Huizhong smiled as he removed his hand from my head, and the warmth of his healing power waned.

"It is perfect timing for a quick trip to the sanctuary," he confirmed. "The baby isn't drawing as much of your heart stone energy now, so you don't need such close monitoring."

"Brother, I'll be fine. I have felt so much better in the last week," I sat up and straightened the light blue hanfu that discreetly covered my bulging belly.

I wasn't lying to my brother; I did feel much better. Horrible nausea and vomiting in the first trimester were followed by heartburn and fatigue in the second. I swear all the symptoms I learned about during medical school obstetrics rotations hit me at one point. Most of these symptoms seemed to calm near the beginning of the third trimester in the seventh month of my pregnancy. Though my back hurt almost daily, otherwise, my body felt like it was my own again.

"It will only be a few days. Tengfei will remain here to guard you." I think Huizhong reassured himself more than me with his repetitiveness.

"I know, and I won't argue with you about it again." It was silly to leave Tengfei here when I had Bao and Jing, but it was the only way Huizhong would go. "You have to hurry home before the Longest Day!"

"I will be home before then, I promise. Be careful about the crowds in the city, I know you are anxious to be out and about again, but this is a busy time for Meicheng. People from all over the Empire descend on the city on a normal year, but now that the war is over, it will be so much more crowded."

"I'm fine. Lady Song is at court, and no one has done anything that would threaten the baby or me since I returned. Perhaps it was all a misunderstanding."

"Stay vigilant, sister," Huizhong warned. "Your desire for harmony may cloud your judgment."

After I promised again to be careful, he left, and I lay down for a short nap. Though I felt better, sleep always felt good.

"Mistress Mei has sent you an invitation for an outing tomorrow. She invites you to one of the acrobat shows," Jing announced later while preparing my hair for lunch.

"Oh, that sounds fun." I had yet to go to the festival. Bao had promised to bring me, but he was so busy at court that we rarely saw each other. Now that he was in town, the Emperor seemed unable to live without him. I missed the togetherness of our days on the front. The baby kicked me out of my gloom, and I laughed. Bao came home whenever he could and had promised to bring me to the Fireworks at the end of the Longest Day Celebration. "Who else will be coming?"

"I believe just Master Yize and Mistress Mei will be coming, and of course, their maids. You can bring Tengfei since Master Yize is coming," Jing answered, stepping back to admire her complicated handiwork.

Perfectly styled clothes and hair were my armor during the meals without Bao. Even if no one was trying to kill me, the subtle politics of a Qianggou household strained my fortitude. Beside Madam Wei and Mistress Mei, concubines and unmarried aunts fought for a few places at the main table. With my return, I had pushed someone off the dais, and the battle to return had been fierce. Apparently, being my friend was one of the ways to get to the main table, and I was tired of all the overtures.

Neither Yize nor Bao had concubines, but General Wei had many. Most had been political matches made by the old master of the house or the Emperor, and some were nearly the same age as Bao and Yize. None of the concubines had born a son for the General, which would have granted them a permanent place at the main table, but Bao had several young sisters that had been sent out to cultivate or marry. Many of my sisters-in-law visited during the festival, giving the dining hall a lively feel. With all these additions, several new tables appeared, and the infighting for the main table died down as the mothers enjoyed their children and grandchildren. But the concubines and aunts without families still vied for a room with the legitimate wife and children of the House of Wei.

Jing and Tengfei ensured I always wore the finest clothes and had the most stylish hair and makeup. They understood the importance of these things in the hierarchy so much more than I could, even with all of Bai's memories. Without them, I would have depended on Angel much more to keep me from embarrassing myself. But she remained silent and unneeded for now. As someone who spent most of her former life in sweats or scrubs with a ponytail as her most elaborate hairdo, I remained mystified by the process. Yet, I couldn't help but admit Bai looked beautiful when they were done. I wondered if Baiyu could have even been made extraordinary by their careful hands.

Bao usually did not return for lunch or dinner, leaving me with only Mei as a comfortable companion. If Tengfei had identified his relationship with the Emperor, he would not have been relegated to the distant table with the youngest concubines. Still, he was satisfied as long as he remained in the same room and seemed to enjoy the confusion his ambiguous status caused in the entire family.

"I don't like the idea of you going to the Festival without me," Bao fretted when he returned that night, and I told him of my plans for the following day.

"Tengfei and Yize will be there, but I would prefer it if you could come," I combed his hair lightly, my favorite thing to do after his baths. Well, my favorite thing to do since I was seven months pregnant. "Could the Emperor do without you tomorrow?"

"We have so many visiting diplomats right now. It is a bad time for me to be away. The festival is always hectic at court." Bao sighed and leaned his head on one of my knees, straddling his back. "I never minded before, but now I wish I could experience the festival with you."

