Phoenix Rising

040

Back at He's Jewellery, Mingshen was staring smugly across the table at his best friend and superior, Zhenghuan, waiting for a reaction towards the news that he had just brought back. His spy in the palace had just relayed the message about Prince Zhiren's choice of bride, and also the not-so-secret revelation that Princess Xuan had thrown a temper tantrum because of it, confessing her affections for Zhenghuan instead. After he had shown Zhenghuan the message, the latter's expression had darkened considerably.

"Looks like that icy face of yours still has its admirers!" Mingshen quipped, trying to provoke a response. "You might get a princess wife tomorrow!"

"Shut up."

"What? Aren't you the least bit touched that the princess fancies you? Many people would kill to marry a princess."

"That's their business. Whether she fancies me or the beggar outside is none of my concern," Zhenghuan snapped, scowling at his friend. He had always known that Princess Xuan liked him—she had been trailing behind him like a little puppy ever since they were children—although he had conveniently forgotten the fact because he had been away from the capital for so long. Now that the prince of Hua had indicated his wish to marry the princess, this long-forgotten matter had resurfaced, much to his chagrin.

Mingshen laughed in amusement. "The king seems adamant about sending the princess to Hua though, so I don't think you have anything to be worried about," he said. Mingshen was one of the rare few people who knew the truth behind Zhenghuan's birthright, so they both knew that there was no way the king would agree to Xuan's request. "You were right about Situ Zhiren choosing her though. The princess is naïve enough to be manipulated easily by him."

Zhenghuan slowly rotated the teacup he was holding between his fingers, deep in thought. Situ Zhiren's little marriage plan was simply a ruse to cover up for the real reason he was lingering behind in Duan and till now they still had no clue who it was that the prince was in cahoots with. If they couldn't uncover the turncoat then they would always be on the reactive end of things and that wasn't a position that Zhenghuan liked being in.

"What has he been up to lately?" he asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. He's mostly been staying at the ambassador's quarters, only occasionally leaving for meals at one of the restaurants. Even then, he goes alone and doesn't meet with anyone," Yixing replied. After a moment's thought, he added, "He did get his steward to send a gift to Minister Han's household just this morning though."

"Minister Han?" Zhenghuan frowned.

"Yes. And that gift happened to be something purchased from my shop—a necklace and earring set made out of rubies. Quite an expensive set, but not something that a prince wouldn't be able to afford."

"For Han Zi-ning?"

Mingshen nodded. "It seems like the girl is attracting all sorts of attention to herself these days. The crown prince is obviously interested, and now Situ Zhiren too. My men say that Queen Ci tried to push Han Zi-ning to Situ Zhiren by sending him a flattering portrait and description of her—she obviously doesn't want the girl as the crown princess. Too bad he didn't fall for her ruse... Or maybe he did?"

Zhenghuan shot Mingshen a stern glare and the latter immediately threw his hands up in the air in mock surrender.

"Hey I'm just speaking the truth here. If Situ Zhiren wasn't interested in Han Zi-ning, why would he bother sending her jewellery? Sure, he might not take her as his chief consort because she isn't more useful to him than Princess Xuan is, but the future king of Hua has plenty of space in his harem for another girl."