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.
"She is an interesting one," Zhiren replied.
"But she would not be a suitable choice, Your Highness."
"I know, but such fieriness and stubbornness hidden behind that icy demeanour..."
Han Zi-ning intrigued him and her unwillingness to yield to his advances made her all the more exciting, not to mention the fact that the Shadow Lord seemed to also be concerned about the girl. If there was one person he hated most across the three kingdoms it would be Du Zhenghuan, and he would take great joy in stealing away anything that the latter cared about.
"...makes one feel the need to tame the little kitten."
#
In the palace, the sudden marriage request by the crown prince of Hua also rested heavily on many minds. In the queen's quarters, Queen Ci Yuanji was seated in her front hall sipping calmly on her tea, while Consort Song was wringing her handkerchief nervously at one side, her own cup of tea painfully untouched.
"Your Majesty, are you sure that things will be alright? There have been rumours going around the palace that Prince Zhiren has his eyes set on Xuan-er. My Xuan-er can't be married to Hua! Everyone knows what sort of a man Situ Zhiren is. He's not someone who will treat her kindly!" Consort Song burst out worriedly, her eyes clouded with concern. Princess Xuan was her only daughter and it was not surprising that the idea of having her sent to such a faraway land frightened the consort greatly.
The queen shot her a warning glare, and Consort Song immediately pursed her lips together, knowing that she had said too much.
"I understand your concern. I don't wish for Xuan-er to be married to Hua either, but the decision does not lie with me. Should Prince Zhiren ask for Xuan-er's hand in marriage, then it would be difficult for the king to reject, considering what's already happened with Shon. There is nothing wrong in the crown prince requesting for a princess's hand, especially when he's willing to give her the position of crown princess."
"He's lying!" Consort Song retorted, though she made sure to keep her tone hushed. "Hua would never allow a woman from Duan to become their future queen. Once he takes Xuan-er with him, he can do anything he wants—what if Xuan-er dies along the way? She's never travelled so far from home before!"
"Consort Song," the queen said sternly, "do you think that the king would allow Hua to promise one thing and then do another? If Xuan-er marries the crown prince and he changes his mind about making her the crown princess, it would be reason enough for Duan to launch an attack on Hua. Hua may be a powerful kingdom but we are no pushovers either."
Consort Song stared down at her lap miserably, her eyes glistening with tears.
Seeing this, the queen softened her tone and sighed. "I have excluded Xuan-er's name in the list of candidates sent over to the ambassadors' quarters. If the prince does not raise the issue and chooses someone else, then this problem will be no problem at all. Do not worry unnecessarily." Waving her hand, she beckoned for Lady Ru to show Consort Song a copy of the namelist that she had drawn up.
After the consort had browsed through the list, she looked up at the queen, puzzled. "Your Majesty, you hope for Minister Han's daughter to be chosen?" she asked hesitantly.
"Other than Xuan-er there are no other members of the royal family that are of marriageable age, so the next best option is to choose from the daughters of the ministers. You've seen Han Zi-ning. Her family sent her to Taishan for two years, so the girl obviously doesn't have much standing in the family. If Prince Zhiren does accept the recommendation, she should be more than happy to go to Hua with him. It is already far more than she could ever expect."
"But will the prince accept this arrangement? Like you said, she doesn't have any standing in the Han family, so marrying her would not bring Hua any advantages whatsoever."
The queen's red lips curled up in a knowing smile. "If he has no choice then he will just have to make do with what he can get," she replied cryptically. "He asked for a bride from Duan and we're more than happy to give him one. I'm sure the king would be more than willing to grant Han Zi-ning an empty title if necessary."
Consort Song studied the queen's expression carefully, trying to decipher the meaning behind her words. On any other day, the queen and her would be standing on opposing ends, exchanging barbed words under a veil of cordiality, but if it came down to protecting her precious daughter than she didn't mind standing on the same battle line as the queen. Just as she raised her teacup to her lips to take a sip, a shrill voice came echoing through the hall and Princess Xuan burst in through the doors, her cheeks flushed from having run all the way here.
