chapter 4
That evening Father held a banquet for the envoys of Northern Yan. Closest below him sat not Liu Rongyu, but a young man I had never seen, dressed in plain white, his clear face untouched by worldly dust.
Empress Zheng presented dancers from Hexi. The pipa quickened, and the lead dancer whirled faster and faster until she spun before Father’s table, drew a dagger from her boot, and thrust at his chest.
Liu Rongyu knocked it aside with a wine cup. Once the guards had subdued her, Father laughed loudly.
“Ah Lu and Ah Liu truly are my right and left arms!”
Then he turned and slapped Empress Zheng so hard that blood sprang from her mouth. “You damned harlot!”
Her eyes shone with terrible brightness. “Xiao Lie, you murdered my son and mean to destroy the Zheng clan. You are the one who deserves death!”
Father cackled. “Ah Lu foretold your rebellion. Ignorant woman, you overestimate yourself. Turn her into a human swine. Let her watch whether I die first or every member of her clan does.”
Fear crossed her face, but an urgent report from outside revived her.
“Eight-hundred-li dispatch! The Hexi army has rebelled. The Zheng clan has risen!”
Bound and disheveled, Empress Zheng laughed. “Strange signs fill Heaven. The baleful star has returned. Great Liang’s mandate is spent. Xiao Lie, your death has come!”
Father watched her dragged away, then turned to me. “Ah Lu, read my Third Princess’s fate again.”
The white-robed man rose. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
He approached with eyes black and brilliant as lacquered stars, as if he could see through my skin into my soul. My heart climbed into my throat.
“How should I address you, my lord?”
“I am Lu Daowei, Registrar of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.”
Like the diviner in Jiangnan five years earlier, he bore the surname Lu—the Lu of the Immortal Patriarch. The harder my heart pounded, the sweeter I smiled.
“Will Lord Lu read my face or my palm?”
He stared at my brow. I was dressed for a palace banquet and naturally wore a decorative flower there. At last he said, “Please extend your right hand.”
Relieved, I raised my sleeve and obeyed. Mother had steeped my hands in medicinal baths for years to alter their lines, until even Abbess Jing’an could no longer read them clearly.
Lu Daowei laid a white handkerchief beneath my wrist. His gaze touched my palm and his brow tightened, as if something had stung him.
Liu Rongyu abruptly rose. “Your Majesty, should the foreign envoys withdraw first?”
Father’s face stiffened. “Let Ah Lu finish.”
Lu Daowei ignored the disturbance and examined every line. “The Third Princess is blessed by Heaven. Her fortune will shelter the realm.”
A wind swept through the doors, lifting his white sleeves until he looked immortal.
Father loosened his grip on the cup. “And the rebels?”
Lu Daowei answered as calmly as if discussing the weather. “A minor irritation, no threat.”
Father finally smiled and turned to the Yan envoys. “Your lands border my Hexi and trade with it often. What role does your kingdom intend to play?”
The envoy knelt. “My king sent me because he wishes to seek Your Majesty’s daughter for his crown prince and bind our realms forever. We will not give the rebels a single grain.”
Father laughed, delighted by the display of submission, and ordered more wine, food, and music. Liu Rongyu alone departed early to deal with the rebellion.
Soon instruments played and cups crossed again, as though no blade had flashed. Everyone forgot that the woman who had been empress moments ago was now a prisoner.
When the wine flowed freely, the envoy repeated his proposal. “The Third Princess is of an age with our crown prince, a perfect match. Would Your Majesty part with her?”
The Eldest Prince smiled at me. “Third Sister is clever, dignified, and graceful. A phoenix crown suits her.”
The hall erupted in approval. Officials of both realms toasted as though the marriage were settled. Only Lu Daowei poured wine for himself.
Hostility flickered in Father’s eyes. “Anping has not yet come of age. Marriage is still far off.”
I sipped my wine. With the Zheng clan fallen, the Eldest Prince had grown careless. He had failed to notice Father’s thoughtful expression when Lu Daowei said my fortune would shelter the realm.
Yet I too wondered why Lu Daowei had spoken those words.
Were the Lu diviners of the Eastern Sea not famed for never uttering a false prophecy?