I was pulling on my false beard and heading back to the Zuixian when I noticed: fewer customers than usual. Manager Li pulled me aside, face tight. "Master Hua — the northern frontier has fallen. Xia forces have pushed all the way to Qingzhou. You need to run."
No words came. My heart clenched like a fist. I stood there, eyes wide and blurring, tears spilling before I could stop them. Hua Ling. Xiao Limo. The Crown Prince. Imperial Father. They were all in Luoyang.
I had to go back. I had to go home.
In the sixteenth year of Jingyuan, the northern frontier fell. The Da Qi army gave ground. The Xia forces seized the advantage.
I did not stop riding. By the time I reached Luoyang, it was deep in the night.
"Miss — where are we going?"
To Xiao Limo. He was the only one I could find. I needed to see Hua Ling. My sister.
* * *
I had been married to Xiao Limo for months, and this was the first time I had ever set foot inside the Xiao Manor. A servant led me to his room. I shoved the door open. "Xiao Limo, take me to see Hua—"
We looked at each other.
Xiao Limo stood in silver armor, sword in hand, expression carved from iron.
"What—"
"I have petitioned for permission to fight at the northern frontier."
He knew the Emperor suspected him. He knew his brothers' deaths were bound to the throne. He knew he might not come back. He was going anyway. He was the son of a warrior family — responsibility sat in his bones before it ever reached his mind.
"Then I'll come with you." I said it knowing exactly what it meant.
He stepped toward me. "Hua Shu. I need you to guard the home front."
I looked at him straight. "Understood." I knew exactly what that meant too.
He trusted me.
He reached into his robe and drew out a folded letter. "If I come back, you are still my wife. If I don't — you go free."
A letter of release. I did not take it.
No.
"Limo — don't abandon me."
His eyes flickered. He pulled me into his arms.
"The first time I saw you, you were a baby. You were lost. You grabbed my hand and called me Brother. I walked you around all day. You wanted that white jade figurine — I told you to stay put while I went to pay. When I turned back, you were gone. I begged my father to search everywhere. I learned you had been brought into the palace and made a princess.
"The second time I saw you was at the Longevity Festival. You wore red and danced. You were laughing. I stared at you for a very long time. The little girl grew up.
"The third time was the day the Emperor decreed our marriage. I couldn't help myself — I had to see you first. I hid in your room. I heard you crying to Xiao Tao: 'That old fool of an emperor — making me marry an idiot...' You went on for a long while. I had to stop myself from running out and telling you — Hua Shu, I am not an idiot. Marry me, and I will take care of you for the rest of your life.
"The fourth time was our wedding night..."
Our wedding night, when I told him, with real venom, that he was not worthy of me.
The shape in my dreams had been real. He was the Brother who had promised to take me home.
Pain washed through me in waves. I clutched him harder. You have to come back.
"I'll wait for you."
* * *
Xiao Limo led the Xiao Family Army in a three-pronged assault against the Xia forces.
I sat in my room with a go board and played alone. The white pieces had fallen into stalemate. Hua Ling pushed my door open and considered the board. "Sister — this game is already lost."
"What if white plays here — at the small-eye point?"
Hua Ling's eyes went wide, fixed on the board, head tilting upward in disbelief. "It... came back to life? How?"
Because I trust Xiao Limo to find a way.
"Any news from the frontier?"
"Not yet." Hua Ling pulled a long face.
"Any accidents? Any irregularities?"
"None. As you instructed — food supplies travel with the troops, and every family member of the Xiao Manor is under the protection of the residence's hidden guard. All accounted for."
"Good." I rose, picked up my brush, and wrote: All is well here. Waiting for your return.
Half a month later, his reply arrived: Every nation that dares raise arms against us — I will destroy its armies, erase its bloodlines, and bury its memory.
I folded the letter closed. Da Qi is fortunate to have him.
* * *
Victory arrived from the north. The Xiao Family Army fought like a scythe through dry grass under Xiao Limo's command. The Xia forces, careless in their advance and contemptuous of their enemy, were broken at Yantai Pass.
The Xia retreated under the unrelenting weight of the Xiao assault. Desperate for a ceasefire, the Xia King surrendered both land and silver to Da Qi.
Three months later, Xiao Limo returned to Luoyang, leaving his lieutenant and the bulk of the army to hold the north.
* * *
It snowed in Luoyang the day he came back. The city poured into the streets to cheer its Young General.
He sat his warhorse, riding fast.
I stood on the city wall, disguised as a servant girl, shaking so hard Hua Ling had to hold me up.
"Sister, stop crying. He's back, look, he's back."
He looked up. He found me. A smile broke across his exhausted face.
I ran down the steps. He threw himself off the horse. I collided with him, arms locking around his neck, tipping my head back to grin up at him like a fool. "You came back."
He brushed the tears away from my face with excruciating care. "You're thinner."
I held him tighter. I wasn't letting go. "I missed you so much."
His smile brightened until it hurt to look at. I couldn't look away.
Winter was ending. The sunset spread across the sky again. The light grew warm.
* * *
Three days back at the General's Manor.
"Miss," Xiao Tao said, finally losing the internal battle. "You never used to talk this much. You're constantly chattering now."
Is this girl trying to lecture me?
Xiao Limo sat reading a book, silent, smiling softly.
I puffed out my cheeks and glared at her, but my eyes slid sideways to him. "I always talked a lot. Don't make things up."
Xiao Tao scoffed. "Women."
I pulled on the far side of his book. "I mean it. Master Mu's lotus osmanthus cake in Guyang is better than what they make in Luoyang. Ask Xiao Tao."
Mention food, and Xiao Tao rallied immediately. "Miss is right. The hibiscus pastry is better too. And the chestnut cake, and the mung bean cake..."
Xiao Limo put the book down. He pulled me seamlessly against him, eyes alive with amusement. "When are you taking me?"
Xiao Tao covered her eyes. "Miss, sir. I saw nothing."
Then leave!
My ears burned. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll go."
The prospect of returning to Guyang revived Xiao Tao completely. "Sir, you have no idea. Miss is brilliant. After barely three months, she was the name in the city. If you hadn't heard of 'Master Hua' at the Zuixian Tavern, you were considered uncultured."
He lifted me slightly, repositioning me against his chest. "Oh? You know how to tell stories?"
I pointed at the door. "Wretched girl, get out."
Xiao Tao gave me a wounded look that briefly made me feel like an unfaithful husband. I bit back a grin and wrapped my arms around Xiao Limo. "I know how to do a lot more than that."
He had barely picked me up to carry me to the bed — we hadn't even kissed yet — when Xiao Tao crashed back through the door.
"Miss. It's bad. The palace— the palace sent someone."
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