Three days after the Dragon Boat Festival, someone came to the workshop to find me.
It was not Liu Che, nor Qingxing. It was a maid I had never seen before. She wore fine silk, a goldbuyao (swaying hairpin) adorned her bun, and she walked with a brisk, commanding stride.
"Are you Lu Xingye?" She stood at the doorway, not entering.
"Yes."
"Lady Chen invites you over."Lady Chen.
I ran the name through my mind. In the Eastern Palace, the only person surnamed Chen who could command a maid to use the word "invite" was one person.
Chen Ajiao.
Daughter of Princess Guantao, granddaughter of Empress Dowager Dou, and Liu Che's—fiancée.
"Now?" I asked.
"Now."
I put down my tools and stood up, glancing down at my clothes. Today I wore an oldquju robe; the cuffs were stained with several spots of lacquer, and mineral pigment was embedded under my nails.
"Allow me to change my clothes."
"No need," the maid said. "Lady Chen said to come just as you are."
I looked at her.Just as I am.
The implication was clear: to remind me of my status.
I followed her.
We crossed the corridors of the Eastern Palace, passed the main hall, and turned into a courtyard on the west side. The arrangement here was far more exquisite than elsewhere in the palace. Orchids sat beneath the eaves, light gauze hung from the window lattices, and the air carried the scent of agarwood.
The maid lifted the curtain. "I have brought the person."
I walked in.
Chen Ajiao sat at the head. Before her lay a plate of grapes; in her hand, she held a small silver knife, peeling the skin.
She was beautiful.
Not a delicate beauty, but a brilliant, sharp-edged one. There was a heroic spirit between her brows and eyes; her lips were full, her jawline sharp. She wore a vermilionquju robe embroidered with golden cloud patterns at the collar. Standing next to my old clothes, we looked like people from two different worlds.
She did not look up.
The silver knife sliced through the grape skin—a thin layer, unbroken and continuous, hanging down like a purple snake.
"You are the one who repairs things?" she asked.
"Yes."
"What is your name?"
"Lu Xingye."
"Lu Xingye..." She repeated it, put the peeled grape into her mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed. "Nice name."
Exactly what Liu Che had said when we first met.
I didn't know if she did it intentionally or not, so I didn't respond.
"Do you know why I called you here?" She finally looked up at me.
Her eyes were bright, almost blindingly so.
"I do not."
"Then guess."
I thought for a moment.
"Probably regarding His Highness."
She laughed.
Not a happy laugh, but the kind that says, "As expected, you're not stupid."
"You are clever." She put down the silver knife and leaned back in her chair. "Then do you know what relationship His Highness and I share?"
"I know," I said. "His Highness is the Crown Prince; you are the future Crown Princess."
"Just Crown Princess?"
"What would Lady Chen have me say?"
She looked at me, a hint of scrutiny added to her gaze.
"His Highness has been visiting your place often lately," she said.
"Yes."
"To do what?"
"Watch me repair things."
"Watch you repair things?" Her tone rose slightly. "There are so many craftsmen in the Eastern Palace; why must he watchyou repair things?"
"I am not clear on that," I said. "What His Highness thinks is not for me to question."
She stared at me for a long time.
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-three."
"Older than me," she said. "But in this palace, age does not matter. Status does."
"Lady Chen is correct."
"Good that you know." She stood up and walked to me. She was half a head shorter, but her presence was no less imposing. "His Highness is young, craves novelty, and likes to run to strange places. You are novel, so he went. But novel things... there is always a day when one grows tired of them."
She paused, waiting for a reaction. I gave none.
"I hear you are very good at repairing things," she circled me, her gaze sweeping from my cuffs to my shoes. "Even Father Emperor praised you. But do you know that in this palace, being good at repairing things is not enough?"
"I know."
"Then do you know there are some things you should not touch?"
My fingers tightened slightly.
"I only repair artifacts," I said. "Nothing else."
"Artifacts?" She repeated, as if savoring the word. "You mean those pieces of broken copper and iron?"
