(1) Before Cize Hall

As the story goes, under the Medicine King's devoted care, Rong Heng's injury had largely healed, and the Demon King and his son were preparing to return to Gu City. Mo Ying and Yinglan led Rong Yin and his son first to take their leave of the Celestial Sovereign, and then made their way to Cize Hall to bid Ziyuan farewell as well — only to find that Ziyuan had gone to the Mist Forest, and Changxiu was outside the hall, offering apologies on his behalf. Though the Demon King and his son felt a touch of regret, they dared not linger, and were just about to turn back when, without warning, Mo Ying called out in a teasing shout: "Could our elder brother have gone off to a secret rendezvous with some beauty? Appearing and vanishing like a dragon that shows neither head nor tail..."

　　At this sudden outburst from Mo Ying, a chill ran down Changxiu's spine, and he hastily bowed with clasped hands. "Your Highness jests. What sort of thing is that to say?"

　　"Heh..." Mo Ying's eyes were sharp, and he caught the flicker of something strange cross Changxiu's face; the other three turned their gazes on him at once as well, and his interest only sharpened further.

　　"That Asura girl with the violet eyes we saw at the army camp that day — didn't elder brother order you to secretly escort her home? The way he fussed over her so carefully — tell me there's no one in his heart, and see if I believe you! I'm not blind!"

　　No one had expected the Tenth Prince to blurt out something so reckless right there before Cize Hall. Changxiu dared not scold him or make him stop, and his face went pale, then flushed, by turns. Mo Ying had always been a lively, mischievous sort by nature, and with Ziyuan not there to keep him in check, he paid no mind at all to how grim Changxiu's expression had grown, absorbed entirely in his own mischievous amusement. After all, his elder brother had never once had so much as a breath of romantic scandal attached to his name — though countless Celestial women adored him, he had always kept a careful distance from every one of them, never showing particular warmth or concern to any — and yet here he was, indulging this Asura girl who had cast a spell to bewitch the soldiers and stormed into the army camp alone, indulging her further still as she sat chatting idly with him in his own command tent, and even sending his own personal guard to secretly escort her home afterward. Had Mo Ying not happened to be carrying Yinglan's jade ruyi back from the Celestial Court to give to his elder brother that day, he would never have caught this normally so composed and steady elder brother of his showing such a different side of himself. Though Ziyuan's face betrayed nothing at all, the contrast with his usual bearing was so stark that Mo Ying remained convinced there was something between the two of them that could not be so easily explained away.

　　Hearing Mo Ying's outburst, Yinglan too grew intrigued. Whatever else might be said, it was thanks to her elder brother that Rong Heng had been saved, and that her own marriage to him had been made possible — for that alone, she was deeply grateful to him. All these years, her elder brother had worn himself out, body and soul, for the sake of the Celestial Clan, and yet had no one dear by his side to call his own; if what the Tenth Prince said were true, she would be glad for her elder brother's sake as well.

　　What had happened years ago — how her elder sister-in-law had pressured the elders of the Shen family to force the Celestial Sovereign's hand into granting the marriage — outsiders knew nothing of, but the two of them knew it all too well. In the past, even not knowing the truth of the matter, she would not have understood; but now that she herself had come to know love for the first time, she could well imagine the bitterness pent up in her elder brother's heart. Had he truly cared for Shenya, he would never have refused the match again and again all those years ago, not until he had no strength left to resist and was forced to bargain with their father instead, trading his compliance for a promise that their father would never again interfere in his marriage.

　　"Is what Tenth Brother says really true? An Asura girl? Asura women are said to be the most stunningly beautiful of all — no wonder elder brother has taken a fancy to her." Yinglan brightened, joining in the speculation without a second thought.

　　"Eight or nine parts out of ten, I'd wager. That jade pendant elder brother has kept on him for as long as I can remember has gone missing, and no one knows when — surely he's given it to that Asura girl. Why, I even heard the girl say something about... finding elder brother by means of that very pendant." Hearing Yinglan join in, Mo Ying grew all the more animated, sparing no effort in stringing together every scrap of evidence he could find.

　　"Pity I never got a good look at her face — she had a veil over it — but that pair of violet eyes was truly beautiful, unforgettable."

　　"Tenth Prince, Eleventh Princess, please don't stir up idle talk like this. Relations between our Celestial Clan and the Asura Clan are tense as it is — this sort of talk is hardly fitting—"

　　"It's precisely because relations are tense that a marriage between our two clans would help resolve the old enmity all the better, wouldn't it?" Yinglan cut Changxiu off before he could finish.

