Chapter Two: Mandate of Heaven

The carpenters at the Golden Curtain Pavilion had been working nonstop the past few days, and three days after the Liuli was fired, it was already adorning the shop's lattice window frames.

The Jiuyao Kilns were short-handed. If they meant to sell Liuli, they needed to ensure production could keep pace first... Just as she was mulling over this, Qi Yanhan walked in, impeccably dressed. A smile fixed at the perfect angle on his lips, a rehearsed attempt to project the image of a gentle, refined young master. "Your Highness."

Zhou Yao turned to look. Before her gaze reached him, the deep, fragrant scent of sandalwood drifted to her nose. Her eyes traveled upward, catching a glimpse of pale neck above the layers of robes, until they reached his face—that noble, perpetually smiling countenance that was, in truth, nothing but hypocrisy.

"You're so busy with official affairs—what brings you here?" Zhou Yao asked, eyeing him with puzzlement. She couldn't quite understand him. They weren't close, yet whenever they were in public together, they had to play their roles, pretending to be a loving couple.

Qi Yanhan had been smiling, but his good mood vanished the moment he heard those words. His brow furrowed slightly, his tone gentle but laced with hurt. "My injuries have only just healed, yet Your Highness shows not the slightest concern?"

He lowered his head sorrowfully and sighed. "Very well. I had heard the Golden Curtain Pavilion was understaffed and overwhelmed, so I brought extra hands to help. But it seems they won't be needed after all... In that case, I'll take my people and head back to the Qi Mansion first..."

Zhou Yao looked at him. She felt no panic at having her dilemma exposed; she simply smiled to show goodwill. "Since Master Qi has already brought his people, there's no reason to send them away. Please, have a seat."

"No need. I imagine Your Highness hasn't been sleeping well lately, so I've prepared a soothing incense. Duyun will deliver it to you shortly." His voice was incredibly gentle, so much so that Zhou Yao almost thought he was unwell and too weak to speak properly.

"Do your wounds still hurt? Why is your voice so weak?" Zhou Yao asked hesitantly. After all, she had schemed against Qi Yanhan, and some guilt still lingered in her heart.

Qi Yanhan forced a strained smile, met her eyes, and made a show of looking frail. "To be honest... it does hurt."

"My father struck me, and he had every right to. I failed to discipline my younger brother properly, which allowed him to cause trouble and anger Your Highness. Please don't blame him." He started to bow, but as he leaned forward, he was suddenly racked by violent coughing.

Zhou Yao hurriedly reached out to steady him, a little anxious. "If you haven't fully recovered, why did you still come out?"

When he raised his head, the corners of his eyes were faintly red, and a sheen of moisture glistened in them. He spoke weakly, his voice turning hoarse: "Your Highness has been away for days, and I grew worried. I'm afraid I was a little careless... forgive me..."

"Let me help you inside to rest." Zhou Yao was about to call a servant to escort him to the back courtyard of the Golden Curtain Pavilion, when suddenly Qi Yanhan leaned in close to her neck, his warm breath brushing her ear, startling her and freezing her mid-motion.

"Your Highness, it's all my fault. I've been unwell lately and failed to notice your difficulties. If only I'd realized sooner, I could have spared you from toiling day and night." His fox-like eyes shimmered with tears, clear as glass filled with wine.

"You..." Zhou Yao turned her head away, trying to put more distance between them. "I had to do it anyway."

He was so strange. Just days ago, he was scheming to squeeze out every last bit of profit, and now this? And why was he so close? Fortunately, no one from the Golden Curtain Pavilion was around to see this. If anyone caught a glimpse, it would truly be a disaster!

"The items Your Highness asked me to acquire a few days ago arrived at the Qi Mansion today. I had someone bring them over." Qi Yanhan's gaze rested on the Liuli window of the shop, and a smile lingered at the corners of his mouth.

Noticing Zhou Yao's discomfort, Qi Yanhan casually stepped back, creating distance. A glint of satisfied mischief gleamed in his eyes. "In that case, I'll take my leave and return to the mansion."

After he left, the servants brought in the goods. The box was crammed with seashells, along with several large crates of clay used for making Liuli. Though cheap, such clay was exceedingly hard to come by in Chang'an. Unless bought through proper channels, acquiring it must have taken considerable effort. How thoughtful.

The workforce Qi Yanhan brought was substantial—no fewer than fifty household servants, ten guards, and thirty maids. Zhou Yao assigned some to the Golden Curtain Pavilion and some to the Jiuyao Kilns. The maids stayed at the shop, while the sturdier ones were sent to the kilns to help with production and assist Chen Yuwen.

Over the past few days, Cuiwei had followed Zhou Yao to many places in preparation for the shop's grand opening—applying for market registration at the government offices and handling all sorts of paperwork. Once everything was settled, the Golden Curtain Pavilion's decoration was completed, piece by piece.

Earlier, Zhou Yao had sent men to retrieve the original golden curtain that once hung at the pavilion, and now it was re-hung. It was like adding flowers to brocade; with the Liuli windows and the golden curtain complementing each other, one could almost imagine being back in the palace.

"Madam," Cuiwei said to Zhou Yao, after a moment's thought, "Today is the pavilion's opening day. Why not ask a master to calculate an auspicious time?"

