Character Index

Lin Yaoguang: The Grand Duke's money launderer. Has a blind mage in his service who did the magical oaths.

Tao Qian: Kayla's bodyguard and retainer.

Sun Zhong'e: Kayla's bodyguard and retainer.

Ashina: Personal name Ibilga, princess of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate.

Duan Wuxie: A Senior Investigator of the Imperial Investigation Bureau.

Wu Zhihuan: A Lord who was involved with the conspirators, he was forced into the role of scapegoat.

Derin: Ashina's lady-in-waiting and primary attendant.

Meral: One of Ashina's attendants, a spy for Chuluo Khagan.

Issik: A warrior in Ashina's personal service, holds the title of baghatur.

Kulun: A tarkhan in the service of Chuluo Khagan, was responsible for escorting Ashina to the Wu.

Wei Guang: Imperial Edict Bearer and Minister of Censure.

Steward Liu: Wei Guang's steward, hasn't shown up in a while, but he's also Yan'er's adoptive father.

Zhou Kuang: The Third Prince.

Zhou Xianchun: The Seventh Prince.

Zhou Yunqi: The Fifth Prince.

Consort Chen: Xianchun's mother.

----------------------------------------

Kayla jolted awake, a sudden rush of panic filling her chest. She blinked up at the ceiling of her study from the couch.

Her eyes darted aside, latching onto the dark shape looming a few feet away.

Fuck! Kayla launched up from the couch as the figure darted forward. A scarred hand shot out, a wave of magic washing over the room. Kayla found herself pinned back onto the couch by an invisible force.

“Guards!” Kayla shouted.

That was a privacy ward just now–fuck!

Kayla blinked, trying to adjust to the darkness. Between her low angle and the cloudy night, she couldn’t make out a thing.

“Who is it?! Who are you?!”

There was no response, the figure having retreated further out of sight. Whoever it was, they were cloaked.

A familiar sensation of tension filled the room, a web of golden light splaying out over the walls.

A magical oath–

“Lin Yaoguang’s mage?!”

The figure visibly jolted. Taking advantage of the brief moment of hesitation, Kayla nullified all the magic in the room and shot up from the couch.

“What the–how?!” The mage frantically recasted the privacy wards, the binding spell snapping back into place. Kayla tripped over her feet as they became bound in place.

“Ow–fuck! You could’ve snapped my ankles!” Kayla snarled.

“Damn it, he had another nullification talisman? Just how many does he have?!” The mage ignored Kayla, nervously mumbling to herself.

Right, she’s blind…she can’t tell I don’t have one. The panic in Kayla’s chest died down. Something about the woman’s voice was familiar.

That woman’s not afraid of me, she’s afraid of failing to the point of losing reason, Kayla realized. She understood that fear all too well. A sense of surety welled up inside her. Powerful as the mage might be, Kayla was the one in control.

“How did you know the oath was voided?” Kayla asked in a conversational tone.

“Just shut up and stay still!” The mage began casting again.

Kayla instantly nullified the spells. Ignoring the woman’s startled gasp, Kayla got up from the floor and calmly lit the lamp, offhandedly nullifying the mage’s third attempt at a privacy ward before the woman could finish.

As light filled the room, the blind mage came into sight. Unlike during the day, the thin, faded scars on the woman’s face were starkly visible under the flickering flow of the lamp.

“How good of you to come visit me again,” Kayla said pleasantly, nullifying a fourth attempt to cast a spell. She stepped closer to the mage, the woman’s expression of shock and disbelief coming into plain view.

A thrill of satisfaction shot through Kayla’s veins, and she gave a smile that was truly sincere.

“What was your name again?”

“You–you–how did you–?!” The blind mage took half a step back as she sensed Kayla approach.

“Is that what you should be worried about right now?” Kayla asked. She raised her voice to full volume. “Guards!”

“My lord!” There was a soft thump as someone landed off the roof.

“Your privacy wards were rather impressive,” Kayla remarked, returning to her usual volume. “I really wonder though, how did you get past my security?”

