Chapter 28: Your Majesty Has Returned

He came from far, alone in a seat set apart—not mixed with officials or boys.
Forty-odd, black and thin, face harsh. Loose pine-gold brocade, wealth on the body, one leg gone.
The emperor's full brother by the same mother.
In youth he had taken an assassin's blade meant for the throne and lost his left leg to the cut. After—the temper broke. Cruel, violent, strange. A house full of women; the outer world guessed little. The inner court knew his tastes and how many died in them.
The princess consort had died seven years ago—murky business. Emperor and empress shielded him; her family swallowed grief. Lately word spread: Prince Yu meant to take a new consort.
The capital buzzed. Rank was high; favor was higher; the bride must match gates. Fathers who loved daughters would not send them into that den. Fathers who traded daughters prayed for gold even at the price of a life.
Look at the last consort's kin—one daughter lost, house fattened under imperial compensation.
Shen Miao's eyes slid from Prince Yu to Ren Wanyun.
Ren Wanyun's face lit. To Lady Yi: "His Majesty truly favors Prince Yu."
Women of the inner yard read minds fast. Lady Yi knew the plan—cruel, but her house stood with Shen Gui. She smiled. "Older, yes—but knows how to cherish a wife."
Chen Ruoqiu bent over her pastry, smile odd. *Cherish?* No mother sent a girl to a lame widower's pit, however powerful. She glanced at Shen Miao.
Shen Miao moved stones, step by step, as if the hall were empty. Chen felt uneasy. Since the pond—was Shen blood finally awake? The Xins ran hot. If Fifth Girl learned Ren Wanyun's scheme, would she bow?
Chen looked—and Shen Miao looked back.
One glance, autumn cold. Chen's heart iced.
Shen Miao returned to the board.
Last life she had shamed herself at the golden chrysanthemum feast. Home, Ren Wanyun spoke to Old Madam of Prince Yu's offer.
"Little Five has no merit and has shamed the house. No great gate will take her. Prince Yu's house is a fine match—she becomes princess consort, with emperor and empress behind her, blessed. Lame, older—yet Little Five has no special gift. She is not cheated."
Pretty words. Poison underneath. Later she bought a Rongjing maid and heard them verbatim.
Old Madam already hated the main line. Shen Xin was first wife's son; the old general had favored him while he lived and the stepmother burned. The father died; Xin held armies and could not be touched. Touch the daughter—marry her wrong—and a woman suffers deepest.
Old Madam and Ren Wanyun agreed at once. Messengers would go to Prince Yu.
Rage and terror. She loved Fu Xiuyi. That night she packed and fled to Prince Ding's manor, begging shelter. She let rumor run—ruined name, cooked rice—better Ding's concubine than Prince Yu's bride.
Old Madam nearly exploded. Fu Xiuyi was annoyed yet courteous—he saw Shen armies in his ledger. Cool to her, but he did not refuse. Year's end Shen Xin came home to a capital that said his daughter had thrown herself at a prince. Shock. Rage. Shen Miao fasted to death's edge. Xin spent his merit and bought her the title Princess Consort of Ding.
That was where the nightmare began.
She shut her eyes. Last life's wrong turn started today. Today would turn this life. Debtors—start preparing.
"Playing alone?" Feng Anning stood before her, awkward, and sat opposite. "Play me? Can you even play?"
She glanced at the board—idle question—and stalled. "What rules are these? I've never seen them."
"Not chess," Shen Miao said. "War."
"What?"
"You can't see it yet." Quiet. "This game only shows itself when the last piece is swallowed." A net—tight, seamless—nothing escapes.
Feng Anning shivered. "Creepy." She peeked at the men's tables, mischief returning. "Look—Prince Ding."
Fu Xiuyi crossed the floor in brocade blue threaded with gold, green boots, jade crown—brightness on brightness. Handsome, cool in bearing, yet manner warm—no distant prince shell. Women's side gasped along his path.
Shen Miao bowed her head. Fingers closed until nails bit palm.
Ten years at his side. Devotion traded for white silk and slaughtered kin. Two children dead in yellow springs.
The kinder the skin, the crueler the core. The fairer the mask, the harder the knife.
Last life he granted her a whole corpse. This life she would grant him none.
*Fu Xiuyi—Your Majesty has returned.*