Your heart, a frantic bird, beat against your ribs. A private audience, so soon after the morning court? It was unusual. A thrill, warm and sweet, spread through your chest. Perhaps he had a gift. Perhaps he wished to share some private thought. You smoothed the heavy silk of your formal robes, adjusted the phoenix hairpins, and followed the eunuch through the sun-dappled corridors of the inner palace.

The doors to the Hall of Tranquil Contemplation were of polished cedar, slightly ajar. The eunuch bowed and melted into the shadows of the colonnade. You took a steadying breath, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

The room was cool, scented with sandalwood. Emperor Jinshi stood by the window, his back to you, the sunlight weaving through his ink-black hair. And then you saw her. Seated on a low divan to the right of the imperial dais, a young woman. She was delicate, like a painting done in watercolor, with eyes downcast and hands folded neatly in her lap. She wore robes of pale lavender, a color not yet assigned to any rank you knew.