Chapter 5

I couldn’t follow that sort of conversation at all.

After several rounds of verbal tug-of-war, however, Empress Jiang finally gritted her teeth and conceded. She would order the Ministries of War and Revenue to review the southern frontier’s military expenditures over the years.

On the way home, I asked Ran Ling what that official language actually meant.

“Autumn is nearly here,” I said. “The barbarians’ horses will be fat and their soldiers strong. It’ll be the perfect season to raid us again. Will we finally have enough supplies to fight properly this time?”

Ran Ling said it was unlikely.

Empress Jiang had controlled the court for ten years, but in truth she was merely a puppet of the aristocratic houses. Even if she agreed, the officials beneath her might refuse.

He sounded distracted as he explained. He kept lifting the carriage curtain to look behind us.

I punched him and told him to pay attention.

Feigning pain, he laughed. “Stop worrying. This time, I’ll make sure you get what you want.”

I hugged his arm. “Second Brother, I’m counting on you!”

He gave me a half smile. “Lingyun.”

“Mm?”

“Something is following us.”

That “something” was Pei Ruoxue.

Empress Jiang had procured a carriage, stuffed Pei Ruoxue inside, and ordered her to follow us home. She even told her, “Your life is in the Prince of Jin’s hands now.”

The meaning was obvious: if the doors of our estate remained closed to her, she was to dash her head against them and die.

When the carriages stopped, Pei Ruoxue stood before us. Her face was pale and her eyes were hollow. Every so often, she glanced toward the stone lions flanking our gate.

A crowd was already gathering.

I said nothing.

Ran Ling regarded her with a complicated expression. Finally, he said, “Come inside.”

I readily echoed him. “Come in. It’s only one extra pair of chopsticks.”

Pei Ruoxue did not look pleased. A noble daughter of the mighty Pei clan had been reduced to begging for food.

Ran Ling did not look pleased either, though I had no idea why.

Fortunately, my mother had foreseen all of this. She had warned me that I might meet Pei Ruoxue in the capital.

Pei Ruoxue was the wound of Ran Ling’s youth, Mother said. Perhaps he would never quite get past it. Therefore, she reminded me again and again: let him handle her himself. Do not rush in ahead of him.

So if he told Pei Ruoxue to enter, she could enter.

She did.

Ran Ling, however, behaved shamelessly. After inviting her in, he arranged nothing and promptly fled.

The maids came to ask what should be done.

“Give her a courtyard and assign someone to wait on her.”

“She expects servants too? Who does she think she is?”

That was Shengli, the maid my father had selected for me. Somehow, he had managed to pick a girl with exactly his temperament: blunt and martial to the bone.

Fortunately, Mother had chosen Kaixuan. Her disposition resembled Mother’s—calm and steady, with steel hidden beneath silk.

Kaixuan strolled over with a faint smile. “Do as Her Highness says. We’re rich now. We can spare another pair of chopsticks and a few servants.”

Shengli thought about it and brightened. “True. We’ve never been this rich before.”

While we were laughing, Pei Ruoxue arrived without being invited.