A Joyful Heart
Crouched on the bed, Li Tianfu stared blankly at the earring in her hand. Morning sunlight slipped through the window, lingered, then faded, until at last the glow of dusk spilled across her bed.
Having eaten nothing all day, she seemed to reach some kind of decision. She slid the earring into her ear and rose to her feet.
Li Zhijie stood at the entrance of her room, gazing at the half-set sun, his mind a thousand miles away. If Li Tianfu still refused to come to her senses and would not attend the banquet, he intended to claim that Liu Chentuo had attacked her the night before.
Only when the envoy who had entered Great Jin with them urged him for the third time did Li Zhijie finally push open her door.
Li Tianfu, dressed in a magnificent red ceremonial robe, was looking at the bronze mirror on her dressing table, pressing a delicate floral ornament between her brows.
Warm-hued sunset light poured through the half-open window, and the soft glow traced her lavish, exquisitely sculpted features. Her skin was white as fine jade, her lips a tender red. Her eyes especially were as clear and pure as a young girl's — and yet so intoxicating they could steal a man's soul. That look, innocent and seductive at once, was like a white datura in full, glorious bloom.
"Your Highness, Princess."
Li Zhijie bowed respectfully from the doorway.
Li Tianfu looked into the bronze mirror and smiled like a flower opening to the sun. Then she rose, settled her veil over her head, and spoke in a low voice.
"Let's go."
Because Great Jin had won a great victory in the Southern Border, this year's birthday banquet for the Emperor of Jin was held with even greater splendor than in years past.
The ladies of the great noble houses had dressed according to their rank, and their daughters appeared in gorgeous, meticulously arranged finery.
Before the Emperor and Empress made their appearance, the noble daughters had gathered in little clusters, trading gossip — about how Wei Qiheng, the Fourth Prince of Liang, had entered the palace in the dead of night to propose a marriage match with Liu Yafu, the County Mistress of Nan Tao. Someone also brought up the rumor that Bai Jingyan, the Zhenguo Commandery Princess, had stormed a post station, demanded that the Prince of Yan of Xiliang hand over his man, and killed one of his subordinates.
"I saw the Fourth Prince of Liang riding into Dadu the other day while I was taking tea at the Yanque Tower. What a striking face he has! And the County Mistress of Nan Tao is the greatest beauty in all of Great Jin — the two of them were simply made for each other."
"Exactly. They say he caught sight of the County Mistress somewhere yesterday, then came straight to the palace at midnight and begged His Majesty for her hand. So His Majesty summoned her father to the palace — and that was when the Han King, the last remaining prince outside the imperial clan in all of Jin, arrived. The Prince of Liang knelt all the way down before the Han King to plead for the marriage, and the Han King granted it."
"Really? He actually knelt to ask the Han King?"
One of the noble daughters covered her startled mouth with her fan before continuing, her eyes brimming with envy.
"Just imagine how the Prince of Liang will cherish her once the County Mistress marries into Liang!"
Lu Baohua, daughter of Yu Zhen, the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, entered together with Liu Yafu, escorted by the palace attendants. In her resplendent dress, Liu Yafu drew every eye in the hall the moment she appeared.
It would be no exaggeration to call her beauty that of a lotus blossom floating in water. Her skin was flawless as white porcelain, her small lips luminous and red. Her eyes were as clear and cool as if brimming with water, like beads of colored glass, and her moon-white skirt, embroidered with flowers, was exquisite beyond measure. As she walked, the sumptuous hem swayed ever so gently — and since her feet remained hidden beneath it, she seemed all the more graceful and refined.
Once she had taken her seat, Lu Baohua hid her mouth behind her fan and, unable to contain her delight, murmured to Liu Yafu in a small voice.
"Look over there! Every woman in Dadu is jealous of you right now! They say the Prince of Liang fell for you the instant he laid eyes on you, and that he swore an oath before the Han King — that if only he could take you as his wife, he would never take a consort or concubine as long as he lived. Is it true?"
