Ever since Li Jingyun returned from those cramped rooms at the Liu household, she hadn't slept a proper night. The matter haunted her dreams, threaded through every waking hour.
The Emperor and Empress were gravely alarmed. They summoned Master Sun Simiao to come and treat their daughter. Master Sun had meant only to administer some medicines to Empress Zhangsun and then resume his travels and inward cultivation, but Li Shimin and the Empress found a dozen reasons to keep him in Chang'an. The Emperor's chronic wind ailment flared up now and then; Princess Changle and the crown princess were said to be expecting, and travel was forbidden by storms of wind or flurries of snow—reasons to delay and delay.
At this rate, Sun and his disciple would be spending the new year in the imperial city. The Emperor had even set aside land and begun building a small retreat near the palace for the Taoist master and his followers.
"Princess Jingyun has been overwrought and frightened. That is why she is like this. Your Majesty need not worry. The only one who can unfasten a knot is the one who tied it. Once this difficulty passes, the Princess will recover. She is young, and medicine can do more harm than good right now," Master Sun said in a low voice after taking Li Jingyun's pulse while she slept.
Word of the affair had spread through every lane and market in Chang'an; Sun Simiao had heard some of it, too.
"Must we watch Hongxuan drift along like this?" Empress Zhangsun choked on her words as she looked at her daughter lying still in bed. If Master Sun hadn't been there, she suspected she would have already been arguing with the Emperor. Once a girl who laughed and played, Hongxuan had been reduced to a fragile thing. As a mother, how could she bear it?
"This is already the best course, Your Majesty," Master Sun replied gently.
"Very well. Thank you, Master Sun. You should take your rest now." Empress Zhangsun couldn't hold back her tears any longer; she dismissed the attendants with a single look until the chamber contained only the three of them.
"Guanyin girl?" The Emperor's voice wavered—he used the old pet name, as if invoking a talisman. The Empress said nothing; she only watched the child, smoothing the hair from her forehead. One tear fell after another onto the edge of the bed.
Silence pooled in the great hall. Then the Empress asked suddenly, "And Ke'er? Is he still out and about?"
Li Ke was the practical one—the one who ran the coal shop, handled the accounts, and tried to smother the rumors. "Yes," the Emperor answered, leaning against a carved pillar and clutching a brazier. "I asked him how he meant to quiet the gossip, but the boy wouldn't say. He hasn't been tested like this before."
The Empress drew a long breath. "If we are to bury this, we must bury it under something larger."
But what greater event could outshine ten dead from the Liu household? Wars and rebellions would do, or some scandal in the harem—but such things were not at hand.
A thought flashed through the Emperor's mind. "Consort Yinde told me the other day that Chengqian is close with his eunuch, Chengxin. The crown princess is with child, and she said Chengqian and Chengxin sometimes share the same bed—she made it sound convincing."
"You're willing to sacrifice Chengqian for Hongxuan?" the Empress said in disbelief. "Since when have you begun to throw caution to the winds? Chengqian is the Crown Prince. If such rumors circulate, how will he live with them?"
"Because he is the Crown Prince precisely—he must be tested. I trust Chengqian to handle it," the Emperor replied bluntly.
"It was your plan that put Hongxuan in this situation," the Empress cried. "She could have stayed safe, by our side, happy, raised to a good marriage. With her father and mother and siblings, she would have had a comfortable life. Why drag her into this?"
She looked at her youngest and the tenderness in her face broke anew. A fresh round of sighs filled the room.
The Emperor's suggestion had been a desperate measure. If they could find proof—proof that someone from the Yangs or the Zhengs had poisoned those people—then they could settle matters. But such evidence was rare. Where, after all, could they dig up a smoking gun?
"Yang Shidao—do you know what your sons and nephews have gotten up to?" he thought bitterly. "Couldn't you have kept them in line? This all comes down to poor guidance from those who should have been strict."
"Father? Mother? Why are you both here?" Li Jingyun stirred awake, her eyes widening at the two figures at her bedside. She rubbed her eyes and recognized them.
"Are you uncomfortable, Hongxuan? Master Sun is outside—shall I have him take your pulse again?" Li Shimin helped her sit up and smoothed the stray hairs from her forehead.
"No. I'm fine," she said, shaking her head. Her mind wasn't on the snow outings the Empress suggested. It was full of the eleven Liu family members.
They had already suffered so much in their lives; a warm winter might have been their only solace. Instead, they'd died by the stove. The sight of their house had shocked her to the core—no furniture, no clothing, no bowls. They had to chip ice from the frozen river for water.
Empress Zhangsun's head ached with worry. "Perhaps we should ask Master Xuanzang to bring Huaishui again," she mused. "The two of them soothed her last time."
In Chang'an, Xuanzang was well known for calming minds. But then she thought of the New Year approaching; in ten days or so Huaishui would likely be on winter retreat and unavailable.
Before she could make any more plans, Eunuch Feng rushed in, breathless, then bowed. "Your Majesty, Your Highnesses—the county captain Xie sent word. The coroner reports traces of a sedative in the Liu family bodies."
Li Jingyun snapped alert. Had the Empress not been holding her by the sleeve, she might have run barefoot to the gates.
"Quick—change her. Wrap the heavy cloak around her. Manjing, Duan Jia, you go with them and make sure the Princess is watched at all times."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The Empress moved with a speed born of fear, dressing Li Jingyun and sending the small party off into the chill. She had no stomach for arguing with the Emperor about raising children; she only wanted her daughter to weather this calamity alive.
And Li Ke—headstrong as he was—had been pushed almost past his limits by this affair.
"Let Hongxuan and Ke'er get to the bottom of this," the Emperor said, putting an arm around the Empress's shoulders. "Don't worry. Our girl—she's the same one who outargued Zheng Min and Yang Sizhi. She can see through whatever trick the Yangs and the Zhengs have set."