Yan Shu couldn't sleep. He couldn't eat, not with a bunch of peers that casually chatted and gossiped about work and what happened around the palace. He was worried he let his secret slip.

The first time they did it, it was a thrill, adrenaline high. But a few times after that, he dashed out of the empress quarter hoping no one noticed a slight tousle on his hair or a slight crease on his clothing. He would normally go straight to bath as if it could wash up all the evidence of his sin.

She asked me. She begged me, he said to himself, as he walked heading back to his post. He had checked and recheck that his hair and his clothing weren't giving any morning-after vibe. It's a command from the Empress that I…

"General Yan Shu… Good morning."

Yan Shu's heart stopped momentarily. He recognized this masculine voice.

"G-good morning Your Majesty," he bowed his head, hoping Emperor Shao didn't see his panic. And then a whiff of air, a scent he was very familiar with, the scent that brought him to cloud nine and brought his pulse to his throat. The memory of her touch was all he could feel.

"You look a little worn, General. Did you get enough sleep?" The Emperor asked.

Yan Shu's blood froze. "No, I.."

"It's my fault, Lord husband," came Zetian's smooth voice, interrupting. "I couldn't sleep last night and want to leave the window open. Baoxi was worried about intruders, but General Yan Shu had been gracious to stay with me all night."

It wasn't the truth but wasn't strictly a lie. And Zetian sounded so candid and convincing that Shao wasn't suspicious. Perhaps she was a better actress than he ever credited her for.

"Is that so?"

"The Empress' safety is my utmost priority, Your Majesty," even Yan Shu had no idea where that fluency came from.

"Very well General, but please make sure you arrange your schedule sensibly. An overwork soldier couldn't guard the palace effectively." The Emperor patted his shoulder. He struggled not to flinch. "Also, next week I'm sending you to accompany Consort Fa on her mission overseas. Please inform the palace administrator to arrange a replacement to cover your rota."

"Yes Your Majesty," he said, still bowing.

"Let's go for breakfast," Zetian voice chirped. From the rustle of the fabric, Yan Shu could imagine how she clutched to her husband's waist and how he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and they looked like a normal couple. Like they were happy.

The thought of them together used to make his heart clench. But since that night, it wasn't anymore. He didn't want Shao to lose his wife, it was just he wanted to have her too.

But if he were the first to claim her… would he be able to share his Zetian with someone else? No. He thought. He would haunt that man down, torture him, skin him alive!

Dear lord, this wasn't him. Had he turned into a monster? Sleeping with his empress was a mistake. It was foolish and stupid, and he shouldn't have done it. He always prided himself as a good man, a decent man who won't have sex casually without a promise of commitment―a marriage. And now he was sleeping with someone's wife? More so… the wife of his king?

But the woman he loved asked him to make love to her, and how could have been expected to say 'no'?

"My Empress," he asked her the following day when she laid on top of him, her hand was in his hair and his arms were around her waist. His shirt was gone but his pants were still half done. He thought he'll stop and ask. "Are you seriously not afraid the Emperor will find out?"

She laughed, shedding her robe, and replied, "How many times you are going to ask me, Yan Shu? You already know my answer."

Yan Shu really didn't understand why Zetian could do this to her husband. Yes, she said she hated him, she had been since a child. But she was still sleeping with him, still supporting him, still acting like she… love him. Yan Shu thought that he was just a diversion for her, a medicine to mend her broken heart every time Shao went away to spend his time with his mistress, not that he minded one bit.

"Yan Shu….this is not a command," he could feel her body tense under his fingers. Could she read his mind? "If you don't want to stay, I'll let you go. I am not taking advantage of you."

Truthfully, Zetian was always sweet and sincere with him. Unlike when she was with Shao, Yan Shu could tell that she was hiding something. He had no idea what, but their affair would be one of them. And Yan Shu knew, they couldn't keep this secret away forever.

You heal me, the sound of her voice echoed through the wall of his heart. If he could move mountains for her, cross the ocean, walk through fire for her, he would. Making love to her was such an easy request compared to whatever he was prepared to do.

