Page 54 of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

“Never break a rabbit’s foot,” the other woman interrupted, prompting more laughter.

“Why didn’t the man climb the tree and retrieve the jewels?” Lady Meng asked plaintively. “He could have gotten himself the same reward as the boy and his mother.”

There was a silence, and then the storyteller said, “There were no branches, I suppose.”

“But he had all eternity to figure it out. He could have made a rope ladder or something.”

Xifeng saw the women exchange amused glances, even the ones who had accompanied Lady Meng. The girl had completely missed the point of the story.

The rosy woman cleared her throat and rose. “I’m going to fetch some water. I’m a bit parched from all of this storytelling.”

“I’ll come with you,” Xifeng offered. “I’ve run out of silver thread.”

As they walked, the woman whispered to Xifeng about Lady Meng. “I pity her. She hates it here and the Emperor knows it. They say she’s desperately lonely and has turned to wine for solace. She talks to herself and wanders at night when she ought to be sleeping.”

Xifeng remained silent, not wanting to engage in gossip.

“The Emperor never spends the night with her and I think our friend Lady Sun had a hand in that.” The woman shook her head. “His Majesty will likely send the poor girl to a monastery soon. He’d do it faster if he knew how she felt about the Crown Prince. Oh, it’s common knowledge,” she added, seeing Xifeng’s surprise. “His Highness was kind to Lady Meng when she first arrived, lonely and homesick, and she took a shine to him. She prefers the Emperor’s stepson to the Emperor himself, but the prince is too careful to... oh!”

She cried out as they turned the corner and came face-to-face with none other than the Crown Prince himself, leaving his mother’s apartments with a retinue of eunuch guards. He looked the same but for the elaborate robes he now wore and the slight pallor of illness. His raised eyebrows showed he’d heard the woman’s last words. She wrung her hands, flustered, and Xifeng congratulated herself on not having joined in the gossip.

“You’re the lady I was hoping to see,” the Crown Prince told Xifeng.“I asked my mother where I might find you.” He glanced pointedly at the lady-in-waiting, who scurried away in mortification, and chuckled. He turned his gaze on the guards, who stepped back twelve paces to give him privacy. “I’m glad to see you making friends, and you look better than ever. I’ll have a good report to bring back to Wei.”

“Please tell me how he is.” She might have felt shame at the longing in her voice if she hadn’t been so eager, but the prince stroked his thin beard indulgently.

“He’s learning more quickly than I anticipated and has made it his mission to improve all of the swords in our service. He works hard, but he seems forlorn, and I think I know why.”

She lowered her eyes, her face warming. Wei missed her, too.

“He heard I was visiting my mother today and begged me to give you a message,” His Highness told her with a grin. “I’m as bad as any of these gossips; I can never resist a love story. Take this and hide it well. I don’t wish to bring trouble to you, and neither does Wei.” He shifted so that the guards couldn’t see him hand her a thin scroll, and Xifeng gratefully tucked it away, warming to the young prince. She understood why Lady Meng had been drawn in by his kindness, if the gossip were true.

“How can I ever repay you, Your Highness? You gave Wei and me our positions at the palace, and now you’ve made me happy again.” He waved away her thanks, his pallor a bit more pronounced. “But are you well?”

“I haven’t been sleeping much.” He ran a hand over his weary face. “Bohai has come every day this week, pinching and prodding and feeding me bits of herbs. I hope to be well enough to lead the Imperial Army on the first carnival day. My stepfather likes a big production.”

“Will Wei be in the procession?”

The prince leaned against the railing. “He might. Will you be watching?”

“That depends on Her Majesty.”

“I’ll speak to her,” he promised. “You shouldn’t miss a minute of your first Moon Festival. I wouldn’t know much about it, though. My brothers and I were always expected to work.”

“Are the other princes in the Imperial Army as well?”

“My middle brother commands the Silver Banner. He ran away to fight rebels and expand our territories when he was seventeen. He’s been gone two years. Sometimes I fear I’ll never see him again. The conflicts in the east grow more tiresome, but it is Dagovad at the helm of the dispute. My brother’s men are only there to help.” He rubbed the worried lines on his forehead, then gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sure this is more information than you wanted to know.”

“Why does the Great Forest serve the interests of Dagovad?” Xifeng asked, and he looked surprised, but not displeased.

“Dagovad breeds the finest horses on the continent. Our cavalry relies on their mounts and their queen’s good favor, and she knows it, too.” The prince sighed again. “As for my youngest brother, he should be learning from me, but is always ill and abed. So there is only ever me, ready to do my duty. I tell you a throne is a greater imposition than it is a gift.”

Xifeng watched him pick absentmindedly at the railing. She had never imagined a prince not wanting a kingdom. “What would you do instead, if you could?”

The Crown Prince allowed himself a small smile. “Go adventuring with my brother in unknown lands. Make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish.” He looked down at his folded hands. “I was twelve when my father lay on his deathbed, mortally wounded in war. His marriage to my mother had been happy, though they were first cousins matched for political reasons.”

An image of Empress Lihua’s face appeared in Xifeng’s mind, younger but no less careworn. “Your stepfather is a cousin as well, isn’t he?”

“A very distant relative. Still, he shares our blood, and his boldness and intelligence made an immediate impression on my father. I was too young to assume the throne then, and my father was forced to choose a successor or risk leaving behind a vulnerable kingdom with no regent. So Jun was crowned Emperor and my mother became his Empress consort. And according to Imperial law, any sons she had with him—the living Emperor—would displace my brothers and me in the line of succession. My father was content with this.”

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