chapter 4
Jinyu approached me quietly. “My lady, the Grand Princess is alive.”
“Are you certain?”
“I am.”
With Shen Qingbi’s fate unknown, I did not truly want war. I needed time to investigate, but I could not accept the empress dowager’s offered escape.
The first lesson of imperial childhood was never to let an opponent lead you.
Before entering the city, I had ordered Jinyu to delay them long enough for me to uncover the truth. She had.
“The empress dowager did not panic when I took Jiashu,” she explained. “That woman represents her maternal clan’s honor. She would never abandon—”
“Father! Save me!”
Marquis Zhongyong, the empress dowager’s elder brother, stood nearby in crimson official robes.
“Jinyu, do you think he will come?”
Jiashu screamed for her father. Jinyu strode forward and slapped her more than a dozen times before his eyes. The delicate noblewoman sagged like mud.
At last the marquis charged over. “Princess, you go too far!”
“What have I done?”
Though my hundred cavalry stood behind me, he tried to intimidate me to save his daughter.
“The Xie clan are founding nobles. How can you abuse a Xie daughter over a petty romantic dispute?”
Officials gathered to plead for mercy.
“So a Xie daughter is precious,” I said, “but may be thrown away during a war.”
His face changed.
“What do you mean, Your Highness?”
I gestured to Jinyu. “This officer is the daughter of a lady of the Yin clan of Chen Commandery.”
“Nonsense—”
The word condemned him. I had not said which Yin lady. By coincidence, his first wife and eldest daughter had both “vanished” during the rebellion.
Few knew that he had kicked his wife from their carriage and driven on when his daughter leaped after her.
Every official understood. Silence fell.
“Marquis, I will take your daughter now.”
In that moment, I knew he was terrified.
They were testing the depths of my power. I would reveal it one layer at a time.
At Shen Qingbi’s residence, I ordered Zhenzhu to investigate all suspicious persons by any means necessary.
Zhenzhu came from a family of coroners. Though gifted, as a woman she had only been allowed to carry corpses and assist her brothers. Resentful, she had offered her service to me.
The enemy had expected my arrival only yesterday. Whatever had happened to Shen Qingbi, her residence must have been hastily cleaned overnight. Haste left traces, and Zhenzhu missed little.
Meanwhile, Jinyu asked how she should handle Jiashu.
“I rescued you from a bandit stockade, trained you, and brought you thousands of miles to stand before your enemy. Now you ask me what to do?”
Understanding flashed across her face.
“Give me the answers I need,” I said, “and take the justice that belongs to you.”
Half a day later, we had overturned the entire residence, killed two stewards and more than a dozen servants. Before dying, they screamed that I murdered innocents and held an unlawful court.
They had grown accustomed to Shen Qingbi’s justice. They thought every ruler would be fair and merciful.
If they dared betray her, they could endure a world without her.
Zhenzhu brought me the evidence.
Shen Qingbi had entered the palace half a month ago and never returned. The public claim was that she was recuperating there. Veteran servants had been removed in batches, and fighting had broken out the previous night when the remaining inner attendants were taken. The present steward and maids were palace eunuchs and officials in disguise.
As for Chi Yuan, Shen Qingbi had indeed selected him as consort.
Jiashu still claimed that she and Chi Yuan were promised to one another until Shen Qingbi stole him.
“I beat her half to death,” Jinyu said. “Her answer never changed.”
Zhenzhu unrolled a portrait of Chi Yuan, the capital’s most beautiful man.
“A face handsome enough to make people fill his carriage with fruit,” I observed.
No one dared speak.
“Why so nervous?”
Zhenzhu offered her conclusion. Shen Qingbi had ruled for years and possessed deep foundations. She must have fallen into a honey trap.
Chi Ke had risen from humble birth. Shen Qingbi had promoted him for his service in the rebellion. He should have panicked first when she disappeared, yet he had said nothing. He must have betrayed her, with his beautiful son as bait.
The study became deathly silent.
So Shen Qingbi had not fought over a man. A man had deceived her?
They waited for me to explode.
“She is young. What is wrong with admiring a handsome man?”
Everyone stared.
Even if it was true, no one had the right to slander her. Countless male heroes had fallen for beauties and earned only a rueful proverb. Why should a woman be ridiculed for loving the wrong man?
Shen Qingbi remained my indomitable sister.
“How she lost is irrelevant. What matters is whether she can afford the loss.”
Anyone who laughed at her would answer to me.