The king's decree was also creating ripples elsewhere. Within the quarters of the fifth prince, Ru-an and Nansheng both wore a solemn looks on their faces.

"Looks like we have the answer we were looking for," Nansheng said. "What now?"

"There's no hurry," Ru-an replied, the corners of his lips twitching upwards in a cold smirk. "There's someone who should be more concerned than us anyway."

"Ru-quan?"

Ru-an carefully laid out three chess pieces onto the table in front of them. Based on his assessment of the situation, there were only three possible outcomes to this. One, Zhenghuan accepted the proposal from Shon and married their princess. Two, Zhenghuan rejected the proposal and the king granted the princess to the crown prince instead. Three, the king chose to keep the princess in his own harem instead of giving the princess to any of them.

Frankly, the third outcome was the worst.

He had always been fairly confident that he would be able to deal with Ru-quan when the time came. His older brother was not without his strengths, but his arrogance and conceitedness easily blinded him to the on-goings around him and that was how Ru-an had been allowed to expand his own political clout slowly but surely.

Du Zhenghuan was a completely different story.

The king's decision with regard to the Shon marriage alliance all but confirmed the suspicions that Ru-an had about the Shadow Lord and his true parentage. What was even more disturbing was the underlying implication of the decree—that the king could well be intending to have Zhenghuan inherit the throne rather than Ru-quan or any of the other princes.

"It's funny though. If Zhenghuan is really the king's son and General Du has been made a cuckold, why would the general still treat Zhenghuan so well?" Nansheng quipped, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Surely no man would be able to accept it when his wife has born another man's child?"

Everyone knew the story of Du Zhenghuan's birth. General Du's wife, Li Xiangyun, a female warrior in her own right who often accompanied her husband into battle, had gone into labour while the Du family army was in the midst of a tense face-off against the southern tribes. There had been labour complications and no mid-wife to assist with the delivery, and even the army physicians had given up hope of being able to successfully deliver the child given the harsh conditions of the army camp. Yet by some miracle, the baby was born, and his cries rang out bright and strong across the sandy battlefield. The Duan army secured a complete victory then, and Du Zhenghuan had been dubbed a star of fortune to the kingdom of Duan ever since.

"Perhaps the general himself doesn't know the truth," Ru-an scoffed.

"Should we send him a hint then? Just like the one we sent to Shon?"

Ru-an shook his head. "No. There's no need for that. It's better to leave things as they are. The sooner this floats to the surface the less time we will have to act. From the looks of things Zhenghuan has no intentions of returning to the palace or assuming whatever position it is that Father wants him to. If he did then he would have agreed to marry the Shon princess."

"So we're just going to pretend we know nothing?"

"Like I said, someone else will be more worried than us. After all, I am not first in line for the throne. Why don't we just let them fret about it a little? If they end up ripping each other's throats out, then I might not even have to lift a finger."

#

The news of the Shon princess's marriage quickly arrived at the doorstep of the Han manor and it provided quite a bit of gossip fodder for the ladies of the household. While they were all gathered at the old madam's front hall early in the morning, the topic was already on the tip of everyone's tongues.

"Perhaps the king had his eye on her after seeing her dance at the banquet that night," Meiyan commented, a satisfied smile on her face. She had been worried that the king would betroth the princess to the crown prince, after seeing how the vixen had been throwing seductive glances in his direction all night, but thankfully her worries had been in vain. "He is a man after all and no man will ever tire of beautiful women."

"Was she really that attractive?" Meisi asked, eager to find out more about what happened that night.

"I'm sure you know what the culture is like in Shon. They are far more liberal and open-minded, allowing their women to go around dressed like cheap courtesans," Meiyan snorted derisively as she recalled the princess's skimpy dance outfit that highlighted all her curves. "She looks just like a vixen. Acts like one too."

"Meiyan," Lady Min warned. Even if that was the truth, it was inappropriate to be discussing the Shon princess and soon-to-be king's consort in this manner.

Meiyan shrugged her shoulders, glancing across the hall at Zi-ning, who had been sitting silently in her chair sipping on her cup of chrysanthemum tea ever since this conversation began. "Zi-ning, you must have been worried when the Shon ambassador announced the Shon king's intentions, am I right?" she said, a tinge of malice in her voice. "Princess Sana could hardly keep her eyes off the crown prince. If the king had betrothed the princess to Prince Ru-quan then someone would need to wake up to reality."

Zi-ning looked up briefly, then swirled the golden liquid in her cup, seemingly unperturbed by Meiyan's barbed words. "Yes, I was indeed worried for you, dear sister. Waking up to reality can be a nasty, nasty thing," she said.

Everyone stared at Zi-ning in disbelief, appalled at how she had just openly turned the tables on Meiyan. Although they had all sensed the change in Zi-ning's personality ever since she returned from Taishan, they were still not used to this different side of her. Even the old madam looked surprised by Zi-ning's words, though she said nothing of it.

Instead, the old lady set her cup down on the table, the firm clink of the porcelain against its saucer silencing the conversation immediately. "That's quite enough. All of you need to be more conscientious with your words. The walls have ears. It would not do to have someone overhear you gossiping about the king's future consort." She turned to Zi-ning, giving her granddaughter an affectionate smile. "I have heard good things about you from some of the other ladies who were at the palace banquet that night. It seems like you have made a good impression. If this keeps up there will be no shortage of suitors seeking your hand in marriage after your coming-of-age ceremony." There was no disguising the pride in the old lady's voice as she spoke to Zi-ning, and Meiyan bristled with envy as she watched this exchange.

In the past, such words were only reserved for her. She was the most outstanding daughter of this family and if there were any suitors, they would be hers. To have their grandmother speak this way of Zi-ning instead of her made her blood boil.

Zi-ning lowered her gaze, a light blush appearing on her fair cheeks. "Grandmother, it's far too soon to be speaking of things like these. I do not wish to get married so soon. I want to stay here with you for a while longer."

"Nonsense!" the old lady said, although the corners of her eyes crinkled in approval. "All young ladies need to be married eventually. Don't worry, I will make sure that I find a young man that is worthy of our Zi-ning."

"Madam, Meiyan's coming-of-age ceremony will be held next month. I intend to send the invitations out to the other noble households within the next week," Lady Min interjected, reminding everyone that the oldest daughter here was not Zi-ning, but her Meiyan.

A young lady's coming-of-age ceremony was an important milestone in her life and for the ladies of noble households, it meant inviting many guests to witness the ceremony. Girls would go through the ceremony on their eighteenth birthdays and only after that would families accept marriage proposals for their daughters.

The old lady nodded in acknowledgement. "Be sure that everything is in order for the ceremony. There will be many important people in attendance, so we cannot afford to disgrace ourselves in any way," she said pointedly, making Lady Min shift uncomfortably in her seat. Everyone knew that the old lady was referring to Meiyan's earlier incident at the Ouyang manor, which had left a blemish on the Oh family name.

Meiyan bit hard on her lower lip until she could taste the metallic taste of blood against her tongue. She glared hatefully across the room at Zi-ning, who wore a slight smile on her face as she sipped on her tea. Once upon a time she had looked forward to her coming of age ceremony, imagining the scores of suitors that would be lining up at their front door just to catch a glimpse of her and how she would reject them all because her destiny was to become a princess, and perhaps even a queen.

She would not, could not, let Zi-ning steal that dream away from her.