Chapter 8: Which Part Offended You?

By the time the palace banquet dispersed, it was already the second watch.

Moonlight flooded the long avenue outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Rainwater from days past still lingered in the cracks between the flagstones, making a faint sound underfoot.

Palace maids and eunuchs led the way with lanterns, their orange glow swaying one after another, stretching shadows long and short by turns.

Shen Heng walked along the palace path, the hem of her pale blue skirt trailing across the stone and catching the cool night dew.

She didn't walk fast—her chest had gone tight again, as though a water-soaked cotton pad were pressing down on it, every breath demanding extra effort.

Chun Yuan and Cang Ran followed behind her.

Chun Yuan had been crying since they left the hall. Tears had smeared her whole face, her nose bright red, like a little rabbit caught in the rain.

She wept and wiped her face with her sleeve, soaking a large patch of the fabric.

Cang Ran walked beside her, her eyes heavy with feeling, like storm clouds pressed low before a downpour.

After some distance, Shen Heng finally stopped and turned around.

Moonlight fell across her face, revealing a thin sheen of sweat.

"You two."

Her voice was slightly breathless, tinged with helpless amusement.

"I'm not even married yet. What is this?"

"Princess!"

Chun Yuan finally broke. She dropped to her knees with a thud, sobbing so hard her whole body shook.

"How can you go off to a marriage alliance? Your health is so fragile, and the Northern Frontier is freezing—I've heard it snows all year round up there, the wind cuts your face like knives… You can barely survive winter in the capital. What will you do out there? If something happens—"

"Chun Yuan."

Cang Ran cut her off, her voice low, though it carried a muffled weight of its own.

She lifted her head and looked at Shen Heng, as though she wanted to speak but couldn't find the words.

There was too much in Cang Ran's eyes.

Confusion. Worry. Self-blame.

She had been raised by Shen Lin himself. From fifteen she had fought at his side on the battlefield, until he sent her to serve Shen Heng.

For years she had never left Shen Heng's side—their bond long past that of mistress and servant.

If the General learned of this, what would follow? She didn't dare imagine.

In his years commanding troops at the border, Shen Lin had spilled more blood than the capital's nobles would see in a lifetime.

He was generous by nature and disciplined in command, never killing the innocent without cause. But where Shen Heng was concerned, there was nothing he wouldn't do.

The Emperor knew it.

That was why, in the hall earlier, he had never counted Shen Heng among the princesses.

But the Princess had stepped forward herself.

Cang Ran knew she wasn't reckless. Still, she couldn't fathom it, no matter how she tried.

Why?

Why plunge headfirst into a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, knowing full well what lay ahead?

Shen Heng read Cang Ran's expression and sighed softly.

"Cang Ran, what do you make of the Shen family's position right now?"

Cang Ran blinked.

"The Shen family is loyal unto death. The General guards Liangzhou with two hundred thousand troops under his command. His Majesty trusts him. The court and the people revere him."

"Yes."

Shen Heng smiled faintly.

"Loyal unto death, two hundred thousand troops, revered by court and country. But have you considered—'merit overshadowing the sovereign' is never just a saying?"

Cang Ran's pupils contracted.

"My brother is unmatched in war, but at court he's a straight arrow. He won't build factions, won't flatter, won't stoop to any of those winding paths. The Emperor trusts him now because the Northern Border still needs him. But the Northern Border won't be at war forever."

Shen Heng's voice stayed calm.

"By the time the realm is at peace, the greater the Shen family's achievements, the greater the danger. Then any charge at all could wipe out every drop of blood he's shed and every wound he's taken."

She turned her head toward the distant palace eaves.

Moonlight plated the glazed tiles in cold light. Layer upon layer of hall silhouettes loomed in the darkness like a crouching beast.

"So rather than be dragged along by the current, I'd rather step into the game myself. Take the reins. Hold the initiative in my own hands."

Shen Heng turned back, meeting Cang Ran's eyes with open resolve.

"Brother has protected me for seventeen years. It's time I found a way to protect him too."

Cang Ran stared at her, dazed.

Under the moonlight, Shen Heng's face was still sickly pale, her lips almost transparent.

But the light in her eyes outshone every lamp in the Hall of Supreme Harmony tonight.

Cang Ran's eyes suddenly went red.

She dropped to one knee, the impact against the stone flagstones landing with a dull thud.

"My life belongs to the General. He told me to protect the Princess, so I protect the Princess. Wherever the Princess goes, Cang Ran goes. The Northern Frontier, a mountain of blades, a sea of fire—"

She raised her head, eyes blazing with resolve.

"Cang Ran will not take a single step back."

Shen Heng reached out to help her up.

Her fingers were slender and pale, with little strength to them, but Cang Ran rose with the pull of her hand.

Chun Yuan scrambled up too, wiping her tears, sniffling as she stammered.

"I'm going too! I'm not afraid of the cold! I'll bring extra blankets, and the Princess's medicine, and a warming stove, and—"

"There, there."

Shen Heng patted her shoulder, laughing.

"Just having you along is warmer than anything."

That coaxed a laugh out of Chun Yuan through her tears.

The three were about to continue on when footsteps sounded behind them.

Shen Heng turned. A lantern had swung around the corner of the palace path, its dim yellow glow illuminating a handsome, gentle face.

Third Prince Xiao Zhengting.

He had changed out of his banquet robes into plain black, a dark gray crane cloak draped over his shoulders, a gauze lantern in his hand.

The lantern light shone up from below, softening his already mild features.

"Third Brother."

Shen Heng bowed slightly.

Xiao Zhengting came to a stop before her and looked down at her.

At the banquet he had sat far away, an entire hall between them—some things were inconvenient to say.

Now, face to face with only three or four steps between them, moonlight and lamplight falling together on Shen Heng, Xiao Zhengting suddenly realized that Shen Lin's sister was indeed not what she had been.

In the past, whenever he saw Shen Heng, she had seemed gray and muted, head down, silent—like a flower blooming in a corner, half wilted before it ever fully opened.

But tonight she had stood at the center of the great hall and dared, before the full assembly of civil and military officials and the Northern Frontier delegation, to say without flinching, "I wish to marry the Imperial Preceptor."

Xiao Zhengting had to admit—he was thoroughly startled.

"Heng'er."

He spoke, his tone gentle, carrying genuine concern.

"I don't quite approve of what happened tonight."

Shen Heng looked at him and said nothing.

"It's not for the usual reasons. The Northern Frontier needs a princess for the marriage alliance—looking at the larger picture, I actually understand why you did it. But speaking personally…"

Xiao Zhengting paused, a flicker of worry in his eyes.

"Shen Lin won't want you to go."