Phoenix Rising

039

The crown prince of Hua was sitting in the ambassador's residence that had been arranged for the foreign envoys, thoughtfully rotating the cup that was in his right hand. It had been several days since the celebratory banquet in the Dan palace and still his thoughts often drifted back to the incident that had happened between him, the girl Zi-ning and the Shadow Lord.

Han Zi-ning had never been part of his plans but ever since meeting her that day at the jewellery shop, her face had constantly appeared in his mind. That was why he hadn't resisted the urge to tease her when he saw her once more at the palace banquet.

What would those lips have tasted like, he wondered to himself. Then he remembered how the Shadow Lord had showed up out of nowhere and slammed him against a pillar, and his fingers clenched against the walls of the porcelain cup. He flung it against the wall, watching it shatter into pieces.

"Your Highness!" his chief steward, a lanky man named Nuoli, came rushing into the room when he heard the commotion. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine." Situ Zhiren waved his hand dismissively. "Get someone to clean up the mess."

Nuoli bobbed his head, hurrying back out of the room to summon one of the servants. When he was gone, Zhiren looked down at the scrolls that had been sent to him early this morning, containing the names, profiles and portraits of the different young women that the palace had shortlisted for him. King Shunde had given this task to the queen and she had certainly spared no expense in putting together a comprehensive list of suitable young ladies from the ranks of Duan nobility. However, Princess Xuan's name was starkly absent.

The prince scoffed, scanning through the names briefly. His gaze lingered upon one particular name that was placed at the end of the list.

Han Zi-ning.

The queen's attendants had put together a shining description of the girl, speaking of how beautiful and talented she was. Anyone looking at this list would have noticed that the queen seemed to be specifically recommending this girl to him.

But why? How have you offended the queen, hmm?

Zhiren was not surprised that the palace had left Princess Xuan out of the list. The king was not a fool and would have some suspicions about his intentions. What he was curious about now was why the queen seemed to want him to choose Han Zi-ning out of the entire list of ten names.

If he hadn't had a grander scheme in mind, perhaps he might have accepted the queen's generosity. Unfortunately, there were more important things to him than a single woman.

"Your Highness, what do you think about the ladies shortlisted?" Nuoli asked after he returned to the room. The servant he summoned had quickly swept up the broken shards and the door was shut behind her, leaving the two of them some privacy.

"The king is more shrewd than I expected," Zhiren said languidly, looking up from the scroll. "They've included some distant members of royalty, but not the princess."

"How dare he! Does he think that some distant relation is worthy of the position of crown princess of our kingdom?" Nuoli bellowed.

Zhiren's thin lips curled upwards in a crooked smile. "Princess Xuan is held in high regard in the king and queen's eyes, and I expect Consort Song will not willingly have her only daughter married off to another kingdom either. No matter, things will still work out the way we want," he said confidently. "If the princess herself asks to be married to Hua, then the king and queen will not be able to say no."

He held out the portrait of Zi-ning, studying her soft, understated features.

"Does this young lady catch your fancy, Your Highness?" Nuoli asked, looking at the girl's portrait curiously.