So he stayed. It happened time and time again. Every time he thought he shouldn't; every time he thought he could walk away from her, resist her, his heart and his body rebelled against his mind.

And apart from the remorse, it all had been great! It was clear all the sex wasn't just for her, she wanted to please him too. And this really confused him. Why did she risk her reputation, her marriage, and her future―for a blind general? A peasant with no status, inheritance, or wealth? A nobody? She would get nothing out of this relationship, in fact, quite the opposite. Yet, Zetian never sounded conflicted when she was with him. She never cried or sounded regretful. It was like she genuinely wanted him―like she truly loved him.

This, Yan Shu realized, was his greatest dream and also his worst nightmare.

Zetian thought about Yan Shu's words about her infidelity. She thought she ought to feel guilty or dreadful about her duplicity to her husband constantly, but she wasn't. Being with Yan Shu made her feel like herself, and make her love for Shao more….bearable.

It made sense now. She suspected Mulan did the same for Shao: she made him comfortable being who he was and made him able to treat his unwanted empress with love and respect. This arrangement worked well. It wasn't revenge. It wasn't cheating. It was mercy.

She was certain that Baoxi knew about her affair, but the eunuch respected and loved her too much to bring it up. He knew she needed it. Addressing it or asking her to stop only would make her broken all over again.

Every time Yan Shu came around, Baoxi immediately dismissed all other guards and servants and they were even not allowed in the proximity of her quarters to avoid them hearing… things .

"You don't have to do this, Baoxi, you know that," she told him one morning. She was sitting on her couch, sipping her tea while Baoxi volunteered to clean her room, tidying and changing her bedding. He was protective of her―of her secret, and Zetian couldn't thank him enough.

"Changing sheets is not big deal, Princess," he answered, not stopping his ministration.

"No, I mean this ."

Baoxi raised his brow at her.

"You know what I mean."

"Oh.. that ." He fell quiet, lips pressed together.

"Yes, that ," Zetian echoed―because she didn't want her most loyal friend to risk his job and his life to protect her indecency.

He look up at her and with a small voice said. "Princess…I have lost my emperor, and I…" he wiped his eyes with a swift move. "I can't afford to lose you too."

"You worried Emperor Shao will punish me if he found out?"

The eunuch nodded weakly.

She rushed to his side and embraced him, long and full, not caring about his protest of impropriety and social decorum. "Thank you. Baoxi, truly. But you need not worry about me."

Because if Shao wanted to keep his throne, he would allow her to keep Yan Shu.

Yan Shu was sitting alone on the bench eating his lunch one day when suddenly he heard someone approaching. It was Baoxi, who claimed he was just walking around to get some fresh air. Yan Shu wasn't fooled for a second. He knew what kind of relationship Baoxi had with all the women in the Harem, especially Zetian. He was more than her servant. He was her advisor, her eyes and ears (even probably assassin). But he won't be the first to question why Baoxi wished to see him.

"Eating alone again, General?"

Yan Shu shrugged. "I guess… But you are most welcome to join if you want."

"Ah, no I have my lunch," but Baoxi scooted closer. "Thanks to you, I don't have one whinny, problematic princess in my hand." Baoxi was one of the staff in the Palace that still called Zetian a 'princess' and not 'Empress' but no one, not even Shao dared to object.

Yan Shu frowned. "Oh?"

"You know… after the Emperor died, Princess Zetian used to spend a lot of time in the library, I must order the maid to take her food there and sometimes even her change of clothes. She slept there too, perhaps was too fearful to return to her room after what had happened to her father. She was just completely… withdrawn. But now… she contentedly sleeps in her chamber, doing her work as usual. She is happy. And I'd say you did a good job taking care of her."

A blush erupted across his face before he could stop it as he thought of some of the ways he's been taking care of her.

"I can't take all the credit. Emperor Shao has been very attentive to her too." That wasn't a lie. Whenever Shao was in Forbidden City, no matter how busy his days were, Shao always made the time to see his empress. They made sense together, both charismatic, dedicated, and sharp. Both of them were very calculative and careful in making decisions―big decisions for their country. Undoubtedly, both of them stepped into the role of monarchs in their own way, neither of them flinching. And Yan Shu couldn't help but admire them.

