When the sky was about to brighten, Jiang He woke to the discomfort of wanting to turn over but being restrained.
The brocade quilt on her had already been kicked to the floor, and her wrists were bound tightly. Without even turning her head to look, Jiang He knew that Zhao Zheng had returned.
Jiang He remembered that when she was little, she had followed her father to watch people perform martial arts. There had been a general who could strangle enemies to death with his legs. She had wanted to learn it then, but her mother would not allow it. She went to beg her father, and her father said that brute force could take one man’s life, but strategy could take the world.
In her youth, she had greedily thought that “taking the world” sounded more impressive, and had given up learning martial arts.
If she had known then that one day she would be tied to a bed by this damned pervert, with only her legs left able to move, she would have gone on a hunger strike if she had to, just to become that general’s disciple.
Then the her of now could have wrapped her legs around Zhao Zheng and forced him to surrender when he was on the verge of suffocation.
Thinking of this, Jiang He turned over. The ropes binding her gave off an odd sensation, and Jiang He lifted her head in puzzlement.
Pressed against her skin, between skin and rope, was a layer of silk handkerchief wrapped tightly around her. Inside the handkerchief, something unknown had been wrapped as well, like a soft ointment. It separated her from the rough rope and also lessened the force of the binding.
The ointment was soft and yielding, faintly carrying the sharp fragrance of medicinal herbs.
Jiang He tried pulling down hard. The rope did not loosen, and she still could not escape, but her wrists no longer hurt.
The sleeping Zhao Zheng was still lying flat, both arms hanging at his sides, the brocade quilt drawn up to his chest.
His hair had come loose, spilling over the pillow. From the side, one could see his beautiful beard and snow-white skin, the line of his jaw as hard and sharp as if cut by a blade. Those two thin lips were lightly pressed together in sleep, a little rosier than in the daytime, yet the coldness had not faded. That kingly air of detachment from the mortal world seemed to linger around him even as he lay there.
So this was what Zhao Zheng, ruler of Yong, was like.
If the one married to him had been Jiang Yuheng, would he also tie her up every night because he feared his wife might kill someone?
Until the Yong spy was uncovered, Jiang He would have to sleep beside this man every night.
She wondered who the spy was.
Only the Yong king’s personal attendants and several ministers knew how the Qi wedding escort’s lodgings had been arranged in the temporary palace. Yet at that time, the assassins who tried to kill Jiang Yuheng in the palace had been able to slip in silently, as if entering an undefended place.
Every single person around Zhao Zheng was unable to shed suspicion.
Fortunately, the assassin had been caught. Though nothing could be extracted under interrogation, the day before yesterday Zhao Zheng had already ordered Su Yu, commander of the Palace Guards, to release the assassin.
Cast a long fishing line and wait for the big fish to bite.
Jiang He turned over with her back to Zhao Zheng and closed her eyes.
The Chancellor’s estate of Great Yong was not too far from the palace where the king resided.
Before daybreak, officials riding horses or carriages to attend court always liked to buy a bowl of tofu pudding or sour noodle leaves at the morning market near Imperial Avenue to refresh themselves. An official sitting in his carriage, eating his snack with relish, could lift his head and see the gates of the Chancellor’s estate through the carriage window.
Though he was the chancellor of a state, his residence was built in the bustling marketplace.
His Excellency the Chancellor had once traveled among the six states as a merchant. Even after attaining high rank, he had never looked down on commoners, and was more than willing to mingle among them and share in the people’s pleasures.
It was said that when the vendor selling fried tofu puffs did especially good business and customers had nowhere to sit, they could even enter through the side gate of the Chancellor’s estate and borrow a few small stools.
With such a chancellor, the other officials followed his example and were willing to understand the hardships of the people.
Though Yong’s laws were strict, its marketplaces flourished, filled with the thriving smoke and fire of daily life.
On this day, when the officials going to court passed by the Chancellor’s estate, they discovered a splendid carriage parked outside the gate.
Drawing closer and looking at the emblem on the front of the carriage, they saw it was actually Lord Chang’an, Zhao Jiao.
Coming so early to seek an audience with His Excellency the Chancellor—had something happened?
An official stuffed the last mutton soup bun into his mouth. As the juice spread between his lips and teeth, leaving a lingering fragrance, he lowered the carriage curtain, picked up his court tablet, and went forward with doubt on his face.
“I heard he came before dawn.”
As the maid dressed Wei Nanxu’s hair, she spoke with delighted excitement.
