When all the guests were seated, the king's chief steward struck a gong and announced the arrival of the royal family. King Shunde walked in moments later, accompanied by Queen Ci Yuanji and his mother, the queen dowager, as well Crown Prince Ru-quan. After accepting everyone's greetings, the king gestured for everyone to be seated, taking his place on his throne.

"This time each year brings me great joy because we come together to celebrate the peace and stability that we enjoy between the three kingdoms, and to honour the deep friendship between us," the king said, smiling jovially as he addressed the envoys and the rest of the court. "Tonight we shall feast and celebrate in honour of our friends who have come all this way to our kingdom, and we shall remind ourselves of the importance of such bonds that will continue to grow in the years to come. A toast," he raised his goblet into the air, "to our everlasting friendship and brotherhood."

"A toast to friendship and brotherhood," the hall echoed as goblets were raised high in the air.

Just as everyone was drinking to the toast, the doors of the great hall creaked open and a figure in flaming red walked in accompanied by two other men, taking confident strides towards the front of the hall. When he reached the front, he bowed respectfully and said, "My apologies for being late, Your Majesty. There were some matters that I had to settle before coming here. I hope you will not take offense for my tardiness."

"Prince Zhiren," the king said, nodding his head in acknowledgement. "Of course not, better late than never. It is a pity you have missed our first toast, but there will be more to come as the night progresses of course. We are honoured to have you visit our kingdom—your father is very generous to have sent you."

Typically the envoys sent by the kingdoms comprised of court officials and occasionally a lesser royal, but to have the crown prince himself being part of the entourage was certainly a first in the history of the three kingdoms. Despite the "peace" across the land, no king would ever be confident enough to send his heir deep within the territories of another kingdom. And doing so was deeply suspicious.

"I asked to come along," the prince replied. "I have long heard about the affluence and culture of Huangcheng and thought it would be a good opportunity to learn from your good practices." Although he sounded as if he was praising the kingdom, there was an arrogance in his tone of voice that immediately garnered the dislike from many of the Duan court officials.

Crown Prince Situ Zhiren was a larger-than-life presence, not only because of the flamboyant outfit and devilish good looks, but also because of his aura of confidence and hubris. In contrast, Ru-quan seemed like a much more subdued presence, even though he was already considered one of the more outgoing personalities among the princes.

Without waiting for anyone to give him an instruction, Prince Zhiren walked over to the empty table between one of his emissaries and Ru-quan, sitting himself down comfortably as if he were in his own home. "Carry on," he said casually, "there's no need to stop the programme for my sake."

The king's expression darkened slightly as he watched the younger man sit himself down and pick up his goblet for a drink of wine. The queen placed her hand over her husband's, shaking her head gently. The crown prince of Hua was arrogant and conceited, but they still had to treat him with respect because he was a distinguished guest tonight.

Zhenghuan had been watching this entire exchange from his seat in the first row on the opposite side of the hall, beside Prince Ru-wen. He caught the slight smirk that Zhiren gave to Ru-quan as he sat down, as well as the glower coming from the latter. He wasn't interested in the petty power plays between the princes—what he was more interested in was observing the other officials to see if any one of them was paying particularly close attention to the prince from Hua. Someone in this hall was in cahoots with Zhiren and the Eagle Warrior of the southern tribes and eventually he would dig out who it was.

"If Situ Zhiren is here personally, perhaps he will make contact with his ally while he's in the capital," Mingshen whispered from beside him.

Zhenghuan nodded. He would need to place extra surveillance around the ambassador's quarters where the envoys were being housed. If Situ Zhiren wanted to play with fire then he was more than willing to play along.

"Is something wrong, Zhenghuan?" Ru-wen suddenly asked, turning to look at him.

"No, why do you ask?"

"You look like you're... looking for someone."

