Gu Moran knelt ramrod straight, the sincerity on his face watertight.
The emperor finally folded the sheet of paper and set it at the corner of the imperial desk.
"I will consider it for three days. But you must think this through beforehand. Those four families loyally helped me ascend the throne, and all were granted death-exemption medallions. Can you keep their daughters in line?"
Gu Moran kowtowed in thanks.
"Thank you, Father. Please have faith in your son!"
When he left the Hall of Supreme Ultimate, the sweat on his back had soaked through his inner robe.
That very night, word leaked out of the palace.
The third prince intended to marry six women at once.
The entire capital boiled over.
The prime minister's residence.
A secret letter lay beneath Su Wenyuan's palm, its corner soaked with tea.
This wind from the palace had blown first into the prime minister's residence, then toward the other residences in the capital. The meaning was clear.
His Majesty had not closed the door.
It was a step to climb down.
And a blade.
His adviser Li Yuan stood below him. The fragrance of tea drifted into his nose, but he did not dare speak first.
Su Wenyuan tapped the table twice with his fingertips.
"The third prince wants to marry Yao'er."
Li Yuan lowered his head.
"The palace only said His Majesty would consider it for three days. No imperial decree has been issued yet."
Su Wenyuan raised his eyes slightly.
"Noble Consort Chen accompanied him to the Hall of Supreme Ultimate herself. In three days, will this still be nothing but a rumor?"
Li Yuan's Adam's apple bobbed.
Su Wenyuan pushed his teacup away.
Tea struck the side of the cup and splashed onto the table.
"Tell me, is His Majesty asking whether I am willing, or whether I know what is good for me?"
Sweat broke out on Li Yuan's back.
"My lord, if you defy the decree, this residence will be standing against Noble Consort Chen and the third prince."
Su Wenyuan did not respond.
Li Yuan paused for half a breath, then added another sentence.
"If you obey, the young lady's reputation will suffer."
Su Wenyuan looked at him.
"Even a vegetable seller on the street could say as much."
Li Yuan went pale and stepped half a pace forward.
"My lord, there is something I am unsure whether I should say."
"Speak."
"Since you cannot defy the decree, that matter weighing on your mind... the old marriage contract with the Ye Clan could be superseded by the imperial decree through this affair."
Su Wenyuan's hand stopped as he lifted his tea.
Outside the hall, the wind rattled the bamboo blind.
Those words finally struck the mark.
The marriage with the Ye Clan had been arranged by the old patriarch back then out of regard for old bonds.
The Ye Clan's standing was now far too low.
If the prime minister's residence broke off the engagement on its own initiative, the Censorate would dare denounce him tomorrow for scorning the poor and favoring the rich.
But an imperially bestowed marriage was different.
However wronged the Ye Clan felt, they could not enter the palace to cry injustice.
Whose head would the blame fall upon?
The third prince was outrageous.
Imperial power was oppressive.
At most, the Su Clan would endure a few idle remarks.
The account was not difficult to reckon.
Su Wenyuan set down his teacup.
One had to fear imperial power, but also know how to use it.
"That makes sense. Since the imperial family has promised us one condition, I shall name it."
Li Yuan raised his head.
"My lord, are you prepared to agree?"
Su Wenyuan looked toward the rear hall.
From behind the screen, a faint fragrance of osmanthus drifted over.
Yao'er was over there.
Su Wenyuan picked up his brush and wrote out a list.
When Li Yuan reached the third item, his brows drew down.
"My lord, isn't this condition a little too hard-line?"
Su Wenyuan did not stop writing.
"It is meant to look hard-line to His Majesty."
He took a sip of cold tea, its bitterness weighing on the root of his tongue.
"If we set no conditions at all, His Majesty will think this residence is easy to control."
"If we slam the table and refuse the marriage, His Majesty will think this residence harbors treasonous intentions."
"Setting conditions without refusing the decree-that is the proper measure."
The beaded curtain in the rear hall stirred.
Su Yao stood behind it without coming out.
Su Wenyuan's brush hand paused.
"Yao'er, go back."
Behind the curtain, there was a moment of silence.
Su Yao asked through the beads.
"Father, do you think this is a good thing?"
The back of Su Wenyuan's hand tightened, then relaxed.
"Many things in this world are not judged by whether they are good or bad."
He pinned the list of conditions beneath a paperweight.
"Only by whether you can stay alive and go farther."
The beaded curtain tinkled softly.
Su Yao left.
She neither cried nor made a scene.
The more she behaved this way, the heavier Su Wenyuan's chest felt.
That same day, at the grand commandant's residence.
Lin Zhenshan's saber lay across his desk.
The blade had not left its sheath, but he had already kicked a desk leg half an inch out of alignment.
The steward stood guard at the door, not daring even to breathe heavily.
Lin Qingdai leaned against the screen, still holding an account book.
She looked at the desk leg first, then at her father.
"Father, don't chop it."
Lin Zhenshan glared at her.
"I haven't even drawn my saber!"
"Once you do, that Jiangnan red sandalwood will be gone."
Lin Zhenshan choked on his words.
"At a time like this, you're still reading accounts?"