Another maid holding the dressing mirror also joined in the fun. “I heard that when the master went out and saw Lord Chang’an’s carriage, he thought something had happened in the palace and was so frightened his face turned white!”
Only then did Wei Nanxu, the legitimate daughter of the Chancellor’s estate, who had been looking listless, lift her eyes. She picked up a string of cool agate beads and toyed with it in her hand, saying without much interest, “What did he say?”
“What else could he say? He said he heard his younger sister had fallen ill, so he came to deliver tonics, and even brought an imperial physician.”
“That imperial physician was dragged out of bed in the middle of the night—how unlucky.”
The two maids went back and forth, and at last made Wei Nanxu laugh.
“Father said that imperial physicians take the pulse of the royal family, and unless absolutely necessary, they must not be invited. Besides, I merely scraped my knee and knocked my wrist. How could he make such a fuss?”
Wei Nanxu frowned slightly, yet she could not conceal a trace of smugness.
For a young girl to be flattered and courted by a man was always a pleasant thing.
Especially when Lord Chang’an was so famed, the dream man of countless young women in the capital.
“Was this how you fell?”
Lord Chang’an smiled as he walked through the hall, pretending not to see the steps. His body suddenly lurched forward, and he dropped to one knee on the floor, baring his teeth and furrowing his brows in an expression of extreme pain.
Inside the hall, Wei Nanxu was both angry and amused. She flung the string of agate beads at him.
“Who mocks someone like that? You clearly know I lost the chess match and was in a bad mood.”
Zhao Jiao caught the agate beads with a grin and walked to Wei Nanxu’s side, kneeling down to sit.
“You’re angry only because you lost a game of chess?” His face carried a smile that saw through right and wrong, and a touch of gentle comfort. “Not because my royal brother married a wife?”
Wei Nanxu’s expression changed.
The maids who had just been laughing along instantly fell silent, slowly retreated outside, and closed the door.
“Clearly, we grew up together.”
Though it was early morning, Zhao Jiao still poured himself a cup of wine. Lifting his sleeve, he drank it, then leaned sideways against the armrest and looked toward Wei Nanxu.
On the young man’s gorgeous face was a decadent, sorrowful smile, like colored glass shattered all over the ground.
“I still remember the first time you won a game of chess against Lord Fengchang and couldn’t help embracing me. You were thirteen then. Everyone said they wanted to arrange our marriage.”
In the end, it had not been arranged. Then, not long after, Zhao Zheng returned.
The corners of the young girl’s eyes and brows were filled with a shyness Zhao Jiao had never seen before. It was the expression one had before the person one loved, another side of her that she had never shown him.
“I was young then, and because I was always playing together with you, I failed to observe the proper boundaries between men and women.” Wei Nanxu apologized softly, her expression somewhat guilty.
Zhao Jiao shook his head and smiled bitterly at the pure, lotus-like young woman before him.
“Don’t be like that. I don’t mean to blame you. It’s just, is marrying him really so good? I suspect royal sister-in-law at night…”
Zhao Jiao suddenly realized he had unconsciously said something he should not have said. After a slight pause, a red flush spread across his cheeks, and he could only raise his sleeve to drink again, concealing his strange expression.
What was wrong with marrying Zhao Zheng? What was wrong with royal sister-in-law? What happened at night?
Wei Nanxu did not ask him what he meant.
Her eyes shifted as she committed every word Zhao Jiao had said to memory.
As long as it concerned Zhao Zheng, she would remember it.
She had heard that Zhao Jiao had delivered a gift to the queen yesterday. Could it be that he knew something?
The Yong royal clan claimed to be descendants of Shaohao, and thus had built a temple atop a high mountain to worship the White Emperor, god of the west.
The king’s great marriage had to be reported to Heaven. One month after the wedding, according to precedent, they were to go to Jiuzong Mountain north of the capital. Horses, cattle, and sheep would be offered in sacrifice, to pray for Heaven to bless the royal clan with descendants and bless Great Yong’s reign to endure forever.
Aside from sacrificial offerings such as slaughtered livestock, the palace also had to prepare sutra banners and other items sewn by hand. Though they were said to be sewn by hand, in truth, the palace women only needed to hold a needle and lightly prick the prepared auspicious ritual items for it to count. The rest to be done was to check the list of sacrificial offerings personally, as a show of sincerity.
The Empress Dowager had been somewhat unwell recently, so Jiang He was doing all these things.
She shuttled among the various palaces and gradually became familiar with every part of Great Yong’s imperial palace. As for the officials of the Palace Ritual Office and the Imperial Wardrobe Bureau, she also came to know them one by one.
