Closeness and Distance
She would never forget the New Year's Eve when she was sixteen.
Fireworks filled the sky in a dazzling display as she secretly made her way to the side hall where her younger brother was imprisoned, carrying two pine nut and lily pastries wrapped in a handkerchief. She wanted to stay up with him to see in the new year and pray for peace and good fortune in the year to come.
But a palace attendant gripped her brother by the throat and forced medicinal soup down him. The medicine acted swiftly: no sooner had it reached his stomach than blood began to gush from his mouth, one mouthful after another.
She held her brother in her arms and hummed to lull him to sleep.
Until the body in her arms grew cold.
They were like those two pastries wrapped in the handkerchief: once, they too had been treasured and held in the palms of someone's hands. Once they fell to the ground, they were left to be trampled again and again.
"Sister, are you married?"
"Mm."
"Sister, does he treat you well?"
"Mm."
"Sister, does he like you?"
"I don't know."
"Why don't you ask whether I like him?"
"I know your secret, Sister. You don't like military generals. You like the top scholar."
"Sister, after I die, divorce him."
Zhao Huiluan squeezed her eyes shut, hiding the tears in them. When she opened them, they held only resolve.
That night, Zhao Huiluan knelt alone before the empress's coffin, while the attendants and those keeping vigil remained in the courtyard.
She fed spirit money into the brazier now and then. Firelight flickered over her pale face, making her look like a ghost.
"Mother..."
"I couldn't see you one last time. I regret it so much. You left so early that, after all these years, I've nearly forgotten what you looked like."
"Mother, don't worry. I'll protect my younger brother and see him grow up safe and sound. I'll do everything in my power to clear the obstacles from his path. I swear I'll keep him safe this time."
"But Mother, some things are easy to say and so hard to do. What should I do? Can you teach me?"
For instance, the most urgent question now was how she could save her grandfather and uncle.
In her previous life, her grandfather and his family had come to Yan Capital for the mourning rites. Afterward, her uncle had been impeached by the Censorate and the Six Offices of Scrutiny, then dismissed and placed under investigation. When the barbarians invaded, her grandfather had returned to the Northern Frontier alone and died on the battlefield. Upon learning of his death, her uncle had taken his own life in prison. Marquis Jingwu's Zhang Clan had fallen into decline from that day on.
Command of the Northern Garrison Army had fallen into the hands of Prince Jin's Faction.
She could never allow the same thing to happen again.
How could the loyal and brave Northern Garrison Army, which protected the country and guarded its borders, become a blade in the hands of those petty villains who defied their superiors and stirred up rebellion?
Besides, the empress's maternal clan was also the maternal clan of the crown prince and the princess. Marquis Jingwu's Residence would be a source of support for them in the future.
But her imperial father was suspicious and wary of his in-laws. Even with the empress gone, as long as the crown prince remained, he would not spare Marquis Jingwu's Residence.
In her previous life, she had once held her brother and knelt before her imperial father, begging him to spare her uncle for their sake. That was the only time her imperial father had ever lost his temper with her.
Thinking back on it now, she had stepped squarely on her imperial father's reverse scale.
Zhao Huiluan had been on edge all day. The body of a seven-year-old child could not withstand it, and she fainted.
When she woke, Consort Jing was sitting by her bed, along with the Yongzhao Emperor, who was frantic with worry.
Seeing her awake, the Yongzhao Emperor let out a long breath.
"You're not allowed to kneel in the mourning hall again!"
"Oh."
Seeing his daughter's aggrieved expression, the Yongzhao Emperor softened his tone.
"If your imperial mother knew in the netherworld, it would pain her to see you like this. Do you know how worried I was when the attendant came and told me you'd fainted?"
Zhao Huiluan said nothing.
At a loss, the Yongzhao Emperor waved a hand and said to Consort Jing, "Jianjian will stay in your palace tonight. Please look after her for me. I truly, truly... sigh!"
Consort Jing nodded her assent. After seeing the Yongzhao Emperor off, she returned and dismissed all the attendants from the room.
Zhao Huiluan closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
Suddenly, she felt someone pat the back of her hand. Zhao Huiluan's mind sharpened, but the person said nothing more.
Chapter 3: Closeness and Distance
The whole country mourned for the empress.
Marquis Jingwu and his party returned to Yan Capital the day before the funeral, travel-worn and dusty. Without even going home, they headed straight to the imperial palace for an audience with the emperor.
The Yongzhao Emperor sent an attendant to summon Zhao Huiluan, but more than an hour passed without a sign of her. He then sent Duan Siqi, the seal-bearing eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, to Jade Balance Palace in person.
"So what if they've come? Why must I go and pay my respects to them?"
Zhao Huiluan muttered in displeasure.
"What difference would it make if they waited a little longer?"
Eunuch Duan hunched his back and said with an ingratiating smile, "Your Highness, they are your mother's family, after all."
"So what?"
Putting on a young girl's spoiled and willful manner, Zhao Huiluan said,
"I am Princess Zhenning of Great Yin, their sovereign. Even if he is my grandfather, could he possibly disregard the order between sovereign and subject?"
"Seal-bearer, tell me: has there ever been a reason for a sovereign to bow to a subject?"
"Well..."
The question stumped old Eunuch Duan Siqi, who had seen his share of storms over the years.
As they spoke, the two arrived at Jade Light Hall.
Zhao Huiluan paused, smoothed the impatience from her face, and put on an obedient expression before stepping into the hall. Eunuch Duan took quiet note of it.
"Greetings, Imperial Father."
Without looking to either side, Zhao Huiluan bowed to the Yongzhao Emperor, who sat in the place of honor.
"Go and greet your grandfather, uncle, and elder brother."
Only after the Yongzhao Emperor prompted her did she turn and greet the three men she had ignored.
All three wore armor, their faces covered in the dust of travel.
The eldest was her grandfather, Marquis Jingwu Zhang Tai, whose imposing bearing carried the marks of hardship;
The one who resembled a hawk, his sharp spirit impossible to miss, was her uncle, Zhang Yong, the heir to Marquis Jingwu's Residence;
Her cousin Zhang Yunchi, the young heir's heir, was three years older than her. Though still a young boy, he had the bearing of a scion of a military family.
Zhao Huiluan's greeting was less than wholehearted.
The young heir's heir immediately frowned, ready to flare up, but his father restrained him.
"We wouldn't dare accept such a courtesy, Your Highness."
Seeing his father return the little princess's greeting, the young heir's heir was thoroughly unwilling, but he could only follow suit.
Marquis Jingwu Zhang Tai was already sunk in the grief of a white-haired parent burying his black-haired child. At the sight of his granddaughter, who looked so much like his daughter, he immediately forgot all about rules and propriety, swept her into his arms, and burst into loud sobs.