"The Emperor must've done something really well that you praise him openly like that," Baoxi responded. He had astonishing attention to detail, he could spot a speck of missing button from the moon.

"You make me sound so grumpy."

"Well, we discover things about ourselves every day," Baoxi said cooly."And while I am here, I would like to ask you about your patrolling schedule. The Emperor told me to cut it back if it stressed you too much."

"Oh don't," Yan Shu blurted, the last thing he wanted was less time to see his beloved empress. Wait, did he just say 'his' ? "I am fine as it is."

"Then?" he felt Baoxi's eyes on him. "What is it?"

"What is what?"

"What is it that bothering you?"

"Me?... No. Nothing bothering me." The same panic crept in him. Dear heavens, did he know? They'd done it only four times and he already knew! Was it his hair? Or the lipstick on his clothes? Or was it…

"I've been in the Harem for a decade, General. And I spent time with those women longer than their own husbands, don't you think I know anything that happens around the Harem by now?"

Yan Shu grimaced. There was a spreading rumor that this man ended his masculinity to be able to serve Zetian when she was a mere teenager. Yan Shu didn't want to know whether he should cast admiration, disbelief, or disgust at Baoxi's life choices, but he never managed to muster any proper indignation over it, since perhaps given the situation, he would've done the same. He guessed he had been lucky not to have to chop his bits in order to be around her.

"Promise me not to tell anyone? Not even the Empress?" Yan Shu didn't want to talk about this, but he thought he might need to talk about it. He couldn't tell Zetian the guilt, confusion and dread he felt. Not when she was always so happy around him, not when she was just finding herself again.

"Consider it done."

Yan Shu shook his head. He was thinking for a moment, weighing the pros and cons of sharing his illicit sexual relationship. Because once his secret was out there, it would…

Oh just spit it out already! "I… we, the Empress and I… we've been sleeping together." He finally admitted it even when his gut twisted and churned.

If somehow he was hoping for Baoxi's explosive reaction, he would be very much disappointed. "Did she ask you?" he asked curiously.

"Wha.. what?" Yan Shu was expecting a lecture or a rebuke on his lack of restraint because Baoxi was as protective as he was over Zetian, if not more.

"Of…of course! I would not dare to touch her! Never!"

"But you did," Baoxi continued calmly. That stabbed him right in the chest.

It's so frustrating because Yan Shu had always considered himself a fairly patient man―a fighter with outstanding self-control. He had an excellent record in his combat training with other generals simply because of his patience. He knew how to watch quietly and let his opponents dig their own graves, how to wear them off before he strike. However, outside the combat zone, it's more complicated.

Yan Shu slumped. "I know I shouldn't have done it, or at least I should stop now before anything worse happens. Empress Zetian didn't seem to worry... But I can't bear the guilt… but at the same time, I can't deny her."

"You've never been able to," Baoxi replied serenely, and Yan Shu's mouth dropped open. Yes, in this arena, he wasn't patient. In this arena, he was a deplorable, greedy bastard controlled by lust and carnality.

"Geez, thanks, I know I am weak," he deadpanned.

Baoxi snorted, and he actually had the gall to laugh at him. "General, don't blame it on your flaw of judgment… or your uncontrollable libido. You are serving your queen, as you swore to do, and you are protecting her, as you promised. Things around here tend to be complicated. Because of politics, spouse often can't be your lover… or your lover can't be your spouse. As simple as that! Besides, no one force you to take an oath of abstinence."

Hold on….Did he call him the Empress' lover?

"Wait…I thought she loves her husband…?" Or at least liked him, Yan Shu thought. She couldn't fake it all, couldn't she? She must at least fancied Prince Shao a tiny bit in order to sound like that when they had sex.

"Who tell you that?!" This time Baoxi sounded oddly violated.

Yan Shu was taken aback."I mean… she told me one day about this novel she read, King's woman."

Another exasperated scoff was heard. "I won't draw my conclusion based on fictional characters, General. That's not how things work in real life."

Yan Shu frowned. "If you put it that way, it makes me sound like a moron."

"Well, many men are. Even the good ones."