There were many tasks, and they were complicated. By the third day of busyness, the Empress Dowager, understanding Jiang He’s hardship, invited seven female relatives from among the royal clan and the ministers’ households to help. Among them was Wei Nanxu.
She looked a little thinner than she had on the day of the chess match. Seeing Jiang He, she bowed and offered greetings together with the other women, without the slightest stiffness on her face.
“Now that you’re here, this palace can be lazy.”
Jiang He allowed them to dispense with formalities and smiled amiably.
The women gathered around her. Though a little timid, they still smiled along with Jiang He.
“Your Highness the Queen, please give us your instructions.”
“As long as Your Highness does not find us lacking, we will certainly do our utmost.”
These women who came to help arrived during the day and left before the palace gates were locked.
But because Wei Nanxu’s knee was injured, the Empress Dowager allowed her to rest in Dazheng Palace and eat and sleep together with the Empress Dowager, granting her abundant favor.
That night, when they lay down to sleep, Jiang He suddenly said to Zhao Zheng, “She likes you. Did you know?”
Zhao Zheng was in the middle of binding Jiang He’s arms. He wrapped that soft handkerchief around Jiang He’s wrist. His expression was meticulous, as though if he were careless and did not bind her securely, his life would be in danger tonight.
The medicinal ointment wrapped in that handkerchief had already healed Jiang He’s bruises.
Hearing this, Zhao Zheng gave a faint “Mm,” clearly understanding whom Jiang He was talking about.
No emotion could be heard in his voice.
But Jiang He suddenly grew interested.
These past few days, she had been busy preparing the sacrificial rites. Though she handled them with ease, she had no time to be angry at Zhao Zheng. Now that she had found something to talk about, she could not help speaking.
“Why don’t you marry her?” Jiang He said. “Now that you have already married a principal wife, you can take in some Ladies, Beauties, Worthies, Bazi, and the like. For Your Majesty, this is an extremely easy matter. You need only prepare a few more ropes for tying people up.”
Zhao Zheng raised his brows and looked at her, shaking his head. “I do not need to bind Wei Nanxu.”
Jiang He felt a moment of stifled anger in her chest and gave a snort.
“Nor do I need to marry her,” Zhao Zheng added. “For five hundred years, the seven states have intermarried, and every one of those marriages has been only for profit. I am also doing it for profit.”
For the sake of profit, he had therefore married the princess of Qi.
And she, a cook who had carried a blade to kill, had to be tied up.
Jiang He turned over and went to sleep, no longer speaking to Zhao Zheng.
In the night, she suddenly heard someone reporting outside. It seemed to be Li Wenzhou, the chief inner attendant. Zhao Zheng turned over and rose, asking, “What is it?”
Li Wenzhou’s voice carried some urgency.
“News has come from Han.”
Jiang He opened her eyes a little, remembering that on the second day after the wedding, Li Wenzhou had once had a maid deliver pastries to her, and her heart felt warm. She saw Zhao Zheng get out of bed, put on his clothes, and stride away.
Jiang He continued sleeping. When she opened her eyes again, it was already daylight.
Zhao Zheng had not returned, and her arms were still bound to the bedpost.
Zhao Zheng had strict orders: all palace maids and inner attendants were forbidden to appear in the sleeping hall without permission. So even if those palace maids did not understand why Jiang He had not risen, they did not dare enter.
She could wait a while, but she felt her stomach was empty and wanted to eat.
A moth fluttered its wings and flew past. She wondered whether roasted moth tasted good.
Outside the sleeping hall, little birds were chirping. As for little birds, they were probably better fried.
Those were all too far from her. At night, Zhao Zheng was quite close to her. If she bit him and sucked his blood to quench her thirst, where should she bite?
As she thought all these messy thoughts, she suddenly heard palace maids speaking outside the hall.
“Miss Wei, you cannot go in.”
“The Empress Dowager ordered me to come find Her Highness the Queen and retrieve the fish tally for leaving the palace. The queen knows about it.” Wei Nanxu’s voice was gentle, yet brooked no obstruction.
“But the queen, she…” the palace maid tried to stop her.
The palace maids would absolutely never imagine that their queen was tied to the bed, so hungry she wanted to eat His Majesty stewed in clear broth.
And if Wei Nanxu came in, she would see Jiang He’s current predicament.
“Your Highness, are you awake?”
The palace maid and Wei Nanxu asked at the same time. Only, the palace maid did not dare move, while Wei Nanxu pushed open the door to the sleeping hall.
She asked as she walked inside, her voice full of concern.