Phoenix Rising

011

"Your Highness, there's no need to be shy about it," Nansheng teased, elbowing the crown prince lightly in the ribs. He leaned over and whispered, "If you can't choose a painting, then why don't you decide based on the girl that painted the painting?"

Ru-quan went slightly red in the face, embarrassed by his friend's comment. He cleared his throat and said, "How about we put it to a vote? I'm no expert in painting. Everyone should have a say."

"In that case," the queen gestured to her maidservants, who promptly brought out some small baskets of flowers, handing them out to the guests present, "we can do as the crown prince says and put it to a vote. Everyone can use the flower in their hand to choose the painting they think is best."

Clutching their individual flowers in their hands, the guests got to their feet and went around the paintings, taking their time to cast their vote for the one they liked best. Everyone's watchful eyes were waiting to see who the princes would give their flowers to.

Zi-ning rolled her eyes when she caught Ouyang Sangya casting her vote to herself—as if she thought no one would have seen her doing that.

The Huang brothers both cast their votes to Meiyan, much to her delight. Unfortunately for her, the queen cast her own vote to Sangya instead, which sent a strong signal about who it was that the queen preferred as her daughter-in-law. Sangya was beaming proudly from ear to ear when she saw the queen drop the flower into her basket.

Ru-wen was the first of the three princes to cast his vote—and his went straight into the basket in front of Zi-ning's painting, without a second thought.

Zi-ning was not surprised. After all, it had been Ru-wen who had first introduced her to the willow tree in the imperial gardens. She hadn't been expecting him to show up here though, and a part of her was beating herself up for choosing to paint the willow now.

What happened next took everyone by even greater surprise.

Both Crown Prince Ru-quan and Prince Ru-an walked over to Zi-ning's willow painting and tossed their flowers into her basket too.

There was no fending off the jealous stares from all the other girls now. Zi-ning kept her head bowed down, choosing not to engage with any of them.

In coming here, Zi-ning had already harboured the intention of getting the queen's attention. If she could get into the queen's good books, then she would have a better chance of alerting her to Ru-an's insidious plans for the crown and in doing so, thwart his ambitions once and for all. If the queen believed that the fifth prince was a threat to the crown prince's position, then she would do whatever it took to ensure that her son's privilege—and life—was secured.

However, the appearance of all the princes at today's event had complicated matters somewhat. It seemed that she had not only attracted the attention of the queen, she had also attracted the attention of all three princes whom she wanted nothing to do with in this life. She cared not for the position of crown princess, or that of a princess consort. All she wanted to do was to watch Ru-an fall.

No matter, she would just have to play by ear.

When the votes were counted, the queen's lady-in-waiting brought the sheet of paper containing the results to her and the queen took a quick glance at it. The other servants had also brought out three wooden trays, each carrying a small trinket from the queen's private collection: a white jade vase, a coral bracelet and a golden hairpin. All the items were intricately designed and each cost a small fortune, but the golden hairpin was the most exquisite and valuable of them all, earning tiny gasps from the lips of many when it appeared.

Smiling, the queen looked up at the expectant faces of the young ladies present and said, "How wonderful. It seems like we have our top three paintings decided. "Miss Ouyang Sangya, Miss Han Meiyan... and Miss Han Zi-ning."

The three ladies stood up one by one as their names were called, stepping forward from their seats to stand before the queen. There was a buzz going around the pavilion, likely because there were two women from the Han family standing up there, a rare honour that would garner the jealousy of many of the other noble families.

"Such beautiful young ladies with such talent, don't you agree?" the queen said to her son, who nodded in agreement. She regarded them one by one, as if assessing who would make the most suitable daughter-in-law. This was something that demanded careful consideration, because the girl she chose would one day succeed her as queen of the kingdom.

While she was admiring them, the queen's gaze fell upon the white jade pendant hanging from Zi-ning's waist. Her smooth forehead creased ever so slightly. She quickly averted her gaze, folding the piece of paper and handing it back to Lady Ru.

"The painting that is in third place belongs to Miss Han Zi-ning," the queen announced, and a servant brought the white jade vase to Zi-ning, "second place goes to Miss Han Meiyan," the coral bracelet was brought to Meiyan, "and last but not least, the painting that garnered the most number of votes belongs to Miss Ouyang Sangya."

Sangya's eyes sparkled with delight as she watched the servant bring the gold hairpin to her. She immediately dropped to a curtsey, thanking the queen profusely for the gift. Zi-ning and Meiyan did likewise.

The crown prince frowned, turning to his mother. "Mother, are you sure the result is correct?" he asked. "I thought—"

"The result is what it is," the queen said, cutting him off abruptly. "Now Quan-er, you can't be biased just because the painting you favoured didn't come in first, am I right?"

Ru-quan smiled, shaking his head. "Of course not, I didn't mean it that way." He left the matter at that, although he still snuck a glance in Zi-ning's direction as the she retreated back to her seat with the jade vase in her hands.

Zi-ning knew that there were many quizzical glances being thrown her way after the results were announced, but she pretended she didn't notice any of them. Deep down, she was also mildly perplexed by the queen's decision. Anyone with eyes could see that Zi-ning had the most number of flowers in her basket, so why did the queen choose to change the results? Had she done something to displease the woman? She didn't think so, yet she couldn't for the life of her imagine the real reason behind what had happened.