Lately, people had been saying that the abbot of Fahua Temple outside the city possessed profound spiritual insight—a living Buddha. In his eyes, even the wealthiest nobles were no different from the city's refugees. He treated all with equal regard.

"Fine. I've long heard of Master Wuchen's reputation; better to see once than hear a hundred times. Tomorrow morning, we'll go pay him a visit."

Zhou Yao reached into a tray, scooped up a handful of Liuli beads, and handed them to Cuiwei with a gentle smile. "These are for you." Then, with a slight tilt of her chin toward the remaining beads in the tray, she added, "You've all worked hard lately. Take these Liuli beads and share them among the others."

Cuiwei looked at Zhou Yao in delighted surprise, holding a bead between her fingers and holding it up to the candlelight. "Your Highness, are these really for us? I thought commoners like us would never own something like this!"

"Back at the Qingyun Terrace, even catching a glimpse of such things was rare. I never dared dream that today I'd share in your good fortune."

Zhou Yao wanted to call her silly, but what she said instead was, "There will be many more of these in the future. If you like them, you may pick two to keep in your room."

"Thank you, Madam!" Cuiwei's joy was impossible to hide. She bounded off, a far cry from the timid, cautious girl she had been when they first met.

"But..." Cuiwei's smile faded as she hesitantly asked, "Madam, given your high birth, why did you appear in..."

"From now on, bury that matter deep in your heart."

"Yes." Cuiwei saluted and withdrew, hurrying off with the tray in her hands.

The next morning, a horse-drawn carriage slowly came to a halt before the gates of Fahua Temple on the outskirts of the city.

She was helped down from the carriage. Zhou Yao wore plain garments, without a trace of makeup, her face clearly showing exhaustion.

Incense burned fervently within Fahua Temple. Many eligible young women came to pray for good marriages, farmers to beseech favorable weather for the coming year, and merchants to seek thriving business.

Zhou Yao paid no attention to the people coming and going within the temple. Climbing the high platform, she took three sticks of incense. The moment she knelt on the prayer cushion, a surge of mixed emotions rushed through her heart.

She didn't understand why her marriage had to be a pawn in the games of imperial power. She couldn't comprehend why the world always favored men. And what she could not bear most was that women in this world had no way out other than depending on men.

"Amitabha." Someone knelt beside Zhou Yao, bowing three times to the towering Buddha statue in the center of the great hall. "Unspeakable, unspeakable."

"What is unspeakable?" Zhou Yao couldn't help turning to look. But the person remained motionless, kneeling there, muttering something under his breath that she couldn't make out.

Only after the three sticks of incense had been placed in the burner, and as she was about to move to the next hall to kneel in worship, did that person slowly rise from his cushion. "The three thousand worlds are full of ugliness and sickness—whether royalty or common folk, clad in silk or coarse cloth. All the suffering and joy of this world lie within the stirrings of a single thought. This is the mandate of Heaven."

He left. The mandate... of Heaven...? Zhou Yao didn't understand what he meant. She told Cuiwei to donate some silver and procure an auspicious date, then made her way to the Qi Mansion.

She had been staying at the Golden Curtain Pavilion all this time, and leaving Bige at the Qi Mansion indefinitely was no long-term solution. Besides, she thought, rather than leaving her adorable little beagle in someone else's care, why not keep him by her side?

It was Cuiwei's first time accompanying Zhou Yao to the Qi Mansion, and there was much she still didn't understand. Zhou Yao handed her over to Duyun for training.

Had it not been for the severe shortage of trusted hands at Zhou Yao's disposal, she would never have brought Cuiwei along so hastily. Especially those close to one—their lips absolutely had to be sealed tight.

Zhou Yao made her way into the courtyard as if she knew it by heart, but there was no sign of Bige. Instead, in addition to the pit she had noticed before, there were now several bricks with dog bite marks in the wall's corner, and dog droppings scattered everywhere.

Looking at the scene in despair, the beads of an abacus clicked furiously in Zhou Yao's mind once more. The repair costs for the Qi Mansion's courtyard, the cost of the garden plants, the wall restoration fee, the cleaning charges, and the feeding expenses for all these days—all of these had to be paid by Zhou Yao to the mansion steward.

Add to that the silver she had borrowed from Qi Yanhan, and the total came to at least several thousand strings of cash. The world darkened before her eyes, her future so bleak she couldn't see her own hand in front of her face.

In the middle of summer, she somehow felt a chill run through her. How refreshing! Darkness swam before her eyes, her head spun, and she collapsed straight backward onto the ground. From a distance, it looked as though she had been angered to death by Bige.

When she came to, even breathing was a struggle. Something heavy pressed down on her face—she couldn't open her eyes, couldn't draw breath. The suffocating sensation of death's doorstep crept over her heart.

Zhou Yao reached up and felt a fuzzy texture. The answer suddenly dawned on her. She shoved with all her might, and sure enough, there was Bige beside her. Judging by the suffocation she had just experienced, Bige had been lying with his belly planted squarely on her face!

Zhou Yao was weary inside, but she said nothing. She raised her hand to scold the dog, but he let out a soft, pitiful whimper, as if telling her how much he had missed her during their days apart. And Zhou Yao had to admit—she softened once again.