Chapter 11 Beyond the Hereditary Title

For generations, the House of Zhenbei had supplied military commanders. It held the forces that guarded the northern frontier. It was a true military aristocratic family.

My Dalang, after years of study, was following the imperial examinations toward a career as a civil official.

Civil officials. Military commanders.

The marquis’s armies. Dalang’s future at court.

Blood joined the two.

Wasn’t this exactly what those men had said a ruler feared most?

Qinghe had heard them too. Her expression changed.

She turned quickly toward me, signaling that I should pay no attention.

The storyteller continued. The teahouse was as noisy as ever.

But the ease I had felt on our walk was gone.

I watched the people moving through the room, my thoughts in turmoil.

For my own selfish wish, I had taken Dalang away from the capital.

* * *

I had wanted him to earn his future by his own ability.

But what if his connection to the marquis’s household prevented him from doing so?

Had I ruined my son?

“My lady, your tea has gone cold.

“Shall we go home?”

Qinghe’s gentle voice brought me back.

I set down my cup, pressed the worry inside me, and nodded.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

The streets were still lively when we left.

But the few words I had overheard lodged in me like a small thorn.

It was growing dark by the time we reached home.

Dalang returned from the academy, his face still bright with the promise of a young scholar who had just passed his examination.

Seeing that something was wrong, he came to me quickly.

“Mother, are you unwell?

“Did something upset you while you were out?”

Candlelight flickered in the reception room.

I sent everyone away, leaving the two of us alone.

“Dalang.

“I’ve done you harm.”

Unable to hold back, I began to cry.

“Why do you say that?

“What has happened?”

“You’re the legitimate eldest son of the House of Zhenbei.

“For generations, your family has guarded the frontier and held military power.

“And you intend to enter the civil service through the examinations.

“A civil official and a military commander, joined by blood—that is what an emperor fears most.”

Dalang gave me a helpless little smile.

His eyes were calm. There was no panic in them.

“Mother, the Grand Tutor explained this to me long ago.

“And that is why there is a path open to us.”

I stared at him.

“What path?”

“Establishing a separate household.

“I’ll willingly give up the hereditary title and end my formal attachment to the marquis’s house.”

He spoke clearly.

“I’ll found a separate branch. I will no longer belong to the branch that inherits the Zhenbei marquisate.

“I will be myself.

“The marquis’s household will be its own.

“I’ll follow my path as a civil official.

“They’ll retain their command of the frontier armies.

“We’ll still share the same blood, but legally the two households will be separate.”

I thought it over, my brows still drawn.

“But how can establishing a separate household wipe away a blood tie?

“Everyone will still know you are the heir’s son, the marquis’s grandson.”

Dalang nodded.

“Of course it can’t erase our blood relationship.

“But volunteering to petition the throne for separation, and giving up the title, makes my intentions plain to the court.

“It shows that I don’t intend to use the family’s military power for my own ends.

“I only want a place at court through my learning. I’ll have nothing to do with the household’s military honors or influence.

“Once I’m no longer its successor, more than half that suspicion will be gone.”

The candles lit his young, determined face.

I looked at him.

My panic eased a little, but I still could not relax completely.

“Only…

“Giving up the title and separating from the household comes at a great cost.

“Can you really let it go?”

“Of course I can, Mother.”

“The family may not agree so easily.”

A cold light flickered in his eyes.

“Guo Yinuo wants all the power and standing of the household.

“This separation benefits her. She probably won’t stand in its way.

“The real obstacles will be Father and Grandmother.”

“Dalang, thank goodness you have thought it through.

“Otherwise, I could never make up for what I’ve done.”

“You needn’t worry, Mother.

“I have a plan.”

* * *

Our carriage wheels rolled across the blue-gray paving of the capital.

Before we could even brush the dust of the road from our clothes, an attendant waiting at the city gate delivered the emperor’s spoken command: Dalang was to go immediately to the palace for an audience.

My heart sank.

My fingers clenched until they were white.

After so many years away, this was Dalang’s first visit to the imperial palace.

There had been no warning at all.

Whether it meant good fortune or disaster, I could not tell.

I did not dare delay. I went straight to the Zhenbei residence.

Its red-lacquered gates looked just as they always had.

Only the guards standing before them were strangers.

Upright in their armor, they barred my way.

“This is the marquis’s residence. You may not enter.”

Qinghe stepped forward, her voice sharp.

“How dare you!

“This is the heir’s wife. You dare to stop her?”

They were still hesitating when hurried footsteps sounded inside.

The steward ran toward us, gathering his robe, sweat on his forehead.

The moment he saw me, his manner became respectful.

“My lady, you’re home!

“Quickly—welcome her back into the residence!”