He felt like banging his head on the concrete wall repeatedly. If Baoxi's mouth was a blade, his body would've been dismembered by now.

"But surely, after all those lovemaking… I mean, she didn't exactly hate him, right?"

"Hate, maybe no. But not hating someone doesn't equate to love. Princess Zetian accepted the marriage because it was what she needed to do. She is not running away from it even when she wants to."

And Yan Shu reminisced about one period of time when Zetian was absent from all palace duties. Baoxi said to the entire palace that she was under the weather. The truth was, she ran away to Mongolia, perhaps to offer herself to the Khan to assuage the ongoing conflict. Something changed along the way, and princess Wei Ting ended up heading there escorted by General Li Jiang. But Yan Shu couldn't shake the thought, had Zetian tried to escape her fate of marrying her annoying cousin and much rather became a prisoner in a foreign land? That must be more explanation than just that!

"But…this is wrong!" Yan Shu insisted. "This is cheating!"

"General…" Baoxi sounded exhausted.

"It's indecent!" If the world found out, what would happen to them? More importantly, what would happen to her ? Would the Emperor execute her for duplicity? Publicly humiliate her? His heart jumped to his throat, his chest tightened and he couldn't breathe. "No, she can't…. We have to stop. Or it will be…"

"Yan Shu…Stop! Listen to me!" Baoxi grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "Breathe… breathe. In… Out… In… Out."

Baoxi propped him on the bench, offering him water from his canteen.

"I have known you for a good number of years now," Baoxi said when he calmed down. "And from the moment we met when you saved our princess, I know, you have always loved her. From the moment you arrived in the palace, she has carried your heart. And now―I know this has been hanging over you, you are a good…honest man, General, otherwise, you won't feel single remorse for any of this. Yet, at the same time, you seem happier. And I believe she feels the same way."

Yan Shu gawked. "What… what are you saying?"

Baoxi managed an annoyed grunt. "I know you are blind, General. But I thought you are not blind enough not to see the way she acted around you. The Princess likes you!"

"She likes me?" he parroted, he wanted to believe it but his heart and mind refuse to digest it. Because the word 'princess', him, and 'likes' did not belong in the same sentence. Ever.

"Yes, you like her…don't you?"

"I… don't know," he stuttered, start doubting himself over the sincerity of his feeling. Was it lust or love? "I don't know how to control myself around her. Sometimes sudden flutter… sometimes ache… and strange things happening in my chest that my mind couldn't comprehend―I acted irrationally, carelessly… and I…. I couldn't stop it."

"This is your first time isn't it, General?" Baoxi exasperated. If a man jumped into this kind of fire without thinking there was only two explanations, love or stupidity…. or perhaps both. "Let me tell you this….That feeling you've got in your chest when you are with her? She got it, too. I'm sure of it."

Yan Shu was positive if there was a diagnosis of cardiac arrest, he wasn't very far from it. But immediately the feeling of shock, and elation, completely smothered by fear―fear for her life.

"She shouldn't have a lover. She is the Empress! It's…This is bad for her reputation!"

Baoxi cleared his throat, "The advisor and the generals will not rebel over her choosing you for her own happiness when everyone knew she married Prince Shao Wei for theirs."

Did Baoxi just say the public would likely give their blessing over their adultery? Yan Shu laughed at the absurdity of the situation."This is insane."

"That's old news."

"You are saying to sit back and relax and enjoy the ride. A problem this big, you can't expect anyone to just sweep it under the rug."

"If people know, they'll know."

Yan Shu grunted, throwing his hands in the air. "I don't even plan to tell how I feel!"

"Your action certainly did, even when you didn't." Another checkmate by Baoxi.

Yan Shu winced. It was inevitable. Looking back, it seemed like it was a mistake to come to Forbidden City altogether, to accept this job, to accept that she could be this close to him yet so far. "I… just don't know what to do."

"Then? Why do you have to worry about something you can't control?" Baoxi asked, clearly sounding puzzled about why he was acting like the world had fallen when clearly it hadn't.

"The problem is, I should be able to control… yet, I can't! I can't say no to her."

"When you like a girl, don't you want her to like you back?" came Baoxi's disbelief voice.

