When Emperor Qi Hong declared the contest over, the crowd dispersed like a tide. But Qi Rong was singled out and dragged before the throne, where the emperor let loose a scathing rebuke.
“You knew about this beforehand and didn’t report to me,” the emperor thundered. “That omission led to the chaos—unforgivable consequences!”
Qi Rong met the fury without flinching. Calm as ever, he shrugged it off with a single line: “He hadn’t decided for certain yet.”
In the end the emperor couldn’t press the matter. Qi Rong had protected the crown prince, exposed Yuan Zhen’s plot, and saved a poisoned scion of a noble house—no small merits. Still, the emperor warned him sharply to inform the court first next time, so measures could be taken and they would not be caught off guard.
Qi Rong left the hall and found Yunxi, Wushuang, and the others waiting by the gate. Yunxi visibly relaxed when she saw him unhurt; the small expression didn’t escape Qi Rong’s notice. He walked straight to her, slipped an arm around her slender shoulder, and headed for the carriage. Wushuang shaded her face with a jealous rage, yet she hurried to follow.
As they walked, Qi Rong called over his shoulder to Zhanfeng, “Zhanfeng, prepare another carriage for Wushuang. I have to go somewhere first.”
Wushuang’s face froze; she stumbled to a halt. Zhanfeng hesitated only briefly before bowing his head. “At once, Prince.”
He worried that after the fight his lord must be exhausted and should be taken home to rest. But he’d learned not to question orders.
Wushuang watched their carriage pull away, fingers twisting the edge of her veil until her eyes grew watery. Her voice was a small, bitter thing. “We’re all concubines in the same household—why does he always look at her like that? What does she have that I don’t? I have family, status—what’s wrong with me?”
Wushuang had the name to match—peerless in beauty—and she wasn’t much worse to look at than Yunxi. She’d even be willing to sacrifice herself for the prince; she believed she offered what Yunxi did not. Why, then, was she being passed over?
Zhanfeng heard her and shot her a flat look before turning his eyes back to the retreating carriage. He snorted once, cold. “Because Yunxi will throw herself in front of danger for him without a second thought. Could you do the same?”
“I—” Wushuang opened her mouth to insist she could, but Zhanfeng’s frosty stare shut her up. Not long ago, in the arena, Qi Rong had been pulled into a deadly struggle with ten warriors who nearly strangled him to death. Even Zhanfeng, who knew some of the truth, had been frightened for his lord. Yunxi, who knew nothing of the plan, had ignored everyone’s pleas and rushed onto the stage, ready to die for him. The image of her tiny frame flinging itself forward to shield Qi Rong had seared itself into Zhanfeng’s mind.
Wushuang, meanwhile, had sat frozen, worry and hesitation instead of action. That single difference made Yunxi a hundred times stronger in Zhanfeng’s eyes. Wushuang’s devotion, in the end, had always been self-interested—seeking rank, luxury, the prince’s favor. Yunxi’s had been blind and aimless, given without calculation. The two were not the same.
As the carriage rolled out of the capital into the suburbs, Yunxi pulled down the curtain and looked at Qi Rong. “Where are you taking me?”
He didn’t answer with words. He rested his head against the hollow of her neck, breathing in the faint, warm scent that always made him careless. His eyes closed.
Yunxi’s cheeks flamed. She reflexively reached up to push him away, but Qi Rong, eyes half-shut, murmured like a conspirator, “If you move, I’ll take it as permission to kiss you.”
She paused, anger and embarrassment battling in her face. She stopped resisting; she would not let him bully her into a confession. Then, just as suddenly, he kissed her.
She covered her mouth and scrambled back, pressing the seat behind her, glaring at him with wide, indignant eyes as he sat there with a grin like a thief caught with the prize. “You have no honor.”
Qi Rong’s smile was sunlit and maddening. “Who said I promised not to kiss you if you stayed still? Consider this a reward for being good. If you don’t like it, you can return it.”
He jabbed a finger at his lips as if pointing to merchandise.
“Return it?” Yunxi choked on the word and coughed once, anger and incredulity mingling as she rolled her eyes. What a man—an absolute master of shamelessness. If she kissed him back, it would look like she was confessing a thousand times over. But she couldn’t bear letting him have the last laugh.
Qi Rong gently trapped her back in his arms and, quieter now, scolded into her ear, “Don’t put yourself in danger again. Not even for me.”
He had pretended to be weak in the ring to disarm his enemies; her reckless attempt to save him had shaken him more than he let on. Even if he could survive a blade or a spear, he couldn’t bear the thought of Yunxi getting hurt.
Yunxi thought back to the scene and felt her cheeks burn. “I wasn’t trying to save you. I didn’t want to be called a widow-maker—people would say I brought bad luck to my husband.”
Now she understood: Qi Rong had been acting on the stage. If he could fell ten brave fighters in an instant, he had no real need of her protection. She’d made a fool of herself out of worry, even breached etiquette. The capital would have a field day with this.
Qi Rong laughed, pleased. He nudged her nose with a fond touch. “Keep pretending you’re tough. You nearly threw your life away because you love me so much. Give it twenty-four hours and the whole capital will be talking about it.”
Yunxi’s mouth twitched; she knew he wasn’t exaggerating. She scowled. “Stop praising yourself. You’ve been impossible lately—one moment distant, the next fiery. You’re so unpredictable I don’t know how to face you.”
She couldn’t say she demanded constant affection, but Qi Rong’s sudden coldness had wounded her.
For the first time, a flash of uncertainty crossed Qi Rong’s face. He looked at her with an intensity that silenced Yunxi. He cupped her face in both hands and tilted it up so their eyes met. His voice was serious. “What do you want me to be to you?”
Yunxi blinked, taken aback. He continued, patient now, explaining as if mapping out a danger she hadn’t seen. “Don’t you worry that being with me will bring danger on you? From the Empress Dowager, from the emperor, from the Eighth Princess…”