The door burst open and Tao Qian rushed in. He started in shock when he saw the blind mage, drawing his blade in a fluid motion.

“Please get back, my lord!” Tao Qian shouted. The woman began casting spells in a panic, growing more and more flustered as each spell voided before it could take fruition. Whatever her magical abilities, the mage had no chance in a physical fight against Tao Qian.

“Leave her alive,” Kayla ordered as more guards began to rush over. “Sun Zhong’e, keep the other guards back a few paces.”

Sun Zhong’e turned on her heel from where she was about to enter the room and left again.

The mage let out a frightened squeak as Tao Qian wrestled her to the floor, rapidly binding her arms behind her back with one loop around her neck like a noose.

Kayla nodded at Sun Zhong’e from the doorway, and the woman shooed the guards away again.

“My lord, I apologize for my dereliction of duty!” Tao Qian said, firmly keeping the mage in place under his knee.

The blind woman had stopped casting, trembling where she lay facedown on the ground. Any attempt to break free with magic would be nullified, and any attempt to struggle free of the bindings would only cause her to choke herself.

“Nevermind,” Kayla said. “That mage had a few tricks up her sleeve–I would like to know what.”

She stepped forward, squatting down before the mage.

“Even now, there’s something she’s afraid of more than her current situation,” Kayla remarked, observing the woman’s face. “Even though we’re the ones with her life in her hand. Amazing how deep learned instincts go, isn’t it?”

“You–you’re a nullification mage!” The mage accused in a trembling voice.

Kayla didn’t reply outright, scanning the woman before her.

As expected, she’s also under magical oath, Kayla noted.

“Then you know you have no hope,” Kayla finally said. “But you also know what I can do for you.”

The mage squirmed, flinching as the movement tightened the rope around her neck.

“Lin Yaoguang doesn’t know you’re here,” Kayla guessed. The mage’s face stiffened.

“You didn’t want him to know you messed up, that your spell failed on you,” Kayla ventured on. “That’s why you came here, isn’t it?”

“I–I-I have nothing to say!” The mage shot back.

“Not under magical oath, no. But, well, you know who’s before you right now, don’t you?” Kayla said gently. “They say that a good bird is selective with the tree it nests in, that a wise retainer is selective with the lord they serve. By all rights, I should kill you. But I’m offering you a way out instead. Not just from your current predicament, but from Lin Yaoguang’s service as well.”

The mage’s face was set in mulish defiance.

That’s fine, Kayla thought with a note of amusement. The more desperately she tries to project certainty, the more frantic she is within.

“You also know you did something extremely foolish,” Kayla went on. “But who’s to blame for that? You, or the master who pushed you to irrationality with his harsh demands? Come on now, this is an opportunity that will never come your way again. Or should I send you back like this to Lin Yaoguang as a show of goodwill?”

The mage bared her teeth in a wordless snarl, jerking against her bindings.

“Damn you! You bastard!”

“Watch your tongue!” Tao Qian snapped. Kayla held up a hand to stop him.

“If you agree to take a magical oath to keep my abilities a secret and tell me the information I want, I will nullify all the oaths that bind you. Not only that, I’ll give you money and travel papers, and a carriage to wherever the hell you want to go,” Kayla said.

“How the hell can I believe you?! You’re just going to kill me anyways!”

“You can only take a gamble then,” Kayla said mercilessly. “Make your choice. The man who rightens you to the point where you would do anything, no matter how stupid, just to avoid his punishments? Or the one who can free you from that neverending haze of fear?”

The mage’s sightless eyes bulged as she strained helplessly against the ropes. After a long moment, the mage spoke in a wavering voice.

“I’ll talk,” she said.

Kayla smiled. “A good choice.” She placed her hand on the mage’s shoulder blade, ignoring the woman’s full-body flinch. Kayla closed her eyes, focusing on the intricate spells that seemed to be literally carved into the woman’s internal organs.