Yan Shu ran his palm over his face, groaning loudly. "Yes and no."

"Unbelievable," he heard Baoxi's berating snort. It was no surprise. They'd been talking in circles, and it was not even Baoxi's problem.

"I'm in dilemma," he said helplessly. "Perhaps I should just call it quit. Return to the village. Get back my job at the dock. Back to my mundane old life. But hey, I won't have to choose one of these impossible choices!"

There was silence for a long while until Baoxi sat next to him and tapped his shoulder kindly, "I know the situation is hard to digest. But our princess didn't marry Prince Shao because she loved him. She married him because it was what would save her the kingdom―her people. Even if she is capable to rule alone, other nations would not take her seriously, not without an emperor. Therefore, her first act as queen was in service of her people. And let me tell you… serving subjects are not enjoyable. It isn't consisting of bossing everyone around all day. Serving people takes tears, blood, and heartache, it has taken away her freedom and preference. And you, my friend, had made her hard job a lot more bearable to endure."

"Let me get this straight. You are telling me I help to serve the Middle Kingdom by sleeping with my empress?"

"Indirectly, yes." Yan Shu's turn to laugh sarcastically at the ludicrosity of it, but Baoxi wasn't about to back down. "Now, ask yourself, even if Prince Shao has never been in the picture and the princess chooses you, could you be that man that shouldered together the burden of running a country with her?"

Yan Shu tried to picture himself sitting on a throne for hours listening to petitions, and writing diplomatic letters―all while decked out in extravagant royal robes with a crown and jewels. Even if he was willing, Baoxi was right. It just didn't fit.

"Then… what should I do?" He sounded far more defeated than he intended.

"You just need to know one rule around here pertaining to the Emperor and the Empress. Every illicit affair can stay as rumor, as long as there is no incriminating evidence: love letter, lip paint marks, stray undergarment… you'll be fine."

"Fine?! We'll be fine? How on earth this is FINE ?"

Baoxi ignored his childish fit and dropped a small cloth sack, something bitter-sweet smelling inside. Yan Shu, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of herbals, felt like being shot by a canon. Multiple times.

"Oh my lord…" he mouthed, horrified. They had unprotected sex a number of times and never had a single thought about the unwanted result. "I hope she is not…"

"No she isn't, at least that's the last Di Tan checked," Baoxi remarked. "I figured when fair princess, bosom, and slender legs happened, any man bound to forget about consequences."

Yan Shu's mouth just bobbed like a fish. There was a lot he wanted to say, but nothing came out.

"As I mentioned earlier, as long as no incriminating evidence you'll be fine," Baoxi repeated. "No maidservant can know. Flush whatever was left down the drain," he went on, making up for Yan Shu's lack of participation as a conversationalist. "And please… do me a favor, will you? Please tone down your voice when you are at it. I'll consider that as my compensation for keeping the coast clear when you two are in action."

"Oh," he still felt mortified of his complicity but had to admit what Baoxi did what immensely thoughtful. "Thank…thank you. I'll… be quiet… next time."

Baoxi nodded with satisfaction. "Good." And left.

Altan couldn't be more enraged when she heard there was be royal entourage visit from Chang'an for restoration aid after the earthquake. She had a right to feel angry―because she just received a new revelation that Ping, the soldier who had single-handedly done a number to the Huns warriors on the mountain, was actually the alter ego of Fa-Mulan, the woman Shao Wei was madly besotted to.

Although Altan didn't want to believe it, the plot suddenly made sense: the whole saga of a prince falling in love with this wild orchid as he watched her heroically defending his country.

So this Ping girl dared to step foot on her land, telling everyone she came in peace. How dare she? Did she forget that months ago she too spilled their blood and buried their troops alive up in the mountains? And this foreign woman wished to come and help rebuild the country that once her countrymen had destroyed, how insolent of her!

Altan was already there at the site four days earlier when Ping arrived. But she was nothing as she imagined. Not only was she an average-looking Chinese girl, but also she was insane enough to enter the enemy territory bringing no soldier for safeguarding, only crew and footman.

