The next day.
In the faint morning light, a thin layer of spring dew still clung to the glazed tiles of Chenghui Hall.
After court adjourned, the long street outside the Princess of Zhen Guo's Residence gradually came alive.
First, several small sedan chairs with blue curtains arrived discreetly. Fine horses and light carriages followed in an unbroken stream. By the end, even the purple-robed dignitaries who normally traveled surrounded by attendants were alighting from their chairs and dismounting outside the gates.
The gatekeepers at the Princess's Residence were busy but orderly, announcing each visitor and ushering him inside. Their calls traveled inward from the gates, through corridor after corridor, all the way to Chenghui Hall.
The Princess had shut her doors to visitors for nearly two months.
During those two months, the court had appeared calm on the surface, but the currents beneath had not stopped surging for a single day.
His Majesty was kindhearted. Put generously, he readily accepted sound advice; put less kindly, he was indecisive.
Previously, the Crown Prince's faction and the Princess's faction had opposed each other, providing at least some balance. Ever since Li Longji had been ordered to remain at home and reflect on his conduct over the Dragon-Slaying City affair, however, the Crown Prince's faction had suffered a crippling blow, leaving the Princess's faction supreme at court.
Yet at precisely that moment, the Princess had abruptly secluded herself and refused to see anyone.
Every document submitted by the Three Departments and Six Ministries was approved, but without seeing her, the officials beneath her felt unmoored. Those who had already been sitting on the fence, watching and waiting, saw the Princess's Residence apparently losing momentum and began quietly edging toward the Eastern Palace.
For the hall full of the Princess's supporters, today's summons