"Your Majesty, Mother!" she cried out, collapsing to her knees the moment she reached the front of the room. "You can't let this happen! I'm not marrying the prince of Hua!"
Moments later, her panting ladies-in-waiting came catching up from behind, sweat dripping down the sides of their faces.
The queen frowned as she looked at the distraught princess. Gesturing to Lady Ru to help the princess back up to her feet, she said, "Look at you, running about the palace like a child. Have the court ladies not taught you the proper etiquette expected of a princess?"
Princess Xuan ran over to the queen's side, tugging petulantly at her sleeve. "They're saying that Situ Zhiren is intending to ask for my hand in marriage! Is that true? I don't want to marry him. I'm not going to Hua!"
"Xuan-er, did you not hear what the queen said?" Consort Song chided, beckoning for her daughter to come sit by her side. "No one is sending you to Hua. Stop making a fuss."
"Really?" Xuan-er turned to look at her mother, her eyes lighting up expectantly.
"Would I ever lie to you?"
The princess looked back towards the queen, as if seeking confirmation for her mother's words. The queen patted her affectionately on the hand in response. "Consort Song is right. You're getting flustered over nothing. How could we bear to send our precious flower all the way to Hua?"
"But then who will be sent to Hua?" the princess asked.
Before the queen could respond, the attendants at the door loudly announced the arrival of the king and the crown prince, and the three ladies quickly got to their feet to welcome the former. "Your Majesty," they said in unison, dropping to curtsies.
"At ease," the king said, taking a sweep of the room. "Ah, Xuan-er, it's just as well that you're here too. There's something that I need to speak to you about."
"What is it Father?" Princes Xuan asked timidly, the anxiety slowly creeping onto her face once more.
"Congratulations little sister," Ru-quan piped up, flashing Xuan a bright smile. "Prince Zhiren has requested for you to be his chief consort. You're going to be the future queen of Hua."
"What!" the princess and Consort Song exclaimed in unison, the blood draining from their faces. As for the queen, she simply sat quietly in her seat, a slight furrow between her brows as she swirled the tea leaves at the bottom of her cup.
Sensing the resistance coming from the princess and his consort, the king's expression darkened. "It is a great honour to become the chief consort of Prince Zhiren. You should know that no kingdom has ever accepted a woman from a foreign kingdom as their crown princess and queen—you will be the first."
"But Your Majesty, what if it's all a lie!" Consort Song burst out, unable to contain her alarm. "Like you said, no kingdom has ever accepted a foreign woman as their queen, so why would Hua be the exception? They're plotting something! We can't send Xuan-er to suffer to her death!"
"Nonsense!" the king shouted, glaring at the woman. "Xuan-er is going there to be married. What's all this talk about death? When she leaves for Hua she'll be sent with a full entourage to look after her every need so why would she be suffering at all?"
"Father, I don't want to marry the Hua prince!" Xuan cried, the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't want to leave Duan, I don't want to leave you." She fell to her knees in front of the king, her pretty face wrinkling up with distress.
Seeing his daughter's pitiful expression, the king sighed, reaching over to pat her on the shoulder. "Xuan-er, you are already grown up, you should understand the implications of things. As a member of the royal family, sometimes you need to do things that you don't want to, for the sake of our kingdom. There is nothing you have to worry about. Even if you are married to Hua, I will ensure that they treat you well. Your life there will be no different from life here."
Beside Consort Song, Ru-quan was minding his own business when his gaze fell upon the list of names that the former had left on the side table earlier. When he caught sight of the last name on the list, his expression soured.
"Xuan-er," he suddenly spoke up, "Prince Zhiren is handsome, charming and capable. Many women would be queuing up to be his wife, yet he has chosen you. If Father didn't think that he was worthy of your hand in marriage, he would not have agreed to this request. By marrying the prince, you will be playing an important role in helping foster closer ties between our two kingdoms."