The 'crew' she was taking was part of the Chinese Imperial Army who agreed to come for help, was led by four men: one was stubby with burnt scar all over his body, one looked a bit malnourished, one was blind and the last one must have eaten the entire regiment's ration. Not that Altan judged the book from the cover, but from the outset, they looked like a bunch of misfits rather than regiment elite.

But this mysterious benefactor planned to do more than just help her rebuild the destroyed village, as Altan discovered. First, this Ping girl invited her ignoramus colleague to head towards the burial on the hill, where Timur and other Huns warriors had been laid to rest. After consulting a few villagers, Ping sat on the floor and faced the sky according to their usual rites of worship of Tengri the gods of the sky before placing a bunch of flowers and paying her respect.

Right after, Ping and her entourage were busy working, helping Hun's craftsman and carpenter put layers of fabric and skin on the new yurt.

"We brought some durum wheat, and Goji berries seed," Ping explained to a few Huns."This way you won't just depend on what you hunt." She patiently tried to explain how to go about planting and taking care of the seed without sounding too patronizing. And in return, she listened to a few of the most proficient hunters teaching her their accomplished hunting method.

Despite being heavily pregnant, Ping didn't discount herself entitled to sit around yelling commands at other people. She was too, busied herself distributing food rations and helping distribute garments or to watch some of the Hun's children while their parents aid the construction work.

But that was still no excuse for whatever carnage she had brought on the Huns. So, finally, at sundown, Altan decided to give 'Ping' a piece of her mind.

"Good evening," she said from a few paces away.

"Oh! Your Majesty," Ping was picking dry wood for the fire, hurrying herself to approach her but nearly fell as she mistook her own step.

"Consort… Fa," Altan a little taken aback as she watched one of the greatest Chinese tigers apparently capable of tripping on her own garment.

"Sorry, my balance just fail me," admitted this Ping girl, smiling with embarrassment, heaving from the effort of walking a small distance. "I'll… be so happy when a simple task like walking… stops becoming a full body workout."

Altan couldn't stop herself from giving her a puzzled look, not that Ping cared.

"I hope you don't mind us coming and going ahead with the repair. The Emperor wrote to your father but no reply yet, I thought he must be busy handling other matters," Ping chortled. "Also…I heard from Empress Zetian that finding strong, dry wood is hard during winter in this area," and she pointed out piles of logs the Chinese had provided. "However the quality of the skin and fur we brought from the Middle Kingdom. It is not as premium as what you used to, but I'm sure it'll keep your people warm meanwhile."

"Ah," Altan managed to mouth. It was a complete diversion from her previously well-tailored speech about her hatred for China and for that philandering idiot who had betrayed her trust. Was this the perfect bride Shao had chosen himself? Even before Empress Zetian?

Altan clasped her hand, gathering her thoughts. "I'm sorry I didn't come to the banquet. I am sure you understand."

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry… I know it is it's so insensitive of me to…"

"No, please. Enough apology. Emotion is a luxury that we can't afford right now."

"Princess…." Ping suddenly sounded serious. "I hope you don't mind us doing this for you."

Altan opened her mouth ready to rally with a list of atrocities the Chinese had inflicted, but Ping beat her to it. "You gave me the courage to do what needed to be done, and I have enough faith in my judgment to know that I need this as much as you do."

"You don't know what you've done!"

Ping just stared at her before answering patiently yet firmly. "I was a soldier once. I was following orders. But now, I am no longer who I was. However, I am not here to ask for forgiveness, I am here to ask your consent to build bridges between the countries and heal wounds."

Altan crossed her arms. "You think giving us provision will mend the ties that were intentionally severed?"

"I am about to suggest your name be added to the Honorary Council if you consent. That way your people and ours will have ties closer than others. We'll help each other in time of need, and we'll be each other best allies, " she said with enough conviction and sincerity.

So all these were her ideas, not Shao Wei's.

"I hope you won't find this gesture offensive… or hurtful, given what rumor said about you and Prince Shao Wei in the past."

It didn't hurt. But it did.

It hurt that she wished he'd care. Just a little bit more.