Lin Qingdai turned a page.
"It is precisely because I'm getting married that I need to read the accounts."
"Who said you're getting married?"
Lin Qingdai closed the account book.
"Do you intend to lead troops to surround the palace, Father?"
Lin Zhenshan's expression darkened.
"Nonsense."
"There you have it, then."
She stepped out from behind the screen and stood before the desk.
"You are the grand commandant, with the troops outside the capital in your hands."
"If one word of your refusal reaches the palace, what will His Majesty think?"
Lin Zhenshan pressed down on the scabbard.
The wooden desk gave a dull thud.
"That still doesn't mean I can send you into that good-for-nothing's residence."
"Gu Moran may be useless, but His Majesty and Noble Consort Chen stand behind him."
Lin Qingdai looked at the saber.
"You cannot defy the decree, Father."
"But you can go along with the imperial family and set conditions."
"Besides, with my martial skills, could he get anywhere near me if I were unwilling?"
That same day, in the rear hall of the Imperial Medical Bureau.
Elder Shen sat before a medicine cabinet, silver needles held between his fingers.
The scent of medicinal herbs mingled with lamp oil, and the room was quiet enough to hear the faint sound of a needle tip touching its case.
Shen Ling'er stood before him in a pale yellow ruqun, her hair in twin buns, her face round and full.
"Grandfather, so the third prince wants to marry me?"
Elder Shen snorted.
"Not just you."
"He's marrying six."
Shen Ling'er blinked.
"Wow, his kidneys will be busy."
Elder Shen nearly bent the silver needle between his fingers.
"You're a young lady. Put a gate on that mouth."
"As someone from a medical family, I'm just telling the truth."
She counted on her fingers.
"The prime minister's legitimate daughter, the grand commandant's daughter, the princess of the Northern Territory, the daughter of the Imperial Academy's libationer, and that one from the pleasure house?"
Elder Shen corrected her.
"The Flower-Between Pavilion's top courtesan, Liu Ruyan."
Shen Ling'er smiled.
"Put these six together, and you have the prime minister, the grand commandant, the Imperial Medical Bureau, the Imperial Academy, the Northern Frontier Envoy Delegation, and the Flower-Between Pavilion."
She looked up at Elder Shen.
"Grandfather, is he getting married or forming a cabinet?"
The silver needle in Elder Shen's hand stopped.
"You noticed?"
Shen Ling'er still wore an innocent smile.
"Noticed what? I'm just a little girl."
Elder Shen put the silver needle back in its case.
"If you were just a little girl, you wouldn't have used a bowl of tonic soup last year to make the second prince's adviser break out in red rashes all over."
Shen Ling'er spread her hands.
"He was allergic to astragalus. How is that my fault?"
Elder Shen looked at her without speaking.
Shen Ling'er blinked twice. Her attempt to look innocent had failed, so she simply dropped it.
"All right."
Elder Shen asked.
"What do you think of this matter?"
Shen Ling'er ran her fingers along the edge of the medicine cabinet.
The wood had been steeped in medicinal fumes for so long that bitterness clung to her fingertips.
"I can marry him."
Elder Shen's beard twitched.
"What?"
"If the terms are right."
"What terms?"
Shen Ling'er lifted her face.
"Since he offered me terms, I'll have the third prince come negotiate in person."
That same night.
At the Northern Frontier Envoy Delegation's quarters.
Batuer planted a palm on the edge of the table, making the wine bowl on it wobble.
Murong Xue sat on the windowsill, sharpening a knife.
Stone dust fell onto her skirt, and the blade skimmed the moonlight.
Batuer clenched her pearly teeth.
"Princess, the Central Plains emperor has gone too far. He agreed to wait three months before deciding on the marriage-alliance candidates."
Murong Xue did not look up.
"He hasn't issued a decree yet."
"But word has already gotten out."
"If word has gotten out, it means he wants us to name our price."
Batuer froze.
Murong Xue raised the short knife and inspected its edge.
"A marriage alliance is a transaction to begin with."
"Whether I marry the first prince, the second prince, the third prince, or someone else, what difference does it make to the Northern Territory?"
Batuer clenched her delicate fists.
"The third prince is a notorious wastrel in the capital. He also clings to life and fears death."
Murong Xue slid the knife into its sheath.
"A wastrel is good."
She hopped off the windowsill, her boot soles hitting the floor.
"Someone who cherishes his life is easy to negotiate with. A wastrel is easy to control."
Holding back her anger, Batuer asked.
"How do you intend to negotiate, Princess?"
Murong Xue walked to the table, picked up the wine bowl, and took a sip.
The strong liquor went down her throat without so much as a twitch of her brows.
"Why is your name like a man's, and your temperament too?"
"Our condition is to follow Northern Territory customs and test his courage."
At the same time, in a private room on the second floor of the Flower-Between Pavilion.
Madam Chun clutched her handkerchief.
"Ruyan, the third prince is marrying six women at once. You're on the list."
Liu Ruyan first looked at the handkerchief in Madam Chun's hands, then at the tight corners of her mouth.
"Are you afraid I'll make a scene, Madam?"
