chapter 3

# chapter 3

It was a mild spring day. Qingwu’s father had once again urged her to invite her classmates on an outing and learn to behave like a proper young lady.

Unfortunately, we chose the same place as my elder sister. Under the guise of a spring excursion, Mother was selecting a husband for her. Every promising young man of any name in Great Zhao was there.

Zhao Qinbai stood above them all.

People said that if all the elegance under heaven were divided into ten parts, Zhao Qinbai alone possessed seven. He came from a noble clan with a century of history and was the youngest man to place first in the imperial examinations since the dynasty’s founding. His policy essay had been so exceptional that even with a face as handsome as Pan An’s, Father refused to make him merely the third-ranked graduate for appearance’s sake. He awarded him first place.

Father once said that Zhao Qinbai had become the top scholar only because the examinations offered no greater honor. Had a grand secretary’s rank been available, Zhao Qinbai would have deserved it outright.

With a man like him present, I thought my elder sister could not possibly notice anyone else. And indeed, one glance at him seemed to steal her soul. Yet in the latter half of the outing, she still found time to entertain Li Hui.

Who was Li Hui?

He was a black serpent that had crawled out of the mud. His father was a peasant. A teacher discovered the boy’s talent only because he lingered beneath the schoolhouse window to listen. He worked while studying, sat the examinations, and barely placed at the bottom of the second tier.

Yet he was capable and ruthless in practical affairs. Through one achievement after another-and through the loyalty he commanded among scholars from poor families-he had gradually become a force at court who could contend with Zhao Qinbai.

A man might have struggled to choose between them. For a woman, Li Hui’s utterly forgettable face had already lost him the contest.

So why, after seeing Zhao Qinbai, could my elder sister still see Li Hui at all?

The spring wind was strong. As we prepared to leave, my handkerchief slipped free and happened to drift into Lord Li’s arms.

My elder sister came to confront me almost at once. The outing grounds had been open, after all; no gesture could remain hidden. Her face still wore its habitual arrogance.

“Li Hui is not a man you are fit to covet. Behave yourself, and I will choose you a husband from a respectable family. Mother did raise you, after all. We will not let you starve.”

For the first time, she carelessly revealed that she knew the truth of my birth.

What an absurd world. Shen Rong had tricked my Mama into Father’s hands, allowing him to force a child upon her. Now Shen Rong’s daughter despised me for the circumstances of that birth.

All I could do was dig my nails into my palm and smile as though I understood nothing.

“Don’t you already have Young Lord Zhao? I thought only a man like him was worthy of you. Lord Li may be poor, but he seems honest. Perhaps someone like him would suit your little sister.”

The mention of Zhao Qinbai lit her face at once. “Qinbai is worthy of me, of course.”

Then she realized she had shown too much and frowned.

“A little sparrow like you would naturally aspire to nothing beyond a single husband.”

She swept away, sleeves flying, as though one more moment near me might stain her with my lack of ambition.

I watched her retreating back and slowly raised my eyes to the sun.

What woman in this world dared dream of possessing two exceptional husbands at once?

A princess certainly could not. A princess might keep only useless playthings as lovers. The only person who could house two tigers at her side was the one seated on the throne.

My dear Mother truly had been plotting, step by step, to raise her daughter to the throne. She had schemed for a lifetime. Even if Heaven denied her a son, she would never concede defeat.

I had grown up at her side. How could I disgrace all she had taught me?

I turned slowly.

Li Hui emerged from behind the artificial hill, exactly where I had arranged to meet him.

He adjusted his cuffs and smiled. “For a moment I thought this dark, rustic face of mine had finally attracted a peach blossom. The Emperor’s prettiest princess had cast propriety aside to summon me to a secret rendezvous. But it seems Your Highness merely meant to use me as a pawn in a quarrel between sisters.”

I smiled back. “Lord Li, let us speak plainly. Now that my elder sister has taken an interest in you, there is no escaping this game. Surely a partner willing to negotiate is preferable to a woman who looks down on you.”

My sister’s greatest mistake was that although she recognized Li Hui’s talent, she could not hide her bone-deep contempt for those she considered beneath her.

As expected, his face cooled. A long silence passed before he asked in a low voice, “Princess Anping, what can you offer me?”

I pointed to the place beside me.

“I offer you this. When it is done, you will become my emperor-consort and share ten thousand miles of this realm with me.”

Despite his years navigating the depths of court, starlight flared in his eyes. Who did not love power great enough to reach the heavens?

Men were always prouder than women. Today he might be an emperor-consort. Tomorrow I might bear him a prince-and then there would be much to consider about whose name the realm would carry.

So Li Hui willingly bowed to me, bending his once-straight spine.

It was only a pity that he still thought of me as merely a woman.

A woman might have only one husband.

An empress could possess an entire harem.