What kind of contracts are these? Shaking her head in disgust, Kayla nullified them all at once. The mage let out a pained sound, her whole body slackening.

Shit, did I kill her?! Kayla bent over the mage, relaxing when she saw that the woman was breathing just fine.

“You–you actually–” The mage whispered in disbelief.

“You still have to take another one later,” Kayla reminded her. “But for now…”

Kayla gestured to Tao Qian. He hoisted the mage up and helped her onto the couch, loosening the bindings around the woman’s neck just enough to prevent her from choking in her new position.

Kayla sat down across from the mage, pleasantly smiling out of habit. She activated a recording spell, placing it silently onto the table between them.

“So now, let’s start over. What should I call you?” Kayla asked.

The woman only looked more uncomfortable. “Jin Yu,” she replied in a mumble.

“Lady Jin, then. How did you know the oath was voided?” Kayla asked.

“I could sense it.”

“I didn’t know that was possible. Were you nearby this whole time?” Kayla asked in surprise.

“No, it’s because the oath was bound to my lifeforce,” Jin Yu replied.

Kayla paused for a moment. “That doesn’t sound like common practice to me. Did Lin Yaoguang require that of you? Or did he just order you to make sure things work no matter what?”

“The latter,” Jin Yu reluctantly admitted.

“Then what about my contract with Lin Yaoguang? Is he bound to it, or was that just for show?” Kayla asked.

Jin Yu squirmed, biting her words back out of instinct. After a moment of struggling to test against her newfound freedom of speech, Jin Yu spat out her reply as if each word was trying to crawl back down her throat.

“He’s bound to it, but it can be bypassed,” Jin Yu said.

“Explain.”

“He’s…he’s under another magical oath,” Jin Yu said, looking as though she wanted to bolt. “But it’s higher tier magic, so it takes precedence.”

Shit, I didn’t even know that was a thing.

“With who?” Kayla asked.

“A noble,” Jin Yu said. “Some noble from Dengzhou. But I don’t know who.”

Kayla scrutinized the woman’s face. “You don’t know?”

“I never claimed to!” Jin Yu said defensively.

“Alright, that’s fine. But tell me more about this noble. Was it a man? A woman? Tell me everything you can think of.”

“A man, it was a man. I went with the master to see him, but the carriage kept going in circles. I don’t know where his house was, but it wasn’t very big,” Jin Yu said. “My master called him by ‘my lord’, but that’s all I know.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Kayla exchanged a glance with Tao Qian.

“How many people were in the household? You could sense as much, couldn’t you?” Tao Qian asked.

“Just the one,” Jin Yu said.

In a noble’s household?

“What about the contract then? Who cast it? What was it for?” Kayla demanded.

“I-I don’t know. I really don’t! They used a paper contract, and then the noble used a talisman. They burned both afterwards, I really don’t know!”

“What about the noble then? What was his voice like? Could you tell me anything about how he sounded or acted, anything like that?”

“He had a very refined manner of speech. He was sitting, so I couldn’t tell his height, but his voice was very…it was quiet, like one of those–those schoolmasters. He didn’t sound fat, but I really can’t say for sure,” Jin Yu said. She fell silent briefly. “Oh, and he sounded happy to see my master, but his voice was a little…a little like someone who had been sick recently. Not that it was weak, but it was…almost like he didn’t have a lot of energy.”

“Tell me more about the house,” Kayla ordered. “How small was it?”

“It only took us a few minutes to get to the innermost courtyard, but I’m not sure since we entered through a sidedoor,” the mage replied. “I…I honestly don’t remember much about the place.”

“Any particular smells?”

“There was a flowering pagoda tree in the courtyard,” the mage answered.

That wasn’t helpful. Pagoda trees were popular everywhere they could grow.

“And when was this?” Tao Qian asked.

“Three…no, three and a half years ago,” the mage answered.

“Alright then. Now tell me everything you know about Lin Yaoguang,” Kayla said.

“And how did you get in?” Tao Qian quickly added.

