chapter 2
Father and I parted on bad terms. The next day, ornate essays began circulating throughout the capital. They accused me of lacking feminine virtue, colluding with bandits, and trying to meddle in affairs of state despite being a woman. A hen crowing at dawn would bring ruin to the household, they declared.
I was not surprised. I had guessed what Father would do the moment I left the Hall of Nurtured Harmony.
To advertise his respect for talent, he had imitated Zhuge Liang’s three visits to the thatched cottage and personally climbed Mount Sangxian to invite several great scholars from Shangye Academy into government service. If he did not use them now, when would he?
The storm of denunciation outside was fierce. They compared me to the infamous beauties Bao Si and Daji, called me a calamity to the realm, and insisted that only my death could appease the people.
My deputy, Xu Ruizhi, was so furious that he nearly took a saber to those sour old scholars and staged a martial demonstration of his own.
“Enough. Calm down,” I told him. “If you go, His Majesty will laugh in his dreams tonight.”
Xu Ruizhi slapped the table. “These men hid behind everyone else during the war. Now they crawl out to curse the people who actually fought? They have read the sages’ books straight into a dog’s belly!”
I handed him tea. “I endured worse when I first took command, and I survived. Drink. Settle your temper.”
Those scholars would love nothing more than for someone to kill them—preferably in front of the whole capital—so their names would live forever.
“What is His Majesty thinking? Your achievements are worth several principalities.”
I smiled without answering and tossed him the letter on my desk.
He skimmed it and raised an eyebrow. “Movement in Northern Liao?”
“What His Majesty thinks does not matter. What matters is whom he will send to put down the unrest.”
The capital seethed, and court debates grew equally fierce. If Mount Sangxian’s scholars could publish essays attacking me, the generals of the Guo faction could argue that their commander deserved a princely title.
Then the war report from Northern Liao arrived, and every minister fell silent.
Northern Liao possessed elite cavalry. Its Great Chanyu, Huyan Zuo, had invaded the Central Plains repeatedly. He had retreated to the steppe after losing to me three years ago, but now he had united the tribes and was returning in force. Father had no choice but to send me.
“This must be handled quickly,” I said. “I can wait. The frontier people cannot.”
“Should we find a few writers to sing your praises too?” Xu Ruizhi suggested.
It was not a bad idea. The difficulty was finding any renowned scholar willing to write in praise of a woman.
I had not planned to seek one, but Mother had reached the same conclusion as Xu Ruizhi. Through Zhou Xing, she introduced me to Wang Yu, head of the Langya Wang clan.
“Wang Yu’s mother and I were intimate friends in our youth,” Mother said. “She has written from Langya to say that her Zihui will enter the capital shortly.”
She gave me an odd look.
“Officially, he is coming to visit me on his mother’s behalf. In truth, he means to help you. The Guo side has plenty of generals but lacks eloquent civil officials. Zihui has the scholars of the four great Guanlong clans behind him. If they serve you, the road you intend to walk will be much smoother.”
“Many offer flowers in fair weather, but few bring fuel in a snowstorm. Xiguang, when Zihui arrives the day after tomorrow, you should receive him in person.”
Of course I would. If my steward had not stopped me on grounds of propriety, I would have invited Wang Yu to live in my residence.
My steward looked pained. “Your Highness, if Young Master Wang stays here, by tomorrow the capital will say the Langya Wang heir is your secret lover.”
On the day Wang Yu arrived, I waited at the city gate with thirty guards.
Xu Ruizhi said refined scholars were generally fragile and advised bringing a luxurious carriage to demonstrate how highly I valued talent. I agreed and took the finest carriage in my household.
It went unused.
The vulgar thing was simply unworthy of Young Master Wang.
People called Wang Yu the Jade Gentleman and praised his talent above Cao Zhi’s and his beauty above Pan An’s. I had assumed those claims were exaggerated. After all, folk tales described my gourd-headed second brother as a beauty without equal.
But Wang Yu deserved every word.
Like the noble man in the ancient ode, polished as ivory and carved jade, he possessed a grace beyond the ordinary.
Sunset burned across the sky outside the city gate. Wang Yu rode up, dismounted in one smooth motion, and revealed himself an excellent horseman.
“This subject, Wang Yu, greets Your Highness.”
“Rise, sir.”
I stepped forward and helped him up. “I have long heard your name. Today I finally have the honor of meeting you.”
“And I have admired Your Highness for many years.”
The guards on either side of me coughed at the same time. One studied the sky; the other found the ground fascinating.
Wang Yu’s ardent gaze seemed to hold no one in the world but me.
Had I been a sheltered maiden, his behavior would have set my heart ablaze. Fortunately, I was a woman who had seen the world.