Chương 73: Chapter 71

I watch the new group approach with a reluctance I struggle to disguise. It's not that I have anything against getting to know my half-brothers. The problem is that until now they had completely ignored me, then Sun Rui and Sun Hong showed up, and now on top of that a second group is being added whose intentions I have no idea about, nor do I know who they are. Because that is precisely the problem, I have no idea who they are.

I glance sideways at Lianhua, whose face remains set in that expression only I can detect, and for an instant I consider asking her, but I discard the idea almost as quickly as it forms. With Sun Rui and Sun Hong seated less than two meters from me, and their respective retinues of lavishly dressed nobles occupying one side of the pavilion, asking my own handmaiden who the newcomers are would be the same as hanging a glowing sign above my head reading I don't know my own half-brothers.

And while that may be technically true, it's not something I want known, if only for the sake of keeping up some decorum. So I stay quiet, watching as the new group finishes crossing the park under the watchful eyes of the Nei Wei, who are already quite on edge from the first group, and I observe as they come to a halt upon reaching the pavilion. The first thing I notice is that the newcomers don't mingle with the nobles already here.

Instead, they position themselves on one side of the pavilion at a distance from Sun Rui's retinue that is small enough not to seem like a deliberate snub but large enough to make it clear they aren't together, which in the universal language of courtly politics means that, at a minimum, they are not allies. Once the group has arranged itself, two men step forward and approach where we're seated with a slow, elegant gait, as though they're in no hurry to arrive.

Watching them come closer and with no idea how to address them, my instinct tells me the smartest thing I can do right now is exactly nothing, like a turtle. So I do what any well-bred imperial princess would do when she hasn't the faintest clue what's going on and doesn't want it to show, I pick up my cup of tea. I bring it to my lips with the studied calm of someone simply enjoying her drink and not of someone using a porcelain cup as a shield.

I take a slow sip, keeping my eyes slightly narrowed as though the tea's aroma were the most fascinating thing in the world, and meanwhile I pray that someone else breaks the silence before I have to set the cup down and speak myself. And mercifully, someone does.

"Sun Quiming, Sun Lan", Sun Rui says, and his voice, which until now had maintained that smooth, calculated cadence of a seasoned politician, has transformed into something that could freeze a lake in midsummer.

"Knowing our grandfather's preferences, I'm surprised you'd come looking for someone he so thoroughly dislikes." Sun Rui's words crash over me like a bucket of ice water and set every alarm ringing, because I clearly remember my father's words about how my grandfather wanted me dead. And now, according to Sun Rui, this prince is clearly connected in some way to that grandfather, which makes his coming to see me all the more suspicious, and I raise my guard against him even further.

But alongside that understanding, the tea I'm drinking suddenly tastes like ash, and I understand why Lianhua reacted the way she did when she saw him.

Even so, I keep the cup against my lips a second longer than necessary while I process the new information, using that instant to recompose my expression and make sure none of what I've just been thinking shows on my face, because if my etiquette lessons have taught me anything, it's that the face is the first battlefield, and losing control of your expression is the same as losing half the battle. So when I lower the cup, my face is a mask of serenity so well constructed it would make my Etiquette tutor proud.

However, since Sun Rui was the one who decided to speak first and throw that barb with the clear intention of, at the very least, needling the other side, I decide to let him hold the reins for now. After all, if my half-brothers want to fight among themselves in front of me, the least I can do is stay out of the way, munch on my virtual popcorn during the show, and see what information I can extract from their exchange.

The man at the front of the two who have approached, and who, thanks to Sun Rui, I now know is Sun Quiming, replies without his step faltering for even an instant, as though Sun Rui's words don't bother him in the slightest.

"My grandfather is my grandfather and I am myself", he answers in a tone that matches Sun Rui's in coldness, as though the two of them were competing to see who could drop the pavilion's temperature more degrees with their voice alone.

"There is nothing wrong with a brother coming to meet his sister." After saying that, Sun Quiming turns his head toward me and offers me a smile that, under normal circumstances, might pass for friendly, but coming from someone connected to the man who wanted me killed at birth, feels about as comforting as if the Joker were flashing it at me.

"Isn't that right, sister?" he asks in a tone that sounds warm and familiar, as though we were lifelong family and not two complete strangers speaking to each other for the first time. I sigh internally. Another half-brother appearing with a pretty smile and kind words and a hidden agenda I have no idea about, though I'm starting to suspect it's the same one they all share. So I do the only thing I can.

I finish drinking my tea with a calm I don't feel, set the cup on the table with a smooth, controlled motion that buys me the two extra seconds I need to compose my reply, and turn to the newcomers with the best smile my years of etiquette classes have allowed me to perfect.

"Of course there's nothing wrong with it", I tell him in a tone that exudes courtesy from every syllable.

"It is always an honor to receive a visit from my imperial brothers." After saying that, I gesture elegantly toward the few remaining empty chairs in the pavilion, which by this point is starting to look more like an improvised audience chamber than the quiet spot where I'd intended to have lunch.

