chapter 3

I held a welcome banquet for Wang Yu at Qiyu Tower. Our conversation was a delight, and many of our political views aligned so perfectly that I regretted only that I was not a man and could not share a bed with him while we talked through the night.

“I am a commoner with no office, yet Your Highness has shown me extraordinary regard,” Wang Yu said. “As you treat me like a peerless talent, so shall I repay you with a peerless talent’s loyalty.”

He offered proof of that loyalty three days later at a poetry gathering in the capital. There, he defeated the great scholars in debate and vindicated my name so thoroughly that the scholars covered their faces as they fled. That very night, they packed their belongings and returned to Shangye Academy to study harder.

With reports from Northern Liao arriving one after another, and the four great Guanlong clans led by the Wang clan recognizing my military achievements, Father had no choice but to summon me again.

“His Majesty must have made his decision and means to discuss your fief,” Wang Yu said.

I smiled. “Where would you advise me to choose?”

“Dingbei Commandery,” he answered without hesitation.

His eyes were as clear as a summer sky. “Great Zhou is newly founded. Its territory may be vast, but war persists along the borders with Northern Liao and Shu. If Your Highness takes your army to Dingbei, you can escape interference from the capital while securing the frontier. His Majesty will agree.”

“Why not Shu?”

He shook his head with a smile. “Prince Zan has lost to you several times. If you had not deliberately held back, Shu would already belong to Great Zhou. His Majesty would never dare send you there.”

I laughed. “Zihui truly understands me.”

Just as I expected, Father sent me as far away as possible—to Dingbei Commandery. He would have preferred to grant my title in the morning and see me leave for my fief that afternoon.

Alas. As his daughter, I felt ashamed to cause him such anxiety.

I was twenty-one. Leaving for my fief as soon as possible was one of the rare matters on which Father and I agreed.

Three days after the decree granting me the title Prince Wuan, I went to see Mother.

Petitions urging Father to make her empress had poured into court like snow. Apart from officials allied with Lin Sanniang and my second brother, Prince Gun, everyone preferred Mother on the phoenix throne.

The maternal clans of my third and fourth brothers were especially enthusiastic and spent both money and effort on the campaign. Their reasoning was easy to understand. Mother and the emperor had a poor relationship, she had only one daughter, and the Guo clan contained mostly widows and children. She was the least threatening candidate and possessed the strongest claim. Anyone was better than allowing Lin Sanniang’s family to dominate.

Neither of Father’s first two ambitions after taking the throne had gone his way.

After leaving Zhongchen Palace, I had walked only a short distance when someone stepped abruptly around a corner. He had narrow eyes, a pointed jaw, and a resemblance to Lin Sanniang. On a man, those features appeared rather effeminate.

This was Father’s darling, my second brother, Prince Gun—Ye Ningxuan.

He and I had never been close. Years ago, he had delayed military orders, and I had dragged him before the command tent and given him fifty strokes.

“Greetings, Elder Sister. I hear you will soon depart for your fief.”

“You hear quickly. Father has issued the decree. I leave for Dingbei with my army in four days.”

“Then I wish you a smooth journey. If Dingbei lacks food or clothing, you need only write to me.” Ye Ningxuan smiled darkly.

I looked him over and scoffed. “Do not worry. If even I lack food or clothes, it will hardly be your turn to rescue me. Your mother’s family is insignificant. Which of us falls first remains to be seen.”

“You—” His face twisted with rage.

I stepped closer. His guards immediately surrounded him.

“Ye Ningxuan, if you truly have nothing better to do, I can loosen your bones in front of the palace servants.”

His expression tightened as memories returned of all the times I had beaten him with a staff. “Hmph. Let us see how long your pride lasts!”

He kept issuing threats as he signaled his guards and hurried away, proving himself his father’s son.

Xu Ruizhi leaned close. “Shall we teach him one more lesson before we leave?”

I shook my head. “I cannot be bothered. Let us get out of the palace. I still have to say goodbye to Wang Yu.”

The road ahead was long, and a true kindred spirit was rare. I was deeply reluctant to part from him.