"Where do you think you're going," Prince Zhiren called out from behind her as the two men came striding out of the jewellery store in chase. When he caught sight of the Shadow Lord, his expression faltered, though he quickly replaced it with a broad smile. "General Du, what a coincidence. I wasn't expecting to see you here. I was having a delightful conversation with Miss Zi-ning before she stepped out."

His hand still around her waist, Zhenghuan firmly pushed her behind him, stepping forward to put himself between Zi-ning and the prince. "I trust you are enjoying your time in our capital, Your Highness," Zhenghuan said coldly. "The envoys seem to be staying longer than usual this time around."

"The king will be marrying the Shon princess shortly, so there's no reason we shouldn't be staying for a cup of celebratory wine, isn't that right? Now if you'll excuse me," Prince Zhiren looked past Zhenghuan's shoulder at Zi-ning, "I have a conversation that I haven't finished."

"Your Highness," Zhenghuan held out his hand, pressing it against the prince's shoulder to stop him from coming any further, "Minister Han has asked me to escort his daughter back home this afternoon. We should be going now. Perhaps you would like to continue this another time." Taking hold of Zi-ning's wrist, Zhenghuan turned and dragged her along, leaving the Hua prince behind.

Zi-ning was startled by the latest development, struggling to keep up with Zhenghuan's pace as he took large strides down the cobblestone pavement. It wasn't until they had walked down two streets that he finally let go of her hand.

"What was that about?" Zi-ning retorted, rubbing her sore wrist gently. The man had a vice-like grip and obviously had no qualms about mishandling a lady.

"I think you owe me a debt of gratitude for rescuing you from that," Zhenghuan said, "unless I was mistaken and you'd rather go back and continue that conversation with the Hua prince."

Zi-ning glowered at him, pursing her lips together tightly. Much as she wanted to say something in retaliation, she couldn't argue against that. If it hadn't been for the Shadow Lord appearing at the right moment, she would have been cornered by the prince of Hua and she wouldn't have had any means of escaping.

"Prince Zhiren is not someone you should be getting involved with," Zhenghuan continued. "Stay away from him."

"Don't you get tired of dispensing sagely advice all the time?" Zi-ning snapped, glaring at him in annoyance. "I think I have my own good sense to decide who I should or should not be getting involved with and from the looks of things, meeting you isn't exactly a good thing either. Excuse me." Bobbing her head stiffly, she turned on her heels and started marching off with Shujin trailing along timidly behind her.

The corners of Zhenghuan's lips twitched slightly as he watched her leave, then he walked up to catch up with her. "I'll send you home," he said.

"That won't be necessary."

"Prince Zhiren is a sharp man. It is likely he'll send someone to follow us until we reach your home. If he finds out that you were lying, he will not be pleased."

"You were the one who lied to him."

"Minor technicality. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to lie to him. Where's your carriage?"

"It's just around the corner, sir," Shujin piped up, eyes sparkling as she stared at the general's dashing demeanour.

Zi-ning immediately shot her maidservant an indignant glare. "Are you betraying me now?" she whispered to the girl.

"Miss," Shujin explained quietly, "the general makes sense. What if that Hua prince is waiting for us at the manor? He didn't seem like he wanted to let you go so easily. If the general escorts you back to the manor then even if those Hua envoys want to intercept the carriage along the way they won't be able to."

Seeing that the Shadow Lord wasn't about to give her an alternative option, Zi-ning had no choice but to allow him to escort her home. As the carriage trundled down the street, she could hear the steady rhythm of his horse's hooves on her right. She lifted the curtain slightly, observing the man who rode alongside her on top of his black steed.

Beautiful horse, she thought. Can't say the same about the owner.

"How did you get tangled up with the crown prince of Hua?" Zhenghuan suddenly asked, turning to look her in the eyes before she had the chance to let the curtain back down.