"Won't you sit down as well?" I ask, maintaining my rehearsed smile.

"There's still tea, and it would be discourteous not to share it with my brothers now that they've gone to the trouble of coming all the way here."

"We appreciate our sister's hospitality", Sun Quiming tells me with that smile that won't leave his face, after which he sits in one of the free chairs with a fluid motion that displays the same courtly polish I've seen in Sun Rui.

Sun Lan, who has not opened his mouth so far and seems content with his role as silent companion, merely nods in my direction by way of thanks before taking the chair beside Sun Quiming, positioning himself half a step behind even while seated, which confirms that between these two the dynamic is the same as between Sun Rui and Sun Hong.

Once they're seated, I give Lianhua a signal and, with her usual efficiency, she sets into motion and from somewhere I can't identify produces two additional porcelain cups, which she places on the table with her customary precision.

And as I watch her pour tea for the newcomers, I can't help but wonder how much crockery she and Xia packed into this morning's lunch bundle, because at this rate, if a third group of half-brothers turns up, I wouldn't be surprised if Lianhua pulled a complete tea set for twelve from some corner of the bag. After serving the tea, Lianhua withdraws discreetly to her usual position one step behind me, though I notice the tension that has accompanied her since Sun Quiming appeared hasn't left.

Sun Quiming and Sun Lan drink a little of their freshly served tea, and what follows is a silence that takes hold of the pavilion. And it is not a comfortable silence. It's the kind that occurs when two groups who clearly can't stand each other are forced to share a confined space and neither wants to be the first to admit the situation is awkward. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Sun Rui and Sun Hong regard the newcomers with a coldness they don't much bother to disguise, while the newcomers, for their part, drink their tea while deliberately ignoring them, almost as if they want to irritate them further with their attitude. And I, caught in the middle of this duel of icy stares and calculated indifference, drink from my cup as well, wondering whether this is how neutral countries feel when two enemy powers decide to hold a diplomatic meeting on their soil.

At last, Sun Quiming seems to decide the silence has lasted long enough and, setting his cup on the table with a casual gesture, turns to me with a friendly expression.

"I've heard our sister has been exploring the Inner Palace this morning", he tells me in a conversational tone that sounds genuinely interested, though to me it rings like the Joker asking Batman about his health.

"Is this your first time visiting this area?"

"It is", I reply politely with a slight nod.

"I've lived in the Palace my entire life, but due to my circumstances I hadn't had the opportunity to explore beyond my residence until today."

My words, deliberately vague about said circumstances, hang in the air for a moment before Sun Rui, who clearly has no intention of letting Sun Quiming monopolize the conversation, chimes in with an observation about the various zones of the Inner Palace worth visiting, recommending the gardens of the east wing in a tone implying that he, of course, knows them far better than anyone else present.

But Sun Quiming doesn't fall behind and, without missing a beat, counters by mentioning that the gardens of the north wing are superior and that if I ever need someone to show them to me, he would naturally be delighted to accompany me. And so begins what I can only describe as the strangest conversation of my life, which is saying quite a lot considering I've lived two.

What follows is a three-way exchange in which Sun Rui and Sun Quiming take turns interrupting each other, and every time one of them asks me a trivial question about the court or the capital, the other manages to cut in before I can finish answering, redirecting the conversation toward something that conveniently makes him look better than his rival.

And while they compete in this absurd tournament of flattery and barely veiled verbal stabs, I nod, smile, give courteous replies that commit me to nothing, and devote myself to observing, because as the conversation progresses, the question hammering inside my head grows ever more insistent. Why are they doing this?

Why are two imperial princes who have ignored me my entire life and who, as I've confirmed over the past few minutes, clearly detest each other, suddenly competing to win my favor as though I were a prize to be claimed? That idea keeps circling in my head until, in the middle of yet another of their little verbal duels, Sun Quiming says something to Sun Rui that makes every piece snap into place in my mind at once.

"I never would have thought you had such an interest in runes, brother", Sun Quiming tells Sun Rui with a smile dripping condescension, in response to an observation from Sun Rui about the Imperial Palace's formations that had seemed offhand. And in that instant, as though someone had flipped a light switch in a dark room, I understand everything. They're not here for me. They're here for Master Mu. The revelation illuminates my mind as if someone had turned on a light bulb.

Master Mu, a cultivator whose power not even Lianhua can gauge, an expert in runes and talismans whose level probably equals the highest ranks in the Empire, is giving me private lessons once a week. And somehow, my dear half-brothers have found out. And now they almost certainly want to use their little sister, to whom half an hour ago they had never spoken a word in their lives and whom they probably considered more of a nuisance than anything else, as a gateway to that woman.

They aren't competing for my affection. They're competing to see who can convince me first to introduce them to Master Mu or grant them access to her knowledge. I take a sip of tea as I process this revelation, and to my own surprise, what I feel is not the disgust I should feel upon realizing my half-brothers are using me as a means to reach someone else. Perhaps I should feel offended, or at least annoyed, but what I actually feel is something far more practical, relief.