"That's rubbish!" Xuan yelled, leaping up to her feet. "None of you care about me! You don't care about what I want and you don't care even if I die in Hua. I'm not marrying him, I'm not, I'm not!" She turned to the queen in desperation, pleading, "You said that this wouldn't happen. You promised that I wouldn't be sent to Hua. I don't want to go there!"
The king rubbed his temples in annoyance, his patience wearing thin. Even though he had many daughters, Princess Xuan was one that he doted on the most and if he had a choice he wouldn't have chosen to send her all the way to Hua either. However, he had no grounds to reject the request. Prince Zhiren had made an extremely generous offer and the temptation of having a princess of Duan as the queen of Hua was one that the king found hard to deny. It would be an alliance like no other. With the threat of the southern tribes looming in the background, it could not hurt to forge stronger friendships with the other kingdoms.
"We've done what we can, Xuan-er," the queen said softly in her usual calm, collected tone. "We've recommended other young ladies to the prince, but he still requested for you. Listen to your father, he won't make such a decision if he didn't think it was good for you."
"But it's not good for me! You're just sacrificing me for the sake of the kingdom!" Xuan sobbed. "I don't want to marry the prince. I know what the prince is like. He's a cunning and conniving rat and I refuse to marry him. The person I want to marry is Zhenghuan!"
The princess's final words were like a bolt out of the blue, stunning everyone present. All eyes in the room turned to stare at her in disbelief.
Oblivious to the change in atmosphere in the room, Xuan continued, "Father, please! You've always doted on me so why can't you let me have my way this time? The one I want to marry is Zhenghuan. I don't want to marry Situ Zhiren! If you betroth me to Zhenghuan then the prince won't be able to demand for my hand in marriage anymore."
While everyone else was still reeling in shock at the princess's confession, the king suddenly stood up and swung his arm, landing a hard slap across the princess's cheek. She lost balance and collapsed to the ground.
"Xuan-er!" Consort Song exclaimed, quickly rushing to her daughter's side. Her eyes widened when she saw the red marks imprinted on the girl's left cheek.
"H-h-how could you..." Xuan stammered, staring up at the king in horror.
"Enough!" the king bellowed. "I will not have any more of your nonsense. Marriage is the decision of your parents, not you. How could you even say something as shameless as that?"
"Shameless? How is it shameless? All you have to do is issue the marriage decree and I wouldn't have to be married all the way to Hua, yet you won't even do that! How is Situ Zhiren better than Zhenghuan in any way?"
The king's nostrils were flaring as he tried to contain his anger. Eyes blazing, he took one final glare at his sobbing daughter before storming towards the exit. "Lock her in her room. She's not allowed to take a step out of her quarters until the day she is to leave for Hua with the entourage. And make sure she doesn't spout any more nonsense!" With that, the king was gone, leaving behind a room full of shocked individuals.
The first one to break the silence was Ru-quan, who got up to his feet to leave. "Xuan-er, you should probably take some time to think things through. Father is upset not just because you don't want to marry Prince Zhiren, but also because you dragged Zhenghuan into this. You know how much Father values Zhenghuan. If word gets out that you're rejecting Prince Zhiren's marriage proposal because of Zhenghuan, then there'll undoubtedly be damage done to Zhenghuan's name and we can't have that, can we?" Smiling sadly, he patted her on the head just like he used to do when they were children, before taking his leave.
"That'll be enough for today. Consort Song, take Xuan-er back to her room to rest," the queen said, shaking her head.
When the queen had been escorted back into her inner quarters by Lady Ru, leaving just the mother and daughter duo still huddled together on the floor, Princess Xuan turned to her mother and cried, "What am I going to do, Mother? Do I really have to marry the prince? But I don't, I don't want to—"
"Don't cry, sweetheart," Consort Song said, patting her daughter's back reassuringly. "Mother won't let them go through with this. My precious little girl can't be sent away like that. I'll think of a way..."
*****
PSA: I'm launching another story tomorrow, so add it to your reading list if you're interested! The Last Dahlia is a wuxia historical fantasy about two assassins caught in a web of insidious inter-kingdom politics - this book will update every other day!