"I was at He's jewellery shop and he came in after to pick up a piece of custom jewellery he had ordered," Zi-ning replied simply. "And we were not 'tangled up' in any way," she added. She couldn't really read the man's expression behind his mask, but she thought she caught a bemused sparkle in his eye.

It was really not her day—first bumping into that leech of a Hua prince and then into this son of a devil. It was like life refused to give her a break.

"He seems interested in you."

"That is none of my concern, and neither is it any of your concern, sir."

"Is that so? You mean to say you are not interested in the possibility of becoming the next queen of Hua? Many young ladies would want that opportunity."

"I am not 'many young ladies', so no."

Hua was a kingdom that left a bitter taste in Zi-ning's mouth. She would never forget how she had been accused of being a traitor, a spy for Hua, and how she had been sent to the guillotine because of those lies. Just recalling how the townsfolk had pelted her with rotten fruit and vegetables while calling her a Hua dog made the anger inside her bubble to the surface once more. Her fists clenched tightly by her side, her expression suddenly turning cold as ice.

Zhenghuan frowned. "What about the next queen of Duan then? Perhaps that position is more to your liking?" he asked.

Zi-ning looked at him, a flash of surprise in her eyes. Then, it was gone and her face regained its placid calmness. "I don't think things like that are up to me to decide," she said. "Any young lady of proper upbringing should have her marriage decided upon by her elders."

"Is that what you truly believe?" Zhenghuan continued probing. "You hardly strike me as the sort who would accept anything your elders choose for you."

"We barely know each other, sir. Perhaps it would be better if you were less presumptuous about things." Zi-ning let the curtain down, signalling the end of this conversation. The Shadow Lord was being far more inquisitive than she would like and she especially hated the way his eyes pierced right through her, as if he could see everything that was going on inside her mind.

When the horse carriage finally stopped in front of the Han manor, both Zi-ning and Zhenghuan were surprised to see that there was another horse carriage parked out front, with the golden insignia of the royal family painted distinctly above its wooden doors. Shujin quickly helped her young mistress down from the carriage and towards the manor entrance.

"Thank you for escorting me home," Zi-ning curtseyed politely to the general.

"It appears that you have guests. You seem to have no shortage of royal attention."

A flash of irritation appeared across Zi-ning's face as she straightened herself up and glared at the man. Why did he always have to say such annoying things? "If you have questions about our family's guests then perhaps it would be more appropriate if you directed them to my father, since the guests are likely his." Turning on her heels, she walked into the manor, leaving the man behind at the gates.

"Miss, is it ok to be leaving the Shadow Lord out there like this?" Shujin whispered to her young mistress as she followed behind her.

"Well I'm certainly not inviting him in for tea."

#

Zi-ning headed straight for the inner quarters where the female members of the household resided, purposefully bypassing the front hall since it was likely that her father's guests would be there. To her surprise, when she entered her the main hall of her grandmother's abode, she realised that the guests were not her father's after all. Seated in the hall speaking to the old madam was a woman dressed in the elegant blue garb of a palace lady, with Lady Min and Meiyan sitting on the opposite side. Zi-ning immediately recognised the guest to be Lady Ru, the queen's most trusted lady-in-waiting.

When she entered, her grandmother smiled and beckoned for her to come over. "Zi-ning, you've finally returned. Pay your greetings to Lady Ru. She has come a long way from the palace just to bring us this invitation from the queen."

Zi-ning obediently walked over and greeted the lady, taking her seat next to Meiyan. She could see the cream-coloured invitation card that her grandmother was holding in her hand, which was likely for a palace event of sorts.

"The queen has kindly extended her invitation to the both of you," the old lady looked at her two granddaughters, "for a private showing of 'Blossoms of Spring' by the Han opera troupe at the imperial gardens next week. The king has invited the troupe to the capital ahead of the royal wedding."

"The queen has been most generous," Lady Min gushed, patting her daughter's hand affectionately.