"I hope you will take time to enjoy it with your child next year," I harumphed and leaned over to put the comb on the side table next to the bed I sat on. Bao rose from the floor cushion and sat beside me on the bed.

"I will make the time. The Emperor will understand," Bao promised.

The crowds surrounding our carriage slowed us to a crawl until we finally stopped.

"If we don't move, the performance will start without us," Mei complained as she glanced out of the window again. Yize put a restraining hand on her knee when she moved to stand up.

"It is safer in the carriage. We cannot make your sister walk so far in this crowd," Yize insisted, and Mei smiled apologetically at me.

"Of course, sorry, I have just heard such amazing things about these performers. This is their first time back since the war began with their country," Mei explained, a pleading look on her face. I struggled with my thoughts for a moment. I wasn't sure how far we had left to walk. Maybe it would be okay.

Suddenly, the carriage started moving again without any restriction. Yize looked out the window and frowned, leading Tengfei to peep his head out the window behind us almost simultaneously as Jing opened the door between the driver and passengers.

"The Empress's men have cleared a path," Jing explained excitedly.

"Oh! She is coming, after all!" Mei clapped her hands. "This means we will get to sit in her box! The view will be so good."

Tenfei leaned back against the window opening and put a hand to his lower lip as he rubbed his first finger back and forth across it. With each stroke, agitation built in my stomach. Tengfei had very few tells, but rubbing his lip with a finger meant he was worried.

I glanced over at Yize, and his expression didn't comfort me. Bai knew his every facial movement and the meaning behind them, this encyclopedic knowledge of Yize had helped me interpret many of Bao's thoughts, but I had never used it on the original subject before. This expression was one Bai had no memory of, but I had seen it on his brother. Yize was preparing for battle.

When we arrived at the theater hosting the acrobats, I stayed close to Tengfei as I admired the intricately carved pillars and expansive murals decorating each flat surface. The theater read like a graphic novel, telling the story of star-crossed lovers working to find each other. I wondered if it would be a happy story. I found that the American in me liked happy endings more than my Chinese mother. The stories I grew up with were tragic, and the shows she enjoyed most were almost all Romeo and Juliet-like. Star-crossed lovers were doomed to die because of stupid misunderstandings and miscommunication. I hated them, I liked some drama in my romances, but a happy ending was vital to my satisfaction. And a real happy ending, not like they got back together in the afterlife kind of ending.

I didn't know much about Quinggou's literary history. I hadn't searched Bai's memory for legends and stories much. When something came up in conversation, Angel would occasionally explain the parts I should have known but couldn't recall. But this had been early on. Since then, Bai's memories became mine, and I didn't have to work as hard to pinpoint the legend a saying or analogy came from. And, much like in my former life, many adages had unknown origins, so understanding the context was more important than the background.

Before I could see the ending of the story painted on the walls, a servant wearing the imperial livery arrived and escorted all of us up the dramatic stairs that only the royal family usually tread; the servant opened a golden door at the end of the stairs and then led us down another hallway that floated over the audience below. The top of the hallway remained exposed to view important visitors to the theater, but the walls were high enough not to make me feel insecure.

We stopped in the middle of the hallway, where another ornately carved door blocked our entry to a box that would sit almost on top of the stage in front of it. The servant opened this door and stepped back with a bow, a hand pointing inside that Mei excitedly followed, dragging Yize behind her. A guard I had yet to notice stopped Tengfei before he could cross the threshold.

"You cannot enter the royal box," the guard insisted.

"Ah, but I come to support my sister in her husband's stead," Tengfei answered, his finger rubbing the jade at his waist.

"No unknown persons can enter the Empress' presence," the guard returned as he put his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword.

"But I am not an unknown person," Tengfei answered with a sigh. Yize stopped his progression when the guard held up Tengfei, waiting to defend his right to enter or choose to leave as a group. His eyebrows shot up at Tengfei's announcement, and I rubbed my belly for comfort. It seemed like such a strange time to pull his trump card. How dangerous was this Empress? "This should grant me access." Tengfei detached his jade signet from his sash and handed it to the grim-looking guard. Immediately upon seeing the beautifully carved stone, the man bent over in a supplicant bow.

"Master Tengfei, I did not recognize you. I apologize for holding you up," he studdered as returned Tengfei's jade.

"Don't make a fuss. You couldn't possibly know me. It has been some time since I visited the Royal City." Tengfei tucked the jade back into his sash and retook my arm. Yize tilted his head contemplatively, and I knew his scholarly mind must have pieced together something of Tenfei's identity. But the guard had not called him by his abandoned title of prince, so Yize would have to wait for confirmation. He would get it soon.

