Chapter 5
Xu Qingyao inherited my memories. She adjusted quickly to life as a princess and rooted out, one by one, the spies various factions had planted in my estate.
As for Shen Changyuan, she issued a direct order: overturn every stone until he was found, dead or alive.
If necessary, kill him on sight.
Imperial Father soon summoned her to the palace.
“Xi’er, why have you made such a commotion lately?” His voice was gentle, but the elegant severity of the most exalted ruler beneath heaven would have filled an ordinary person with fear and awe.
I expected Xu Qingyao to show at least a trace of nervousness before the emperor.
Instead, she was entirely at ease. Her face held a daughter’s natural affection for her father, tempered with exactly the right measure of reverence for her sovereign.
“Imperial Father, a slave escaped from my estate. If I don’t drag him back, how am I supposed to hold my head up?” She tugged his sleeve like a spoiled daughter, her voice plaintive.
“Enough, enough. Xi’er, he is only a slave. If your household lacks servants, I will have the Imperial Household Department send you more.” Father patted her hand fondly. “Still, the man has overstepped. Once he is caught, you may deal with him however you please.”
“Thank you, Imperial Father!” Xu Qingyao said with delight.
After they dined together, she returned to the princess’s estate.
One evening, Xu Qingyao sat upon a swing.
The setting sun painted the sky in magnificent red clouds. Light slipped through them and fell across her languid features.
A dark figure appeared before her, dropped to one knee, and bowed. “Your Highness, we found the man you seek. But…”
She frowned. “But what? Stop dawdling.”
The hidden guard hesitated, then forced out the words. “The escaped slave was taken in by the prime minister’s eldest legitimate daughter.”
I said nothing.
Xu Qingyao said nothing.
My eyes went wide. Another woman picked him up? Was something wrong with Shen Changyuan? Did he deliberately arrange to be rescued by daughters of powerful families?
The prime minister controlled most of the court and was at the height of his influence. Imperial Father regarded him as a thorn in his side, but could not yet afford an open rupture.
Worse, the prime minister’s daughter and I had always despised each other.
Everyone knew that unfavored princes and princesses could live worse than animals inside the palace, bullied by anyone who pleased.
Before I won Father’s favor, she had led a group of noble girls in humiliating me.
I had never allowed a grievance to go unpaid. Once I rose in power, I returned her kindness with a gift of my own.
To say we were enemies would be putting it mildly.
After dismissing the guard, Xu Qingyao remained untroubled, as if the news were a trivial annoyance rather than a serious obstacle.
I floated around her in silence until mischief seized me. I drifted onto the swing and wiggled my bottom, pretending to squeeze into the seat beside her.
She gave me an indulgent look and shifted over, making room for a ghost she could not touch.
In the peaceful dusk, Xu Qingyao smiled. Her lazy voice carried a cold edge of murder.
“Shen Changyuan, do you truly think I am helpless against you?”
He was only a handsome slave, his life and death hers to decide. Yet after deceiving her, he had found himself a powerful protector.
Wonderful.
I was in no hurry. Resting my head against one of the swing’s ropes, I yawned. “Shen Changyuan has never been easy to deal with.”
That beautiful face. That tragic past. That brooding, patient temperament.
He easily awakened a woman’s urge to protect—or conquer—him.
“And the Heavenly Dao protects him,” I added. Across hundreds of cycles, every assassination and siege ended with Shen Changyuan escaping danger. Even when he suffered a mortal wound, a transmigrator would sacrifice anything to find rare medicine or a miracle physician.
The women themselves fared differently. Some were disfigured saving him. Some were left barren. Others spent the rest of their lives sick in bed.