Lady Ru set down her cup of tea and smiled, her sharp eyes studying the two young ladies carefully. "Thank you for your hospitality, Lady Sun. I will convey the message to the queen that both the young mistresses will be attending," she said, getting up to her feet. "She will be most pleased to hear that." Before taking her leave, her gaze settled on Zi-ning once again, observing the girl with interest.

When the palace lady had taken her leave, the old madam spoke once again. "It appears that the queen is still seeking opportunities to find a suitable candidate for marriage to the crown prince," she said. The queen rarely invited the noble ladies into the palace, save for the members of her own family, the Ci clan, so the frequency at which she was now holding these gatherings spoke volumes of her underlying intentions. "For her to have sent Lady Ru personally to deliver the invitation shows the importance with which she regards our family," she continued, beaming proudly. "Be sure to leave a good impression. The queen may well be considering one of you to be the crown princess."

"Of course, Grandmother," Meiyan immediately replied, blushing shyly.

Zi-ning was certain that Meiyan could not be more pleased that she hadn't been home when the palace lady stopped by, giving her the opportunity to make conversation with Lady Ru in a bid to impress her as much as she could. Lady Ru was the queen's closest confidante and if the palace lady had a good impression of Meiyan, she might put in a few good words in front of the queen, giving the latter a much better chance of being selected. Judging from Meiyan's behaviour, things seemed to have gone well.

"Zi-ning, where were you this afternoon? It was a pity you returned when you did, else you would have had the chance to speak with Lady Ru a little more," the old madam said, a slight frown appearing across her wrinkled forehead.

"I went into town to pick up a few things, Grandmother," Zi-ning replied.

Just as the old lady was about to say something else, one of the household's attendants came walking into the hall, whispering something into the old madam's ear. He handed her a small purple pouch, before taking his leave. Old Madam Sun looked up at Zi-ning, a thoughtful look appearing across her weathered face. "Zi-ning, you seem to have dropped this at the gates," she said, holding the silk pouch out on the palm of her hand.

Shujin quickly walked over to retrieve the pouch that Zi-ning typically wore at her waist, containing the flower petals that diffused a subtle jasmine fragrance she liked.

"The attendant said that it was a young man who picked it up and returned it," the old lady continued, observing her granddaughter carefully. "Might you know who it was?"

Zi-ning silently cursed Zhenghuan for having been so indiscreet about things. If she had dropped her fragrance pouch in her haste, he could have just left it there since one of the family's attendants would have picked it up sooner or later, yet he had purposefully picked it up and chosen to return it, knowing that doing so would forbid her from keeping the entire situation under wraps. With that distinctive silver mask of his, it wouldn't take long before everyone in the household knew of his identity.

"I happened to bump into the Shadow Lord in town and he offered to escort me home in case there was any trouble along the way," she admitted.

"The Shadow Lord?"

Everyone seemed surprised by this finding and all eyes in the room had turned to stare at her.

Zi-ning nodded. "There was some trouble near the jewellery shop that I was at, so it was a chivalrous gesture on the general's part to offer to escort the carriage back," she explained, leaving out the bit about her encounter with the crown prince of Hua at He's Jewellery.

"That was very kind of him indeed," the old lady said, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"It must have been such a coincidence, for you to have met the Shadow Lord in town," Lady Min said stiffly, a hint of jealousy in her tone. "It would be best if you were more discreet with your interactions, Zi-ning, especially since you have not yet come of age. Young ladies like yourself should not go about town unescorted, in case you encounter any danger."

Although it sounded as if Lady Min was being concerned for her well-being, Zi-ning knew that her stepmother's objective was to highlight the fact that she was behaving inappropriately by allowing a man to escort her home.

"Your mother is right," the old madam echoed. "Although the Shadow Lord is an outstanding young man who comes from a reputable family, it would still be best if you kept your distance. After all, we would not want there to be any misunderstandings."

Zi-ning merely smiled and nodded in agreement. While she knew that her grandmother was thinking for her best interests, she also knew that the old lady had her mind set on marrying her into the royal family. It was a great honour to become relatives with the king and few people could withstand such temptation.