Jinghe Year Sixteen, Third Month, Twenty-Second Day, afternoon.
A faint medicinal fragrance lingered in Funing Hall.
The window stood half open, and spring sunlight slanted in, falling upon the blue-brick floor and dividing it into light and shadow.
The hall was utterly still. Only the wind passing through the old trees outside the corridor could be heard, rustling softly.
Emperor Jing of Zhou reclined against a bolster in a somewhat worn, bright-yellow sleeping robe. He had grown much thinner, his cheeks hollow.
"Your son pays his respects, Father."
Crown Prince Jiang Heng entered the hall and bowed respectfully. Then he personally took the medicine bowl from an Imperial Attendant, tested its temperature, and only then brought it before the emperor.
"Are you feeling any better today, Father?"
"The same as ever." The emperor accepted the medicine and drank slowly. Only after setting down the bowl did he speak.
"Two days ago, your mother mentioned something to me."
"What was it?"
"Your older sister," Emperor Jing of Zhou said. "At Luyang's age, her marriage is still unsettled."
"Your mother is anxious, and I must ask as well: just what sort of family does she wish to marry into?"
Jiang Heng answered with a soft laugh. "Father, surely you know Older Sister's temperament?"
"Unless she agrees, even wearing the threshold flat with visitors would do no good."
"Heng'er, what do you think, then?"
"I wish only to follow Older Sister's wishes," Jiang Heng replied.
"If Older Sister finds someone she likes, I will prepare her bridal finery and give her a splendid wedding.
"If she has yet to find anyone, I cannot bear to hurry her either.
"All that matters is that Older Sister is happy."
Even an imperial family had its familial joys; even the ruler serving as Regent could smile