Zi-ning was impressed. She had heard of many of such political marriages before and technically her own marriage to Ru-wen in her previous life had been one of sorts, but never had she seen someone outright reject an offer so bluntly, especially when the other party was a princess of another kingdom. Was he not afraid of angering the king by turning it down like this?
King Shunde was caught in a dilemma. If the envoy had not specified anyone then he could have easily betrothed the girl to one of his sons, or perhaps even keep her in his own harem, but now that the Shon ambassador had identified Zhenghuan as the man their king had chosen it made matters a little tricky.
"Princess Sana, Ambassador Caron," the king said, "perhaps we can discuss this further, after the banquet. It is a happy occasion tonight and I do not wish to see our moods turn sour because of a little disagreement. I am sure we will be able to work out something that will be satisfactory to both kingdoms."
There were plenty of surprised looks going around the hall now and even Zi-ning couldn't help but be a little astonished by the king's response. The rumours had been true when they said the king held the Shadow Lord in extremely high regard. If it had been any other person who had said such offensive words to the Shon princess and ambassador, the king would have clamped him down immediately and simply ordered him to marry the princess. However, the king's words suggested that he preferred an alternative solution and that he was in fact giving in to Zhenghuan's disagreement.
Who exactly is this man and why does the king favour him so? It was a puzzle that Zi-ning found rather intriguing. She had seen King Shunde several times before since she had married into the royal family in her previous life, and he had never come across as the sort of king who was a pushover. In fact, he could be said to be a stern and authoritarian figure who was harsh and strict even to his own sons.
Even someone as confident and self-assured as Ru-an often came up at the shorter end of the stick in any argument with his father, which was a big factor that had driven the prince to usurp the throne eventually. However, when it came to the Shadow Lord, the king seemed like a completely different man.
Regardless, the outcome of this political marriage didn't concern her. Even if Princess Sana was betrothed to the crown prince eventually, she was certain that the princess would not be made his first wife because the kingdom would never accept a foreign woman as their future queen. If she still hoped to use the crown prince as the route to achieving her goal, then that window would still be open. The prince could have a dozen concubines in his household—none of that would matter to her since she didn't care about winning his heart. All she needed was his political clout and his hand in helping her drag Ru-an down to hell.
She stood up quietly from her seat, slipping out through the side door to make a trip to the latrine. Shujin thought to follow behind her young mistress but Zi-ning insisted that she stay, choosing to get directions from one of the palace maids instead. If Shujin remained behind, she would be able to fill her in on anything she missed later.
#
The palace was an extensive compound and the great hall itself covered substantial ground. The journey from the hall to the nearest latrine was an almost ten-minute walk through several winding corridors and it was only too easy for one to get lost along the way. When she was done, Zi-ning headed back in the direction she came in only to realise after ten minutes of walking that she might have taken a wrong turn because there was no sign of the banquet hall in sight.
"Excuse me," she called out to one of the palace attendants that was carrying a lantern and heading her way, "which is the way to the great hall?"
"If you keep walking down this way, you'll come to a fork in the path. Take the corridor on the left and it should lead you all the way back," the man replied, bowing politely.
"Thank you."
She turned and walked in the direction that the attendant had pointed her to, quickening her pace so that she could make up for the lost time. The banquet was nearing its end and she didn't want to be left behind. She was concentrating so hard on her speed of walking that she didn't notice a black figure coming from the opposite direction until she had crashed right into his chest. She looked up immediately, startled.
"I'm so sorry, I—" Her voice trailed off when she realised who it was that she had bumped into.
He was almost a head taller than her, staring down at her from behind his silver mask.
"I'm sorry," she said again, doing a quick curtsey so that she could make a hasty exit. It was bad enough when there had been a gulf separating them in the great hall, so she didn't think it wise to be in such close proximity, like now. However, before she could leave, he suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her behind a huge pillar.
"What do you think you're—"
"Shh!" he hushed her, covering her mouth with his hand.
Although she couldn't see his expression clearly, there was a sense of urgency in his dark eyes that she had picked up. Now that she was staring at him up close, she realised that those black irises of his were far more expressive than one might realise, and that they were so clear they almost sparkled. In the silence, she heard voices appear, seemingly not far from where they were hidden.
