He had to know. He had to know what was the cost of disobedience.
“And if I do not?”
“Then your body will be found in the Yangtze River.” The earl said the words with such implacable certainty that Zhi Hao could not doubt it.
Worse, he saw the words hit Ling Xin. She was already shaking her head.
“You cannot kill him. If our love is true, heaven will punish you.”
Iftheir love was true? Did she doubt it?
“I will risk it,” her father drawled.
The tears in her eyes almost undid him, but Zhi Hao stood still. He would not give in. Not yet. He just needed to think—
“Baba, please,” Ling Xin said, her voice filled with pain.
“Are you an empress? Or my child?”
“I am your child,” she said, her voice quivering.
“Then you have dishonored me and the family. Do you die with him?”
“You will not kill her,” Zhi Hao said. “You are not that cruel a man.” It was not his place to say such a thing, but he needed to reassure Ling Xin that her father cared for her.
Unfortunately, he may have misjudged the man because the earl whipped around and grabbed Zhi Hao by the collar. “You know nothing of me!” he spat.
“But I do,” his wife said softly. She stepped forward and set a gentle hand on her husband’s fist where he gripped Zhi Hao. “Empty threats are beneath you.”
“Bah!”
Her father threw Zhi Hao backwards, hard enough for him to land painfully against the desk. Zhi Hao caught himself, but if he had not been a skilled fighter, it would have been very painful.
Meanwhile, the earl turned to his wife and daughter. “Look on my face,” he said coldly. “Your brothers have failed me. Since then all my time, my favors, and my bribes have gone to one thing.” He pointed at Ling Xin. “For you to become empress. You will not abandon that course. You are my daughter, and as such, you will obey me.”
There was no quarter in his voice, no softness in his stance. And then he turned even colder.
“I cannot kill my daughter,” he continued. “But I will kill the one who has destroyed you.” And with that, he turned to Zhi Hao, murder in his eyes.
So it was to be death then. Zhi Hao tensed to fight. He would not hurt the women. He did not think he could force himself to kill the earl. He would not visit that pain upon Ling Xin. But he could fight fiercely enough that he could escape.
But escape to what? The earl would send soldiers to find him. Even if Zhi Hao could still take the imperial exam, he would never get a good position. Never earn enough to help himself, much less his family.
“Stop!” Ling Xin screamed before the violence began. “Stop!”
Her father straightened, his eyes cold. “Give me your word, daughter. Swear to me upon your family, your honor, and your beating heart that you will do as I say.”
She nodded, her face as pale as a shroud. “I will do all I can to become empress,” she said, her words ringing hollow. Then her eyes flashed fire. “But you must do all you promised for him. He will be your protégé.”
“And he will marry Li Fei.”
She straightened, her shoulders looking painfully frail despite her stance. “That is between him and Li Fei.”
The earl snorted, as if their wishes made no difference. “We are agreed?”
Ling Xin looked to Zhi Hao and said the words that would seal his future.
“We are agreed.”