Behind his mask, the Shadow Lord's brows knitted together. The eighth prince was actually far more astute than he let on, to have noticed such a thing when he was making a conscious effort to be inconspicuous about his observations. Perhaps it was a good thing that Ru-wen also happened to be the sort who knew his place and held no ambitions for the throne, else things would become far more complicated than they already were with Ru-quan and Ru-an frequently locking horns.

He shook his head, raising his cup to his lips. "Just looking around," he said.

#

As the night progressed, the guest were treated to a feast of traditional delicacies from the kingdom and a series of song and instrumental performances. The palace had pulled out all the stops to impress the visitors from Hua and Shon, even inviting Haru, a dancer proclaimed to be the best in the entire kingdom, to perform her famous swan dance for the congregation. Haru was a travelling performer who had made a name for herself by performing in restaurants and inns all across the kingdom. Her personality also increased her appeal, for she was known to be a strong-willed and independent woman who had rejected many an ardent suitor who had tried to make her their wife or concubine.

Unlike almost all the ladies in the hall who had dark hair, Haru's hair was a shade of honey brown, which revealed her southern roots. It was said that Haru's mother had come from one of the southern tribes, while her father was from Duan, but the girl had inherited her mother's light-coloured hair as well her sparkling blue eyes. The beads and bells hanging from her headdress made light, chiming sounds as she spun around and around, enthralling the audience with her graceful moves.

While everyone's eyes were fixated upon the fairy in the centre of the hall, one person wasn't looking that way. Instead, he was staring at a girl in a pearl-coloured top on the other side of the hall, seated in the second row nibbling nonchalantly at her osthmanthus cake as if none of this concerned her. Zhenghuan swirled the wine in his cup, the corners of his lips curling upwards slightly.

What do you care about, Han Zi-ning?

Every time he saw her he had this feeling like she didn't belong in this place, nor did she care about belonging. She didn't seem to care about anything that was going on around her, yet he could also sense that deep down inside there was something that she wanted to do.

She reminded him of a predator—a wolf, or a tiger—prowling the forest with only one target in mind. He caught her glancing in the direction of the crown prince—was that her target? Did she also lust after the position of princess consort just like many other girls? He dismissed that possibility quickly. It just didn't feel right. Even if that was something she wanted, it would merely be a means to an end, a stepping stone for her to achieve that end goal. For once he wished he could dig through a person's mind to find out what she was really thinking inside that head of hers.

"Is that her?" Mingshen suddenly said.

Zhenghuan tore his gaze away, annoyed that he had been caught staring. He nodded his head imperceptibly.

"I can see why you're interested," Mingshen remarked, studying Zi-ning a bit more carefully. There was a lazy, blithe air about her that made her stand out from the other young ladies, who were all sitting prim and proper, eager to make a good impression.

"I'm not."

"Then you won't be offended if I speak to her later? Get to know her a bit better? I meant what I said the other day, about wanting to settle down and find myself a wife."

Zhenghuan finished the wine in his goblet in one gulp and he only had to slam it down a little more firmly than he normally would to send Mingshen a strong signal about what he thought about that proposition. Mingshen chuckled, turning his attention back to the dance performance.

#

Beside them, the eighth prince noticed the discussion taking place between the duo even though he was seated too far away to overhear their words. He caught Mingshen looking in Zi-ning's direction and he instinctively turned his head that way too, seeming surprised to find that the man had been looking at the young lady who had drawn the willow tree at the queen's gathering the other day.

Han Zi-ning—the girl that Ru-quan was interested in and had indicated he wanted to marry.

Back at the queen's gathering, he had been the first of the princes to give his vote to Zi-ning. The willow tree in the middle of the lake was his favourite and he often sat by the lake for hours just watching the tree's branches sway gently with the wind. It looked lonely, he thought, just like he was. Even though he had many brothers, he was his mother's only son and he never felt like anyone truly understood him, not even his own mother. When he saw Zi-ning's painting, he hadn't even thought twice about it because one look at the willow and he felt like he had found someone who shared his thinking, who understood his state of mind. It reminded him of a feeling he had once known, but had not felt in this lifetime.