　　"Aren't Heng and I the very proof of that?" Yinglan said with a smile, tugging at Rong Heng's sleeve.

　　"Better still to have a double wedding — celebrate both matches together in one go."

　　Changxiu groaned inwardly. These two youngsters were, after all, still far too young, with no experience at all in handling matters of state — the relationship between the Demon Clan and the Celestial Clan was nothing at all comparable to that between the Asura Clan and the Celestial Clan — and yet here they were, spinning their armchair fantasies aloud, utterly unguarded, right out in the open, in full and enthusiastic voice — and it so happened that Shenya and her attendant, approaching from a distance, caught every word of it.

　　Just moments before, Shenya had been strolling among the flowers with several of the imperial consorts, chatting idly; the young grandchildren of the royal house, gathered together in a great lively crowd, filled the garden with the bright laughter and chatter of children, and everyone there had seemed so joyfully at ease that the envy welling up in her heart had very nearly spilled from her eyes. Someone tactless had even brought up, of all things, that even the Ninth Prince's consort, so recently married, was already with child — and in that whole vast garden, she alone was left forlorn.

　　She had been among the very first to marry, and yet to this day she had not so much as a single child to show for it.

　　She was anxious about it too, but her anxiety changed nothing — this was not a matter she could resolve through effort alone. The women of the harem loved nothing better than to sigh over how the Crown Prince doted on her and her alone — but she knew perfectly well that such talk was never sincere. Doted on so exclusively, and yet unable to bear a child for years on end — the whole legend of his devotion had become something of a joke. Behind her back, they whispered that it was her just deserts, that the Crown Prince's exclusive favor toward her had dashed the hopes of so many Celestial women. She herself could not conceive, and yet how many Celestial women could — and would gladly — bear the Crown Prince's children, if only they were given the chance, a chance denied them outright because of her. And so she had grown less and less fond of attending the gatherings of the harem women; today she had sat through it for only a token while before finding an excuse to head back early to Cize Hall — never expecting to overhear, just outside the hall, this conversation that left her utterly stunned.

　　Seeing Shenya and her attendant approaching, Changxiu sensed at once that disaster loomed. His Highness had impressed upon him again and again that not a single word of Anu's affairs must ever leak out — and yet why should it happen, of all things, just now? No sooner had His Highness left for the Mist Forest than everything that should never have happened was happening, one thing after another. Though what the two young royals had said was not entirely accurate, the truth of it was, the Tenth Prince's guesses had landed close enough to the mark seven or eight times out of ten — and though the words had not come from his own mouth, he had been powerless to stop them, which amounted to the same thing as leaking the secret himself. And yet his own punishment mattered little; what mattered far more was that this affair was spiraling out of control. The Crown Princess's face, as she drew near, had gone utterly grim — but with outsiders present, she forced a stiff, strained smile onto her face.

　　"Tenth Brother, Eleventh Sister, Demon King, Eleventh Consort — won't you all come into Cize Hall and sit a while?"

　　"Greetings, Your Highness."

　　"Greetings, Sister-in-law."

　　The five of them there hastened to offer their greetings. Sensing that Shenya's mood was ill, Yinglan seized Mo Ying and Rong Heng each by one hand. "Elder brother isn't here, and the Demon King and Heng are hurrying back to the demon realm — we won't trouble Sister-in-law any further."

　　Mo Ying still seemed to want to say more, but Yinglan shot him a look, urging him to pay close attention to Shenya's expression instead. But Mo Ying had been raised from childhood on the understanding that a royal wife must never show jealousy, and must learn to accept her husband taking a full harem — he simply could not understand why Shenya's face should show such displeasure. It was precisely because he could not grasp it that he had gone on chattering so freely, without a shred of restraint, right there before Cize Hall.

　　"Rong Yin, together with his son Rong Heng, takes his leave here. May the Crown Princess enjoy good fortune and long life."

　　Seeing how things stood, the Demon King quickly led Rong Heng away to make their farewells. He was no green youth like Mo Ying, unschooled in the ways of the world; he sensed, if only vaguely, that this Crown Princess was not an easy woman to deal with, and that lingering even a moment longer might well bring real trouble down on them. His heart was heavy with many thoughts — how could a woman like this ever be a fitting match for a Crown Prince of such breadth of vision, of such courage and wisdom both? And how, in time, could she ever bear the weight of the position of Empress of the Three Realms, mother to all? But none of that was his to worry over now; all he could do was hurry back to the demon realm, nurse Rong Heng back to full health, and see properly to the arrangements for his marriage to the Eleventh Princess.

