Chapter 2

Yin prodded at her brother's injured arm with the wet towel she had in her hands, "I suppose our lessons were for nothing."

"I almost died!" He sputtered. "Have you no sympathy at all?"

She frowned and dabbed at her brother's sweat beaded forehead. Emperor Jiang Kai resembled his father most, taking his wide jaw and large eyes. His height matched that of Hui's, allowing the two of them to tower over the rest of others. But unlike Hui, Kai could be intimidating if he wanted to. As emperor, he was stern and self assured; but not here. Pouting and lying face down on his bed, he was Yin's clumsy idiot younger brother who had gotten himself in trouble yet again.

Yin watched him grow up, crying and clinging to her leg as she tried to practice swordsmanship, begging him to let him join her lessons. She eventually gave in, but even the palace instructor struggled to teach him. Yin had to resort to adjusting his every movement herself, resulting in many late nights at the training grounds.

"I believe you were taught to wield a sword, not how to get impaled by one."

"...my robe wasn't on properly." Kai mumbled miserably, "If it was I would've had their necks."

Her brother had sustained many injuries as a child, not because he played rough, but because he had kept accidentally harming himself. She thought he had grown out of that habit but unfortunately, it seemed to have resurfaced.

"Hui doesn't get paid enough for this." Yin poked at him, eliciting a pained yelp. "You're so ridiculously stupid."

She looked over at the chair beside the bed, where Kai's bloodstained robes hung. Watery blotches of red lined the white cotton, staining them a sickening shade of pink. The maids had already changed her brother into a new set, but the sight still unsettled her.

Yin went to wring the towel in the nearby water basin. She didn't want to admit it, but she blamed herself for the assassination attempt more than anything. Minister Cao was just greedy enough to take bribes from rebels. Considering the amount of debt he had caused the treasury department in the past year, Kai had intended to dismiss him from his post after a month. She should've known he would try something.

Guilt effloresced in her as her grip loosened. It had always been her job to keep her brother safe from harm, and she failed.

Yin set the towel down and reached for the torn strips of white fabric hanging off his shoulder and frowned.

"I heard you set fire to his house." Kai sat up, wincing as she tightened his bandage.

"Among other things." She said nonchalantly before hitting him with the towel again. "I'll set you on fire if you don't stop squirming."

Before Kai could respond, the doors to his chamber opened. In came a flurry of servants, fanning out to the side of an older woman.

Time had been kind to her, leaving minimal wrinkles on her face and not a white hair in sight. She was dressed in rich, traditional Jiang blues. Gold decorated her head, neck, and wrists but on her right thumb sat a gleaming sapphire ring, a royal family heirloom. Anyone from a mile away could tell who she was.

"Good morning mother." Yin bowed her head.

"Mother," Kai straightened his posture, smiling to hide another grimace. "Tell Yin to stop bullying me."

"I know it's tempting," Empress Dowager smiled kindly at Yin. "But you should stop harassing your brother while he's injured."

"Yes mother." Yin scowled and set down the water basin on the nearby desk.

"My son," Empress Dowager smiled as she sat beside Kai. "I brought you fish congee fresh from the kitchen."

Their mother sat down next to him, taking the bowl in hand. She collected a spoonful, careful to only take from the very edges of the bowl, where the congee would be coolest. She quietly blew on it before lifting it up to Kai's mouth.

"You should be more careful my son." Empress Dowager said, "As emperor you cannot keep making these mistakes."

"Yes mother." Kai replied defeatedly as he swallowed the congee. "It won't happen again."

"I should've known that old fox would pull something." She sighed as she stirred the congee. "His daughter has been trying to enter the harem for months."

"Didn't Cao family's daughter accept a marriage proposal from one of the dukes?" Yin asked, confused. "I heard he was going to make her his first wife."

"Exactly." Empress Dowager shook her head as she blew on another spoonful. "A mind change of that nature would have been unheard of for them. Her mother was quite the traditionalist you know."

"That reminds me." Yin turned to her brother, who was on his last bite of congee. "It's been eons, why haven't you chosen an empress? The concubines have been nagging at me for weeks."

"It hasn't been that long." He scoffed after swallowing. "Besides, I just haven't found the right one yet."

"That's nonsense and you know it." Yin quipped, "Just have mother choose one for you."

"But that's rash" He remarked, "I'm not even that slow. Did you know the Li emperors only choose one wife? I heard it took their current emperor 6 years to marry his."

Yin remembered receiving news of the wedding. Emperor Li had sent one of his officials to carry the invitation as a sign of respect. She remembered the glower on the messenger's face as it was unsubtly snubbed by all the Jiang nobles.

"The Li emperors are different." Yin scolded. "Besides, if you don't like her after a few years you can depose her."

"The Li visit is coming up." Empress Dowager said while forming yet another spoonful. "How are preparations?"

The Li kingdom, just south of Jiang, was its largest neighbor. Relations between the two had always been tense due to disputes along their border, but the Zhao had given much of Jiang ancestral land away thanks to court pressure from Li diplomats.

The old Li emperor had also died a few years prior, passing down his throne to his eldest son. With new emperors, it was time for the two kingdoms to negotiate again.

"Everything is going to plan." Yin replied. "All the rooms are prepared."

"Good." Empress Dowager nodded. "All must be perfect. Be sure not to make any mistakes."

"Mother." Kai shifted, the thin layers of blankets bunching up beside him. "If this falls through, will they declare war?"

"It's likely." She said, pursing her lips. "They would do it if given the opportunity."

"Surely they wouldn't be so brazen." Yin frowned. "War would be just as costly for them as it would for us."

"Well of course," Empress Dowager sighed. "But those southerners are a brazen people. I'm sure they're itching for an excuse to sharpen their knives."

"They wouldn't have the resources." Kai said. "Didn't they just fight with the western Hong kingdom?"

"And they put the Hong family's heads on pikes in front of their own palace gates." The old woman shook her head. "Barbarians don't care about such things. They don't fight like us."

Yin considered pointing out that the coup they staged against the Zhao had been rather barbaric as well, but she decided against it. After all, the Li in the South had a reputation of being unsophisticated and crude; any traditional northern noble would agree with Empress Dowager wholeheartedly.

"Trust me children." Empress Dowager said as she got up to leave. "Peace will be harder to achieve than you think."