Liu Yafu gazed down at the floor with her lovely eyes, her cheeks flushing faintly pink. Then she spoke in the composed tone befitting a noblewoman of a great house.
"It is. If it weren't, neither Father nor His Majesty would have consented. A marriage so far from home is no small matter — and Father has no daughter but me."
The Han King was nearly fifty, yet he had only one child — this daughter. Sending her off to marry into Liang must have been made worth his while by sufficiently tempting terms. Otherwise, the Han King would never have agreed.
After Liu Yafu and Lu Baohua were seated, streams of noble daughters came over to offer their congratulations.
Liu Yafu glanced at the jeweled hairpin one young girl wore in her hair, then at the girl's skirt — embroidered in exactly the same pattern as her own — and smiled.
"Wearing such a lavish gown together with ornaments of red jewels wound in gold thread looks far too much, you know. If you don't take out the hairpin, the guest will outshine the hostess."
It was kindly meant advice. Quite a few women had taken to imitating Liu Yafu's style of dress, and most of them, failing to carry it off properly, had only made themselves look worse. And so, with those she was close to, Liu Yafu would offer such counsel.
The girl whose outfit had been corrected flinched, clutching her jade-handled fan tightly. After a stiff word of thanks, she pulled out the hairpin and asked,
"Your Highness, where did you meet the Prince of Liang? Have the two of you spoken yet?"
Liu Yafu gave a light smile and shook her head, then answered with just a touch of hauteur.
"I hardly know myself. Lake Taoyin outside the city walls, perhaps? Baohua and I went to the lake together yesterday."
"A Commandery Princess or not, there are certainly differences among you. Someone gets formally invested with a title — and does nothing but pick fights! They say the Zhenguo Commandery Princess stormed clear into a post station yesterday and killed one of the Prince of Yan's men. Just thinking of it gives me chills. And I've heard the Prince of Yan of Xiliang is a most courteous gentleman. Whatever could he have done to enrage her? He came to make peace with our Jin, after all. How can anyone be so violent and savage! The people of Xiliang will think all the women of Jin are like her! Oh, the shame of it..."
Someone had brought up Bai Jingyan.
"Exactly! Just because she won the great victory in the Southern Border, does that give her the right to kill an innocent man? Our Jin is a great nation — and a great nation must never lose its dignity."
"You don't know the whole story!"
Lu Baohua frowned. She could not bring herself to believe that Bai Jingyan had slain an innocent man.
"They say the congratulatory gift from the King of Xiliang was Second Young Master Bai's ring. He even left a letter — and in it, he demanded that the Commandery Princess come to the post station alone. The King of Xiliang was using Second Young Master Bai as bait, laying a trap to kill her. Fortunately, the Fourth Young Lady of the Bai family and the Crown Prince arrived at once."
Lu Baohua was a close friend of the County Mistress, and those who had been condemning Bai Jingyan, unwilling to incur Liu Yafu's displeasure, smiled and smoothly changed the subject.
"Well, whatever else — the Prince of Liang certainly has an eye for beauty, carrying off the finest beauty in all of Jin!"
Liu Yafu remembered something someone had once said to her before she came to Dadu. The noble young men of the capital had insisted that the true greatest beauty of the age was the eldest legitimate daughter of the Zhenguo Duke Estate, Bai Jingyan — that she was several times lovelier than Liu Yafu herself.
"I've heard Bai Jingyan is quite beautiful as well. Some even say she deserves the title of the age's greatest beauty."
Liu Yafu adjusted the folds of her gown and lowered her head, as though trying to conceal a sneer.
"Just how beautiful can she be, that the young men of the capital would praise her until their mouths went dry?"
The girls who had actually seen Bai Jingyan hastily hid their faces behind their fans, flustered, at a loss for where to direct their gaze.