"This is the least I can do. For your country…. And mine. For our fallen soldier." And Altan thought this Ping girl won't be able to change her mind. "Please Princess…allow me to share in your grief."

At that moment, Altan saw the reflection of Shao Wei's stubborn irrationality in the woman in front of her. But perhaps they were so alike that's how he saw her eye to eye.

"I mean what I say, Princess. I came here to make amends. To foster peace between our lands," she pressed. Unwittingly, in the background, she saw a young child, perhaps about five years old, heaving as his tiny hand struggled to move building material until one of the adults kindly assisted him,

"Mama," he turned and waved eagerly at the sight of Ping, to which she waved back and gave him a zealous thumbs up.

She even had a son? Although the question wasn't spoken aloud, it must have been written all over her face because Ping explained, "My adopted son," she said. "His parents came from somewhere nearby."

Although Ping didn't elaborate, as a good leader of the Huns, Altan knew very well where her father's troops had been…where her warriors had raided. And those villages around here would've been one of them. She knew there were bound to be children, and normally the Hun would destroy them all the same. There was no point in leaving them to live if they murdered their parents. That way they would be spared from misery.

"You can blame me out loud. It was my people who deprived him of his parents." Although she understood Ping's deliberate omission, she was going to use it to confront her.

Ping regarded her with her dark eyes and replied clearly. "In this war, any suffering it has caused, it's no one's fault. And that's why my son is here. I want him to learn from the past and do better in the future, so there would be no more children like him orphaned by endless war."

It was clear why these people follow Ping here to aid her in her absurd mission. They've followed her to the battlefield, through freezing mountains and death, through hell and back―for a ruler who had known power all his life may lose respect for that power, but the weak knew the value of strength and compassion.

"Do you who I am and what I did to your late Emperor?" Altan thought the rhetoric at least would have Ping rethink her suggestion. There was no place for a Hun Princess in the Chinese court.

"As much you are aware of what I did to your generals, Princess, " Ping said without missing a beat, "but that's the point. After years of hatred is an unforgivable transgression for both sides, it cannot happen again."

Altan let a slow breath. Ping was undeniably stubborn. "Why are you doing this?"

"I want my people and yours to see that we can let go of the past to move forward."

"No. I mean, why are you doing this?"

At that, Ping looked towards the grave again, her mind drifting to a faraway place. After a moment of silence, she took a deep breath and said, "I don't want his sacrifice gone in vain."

Three of her compatriots looked like they were just about to cry. The skinny one mournfully put a hand on Ping's shoulder and squeezed gently. Her shoulder tensed, ever so slightly, before she reached up and clasped his hand. "I'm alright, Ling. Thank you."

In this war, Ping had lost someone too. Someone she cared about more than the world.

Zetian sat on her desk, flipping through a mountain of paperwork. It was late, but since Shao was out for two nights for another provincial meeting, his plate of work landed on her feet instead. While her heart was dedicated fully to her people, her brain must have reached its full capacity and refused to function properly. On the bottom of the pile was a letter from Yan Shu, writing fondly to her about his trip to the Hun's territory… or mostly saying how much he missed her. She smiled imagining him talking in his voice as he narrated his first time trying yak milk and hunting his first wild boar. Lords, she missed him.

She had gotten good at lying these past couple of months, but Yan Shu was a terrible liar, he always had been. What was Shao's reaction when he knew? She had no idea.

She loved Shao, she would ache to lose him, and would hate to have to rule the Middle Kingdom on her own. But he was not the only one she loved. Not anymore.

But could she live like this forever? What if her father knew what had she been doing, what had she become? Would he…?

A soft knock on the door. No. It wasn't her door, it was her window!

Her heart jumped to her throat, could it be…?

Baoxi was out attending Consort Dowager Ruyi's soiree and Yan Shu was escorting Mulan. His replacement? Only heaven knew where his incompetent replacement!

Fate be damned! she told herself. Even if that barbarian princess returned and she would impale her with her blade, Zetian swore she won't go down without a fight. Gingerly, she picked the largest ceramic vase by her bed as she approached the window. She was terrified but was not allowing herself to be defeated by fear.

As she remove the lock, the window flung open. A woman in a dark cloak with a long, curvy sword, jumped inside gracefully, flashing a familiar, mischievous grin at her.

