Fan the Flames

The moment Li Weiyang entered Li Changxi’s room, she was met by a heavy, somber fragrance. She paused in surprise, then stood at the doorway and thought it over carefully before stepping inside.

In the outer room, Fourth Concubine Zhou came over to greet her with a beaming smile, then took a seat at the very end. There was not the slightest trace of anger or resentment on her face. A hint of indescribable worry lingered between Li Changxiao’s brows, but she said nothing and simply sat quietly to one side.

“Third Miss, you’ve come at an inopportune time. Fifth Miss has just gone to rest,” Zhou said with a smile, her almond-shaped eyes rippling like spring water. Though she was their birth mother, she had no standing to call the young ladies by their names in front of others.

Just gone to rest? Li Weiyang smiled. “That’s all right. I only came to see Fifth Sister and show that I care.” Her gaze swept lightly over Zhou. She wore a jacket and skirt of pale honey-colored brocade, the hem embroidered with twin lotuses. The tips of her cherry-red shoes peeked out below. She didn’t look at all like a woman who had given birth to two daughters. No wonder Father doted on her so much.

Just then, a maid quietly informed Li Changxi in the inner room that Li Weiyang had come to visit. She sprang to her feet, grabbed a painted porcelain vase from the table, and hurled it toward the doorway. Her voice was filled with barely suppressed fury. “Get out! Tell her to leave this instant!”

The vase shattered, scattering shards and water across the floor. Its crash pierced through layer upon layer of bead curtains and reached everyone in the outer room. Zhou’s expression turned awkward for an instant. Li Changxiao nearly leaped to her feet, but realized she had lost her composure and slowly sat back down. The unease in her heart was impossible to hide.

Zhou instinctively glanced at Li Weiyang, only to meet her clear, cool eyes, bright as rippling water. Zhou froze for a moment. By the time she recovered, Li Weiyang’s gaze had softened with a faint smile, as if nothing at all were amiss.

Zhou immediately concluded that this thirteen-year-old girl was not nearly as simple as she seemed.

Anyone else would have felt at least a little awkward in this situation. But Li Weiyang acted as if she hadn’t heard that shout of “Get out!” or noticed the loud crash of the shattered porcelain. Either she was truly foolish and oblivious, or she knew how to keep her emotions off her face. Zhou believed it was the latter. But could a concubine-born girl raised in the countryside really have such cunning and composure?

Li Weiyang’s smile remained unchanged. “Fourth Concubine, I just noticed a familiar fragrance on you. Do you happen to like Snow Fragrance?”...