The mage hesitated for a moment and began to talk. By the time Kayla and Tao Qian finished questioning Jin Yu, the sky was beginning to brighten in the east.

“Is that…all?” Jin Yu asked shakily.

“Yes, that’s it. Once you take the oath, I’ll have the housekeeper give you a hundred silver and arrange you a carriage. I’ll personally sign off your travel passes,” Kayla promised.

“I don’t need a carriage, I prefer to go on my own,” Jin Yu hastily replied.

“Very well then.” Kayla nodded to the mage Sun Zhong’e had fetched for her. She watched as Jin Yu took an oath of secrecy.

Tao Qian finally cut open the ropes, letting the mage free. Jin Yu winced, using her magic to ease the stiffness as Kayla signed off on the travel documents.

“I can really go?” Jin Yu asked as the papers were pressed into her hands.

“Yes, please be careful while traveling on your own,” Kayla replied. Jin Yu hesitated a moment longer, trying to sense any trickery before bowing and rushing out.

Kayla turned to Tao Qian. “Have her tailed by a magic-user. Lin Yaoguang and whoever is behind him will definitely try to silence her once they realize she’s gone rogue. I want to capture whoever shows up.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Kayla called after him.

“Yes?” Tao Qian asked.

“If you can’t prevent her from being captured, kill her,” Kayla said.

“As you wish.”

Tao Qian left the room, leaving Sun Zhong’e to stand guard outside.

Looks like I’ll need to strengthen the wards on this place. If a mage can easily sneak in and out just by using higher-tier magic…even if I’m not in danger, anyone targeting Ashina might take advantage of that.

Shaking her head in irritation, Kayla tapped a finger on her desk absentmindedly.

Going by Jin Yu’s words, Lin Yaoguang had arrived in the capital before the Grand Duke’s death. Had he been right under her nose this whole time?

As expected, it’s way too fishy that he showed up before me now. I wasn’t close to finding him, but yet he willingly showed himself before me. Why the fuck would he do that and give up a ridiculous amount of money, on his own volition?

But no matter what, she had a lead now, a solid statement on a noble in Dengzhou.

She grabbed the communication device and dialed Duan Wuxie.

“Director, are you up already?” Duan Wuxie asked as he picked up.

“Yes, I apologize for calling you when you’re almost off-shift,” Kayla replied. “But I need you to get something started for me right away.”

“What is it?”

“I need a list of all the nobles in Dengzhou, the size of their houses, and a description of their voices. Even better if we have a recording of some kind. There might be someone behind Wu Zhihuan. Keep this quiet for now, I’m not certain yet,” Kayla said.

Duan Wuxie paused for a second, evidently confused by the arbitrary requirements.

“As you wish, Director.”

“Thank you.”

----------------------------------------

Derin slipped into Ashina’s bedchamber with hurried steps.

“My princess,” Derin called, softly patting Ashina’s shoulder. The princess blinked blearily before burrowing her head back into the blankets.

“What?” Ashina asked groggily.

“Something’s happening over at the Duke’s study,” Derin replied. Ashina sat up immediately.

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know for sure, my princess. I saw the guards rushing over earlier. I’ve sent Issik-bagatur to take a look.” Derin hastily continued on at the urgent look on Ashina’s face. “We’re not sure if it’s safe yet! So please stay here for now.”

“Whatever it is, make sure Meral doesn’t find out before us,” Ashina said. Her mind raced through the events of the past few days, trying to pinpoint a potential cause.

Issik-bagatur returned a while later, shaking his head in regret.

“I apologize, my princess. I couldn’t get any details, but it seems that there was an intruder,” Issik reported.

“An intruder? Was it an assassination?” Ashina demanded, shooting up from her seat.

“No, no, it’s not that,” Issik assured her. “The Duke also said that he was fine, and told us not to mention this outside of the household. Sun Zhong’e shooed away most of the guards on the Duke’s orders, so I couldn’t see or hear anything of use, but it seems that there was a mage involved.”