"Su…suiko?" she gasped. "What are you doing here..?"

Suiko glanced over her shoulder, closed the window shutter, and whispered. "Get in."

She obeyed, shuffling quietly, and sat on her bed.

"Why are you here…?" Hundreds of questions ran through her head, watching Suiko remove her cloak. She really disliked the sudden tense look on Suiko's face.

"Zetian, I have some bad news.

"The temperature outside plummeted to freezing, something that was rare to happen in the middle of spring but not impossible. Zetian lent her clothes and invited Suiko to share her bed which decently can sleep about six people instead of two.

"I was not expecting that my ride across the channel was being canceled. And I can't possibly come back here and face Shao again after saying goodbye to him," Suiko began.

"You said goodbye to him?" Zetian wrinkled her nose. She knew the dramatic saga involving the 'older Japanese man' that had torn both Shao and Suiko apart. "You said he won't come near you if he caught on fire and you had the last bucket of water."

"Well yeah, I guess he changed his mind…..and I changed my mind."

Zetian was forgetting that her husband was very persuasive and could be very manipulative too. Many of Shao's past conquest knew about the first, but only the clever ones understood the second. She always prided herself on being immune to his charming eloquence. But he had a pair of beautiful, piercing eyes―the eyes that had beguiled women into complete submission. And because of the same eyes, Zetian agreed to marry her father's murderer.

"He changed your mind?"

"No.. not him. Anyway, I'll be coming to that," she said. "So, since I had to wait at least two days, I book a room in a nearby inn. To kill the time, I thought I'll see the auction and perhaps there is some lucky find there for the wedding," and Suiko placed the ring, with an enormous green emerald on the table for Zetian to peruse. "Had never seen an emerald bigger than my nostril."

Zetian retracted her hand back from touching the ring.

She laughed. "I'm only messing with you. Try to relax a little bit," Suiko patted her shoulder and Zetian released the breath she was unconsciously holding.

"This is Wei Ting's," Zetian confirmed, reading the neat engraving of symbols and family crescent on the inner band of the ring. She recalled her wearing this the night we went to see General Li.

"I suspected it the moment I saw it was being paraded at the auction display. Thank goodness you all Forbidden City's princesses have ostentatious taste in jewelry."

"Royal family can't be subtle," Zetian said shortly, still perusing the ring in her palm.

"The auctioneer told me that the man who is selling this is an officer in the palace."

"He told you that? How?" Zetian couldn't mask her admiration for Suiko's interrogation skills. No auctioneer usually would willingly reveal the personal detail of their client.

"He did… with a little coaxing," Suiko rubbed the hilt of her samurai and smiled smugly. "The name is Zhi Xiwang, one of your generals." They were both staring at each other but their mind elsewhere, running with hundreds of possible scenarios.

"It doesn't make sense. How can one of your generals get his hand off this jewelry and not returned it to the princess?"

"He can't possibly steal it," Zetian said. He was the only general who is loyal to Shao. "General Zhi," Zetian repeated. "He was the general that saved Ting Ting from the hand of the bandits who attacked her and fatally wound General Li."

"Bandit? So the bandits found them first?"

"Yes, and then General Zhi and his search party managed to intercept them. Unfortunately, the bandits had killed General Li, just taking Ting Ting, presumably as a pawn. Ting Ting saw them raiding the carriages before knocking her unconscious. She thought they were going to rape and kill her," she wrung her hand, thinking.

"I am surprised that the bandit missed out a ring this big," Suiko took turns perusing the jewelry. Considering they plundered just about anything else.

The entire thing didn't sit right with Zetian. The route General Li had chosen wasn't a trade route. It was cutting through the inhabitable frozen steppe with no decent road. General Li was a seasoned soldier who knew the trick of how to survive the harshest condition with little means to go by. So he had gone on the journey well prepared to know what it would be like spending weeks with limited provisions. Meanwhile, a group of opportunist bandits wouldn't head that way unless…

"Oh dear ancestor," Zetian gasped, horrible realization dawned upon her. "Perhaps that never be any bandits at after all."