"What you said cut straight to the heart of the matter, Minister Lu."
Taiping nodded and placed another stone. "Li Chongjun is rash, lacking both ability and prestige. His departure may look like an escape from a cage, but in truth, he has cut himself off from legitimate authority. The realm has enjoyed peace for years, and people long for stability. Who would sincerely follow a Crown Prince who 'murdered a prince and alarmed the emperor,' then 'fled to escape punishment'? Those people in Lingnan took him in, but rather than gaining a claim to legitimacy, they have caught a hot potato. Whatever they intend to do in the future, that banner will be difficult to raise-and difficult to put away."
Then she shifted her tone and laughed softly. "Still, it is certainly better for the Crown Prince to disappear while 'alive.' A living 'rebel' will always be a blade suspended over Empress Wei's head, denying them peace at meals or in bed!"
Just then, Jinghong appeared silently in the doorway again, her figure like a wisp of smoke merging with the night. She held an earthenware jar of ancient, simple design.
The clay seal over its mouth remained intact, yet faint wisps of cold and an unusual, mellow fragrance seeped through.
She gently set the jar beside the table, then put down two luminous cups, their white surfaces lustrous as jade.
Then she bowed and withdrew into the shadows.
"A tribute wine from Lingnan, Jade-Ice Shao."
Princess Taiping broke the clay seal herself. A wine fragrance mingling the sweetness of lychees with the chill of ice and snow spread through the room. She lifted the jar, pouring amber liquid into the cups in silken streams. As the wine rippled in the luminous cups, tiny glints like ice crystals shimmered