“A mage?” Ashina’s blood ran cold. “Is the Duke alright?”

“He’s fine, my princess. It seems that Tao Qian was able to subdue the mage,” Issik replied.

“And where is the mage right now? Has he been arrested?”

“It seems it was a woman,” Issik said. “And…well, the Duke seems to have sent her off.”

“He let her walk away?!” Ashina demanded.

“Yes, he ordered all of us to leave her be,” Issik said. “I don’t understand it either, but maybe it was because she was blind, so he didn’t feel like persecuting her.”

As her instinctive worry faded, suspicion mounted instead.

“How did Tao Qian subdue a mage? I know he’s skilled in martial arts, but…wait, if it was a mage who was able to get past the wards and the retainers, how did he even notice her presence?” Ashina asked.

“I wouldn’t know about that,” Issik said apologetically. “But it seems that the Duke was the one who summoned Tao Qian and the other guards.”

“The Duke was the one–” Ashina stopped, a strange sense of realization dawning on her.

Kulun-tarkhan mentioned something like that as well, she thought to herself. That Wenyuan broke through the privacy wards back then when Father tried to form a contract with him.

The tarkhan had specifically asked her to figure out where Zhao Wenyuan got his military-grade talismans before he’d left.

Against a mage…Ashina felt like she was on the edge of putting the pieces together. Would a mage who was able to get past the tight security of the Zhao household not think to restrain Wenyuan or to cut off his contact with his guards? Yet Wenyuan had been the one to summon Tao Qian, against a mage who seemed to have refrained from using magic altogether save for getting inside.

Did she not intend on hurting him in the first place? Then why did he call the guards to restrain him? Does he have more nullification talismans on hand? Or is it that…

It was an almost laughable thought. But the more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Or is it that Wenyuan doesn’t need any?

“Is something the matter, my princess?” Derin asked worriedly.

Ashina hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.

I’m sorry, Derin, Issik. And I’m sorry to Father as well. But if I’m right…whether it’s Father or Wenyuan, they all have their own interests to prioritize. If I want to stand my ground, I need a card of my own.

“It’s nothing,” Ashina said out loud. “I’m just glad the Duke’s unhurt.”

----------------------------------------

Wei Guang quietly dressed for his meeting with the Emperor, allowing his old friend and steward to chatter at him as usual. The topic shifted from the usual, Steward Liu’s seven sons and their marriages, to the latest scandal in the capital.

“It seems that the Third Prince and the Seventh Prince’s relationship has worsened practically overnight,” Steward Liu remarked. “Is it really alright to leave things as is?”

“What could you expect? The Seventh Prince took offense to the Third Prince’s attempt to placate him and insulted the Third Prince in the process,” Wei Guang said. “That’s how these things go–once things have gotten to this point, nothing can stop it from escalating further. Even Wenyuan is using the investigation as an excuse to stay out of it, because he knows nothing good will come of any attempts to mediate.”

“Well, it’s too bad,” Steward Liu sighed. “Even though the Third Prince tried to defend him, the Seventh Prince’s reputation is plummeting.”

“It’s because the Third Prince defended him that the Seventh Prince’s reputation is plummeting,” Wei Guang pointed out. “Because of the unfortunate timing for this to happen, right after the sons with the greatest di and seniority have passed away, the Third Prince’s defense seems illogical. After all, it gives great advantage to his position to cast the Seventh Prince as the son of a conniving wench, so why is he defending the Seventh Prince?”

“It makes it feel like he’s defending the Seventh Prince out of a sense of brotherly duty, like he did for the First and Second Prince, and even his sister-in-law,” Steward Liu replied.

“Indeed, it does, doesn’t it?” Wei Guang said with a soft chuckle. “Even if it’s disadvantageous to do so, the Third Prince will act with piety. His defense of the Seventh Prince convinces everyone that he’s not the one behind the rumors, so if the Seventh Prince reacts with suspicion, the Third Prince walks away seeming like the magnanimous one. Everyone wants a magnanimous ruler, one who acts generously even when the recipient doesn’t necessarily deserve it.”