Because knowing the real reason they're here gives me something I didn't have until now, a starting point. If I know what they want, it's much easier to deal with them, since someone whose motivations you understand is less dangerous than someone whose intentions are a mystery, and my half-brothers, without knowing it, have just handed me the piece I needed to handle them.

But while my mind processes all this with the coolness the situation demands, another part of me, the part that's tired, the part that only wanted a quiet walk with her friends and that has spent over an hour sitting in a pavilion dealing with half-brothers popping up like mushrooms after rain, decides it has had enough. I won't be able to enjoy a peaceful stroll this afternoon, that much is clear.

But neither do I want to keep sitting here pretending I care about what my half-brothers are telling me while they compete to see who can flatter me better in order to reach my master. And as I look at my half-brothers with weariness, an idea comes to mind, one that my more responsible self immediately labels irresponsible while my more exhausted self labels brilliant. So of course, without thinking twice, I set it in motion.

"Ah!" I cry out suddenly, a yelp of pain that cuts the conversation dead, and I grab my legs with both hands as my face contorts into a grimace that, if I may say so myself, would this time make my Acting tutor the one who'd be proud. The effect is immediate.

Sun Rui and Sun Quiming, who were immersed in another of their verbal skirmishes, fall silent at once and turn toward me with expressions hovering between surprise and alarm, while Sun Hong and Sun Lan, who had been maintaining their respective roles as silent companions until now, also look at me with evident concern. But I don't give them time to ask anything.

I turn to Lianhua with the most anguished face I can muster and say in a tone mixing urgency and pain in what I hope is a convincing blend "Lianhua, my legs are starting to hurt again. We need to get back to the Pavilion quickly." I see Lianhua's eyes settle on mine for an instant, barely a fraction of a second, and in that instant I know she's realized what I'm doing.

Because Lianhua knows me far too well, and knowing as she does that my legs have never hurt, my performance tells her everything she needs to know about my intentions. But the consummate professional that she is, she says absolutely nothing that might give me away. Instead, her expression shifts instantly to one of serious concern as she turns to the princes and, with a respectful bow, tells them in a tone that radiates urgency "I beg your pardon on behalf of Zhāohuán Wen, your highnesses.

The condition of her legs requires periodic treatment, and I'm afraid we need to return to her residence immediately." While Lianhua speaks, I continue my performance, clutching my legs with an expression of pain that, I'll admit, won't win me any awards but seems convincing enough. Behind Lianhua, Xia is watching me with an odd expression, as though she's not quite sure what's happening, since I'm certain she's torn between genuine worry and the confusion of knowing it's impossible for my legs to hurt.

But fortunately, she remembers the order I gave her at the start not to speak unless I or Lianhua tell her to, and she simply watches me without saying a word, though I notice her hands tense slightly, as if she's fighting herself not to ask. The princes, for their part, react with a swiftness that would have moved me if I didn't know their concern has less to do with me and more with the fact that if something happens to me, their channel of access to Master Mu closes.

"No trouble at all, sister", says Sun Rui, the first to react, rising slightly from his seat.

"Is there anything we can do to help?"

"If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask", Sun Quiming adds, and for an instant both half-brothers share something they haven't shared all afternoon, an expression of genuine concern that, whether ironic or sincere, makes them look like allies for the first time. Lianhua thanks them with another bow.

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness, your highnesses, but we only need to reach Zhāohuán Wen's residence as quickly as possible so she can receive her treatment." And without waiting for any further reply, Lianhua lifts me into her arms, raising me from the chair in a fluid motion that, under other circumstances, would surely leave me in an elegant position, but since I'm pretending my legs hurt, I have to settle for simply being able to hold on.

"Ling Xia", she tells her in a tone that brooks no argument.

"Leave everything from lunch. I'll send someone to collect it later." Xia, who still doesn't entirely understand what's happening but has the good sense not to question a direct order from Lianhua at a time like this, nods quickly and falls in at our side.

Lianhua turns to the Nei Wei and with a swift gesture instructs them to pick up my wheelchair, after which, without further ceremony and with haste, she strides out of the pavilion carrying me while Xia follows close behind and the Nei Wei deploy around us, bearing the chair. And as we retreat from the pavilion at a speed halfway between a brisk walk and an outright run, I can't help but notice we're leaving behind a more than sizable audience.

As we pull away, I see the princes' retinues watching us depart with expressions ranging from curiosity to calculated concern, and the officials, who had been discreetly stationed around the park and who by this point surely have enough material to fuel the Palace's rumor mill for an entire week, follow us with their eyes while no doubt memorizing every detail to relay to their colleagues. And lastly, I glance at my half-brothers out of the corner of my eye.

They remain seated with their cups of tea, probably wondering whether what they've just witnessed was real or whether their little sister has just pulled off the most brazen tactical retreat they've ever seen. But that's no longer my problem, or if it is, it's a problem for my future self.

My problem now is keeping up the pained expression long enough for it to remain believable until we're far enough away that no one can see us and I can stop pretending, because the way Lianhua is holding me is so uncomfortable that it might actually end up hurting me for real.