35 Growing Suspicions

The next morning, I read the words on the fan over again and again, afraid that I had accidentally missed something. It was different from most contemporary poems detailing the maiden's rosy cheeks and iridescent gown. The words were down-to-earth but thought-provoking, giving me hopeful promises that seemed too delicate to be true.

Never before had I read such a work, and in all honesty, it stirred a curiosity that slowly gnawed at my established understandings of Northerners. Back home, they had all said that these people were uneducated at best, great for combat but with no appreciation whatsoever for thoughts. Yet, here was the perfect counterexample.

He wants to get rid of you, a voice nagged within my mind.

But even so, in the morning light, the gift seemed even more perfect. It was simple, bearing an uncarved wooden handle. I ran my fingers over the neat calligraphy, careful not to leave any fingerprints on the fan.

Skipping footsteps sounded on the tiles outside, and I instinctively hid the fan behind my back. "New Sister-In-Law, why are you smiling so happily?" A'Wu chirped after seeing that my hand was already healing. She must have just returned from copying the scriptures.

"Is it because my second brother came back last night?"

"How were the scriptures?"

"What's that behind you?" She asked simultaneously just as I tried changing the question. An awkward silence followed, and I could feel the heat rising up to my face.

Without warning, she pounced on me and snatched the fan from my unhurt hand. "A ha!" She cried triumphantly. "I would recognize this anywhere. This is my second brother's handwriting!"

Even before she began talking, I knew she was going to comment on how her second brother was the best and most talented. And guess what? I was right.

Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, and she recounted countless more examples of how her second brother was superior.

He bought her food. He cared for her when their parents were busy. He always smiled and was polite to everyone. The list dragged on and on…

Oh, and he never broke the rules—never.

If I hadn't known her better, I would have thought she was worshipping a divine deity.

Compared to previous times, however, this time I listened carefully, trying to listen for the secret of his good composting skills. I obviously expected too much. After listening to A'Wu ramble on for an eternity, my final conclusion was only that her second brother was a child prodigy. Her bias couldn't be any more apparent.

Pausing to take a breath, she glanced around the room, her eyes settling on the lute. "New Sister-In-Law, where did you get that from? This lute seems familiar."

I told her of my encounters with the strange court musician, especially making sure to stress his rudeness and arrogance. For a brief second, I imagined the impossible.

What if he was my husband in disguise? That would be surely what the stories, especially the romances, all say.

A'Wu tilted her head to one side then switched to the other side, deep in her thoughts as she researched her memory archives. After a good moment, she finally shook her head. Much to my disappointment, she offered no identifying information and was equally clueless. If it was her closest brother, she surely would have known.

I slightly scoffed at my earlier daydreaming. Romance stories were mere figments of disillusioned authors' wild imaginations, and I easily fell trap to that fantasy. I knew it was impossible.

The court musician was the exact opposite of A'Wu's description. Sure, he may have been acting.

But even so, there was no reason for the Prince of Jin to violate his perfect image by secretly meeting with me. Sending a court servant on his behalf to test the waters around me and my supposed loyalty was enough for his purposes.

"Princess Lanling, you are wanted by the empress," a court servant entered the room, curtsying and disrupting our conversation. A'Wu quickly bid bye, switching to her more serious mood counterpart.

Bored, I tried to learn how to play the lute on my own. How hard could it be? It was only that I had never received proper lessons on it before. If I had, I was sure to be better than the court musician from yesterday.

I plucked a string, flinching at the off tune note that it produced once again.

"Even the previous emperor was better at playing than this."

Looking up, I found Princess Leping gazing into the distance as if she was seeking a long-lost memory. She stood with her hands inside her sleeves, a perfect statue. "Sorry to disrupt you."

A'Huan quickly rushed over and brought her a cushion before pouring her a cup of tea.

"I'm here just to inform you that I will be taking the part of your family for the marriage ritual," she spoke softly. Everything about her was gentle. Even the aura of sadness that she tried to hide was mellow. "In the few days that you lived here, it most fit to play the role of your kin."

"But you are of the groom's side." Seeing her expression go bleaker, I wished that I had never said those words.

"A daughter married is a daughter no more. From that day on, she belongs to her husband's family. In some cases, the day she dies, she will be a roaming soul, caught between her birth family and her husband's kin, destined to never have a final resting place."

Though she was indirect with her words, I knew that she referred to herself. She was never straightforward, preferring instead to coat all of her guilt and sorrows under a mask. From the first day I met her, I had a burning question.

"Do you hate them?" The words escaped from my mouth, and I immediately clamped my hand to my mouth.

Amused, a restrained smile formed on her face, making her seem ten years younger. "I was but one of his five empresses. He once wanted to kill me because I acted in favor of Father Emperor. That night, it was Mother Empress who set aside her pride and pleaded on the floor until his anger died down." She opened her mouth but closed it again, "So what do you think?"

My mind filled in the rest of her story, beginning with the helplessness she felt as the young empress dowager to the end where her own father seized the throne and imprisoned her son. Her answer was not clear, but to me, the answer was obvious.

She must have read my thoughts because at the next moment, she excused all of the servants, asking them to stand post outside to make sure no one entered the room. Was she plotting revenge?

She leaned closer, placing a hand on my shoulder to ensure that I was looking directly at her.

"Whoever weds the princess is destined to become emperor." Every word was firm and unwavering, and she looked at me straight in the eye. My heart somersaulted at the mention of the strange prophecy again.

Gone was her usual complacence, replaced instead by a look of steel as her fingers tightened around my shoulder.

"Take my advice and make sure no one ever hears of this."