"Yes."
"You traveled all the way from... from that place called Florence, just to repair broken copper and iron?"
"Yes."
She stopped, standing before me, looking straight into my eyes.
"Lu Xingye, I will ask you one question. Answer me honestly."
"Lady Chen, please ask."
"Do you havethose kinds of feelings for His Highness?"
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Birds chirped outside the window—some unknown bird, calling urgently.
"No," I said.
"Why?"
"Because I am not from here," I said. "I will leave sooner or later."
"Leave to where?"
"Home."
"Where is home?"
"A very far place."
She looked at me, the scrutiny in her eyes slowly turning into something I couldn't decipher.
"Do you know what His Highness looks like?" She suddenly asked a strange question.
"I know."
"Do you not think he is handsome?"
This question made me pause.
"He is handsome," I said. "But what does that have to do with me?"
She was silent for a moment.
Then she laughed.
This laugh was different from before. Not scrutinizing, not sarcastic, but more like... a confirmation.
"You are interesting," she said.
Exactly what Liu Che had said.
"But interesting people do not live long in this palace." She turned back to her seat, picked up the silver knife again, and began peeling a second grape. "Lu Xingye, I will give you a chance. Leave the Eastern Palace. I will arrange for you to go elsewhere. You can repair whatever you want, but do not stay by His Highness's side."
"Lady Chen," I said, "I am merely someone who repairs things. Whatever His Highness asks me to repair, I repair. Where I repair it is not for me to decide."
The silver knife stopped.
"Are you using His Highness to pressure me?"
"I wouldn't dare. I am speaking the truth."
She looked at me, her gaze gradually cooling.
"Truth?" She put down the knife. "Then let me ask you a truth—do you think His Highness would offend me for your sake?"
I said nothing.
"Do you know who my mother is? Princess Guantao. Do you know who my grandmother is? Empress Dowager Dou." She spoke word by word. "His Highness became Crown Prince because of my mother. Without me, he is nothing."
I looked at her.
Everything she said was correct. History was written thus. Liu Che becoming Crown Prince indeed relied heavily on Princess Guantao. And Ajiao herself... later became Empress, and then—
Was deposed. Died in Changmen Palace.
Looking at this brilliant, sharp-edged fifteen-year-old girl before me, I suddenly felt a pang of sorrow.
She didn't know. She knew nothing.
"Do you think staying silent makes it okay?" Her voice rose slightly. "Lu Xingye, I have seen too many people like you. Pretending to be noble, pretending not to fight or snatch, pretending to want nothing. But in the end? In the end, you want everything."
"Lady Chen," I said, "I truly want nothing."
"Then why do you stay here?"
"Because His Highness asked me to stay."
"His Highness asks, and you stay?" She sneered. "Do you think that because His Highness treats you well, you have a backing?"
"I rely on no one."
"Then how do you survive?"
"By my hands," I said. "And by the things I repair."
She stared at me for a long time.
The hall was so quiet one could hear the sound of grape juice dripping onto the table.
"Lu Xingye," she said slowly, "do you know that in this palace, those without backing die the fastest?"
"I know."
"Are you not afraid?"
"I am," I said. "But fear is useless."
She suddenly laughed.
The laugh was short, like a string snapping.
"His Highness said that too," she said. "He said you say that every time."
I did not respond.
She stood up and walked to me. This time she was very close, close enough for me to smell the agarwood on her.
"Lu Xingye, I will ask you one last time." Her voice was pressed low. "Will you leave or not?"
"I have nowhere to go."
"I will find a place for you."
"Lady Chen—"
"Answer me." Her gaze suddenly became sharp. "Leave, or not?"
I looked into her eyes.
In that instant, I saw one thing clearly.
She was not afraid I would steal Liu Che. She was afraid Liu Che himself would drift away.
She needed Liu Che. She needed the status of Crown Princess, the position of Empress, that crown. And Liu Che had been running to the workshop too frequently lately, so frequently that it made her uneasy.
