickly dabbed at her face with a powder compact. By the time she had composed herself, the visitors had already entered — the young women of the Hua Family, from the main branch and collateral branches alike, a good number of them, even Hua Qin, who had already married and borne children, included among them.

Zhu Shi said a few words and then excused herself to attend to other matters.

Hua Xin and Hua Ling, sisters who would themselves soon be brides, watched with a trace of envy in their eyes — though nothing beyond that. They had no basis for comparison with their eldest sister, for their own dowries were by any measure lavish. The Hua Family had not treated them poorly; in fact, owing to the small contributions they had made, the items of value tucked at the bottom of their dowry chests would be far greater than those given to the Hua girls who had married two years prior.

They had spoken about it privately between themselves, and both were content.

“Eldest Sister,” asked Hua Rong, her usually quiet illegitimate younger sister, “will you continue as Grand Preceptor after you become the Princess Consort?”

“I will — until the Emperor takes his own imperial bride, I cannot step down.”

“Can you not simply continue indefinitely?”

Hua Zhi blinked, not understanding the question.

Hua Rong lowered her head and twisted her handkerchief into a coil. “Eldest Sister is so accomplished. Why can she not remain as Grand Preceptor forever? It would let everyone know that women are capable of great things too.”

Understanding now what she meant to say, Hua Zhi hardly knew whether to smile or to sigh. A consciousness of women’s rights, awakening at a time like this — she could not tell if that was a good thing or a bad one. Having such thoughts was not wrong; what such thoughts required was opportunity, and time — and at present, neither existed.

For reasons both public and private, she could not hold this position as Grand Preceptor indefinitely. The Hua Family’s situation did not permit it, nor did she herself wish to remain in an official career. And with the late Emperor’s edict standing as it did, she was in practice nothing more than a teacher.

Once she stepped down, there would be no female official to stand at the forefront, and whatever consciousness of women’s rights had flickered would be no more than a flower blooming in a night — gone before morning. How could a situation like this be reversed by the strength of a single person?

After a moment’s thought, Hua Zhi said, “I have set a precedent. After this, the path will not be so difficult. At the very least, when a woman is talented, no one will be able to invoke the notion that a woman’s virtue lies in her lack of learning to dismiss her.”

The room fell briefly quiet. As daughters of the Hua Family, all of them were naturally literate, yet the idea that a woman’s virtue lay in her ignorance remained the dominant view — not only beyond the capital but within it as well. Many daughters of great households in the capital itself were unable to read, and no one thought this at all wrong. And yet in time, that state of affairs ought to slowly improve. The influence had already been set in motion. What family would not want a daughter like the eldest Miss of the Hua Family?

Hua Qin tapped Hua Rong lightly on the forehead. “What’s the sense in speaking of all this on such a joyous day? Tell me — is our Eldest Sister beautiful today?”

“Beautiful!” The voices rang out together, bright and sweet, laughter blooming on every face. It was the most sincere thing any of them could say. In their eyes, their eldest sister was the most beautiful of all — whether standing now in her crimson wedding gown, or the day she had worn official robes.