　　Once the Demon King and Rong Heng had departed, Yinglan practically dragged Mo Ying along and saw him all the way to the Southern Heavenly Gate, and at once the hush of ordinary days settled back over Cize Hall. Shenya, her face cold, stepped over the threshold into the hall, with Changxiu and Xiang'er following close behind.

　　"Changxiu, tell me honestly — did His Highness give his personal jade pendant to that Asura girl?"

　　Hearing Shenya's question, Changxiu felt as though struck by a bolt from the blue — to answer would be wrong, and to refuse to answer would be wrong too.

　　"Forgive me, Your Highness — Changxiu truly does not know. Whatever His Highness does not wish to disclose, Changxiu dares not inquire into, and Changxiu certainly dares not presume to discuss His Highness's private affairs. I beg Your Highness not to press me on this."

　　Hearing Changxiu's evasive, noncommittal answer, anger flared at once in Shenya's heart — a matter of this magnitude, and Changxiu dared to stonewall her like this.

　　"Where is His Highness? Has he truly gone to find that Asura woman? And didn't even take you with him?" Her voice grew angrier with every word.

　　"Forgive me, Your Highness — Changxiu truly does not know." Changxiu bowed deeply, arms clasped.

　　"Wretched man — the two of you, master and servant, are surely in this together. It isn't that you don't know — it's that you won't tell me. And the more you carry on like this, the more it proves there's something to hide."

　　"Your Highness, please mind your words. First, relations between the Celestial Clan and the Asura Clan are already tense — this is not something to speak of so carelessly. Second, you must not presume to discuss His Highness's private affairs so freely—"

　　"That's enough out of you! How dare you lecture me?" Shenya's almond eyes flared wide, and she cast Changxiu a venomous glare.

　　"Changxiu would not dare." Changxiu bowed his head even lower.

　　"Xiang'er, we're leaving. Back to the Shen family — I want my father to look into just who this Asura woman with the violet eyes really is."

　　"And why would you look into her?"

　　Ziyuan appeared suddenly in Cize Hall, startling Shenya badly.

　　"And what right do you have to look into her?" There was a distinct edge to Ziyuan's voice.

　　"You have gone years without bearing me a child. Even if I chose to take a secondary consort, would you have any grounds to object? And in any case, I have no such intention at present — so why make yourself out to be the injured party over nothing? I'll say this to you plainly, once and for all: if you do nothing rash, nothing at all will come of this. But if you do something you ought not to, and stir up conflict between our two clans, that will cross a line I will not tolerate — and then don't blame me for showing you no husbandly consideration." With that, Ziyuan swept his sleeve and walked straight off toward the sleeping quarters.

　　Changxiu let out a breath, and hurried after Ziyuan at once, his heart pounding uneasily within him. His Highness had always been mild and even-tempered, rarely ever sharp or severe with anyone; even though things between him and the Crown Princess had never been especially warm, they had at least always maintained a courteous distance, and he had almost never spoken a harsh word to her. Changxiu could not even recall the last time His Highness had lost his temper with the Crown Princess — and yet just now, His Highness had seemed almost a stranger to him, and it frightened him badly.

　　This must surely be the first sign of some great trouble to come, he thought.

　　Ziyuan had already been in the sleeping quarters a good while, and still Shenya stood rooted to the spot, dazed. Ziyuan's anger had been unmistakable — when had he ever raised his voice at her before? Even the term of endearment he had always used, "beloved consort," had quietly changed, without her even noticing, to a bare "you." She had never much cared for that hollow title of "beloved" to begin with — sweet in name, but empty of any real affection — and yet she had always believed Ziyuan simply had little taste for such matters between men and women, that he loved no one at all, herself included; and so, resentful as she sometimes felt, she had still been able to go on living this way. Only now did it dawn on her, all at once, that she was no different from all the other unloved women before her — Ziyuan had never held any of them in his heart, and that was precisely why he had always been so cold and distant toward them, so lacking in warmth.

　　And now, for the sake of that Asura woman, Ziyuan had actually lost his temper with her — had actually spoken such harsh words to her?

　　In this moment, Shenya's mind had gone entirely blank, her heart turned to cold ash, her body trembling faintly.

　　What manner of enchantress could this be, to have so utterly bewitched Ziyuan, to leave him no longer himself at all?

　　She could accept Ziyuan loving no one. What she could not accept was Ziyuan's heart belonging to someone else.

　　How could the Ziyuan she had so painstakingly clutched in her grasp hold no place for her at all, and love another instead?

　　This was, quite simply, the greatest humiliation she had ever known.