“Then the Third Prince has done well to make the most out of this chance,” Steward Liu commented.

“Indeed,” Wei Guang replied. “He knows his youngest brother all too well, he knew exactly what would happen if he defended the Seventh Prince publicly.”

“Did the Seventh Prince not see this coming?” Steward Liu asked. “He’s hardly a fool to have lasted this long.”

“Every man’s a fool for something,” Wei Guang said. “And this just so happened to be it.”

“I knew that the Seventh Prince was a man of great passion, both when it comes to protecting the interests of the country and when it comes to his own loved ones, but I didn’t expect this to spiral out of hand so quickly,” Steward Liu said. “He’s much more emotional than I thought.”

“It’s not just him. The whole family is emotional, just in different ways,” Wei Guang muttered. “You know how the Emperor can get, and the Third Prince too, especially where the Fifth Prince is concerned. And the Fifth Prince only happens to be more gentle in temperament than the others, but that doesn’t mean he’s any more cool-headed than the rest.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know much about that. But doesn’t this exacerbate the succession crisis? If it comes to bloodshed…” Steward Liu pointed out.

Wei Guang shook his head. “Let them do what they want. The Seventh Prince bringing upon his own demise saves us the trouble of destroying him later on. He lacks the military support to stir up any big waves, especially now that we have the Imperial Guard on our side.”

Wei Guang gave a small, thin smile. “If his retainers had been clever enough, perhaps they could have still won him a chance for survival. No, even if they had thought of it, their pride would have gotten into their way.”

“Sir?”

Wei Guang shook his head slightly with a scoff. “If they had thrown themselves to the ground before the prince, crying and wailing, he probably would have relented. The man is weak to these displays, you see. But those who can bring themselves to lose face and propriety like this are mostly the unscrupulous and the shameless. Few and far between are the ones who can actually act in such an embarrassing way for another person’s sake.”

Steward Liu helped Wei Guang put on his cloak, smoothing out the creases. Wei Guang gave him a nod of thanks and headed off to the carriage. When he arrived at the palace, a young eunuch was waiting to walk him over to the Emperor’s study.

After Wu Zhihuan’s arrest, the Emperor had regained some of his former vitality. He hadn’t held any sessions of court, but had begun meeting with a few of his officials again in his study. The one he spoke with most was still Wenyuan, but at least the Emperor was no longer refusing everyone else. Wei Guang had a feeling that it wouldn’t last. It wasn’t energy or determination driving the Emperor at the moment, but vengeance. Once the Wu clan had been exterminated to the ninth degree, the Emperor’s condition would probably deteriorate once again.

Wei Guang didn’t need to be a doctor to understand that the Emperor had been damaged in a way that no medicine could heal.

“Your Majesty,” Wei Guang greeted the Emperor, making to bow. The Emperor stopped him with a wave. Several eunuchs and secretaries were present, everything looking as close to normal as one could get these days.

“Wei Guang, it’s good that you’re here,” the Emperor said. “Did you bring what I asked for?”

“Yes,” Wei Guang said, producing a scroll. “I drafted a denunciation against the Wu clan, but I await Your Majesty’s judgment.”

He handed over the scroll, watching as the Emperor’s face curved into a smile that looked more like a grimace.

“Good, good!” The Emperor’s smile grew broader as he set down the scroll. “Well written as always, Wei Guang. If you can find anything else to add in there, go on ahead and do it.”

Wei Guang bowed his head in assent.

The Emperor’s smile faded and he let out a harsh sigh. “With the culprit found, I can finally make him pay for the death of my sons. But my living sons bring me no small amount of worry either. Find where those crude rumors originated from and have the one responsible put to death,” he ordered. “This whole affair is distasteful to the extreme. I won’t have the mother of my child disparaged in such a way.”

“I agree completely, my liege. We will do our best to find the one who started these rumors, so as to kill the chicken in order to scare the monkeys,” Wei Guang replied, carefully choosing his words to press the Emperor’s buttons. “Though the Seventh Prince’s reaction is a little extreme, it’s understandable that he would be upset.”

