“She is pure. She is too smart to be anything else.”
Her father grunted, neither acknowledging the truth nor disagreeing. Then he turned to Zhi Hao. “Your bed is neat. I have not found evidence of your perfidy.”
Ling Xin huffed. “Because there is none.”
Her father whipped around fast enough that Zhi Hao tensed to save her from a blow. But none fell. Instead, her father bent down until he was nose to nose with his daughter.
“You have been reckless and stupid. You do not deserve to be empress.”
“That is not the threat you think it is.”
Everyone gaped at Ling Xin. For a woman who had been caught sneaking out, she was remarkably bold. If nothing else, her parents had trained her to be strong, to stand her ground. Indeed, if her color had been pale before, she was now flushed with emotion.
“You dare?” her father rasped.
“Of course I dare,” she snapped. “What is an empress but one who dares?”
The words made only partial sense, but her father seemed to understand. But he was not cowed.
“You are nothing without me!” he bellowed.
“And all your plans will come to nothing without me,” she countered. Then she lifted her chin, every inch the empress. “Shall we discuss a bargain, then?”
“You go too far,” he rasped.
And then Ling Xin did the most extraordinary thing. She looked her father in the eye and nodded. “I do if I am your daughter. But if I am an empress, then I have not gone far enough. Choose, father. What am I?”
Zhi Hao watched with awe as the earl’s expression shifted from fury to appreciation. He knew that an empress had to stand tall no matter the provocation, even against her own father. Andso his daughter finally earned his respect. But she was still his daughter, and he would demand deference.
“Do not spend coin from an empty purse.”
“You have filled my purse, father.”
“At least you know who has given it to you.”
At that, she bowed, showing that she did indeed know who had trained her to be the magnificent woman she was. Zhi Hao had adored her before. Now he worshiped her. She would make a magnificent empress.
“Very well,” her father finally said, grudging respect in his tone. “If I say you are empress, then what should I do with him?”
She turned to him, as did everyone else in the room. Zhi Hao could see the agony in her eyes, need and desire that were quickly suppressed. Did his eyes mirror the same? He certainly felt them.
And when his heart all but broke, she spoke. Two words that shocked him to the core.
“Train him.”
“What?” her father exploded.
“Ko Zhi Hao has bargained with me faithfully. He has treated me honorably when…” Her voice faltered a bit. “When he could have taken advantage.
Her father folded his arms and glared at Zhi Hao. “That says he has fear, not honor.”
“It was a smart bargain on his part, don’t you think?” she continued, dismissing her father’s statement with a wave of her hand. “He learned Manchu when he hasn’t the money to afford a teacher. And he became friends with the future empress.” Her voice didn’t waver when she said those words, but her gaze did, flicking to him and then away. “And in return, he told me everything he knew about the Forbidden City. Much more than I had ever heard from you.”
There was no accusation in her tone, and yet everyone heard it nonetheless. Her father’s eyes flashed hot.
“And for that, I am to train him in the lifeblood of China’s commerce?”
“You have two sons in whom you poured your love and training. Neither had the drive to succeed at the imperial exam. Neither could follow your footsteps into the Forbidden City.”