Chapter 3
The borders were secure, and the four seas had submitted to the throne.
When Anrou was seven months old, Xie Huaijin, the Marquis of Zhenbei, returned to the capital to report on his military duties.
He commanded great armies and had won distinction in battle. However unwilling Shen Chizhou might have been, he had no choice but to let Song Wan and Anrou return to the marquis’s estate.
Once Song Wan left the palace, Shen Chizhou began spending far more nights with me.
One evening, while I helped him change, he mentioned Anrou in passing.
I could not help asking, “How did the Marquis of Zhenbei react when he first saw her?”
“He gave her a few indifferent glances and left her alone.”
I murmured an unhappy acknowledgment.
Shen Chizhou scoffed. “She is only a girl, and they were separated for so many months. What affection could he possibly feel for her?”
“Besides, they are not truly father and daughter. Naturally, their bond cannot compare to the closeness Anrou and I share through blood.”
Yet only a few days later, the very man who supposedly cared nothing for Anrou announced that he intended to raise her himself.
In the imperial study, Shen Chizhou said sternly, “The frontier is swept by wind and sand. How can a girl grow up in such a place? With no one to instruct her, how will she ever become a virtuous and accomplished young lady?”
The normally aloof emperor lectured on at great length.
Xie Huaijin merely lifted his eyes and said, “My family affairs need not trouble Your Majesty.”
Shen Chizhou choked on his reply and fell silent.
I stopped Xie Huaijin on a secluded path.
He halted, then took several unhurried steps backward.
“What does Your Majesty think you are doing?”
I looked up at him. “I beg you. Keep Anrou here.”
The careless amusement vanished from his eyes.
He looked down at me. “On what grounds?”
My thoughts returned to a night of misting rain.
It was late, the dew lay heavy, and the palace roads were slick. By imperial grace, the Marquis and Marchioness of Zhenbei had been invited to spend the night in the palace.
They had been married for some time but had never consummated the marriage.
Song Wan was already pregnant.
To make Xie Huaijin accept the child as his own, Shen Chizhou bestowed upon the couple a cup of aphrodisiac wine.
Fifteen minutes later, Song Wan, flushed and breathless, slipped away to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
No one knew that the marquis, who should have been unconscious, had opened his eyes.
Through the fine, misty rain, he strolled past one guarded gate after another until he arrived at the bedchamber of the reigning empress.
In the end, Shen Chizhou issued an edict appointing the Marquis of Zhenbei as Minister of War and ordered him to remain in the capital.
Half a month later, Song Wan and Xie Huaijin divorced.
Anrou went with him.
Ten days after that, the former Marchioness of Zhenbei died suddenly.
At the same time, a palace maid called Lady Song appeared in the imperial harem and quickly became the emperor’s favorite.
Only the empress, who had stood beside him since his days as a prince, could rival her influence.
Five years passed in the blink of an eye.
I took Anrou as my goddaughter, and she came to live in the palace for ten days every month.
Shen Chizhou was busy with affairs of state, but he still found time to visit her and coax her into calling him Father.
Anrou always answered in her soft little voice, “Your Majesty.”
Shen Chizhou frowned but continued patiently. “Anrou, since you are the Empress’s goddaughter, you are also my daughter. There is no need for such formality between father and child.”
Anrou shook her head. “You are not my father. You are the emperor. I already have a father.”
She wound her arms around my neck and avoided his outstretched hand.
Shen Chizhou stood frozen in place, unease showing faintly in his eyes.
That unease became even stronger whenever he saw Xie Huaijin and Anrou together.
The imperial clan and the great noble houses all attended the autumn hunt. Xie Huaijin brought his daughter as well.
Arms folded, he watched lazily while Anrou rolled in the sunlit grass with a pony.
Men truly did raise children without the slightest restraint.
Unable to bear it, I took out a handkerchief and wiped the dirt from her face.
A passing noblewoman watched for a long while, grinning from ear to ear.
“Young Lady Xie is as lovely as carved jade, like a little white dumpling. No wonder the Empress is so fond of her.”
“She is indeed the Marquis of Zhenbei’s daughter. One look tells you she will grow into a beauty.”
“Yes, father and daughter look exactly alike, as if cast from the same mold.”
At the edge of my vision, Shen Chizhou stepped down from his carriage just in time to hear those words.
His face darkened as he approached.
I smiled and smoothed things over. “A child often grows to resemble the person who raises her.”
Shen Chizhou’s brow remained furrowed. He looked Anrou up and down.
“Marquis, Anrou is six now. It is time she learned embroidery, calligraphy, and painting and became a proper young lady. How can you let her flaunt herself in public like this?”
Xie Huaijin said unhurriedly, “How I raise my daughter does not concern Your Majesty.”
Shen Chizhou’s anger sharpened. “How can a girl ride horses? This is absurd!”
“Is it?” Xie Huaijin paused. “Her Majesty is an accomplished rider too.”
My heart stirred, and I pressed my lips together.
Surprise flashed through Shen Chizhou’s eyes when Xie Huaijin mentioned me.
“Indulgence is another form of harm,” he said coldly. “If Anrou is allowed to remain so wild, what respectable household will take her as a bride? If she truly cannot find a husband when the time comes—”
“Then she will not marry.”
The decisiveness of Xie Huaijin’s answer stunned everyone.
Shen Chizhou’s face turned livid, as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world.
Xie Huaijin smiled faintly. “The entire estate of the Marquis of Zhenbei will be hers in any case.”
He looked down at Anrou and said calmly, “She is my daughter. I do not ask that she bind herself to the virtues expected of women, serve a husband, raise his children, or win renown for extraordinary talent.”
“I ask only that she live unbound.”