The Shadow Lord seemed more interested in what the voices were talking about than in her, which was probably for the best. Out of curiosity, Zi-ning tried to eavesdrop as well, tilting her head a little so that she could catch a glimpse of what was going on. From her vantage point, all she could see was the edge of someone's red clothing, the flaming colour of the fabric standing out in the dim corridor.
"Asking to meet in the palace is a great risk, don't you think?" one man said.
"The most dangerous place is also the safest. My master wants to know when you intend to execute the plan," the other replied, his voice so low that Zi-ning could barely make out the words. "The Shadow Lord is investigating the Eagle Warrior and it will not be long before his identity is exposed."
"It will make no difference either way. Tell your master to be patient. Success is not born out of haste. As long as he keeps his end of the bargain, I will honour my word."
"He also asks me to remind you that it is rare for the Shadow Lord to be away from his base in Anyang. The opportunity should not be missed."
Zi-ning frowned, looking up at the man they were talking about. Were they actually planning to assassinate him while he was in the capital? If only they knew that the focus of their discussion was right here eavesdropping on their shady dealings, perhaps they would have reconsidered their choice of meeting place.
"Tell your master that if he's thinking of using my hand to get rid of his enemies for him then he is sorely mistaken. I am not a sword for him to wield."
The conversation ended there and the footsteps of the men slowly receded into the distance, allowing silence to fall once more. Seeing that the danger seemed to have passed and the Shadow Lord still had his hand over her mouth, Zi-ning raised her foot and stepped on his.
Zhenghuan immediately dropped his hand, taking a step back in surprise.
"If you'll excuse me," Zi-ning said brusquely, lifting up the hem of her skirt and pushing past him. She had already been delayed long enough because of his sudden appearance and she didn't want to get into any more trouble because of it. Whoever those two men were and whatever they were plotting, it sounded like it had some serious political implications and she was better off not knowing any of it. The Shadow Lord could deal with it.
"Han Zi-ning."
She stopped.
"It would be best if you didn't tell anyone about what you heard or saw just now. For your own safety."
"Thank you very much for your concern, my lord, but I am well aware of what I should or should not say. I heard nothing," she replied, turning and disappearing quickly down the corridor.
"Miss, are you alright? What took you so long?" Shujin asked the moment she saw her young mistress re-enter the banquet hall.
"I'm fine. Took a wrong turn, that's all," Zi-ning replied, returning back to her seat. The banquet hadn't ended yet and the guests were now sampling fresh lychees from the northern provinces of the kingdom, the king eager to smoothen the ruffled feathers of the Shon contingent. The ambassador and princess had already returned to their seats although neither of them looked very happy as a result of the earlier debacle. She instinctively looked across the hall towards the Shadow Lord's empty seat, her face flushing when she recalled how close they had been when he had been holding her against the pillar.
The man was rude and unapologetic, she thought to herself, and obviously surrounded by danger all the time. He was attending one measly banquet and already a foreign princess wanted him as a groom and still there were people plotting to get rid of him. How could a person attract so much trouble to himself? It was no wonder he didn't live long.
"And how did he know my name?" She frowned. It just hit her he had called out her name earlier, yet she didn't remember ever telling it to him. She had never met the man for goodness sake.
Her gaze drifted towards the front of the hall where a congregation of red and orange was seated. The Hua envoys. Could one of them have been the man who had been in that corridor earlier? All of a sudden a dark memory floated to the forefront of her mind, the memory of what Meiyan had said to her in the dungeons in her previous life.
"If not for you, my poor little traitor, the Hua army would never have gotten wind of our military plans and managed to defeat the Shadow Lord—so much for being undefeatable. He probably didn't even know why he died."
In that lifetime, Ru-an had been secretly in cahoots with the kingdom of Hua, betraying his own kingdom in exchange for their help in usurping the throne. Back then she had been blind to the truth till the very last moment, but not this time. How long had this traitorous relationship been going on behind the scenes? She glanced in Ru-an's direction. He was wearing a smile on his face as he engaged in conversation with Ru-quan and Prince Zhiren of Hua, yet that casual demeanour only served to convince Zi-ning further that this man had something to do with the plot she had overheard in the corridor earlier. This was almost three whole years before the king's death and the series of tragedies that had followed, yet it seemed like the gears had already been set in motion, slowly bringing them one step closer to the ending that Ru-an had in mind.