Madam Chun forced out a small smile, then quickly let it fade.
"If you were willing to make a scene, I'd feel reassured."
Liu Ruyan pulled the door open, then turned and went back to the table.
"Should I give thanks for this grace?"
Madam Chun entered and closed the door behind her.
"Don't rush to give thanks, or to hate."
Liu Ruyan put down the volume of poetry, leaving faint creases along the edges of the pages beneath her hand.
"This time, it isn't a customer battering the door with banknotes. I understand."
"You may not."
Madam Chun walked to the window and lifted a corner of the curtain. Downstairs, drinkers were slapping tables and calling for songs.
She let the curtain fall and turned back to look at her.
"His Majesty knows you're here."
Liu Ruyan's fingers stilled on the edge of the table.
"He always has."
The agarwood incense had been burning in the room for a long time. It smothered the smell of wine from downstairs, but not the past neither of them wished to mention.
Liu Ruyan added, "Has the one behind the pavilion agreed?"
Madam Chun's handkerchief crumpled into a ball.
"Ruyan."
Liu Ruyan looked at her.
"Don't worry, Madam. I won't give her away."
Madam Chun's eyes reddened, but she kept her voice steady.
"Who you might give away isn't what frightens me."
"Then what does?"
"That you'll take a wrong turn. If you were merely a girl of the Flower-Between Pavilion, three thousand taels would buy your freedom ten times over."
Madam Chun sat down across from her.
"But you aren't."
Liu Ruyan set down her teacup.
"So I'm destined never to leave."
"You can leave."
Madam Chun pressed her handkerchief onto the table.
"But you can't go blindly."
Liu Ruyan gave a small smile.
"Is there a difference?"
"There is."
Madam Chun stared at her hand.
"Go blindly, and you'll die. Enter Prince Yi's Residence, and you might not."
Liu Ruyan raised her eyes.
"Are you speaking on the third prince's behalf, Madam?"
Madam Chun topped up her hot tea. As it poured into the cup, steam rose with a faint bitterness.
"All these years the third prince has visited the Flower-Between Pavilion, he truly has behaved outrageously, and he's quick to throw silver around."
"He likes songs, he likes pretty girls, and his mouth is unruly too."
Liu Ruyan lifted her eyes slightly.
Madam Chun paused for half a beat.
"But he's never forced any girl here to spend the night with him."
Liu Ruyan rested her fingertips against the cup, the heat scalding them red.
She did not argue.
Only then did Madam Chun continue.
"If he were merely wicked, going there would mean throwing your life away."
"If he were merely stupid, going there would only mean trading one cage for another."
"But asking to marry into six families in one breath doesn't look like lust."
Liu Ruyan looked at her.
Madam Chun continued.
"He's drawn half the capital to the same banquet table."
Liu Ruyan lowered her eyes and looked at the surface of the tea.
Someone clinked cups downstairs, and laughter pierced the room.
Madam Chun softened her voice.
"Ruyan, it's precisely because we can't read him that there's room to maneuver."
Liu Ruyan remained silent for a long time.
The osmanthus tree in her grandfather's study rose in her mind, along with the narrow alley outside the Grand Tutor's residence's back gate.
The smell of blood, the firelight, the person who had carried her to safety.
She pressed those images back down, her hand still resting against the cup.
"Madam, I still hate him."
Madam Chun's expression changed.
"Don't say that again."
Liu Ruyan looked at her.
"The empress dowager had only just said she owed the Liu family a life, yet she didn't stop her son from slaughtering my entire family afterward."
Madam Chun stood and hurried to the door to listen.
The corridor was empty.
She turned back, her voice a little hoarser.
"Only if you stay alive can there be a future."
Liu Ruyan took a sip of hot tea.
The tea was bitter. Only after it reached her throat did its sweetness slowly return.
"Whether I live depends entirely on His Majesty's whims. If he wants to pursue me, even the Flower-Between Pavilion can't stop him."
Madam Chun said quietly, "No one can fight the imperial family."
Liu Ruyan set her teacup back on the table, her voice very soft.
"Then I'll marry him."
"This isn't something the Flower-Between Pavilion can stop."
Liu Ruyan rose, went to the dressing table, and opened a box.
An old jade clasp lay at the bottom.
She touched the jade clasp, then closed the box again.
"Nor is it something I can refuse."
Madam Chun sighed, walked to the door, and put her hand on the latch.
Liu Ruyan suddenly spoke.
"But since terms are being offered, please have the third prince come in person."
Madam Chun turned back.
Liu Ruyan raised her eyes, lamplight falling on her face, her expression so faint it was unreadable.
"I want to see whether he's the cage or that crack in it. At worst, I'll go reunite with my family."
That night, six replies were delivered to the palace from six different directions.
The emperor sat in the Hall of Supreme Ultimate, spreading the six letters across the dragon desk. He read from left to right, then from right to left.
He picked up the last letter, read it twice, set it down, and said one thing to Gao Fu beside him.
"Go summon my third son."
As Gao Fu hurried out of the hall, the emperor added another instruction.
"While you're at it, copy out those six families' lists of conditions. Let him see for himself just how big a hornet's nest he's stirred up."