But she would marry his brother, Ru-quan, because he was the crown prince.

Ru-wen asked for a refill of wine and downed the entire glass in one mouthful.

As the music gradually faded away, Haru's dance came to an end with her balancing on the tips of her toes with her hands gracefully extended in mid-air like a swan taking to flight. Loud applause rang out across the great hall as the guests hollered and cheered in response to her dazzling performance.

The king clapped his hands together and his steward brought a pair of gold bangles forward to reward the dancer for her stellar performance.

"The kingdom of Duan has no shortage of talent!" the chief ambassador from Shon belted out, clapping his coarse hands together in approval. His name was Caron, a trusted adviser of the king and senior member of the Shon council, a burly man with a thick beard who towered head and shoulders above most. "Miss Haru is truly as graceful as a swan." He got out from his seat, bowing to the king. "Your Majesty, if I may." The girl wearing the red fox fur who had been sitting beside him stood up as well. "This is Princess Sana, daughter of Lord Rohan and beloved niece to our king. Princess Sana is known to be the best dancer in the entire kingdom of Shon. She would be happy to present a dance tonight, as a gift to your kingdom."

"Wonderful, wonderful! It would be a great honour for all of us to witness the princess's dance," the king said, beaming from ear to ear.

Princess Sana bowed to the king in traditional Shon fashion, then left the great hall with her servant girls to get changed for the performance. When she returned, she had traded her furs for a lighter outfit made of red velvet—a top with long bell sleeves and a plunging neckline showing her plentiful cleavage that ended just above her belly button, and a long, flowy skirt that swayed as she walked. The princess had an excellent figure with curves in all the right places and she was certainly not afraid to flaunt it. The kingdom of Shon was much less conservative than Duan and Hua, for their princess to be allowed to wear such revealing clothing in public.

"The ambassador of Shon is here seeking a husband for their princess," Ru-an remarked, leaning over to Ru-quan.

"Are you interested?"

"Somehow I don't think it's me she's interested in," Ru-an laughed. It was no secret that the princess had been looking in Ru-quan's direction ever since she stepped into the great hall. Even now, her hazel eyes would occasionally flit in his direction.

Ru-quan smiled wryly. "A foreign princess cannot become queen of Duan," he replied. "Although she might make a good bed warmer, don't you think? I don't recall you having taken any concubines yet. Perhaps I should remind Father of that."

"Neither do you," Ru-an answered.

#

The Shon musicians started playing their percussions and the princess began to sway her hips to the rhythm, showcasing a traditional style of dance native to the people of Shon. Unlike the elegance and grace of the dance that Haru had performed earlier, Princess Sana's dance was more confident and seductive, making use of her nimble feet and flexible waist to draw everyone's attention towards her.

"Look at her, dancing like a courtesan," Zi-ning heard Ouyang Sangya remark to the girl sitting beside her. "How could someone like that be a princess?"

The corners of Zi-ning's lips tilted upwards, amused at the number of disparaging remarks that were flying from the lips of the other young ladies around her. Everyone obviously knew what Princess Sana was here to do and they all had their suspicions about the groom that Shon had in mind.

Zi-ning tried to search her memory for any recollection of this Shon princess and who she had ended up marrying in the end, but to no avail. She pursed her lips together, annoyed that she hadn't paid more attention to these things in her past life. While everyone was busy watching the princess's performance and whispering about it, Zi-ning looked around the great hall, observing the guests and their myriad of reactions. When she glanced in the direction of Ru-quan and Ru-an, who were seated on the same side of the hall as she was, she caught the latter turning his head to say something to his attendant, allowing her to glimpse his side profile. Her gaze immediately hardened and her fingers clenched themselves more tightly around the stem of her goblet.

When she turned her head, she was forced to do a double take because her gaze fell directly into a pair of obsidian pools that were looking right back at her from across the hall. It was barely noticeable because the silver mask across his face was far too distracting, but she was almost certain that he was smiling—at her.