She needed a controllable Crown Prince. I was not controllable, so she wanted to get rid of me.
"I will not leave," I said.
Her pupils contracted slightly.
She turned around, facing away from me.
Silence lasted for a long time.
So long that I thought she would let me go.
Then she turned back. The silver knife was clenched in her hand, her knuckles white. Her eyes were red, but she did not cry.
"Do you know," she said, her voice suddenly becoming very light, "if I call people in now and say you attempted to assassinate me, what would happen to you?"
My heart skipped a beat.
"No one would believe it," I said.
"No one would believeme?" she retorted.
"No one would believeme," I said. "A common woman who repairs things, holding a knife against the future Crown Princess—if word got out, no one would think it was her own knife. They would think I stole it, that I snatched it, that I intended to assassinate."
Ajiao froze.
She hadn't expected me to finish weaving the lie for her.
"You see," I said, "you don't need to use the knife. You only need to shout once, and I am finished. The knife is in your hand, the witness is here. I have nothing."
She said nothing. The hand holding the knife trembled slightly.
"Then why don't you run?" she asked.
"Run where?" I said. "This is your Eastern Palace. No, it is His Highness's Eastern Palace. But I cannot walk out of here."
Her lips trembled.
"You..." Her voice stuck in her throat.
"Lady Chen," I said, "I will not have any relationship with His Highness. Not because I fear you, but because I do not belong here. I will leave sooner or later. Whether you believe it or not, this is the truth."
She looked at me.
The hand holding the knife slowly dropped.
"Go," she said.
"Lady Chen—"
"Go."
I turned and walked out.
Reaching the door, I heard her say behind me—
"Lu Xingye, do not think this means you are safe."
I did not turn back.
Returning to the workshop, my legs felt weak.
Sitting down, I realized my palms were covered in sweat.
I looked at my hands. Hands that had repaired artifacts for five years, hands steady enough to handle countless fragments, were trembling slightly.
Not from fear.
But because—
I had nearly died.
No, perhaps not died. Perhaps dying would allow me to return. Return to Florence, to the restoration studio, to that world without Liu Che, without Ajiao, without the Han Palace.
I wiped my palms on my skirt and picked up the lacquer ear-cup.
My hands were still shaking.
I put down the cup and closed my eyes.
The sound of the door being pushed open.
I opened my eyes.
Liu Che stood at the door. He had run here; his hair crown was crooked, sweat on his forehead.
"Are you injured?" he asked.
"No."
"Did she hurt you?"
"No."
He leaned against the doorframe, catching his breath.
"Qingxing came to find me," he said. "She said Ajiao summoned you."So that's how it is.
"When I arrived, she had already let you go." He looked at me. "What did she say to you?"
"Nothing much."
"Lu Xingye."
"Really nothing much," I said. "She just asked me a few questions."
He looked at me, clearly unconvinced, but did not press further.
He stood at the door, not entering.
"In the future," he said, "if she summons you again, come find me."
"Your Highness—"
"Did you hear me?"
"I heard."
He nodded, turned to leave.
"Your Highness," I called out to stop him.
"Mm?"
"Your crown is crooked."
He paused, reached up to touch his hair crown, and straightened it.
Then he glanced at me.
"As long as you are okay," he said.
Then he left.
I sat in the workshop, watching the direction he departed.
Qingxing peeked out from the other end of the corridor, looking at me timidly.
"Lady Lu..."
"It's fine," I said. "You can go back."
She hesitated, nodded, and left.
The workshop became quiet again.
I looked down at the lacquer ear-cup in my hand. Just now, Ajiao's hand holding the knife had been trembling.Fifteen years old.
She was also fifteen.
Liu Che was fifteen, Ajiao was fifteen. One destined to be the master of the world, the other destined to be the wife of the master of the world.
And I, a person from two thousand years in the future, sat between them, repairing the shattered artifacts of their lives.
I picked up my tools and continued repairing.
My hands were steady.
[End of Chapter 7]