Page 101 of The Blood Orchid

Wenshu nodded, casting me a glance over his shoulder.

“Etiquette lessons,” he reminded me. “Next week, all right?”

“Yes, Gege,” I said, smiling in a way that I hoped looked convincing.

“Go destroy her,” Yufei said from the doorway.

“Yes, Jiejie.”

Then they both turned, and the door swung shut, leaving the room in cold shadows and silence. This part I would have toface alone, at least at first. Zheng Sili would be waiting in case I needed help, while Yufei would stay with Wenshu to protect him.

I leaned back against the seat of the throne, imagining how the Empress might have sat. Slowly, I uncrossed my legs, planting my feet firmly on the ground, resting my forearms on the gilded armrests, the cold making me shiver.

Come on out, Gaozong, I thought.I’m ready.

The sun fell lower in the sky, the angle sharp through the windows, the light too bright to look at from where I sat. Still I didn’t move, squinting through the blades of sunlight until at last, the door opened once more.

I remembered Gaozong’s face from the memories I’d borrowed when drowning in his river, and seeing him now felt like my dreams had come to life. He and Wu Zhao had stood on the very same balcony just across the room—when he was young enough that he looked almost exactly like Hong—and he’d promised her the world. Now he was trying to deliver on his promise.

I could still see the echoes of his century-long sickness in his papery complexion, the darkness around his eyes. But despite the signs of age, they still held the dangerous gleam that I’d seen in Taizong’s vision, when he’d slipped the ring from his dying father’s hand.

He hesitated in the doorway, looking me up and down.

“It is customary to bow to the emperor, you know,” he said, a soft smile at the corner of his lips. His eyes were so kind, so like Hong’s, that it would have been easy to trust him if I hadn’t known better.

“There is no emperor here,” I said, crossing my legs. “And I already held your funeral.”

He let out a sharp laugh, stepping fully into the room and closing the door quietly behind him.

“I suppose that, technically, I should be the one bowing toyou,” he said. “Imagine that.”

“Stranger things have happened in this palace than a merchant girl sitting on a throne,” I said.

He smiled. “Oh, I can see why she likes you,” he said. He stepped forward, examining me. A chill rippled through my bones, and I tried my best to remain still, to not give away my fear, even when I felt like a piece of merchandise he was appraising. After all, he was imagining the body of his future wife.

I examined the alchemy rings on his hand, bright blue diamonds, jade bands, purple amethyst. It was a diverse array, a good—albeit needlessly expensive—assortment. He clearly was no amateur alchemist.

“I suppose you’ll do,” he said at last, crossing his arms. “You’re no Wu Zhao, but then again, no one is.”

I barely resisted the urge to slap him. “I was your son’s concubine,” I said. “Do you not see how strange that is?”

He shrugged. “Wu Zhao was my father’s concubine first.”

My expression crumpled. “And people thinkmyfamily is weird.”

“Your family certainly is remarkable,” he said, leaning forward and cupping my cheek, running a calloused thumb across my lips. “Peasants do not normally live such loud lives.”

“For the thousandth time, I’m not a peasant,” I said, turning my face away.

“You’re not anything anymore,” Gaozong said, his eyes darkening. He reached for his satchel of alchemy stones, and I pressed back against the throne, my heartbeat loud in my ears.

“Why did she fake your death?” I said. “Am I at least allowed to know that before I die?”

“She didn’t,” he said, eyeing my throat. “There are herbs that can slow breathing and pulse, mimicking death for a time,” he said. “A physician was loyal to me and helped me escape.”

“And yet you returned to her after she kept you ill for over a century?” I said.

Instead of answering, he knelt down before me, the gesture so sudden that I flinched.The Emperor of China was on his knees in front of me.I was so stunned that when he reached out a hand for my arm, I extended it to him without question. Gently, reverently, he rolled up my sleeve, examining the soul tag that I’d carved in this very room.Fan Zilan.

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