“Don’t even mention that to me right now,” the Emperor sighed. “Look at how he’s baring his teeth and waving his claws around, he’s doing more to damage his own reputation than anyone else is! I know for myself that his mother was a good woman–she was gentle and demure, that had always been what I liked about her. Xianchun, on the other hand, all he’s doing is exacerbating the rumors with how he’s acting. Kuang even tried to help him, but that boy’s sense of inferiority turned what was a kind gesture into a conflict between them.”

“It can’t be helped,” Wei Guang said, continuing to gently nudge at the Emperor’s irritations. “It’s his mother, after all, how can anyone easily hold their tongue and swallow their complaints when their mothers are being disparaged?”

“That doesn’t mean he can fly into a temper every time–” the Emperor cut off with an irritated huff. “With his reaction, he’s all but projected his greatest weakness and insecurity to the entire court and they will take full advantage of it. If he continues to act like this in the future whenever someone stirs up something regarding Consort Chen, how can I entrust anything of importance to him?”

Wei Guang watched the eunuchs and secretaries taking note of the Emperor’s words while trying to act as if they weren’t.

“Indeed, regardless of his mother’s original status, as a son of the Emperor, the Seventh Prince should strive to control his reactions better,” Wei Guang murmured. “He is still young, after all.”

“Young…he is young. But age can’t be an excuse forever,” the Emperor said. “His mother’s low status isn’t a problem in and of itself, but if he can’t handle it, then that is a problem.”

Wei Guang hid the satisfaction bubbling up inside him. There, the Emperor had said it, and before witnesses at that. None of them would keep it secret for long, not when the Emperor had personally disparaged one of the candidates for the throne.

“Perhaps we should intervene? After all, the Third Prince had acted out of filial considerations, it would be a waste of his kind intent to let this dissolve into yet another fight between them,” Wei Guang suggested. But the Emperor didn’t follow the line of conversation to praise Kuang, instead sinking into a thoughtful silence.

A decision was slowly taking shape in the mind of the nation’s ruler. Wei Guang waited for it to emerge into words, but he was disappointed.

Never mind, Wei Guang thought to himself. He had already accomplished what he’d come for.

----------------------------------------

Cultural Notes

良禽择木而栖，贤臣择主而事/Good birds know to select the tree on which they nest, wise subjects know to select lords to serve: A Chinese saying, most famously used in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms but already in existence before that.

槐树/Pagoda trees: A flowering tree that was especially popular in the Tang Dynasty.

自取其咎/Bring ruin unto oneself: An Ancient Chinese proverb.

嫡庶/dishu system of inheritance: The system of differentiation in priority of inheritance based on the legal status of one's mother as the wife or as the concubine.

丢失体面/Losing face and propriety: An Ancient Chinese proverb meaning to act in an embarrassing way that chips away at your dignity.

檄文/Denunciation: It was common in Ancient China to write a denunciation of a person, a group, or a movement. In many cases, it was used to justify one's actions or to express hatred for one's opponent. Many of the ones that are popular today were used by rebellious movements against the political elite, but it can also be used in a top-down manner.

杀鸡儆猴/Killing the chickens for the monkeys to see: An Ancient Chinese proverb that means to make an example out of someone to scare the others.

张牙舞爪/Baring teeth and waving claws: An Ancient Chinese proverb that means to act in an aggressive manner.

如何托付大事/How can I entrust large matters to you: A Chinese phrasing that signifies exasperation with someone who disappoints your expectations or hopes.

温良柔顺/Gentle [and good] and demure: An Ancient Chinese proverb that is primarily used to praise women, especially one's wives or concubines. It reflects the patriarchal standards of judging a woman's virtue by her submissiveness and even temper (often in the face of actions that are objectively pretty shitty from the husband's part). Within the extended family, it would also mean that she acts in a similar manner to her in-laws.