The door closed behind us as we walked into the Royal Box. Yize waited for us before joining his wife at the other side of the entryway. As we entered the grand viewing platform, I took in all the luxury around me and was relieved not to find Lady Song beside the perfect woman in the center of it all.

I had never seen anyone look as much like a living China doll as the Empress. Her white skin shined like porcelain, and she had tinted her lips the deepest red I could imagine. Her dark brown eyes had been accentuated by a coal-black eyeliner that followed the beautiful folds and angles, making them appear almost unnaturally large. She wore a red stamp on her forehead that matched the ornate flower headdress holding back her carefully styled dark hair. Hanging from her precariously twisted locks were sparkling flower-shaped jewels suspended from a gold bar smelted onto an oversized gold comb perched in the middle of her head. On top of the almost gaudy gold headdress sat an enormous cut mum the same color as her lips. From her drooping white earlobes, earrings dangled to her bare chest. Her dress stopped just above her breasts, exposing the cleft that hinted at cleavage without showing more. The ornate white hanfu that crossed over the red and gold brocade bodice sat wide enough to reveal both collarbones and had trim and embroidery that matched perfectly. If this living doll dressed this ornately for a festival acrobatic show, I could only imagine how imposing she had to be in court.

Mei and Yize immediately prostrated before the royal person, but Tengfei held my arm, preventing me from kneeling. Though confused, I trusted Tengfei and bowed with him instead. Protocol flashed into my mind. A pregnant woman who passed a specific date did not kowtow before royalty out of respect for the unborn child. I caught the Empress' pursed lips as I came back up and worried that Tengfei and Bai's memory could have been wrong.

"Brother Tengfei, this is a pleasant surprise," the Empress' soft voice announced blandly. She did not stand, but to address him directly spoke volumes about his rank. Mei and Yize looked up surreptitiously, then tried to hide their curiosity and surprise.

"Ah, sister, it has been ages. I had not expected to see your gloriousness today when I set out for a simple festival show," Tengfei approached the Empress and kissed the hand she offered him.

"Always the charmer," the Empress laughed. "And always one to throw a wrench into any plan. Do you champion this girl?"

"I suppose you could say so. I could not ignore an insult to my companion's sister, so if it came to that, I would champion her wholeheartedly."

"Ah, how is a woman so lucky to have two strong champions behind her?"

"Love and respect can build a strong network of support. You know this too well, Sister. And I look forward to being an uncle again. It has been some time."

The Empress eyed my belly and then frowned. "You have always been the Crown Prince's favorite uncle," she admitted gracefully.

"Yes, it has been good to see him again." Tengfei's words indicated that he had visited the Crown Prince since arriving in the city. I didn't know if that was true, but I felt the anger exuding from the Empress and realized that Tengfei was treading dangerous waters. That her son had not informed her of the former Prince Royal's presence reminded all present of the contentious relationship between the Empress and her only son.

The Empress swiftly recovered her neutral expression and turned to me again. "When are you due, sister to my brother-in-law?"

"My healer says I still have more than one moon cycle left," I answered with a bow. Something about the phrasing of this new title felt momentous. Mei was the Empress's blood cousin, Tengfei the Emperor's blood brother, and partner to Huizhong, my cultivation brother. That the Empress would acknowledge the relationship Tengfei claimed so quickly seemed almost a gift.

"Well, then we should sit and enjoy the show. Sit next to me, Mistress Xiang. I love the energy of the young."

Mei claimed the open seat left of her cousin with a slight frown. Tengfei and Yize sat behind us. By the time the Empress stood to leave before the show's end, my back ached from the tension of sitting next to this dangerously beautiful woman. She waved us back into our chairs while laying a hand on Mei's back, then swept out the box without a word. No one moved into her abandoned seat, and we all remained silently watching the amazing antics of the foreign contortionists on the stage below us until they made their final curtain call.

Jing met us outside the theater door with a frown. "The Empress' departure has allowed the roads to clog again. The driver could not bring the carriage forward to pick us up. We must meet him on the street adjacent to the festival activities."

"Oh good, we can enjoy the market as we walk to the carriage," Mei clapped and grabbed my arm to pull me forward, with our maids hovering beside us. Yize and Tengfei trailed behind, but I felt the weight of their eyes on my back.

The sights and sounds of the market buzzed around me, and I happily followed Mei as she dragged me from stall to stall, looking at the beautiful trinkets and tasty foods offered. I didn't notice the wares of the last stall she pulled me to until we were in front of it.

"Aren't they lovely!" Mei picked up a bejeweled dagger and pointed it at me. My heart stopped. I couldn't see her smile or hear anything else she may have said when it restarted loudly in my ears. Prickles of heat danced up and down my body, and nausea threatened to release the small cakes we had just tasted. The faces in the crowd blurred and streaked around me, and all I could focus on was the shining metal pointed at me. 

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