“Your brothers have nothing to do with this!”
“My brothers failed you.” She pointed to Zhi Hao. “He will not.”
“That has yet to be seen.”
She arched her brow at him. “I have seen it. I know it. And as an empress, that should be enough.”
The words were preposterous, and yet her confidence was so blatant as she spoke that Zhi Hao felt the truth of it. He would pass the imperial exam. He would work diligently for her father. And he would do it because she wanted him to.
Meanwhile, her father rocked back on his heels, his gaze going back and forth between her and Zhi Hao. “What do you feel for this boy?” he finally asked.
She flinched, and he closed his eyes. He did not want to hear what she had to say, either good or bad. Both would break him.
“Answer me!” her father snapped.
She did not. Instead, her mother stepped forward. “It is love. Can you not see it? They think they know what it is.”
“Love,” he scoffed. “And what do they know of love?”
Her mother rolled her eyes. “What did we know?”
The earl glared at Zhi Hao. “Is this true?”
There was only one answer. He gestured reverently at Ling Xin. “How could I not?”
“Because I say you cannot!”
And now it was Zhi Hao’s turn to show his mettle. “Empress or not, I will devote my life to her.”
Her father snorted. “Childish nonsense. You are not in love!”
“And yet my vow remains.”
The earl paced the confines of the library. He glared at both his daughter and Zhi Hao, grumbling under his breath. He even paused at one point, standing in front of his wife, but the lady said nothing. She merely shrugged. They both knew they could not stop feelings.
In the end, the earl rounded on his daughter. “Here is my bargain with you both.” He flicked a dismissive glance at Zhi Hao to focus on Ling Xin. “You will become empress. You will study and practice the virtues.”
Ling Xin lifted her chin, her gaze hard. “And in return?”
He grimaced, but he turned to face Zhi Hao. “I will train him. An hour every day, here. If he is capable, then I will accept him as my protégé. Assuming he passes the imperial exam.”
Zhi Hao jolted. That was a position that would make his career. It would give him a salary large enough to help his family, to dower his sisters, and to have a wife of his own. Such largess couldn’t be ignored. And yet…
His gaze went to Ling Xin’s. He would have to give her up.
She returned his look, her expression carefully blanked. She knew—as did he—that so long as she was a virgin, her father would send her to the Feast of Fertility. Short of total disgrace, she could not escape the Forbidden City.
But her father was not done. With a snap of his fingers, he pulled Zhi Hao’s attention back. “You will learn Manchu,” he commanded. “It is a necessity at court.”
Zhi Hao nodded.
“Li Fei will be your instructor.”
Zhi Hao winced, but he understood the reason. If he continued be near Ling Xin, he would not be able to resist her.
“And your wife.”
His breath choked off. Even knowing it was coming, he could not deny the pain that lanced through him. He looked to Ling Xin, but her gaze was on the floor. But what could they do?