Everyone knew how much pride Liu Yafu took in her title of "greatest beauty." And no one was eager to earn her hatred by speaking an unnecessary truth. One tearful accusation before His Majesty, and an entire family could be ruined in an instant.
"Beauty, my foot! If Bai Jingyan were truly the greatest beauty of the age, why would the Prince of Liang choose you, Your Highness?"
Someone answered with a laugh.
"That's... because—"
Liu Yafu lowered her head, studying the delicate polish on her freshly painted nails.
"—the Prince of Liang may simply never have seen Bai Jingyan."
"Your Highness, think of it! The Prince of Liang humbled his precious princely person — knelt all the way down — and begged the Han King for the match because he wants you as his wife. How breathtaking must a woman be, that a prince would kneel after seeing her but once? Where in this world is there anyone who surpasses you? Look over there."
Someone nudged Liu Yafu with a glance, half her face hidden behind her fan, gesturing toward Bai Jinxiu.
"That woman is the Commandery Princess's younger sister — and she's hardly such a dazzling beauty, is she!"
An arrogance that could not be hidden crept across Liu Yafu's face. Come to think of it, that was exactly right. What did those pampered young men of the capital know? Bai Jingyan fought well, and was rather pretty enough, she supposed — that must be why they esteemed her so highly.
With an air of grand detachment, Liu Yafu replied simply,
"Bai Jingyan must have a passable face. After all, how many beauties has Lu Yuanfeng ever really seen? He's still young — perhaps seeing Bai Jingyan lead troops into battle made him think her beautiful. But women like us should be raised gently, treasured and adored. Shouldn't we cultivate refinement — learning to play instruments, to play go, to master calligraphy and painting? A woman who fights, destroys, and kills lives steeped in blood-guilt, and it turns her fierce and wild. Impressive, I grant you. But what respectable family would ever take such a woman as a bride?"
The girls who had seen Bai Jingyan for themselves gave awkward smiles and fluttered their fans lightly.
"Oh — look! That's the Fourth Prince of Liang!"
Someone whispered, and every girl seated in the great hall turned her fan to her face and swung her gaze toward the entrance.
Wei Qiheng, wearing deerskin boots, was entering the hall with the envoys of Liang. The dashing young man wore a tall jade crown and a deep-purple court robe embroidered with dragon patterns, a broad belt of white jade at his waist. There was not a single detail of his appearance that was not immaculate; he carried himself with a gentle, dignified, classically elegant air. True to the rumors, he had clearly grown up bathed in the favor of the Liang Emperor.
Liang had not yet named an heir. If the Fourth Prince ever ascended the throne, Liu Yafu would rise to the very summit in a single leap — she could become the mother of a nation.
Someone who had followed that thought came close to Liu Yafu and murmured,
"Oh my! I do believe the Prince of Liang is looking at you, Your Highness."
Liu Yafu lifted her head. At that very moment, Wei Qiheng was indeed looking at her.
The Han King and the Emperor had sanctioned the marriage between the Fourth Prince of Liang and her, and there was no one at court who did not know it. There was no need to hide anything, so Liu Yafu rose magnanimously and made a graceful bow of greeting toward Wei Qiheng.
Wei Qiheng was a warm, gallant man. When a noble daughter of Great Jin greeted him first, he smiled and returned the courtesy.
Watching his handsome face, Liu Yafu could hardly contain her joy within, and her smile grew ever more radiant.
Wei Qiheng was, above all, a devoted admirer of beautiful women, and it pleased him that a beauty should show him favor of her own accord. He gave Liu Yafu a slight nod, returned to his place, and then greeted the Prince of Yan of Xiliang, Li Zhijie, with a smiling face.
"The Prince of Yan of Xiliang is no ordinary handsome man either."
Lu Baohua hid her smiling face behind her fan.
"With how desperately the Prince of Liang wants to take Your Highness as his wife, I expected him to rush over for a word the moment he saw you."
"This is a state banquet. He can hardly do that."
Liu Yafu answered with a hint of a pout.