Her mind blanked for a moment, and she could not bring herself to avert her gaze. Those unreadable eyes seemed to bore into her soul. And she was entranced.

“Your Majesty!”

The chorus of soft greetings from behind her brought her out of her trance. She quickly regained her composure and stepped back, bowing.

“Your Majesty.”

“Dispense with the formalities.”

They all rose and Samaya tilted her head. “What brings Your Majesty to our abode?”

The man put his hands behind his back. Somehow, the gesture made him look even more regal. “We came to see how Prince Xu was doing in his lessons today and decided to escort him back to the courtyard.”

“Oh.”

It was then that Samaya finally saw her son behind the Emperor. He had not run up to her today, probably because of the presence of the man. And she had been too occupied to notice his quiet footsteps … that wasn’t right. No matter how quiet Manu’s footsteps were or how noisy her surroundings were, she would always notice his presence. She turned to the man. Did he do something to conceal both his and Manu’s presence?

Crap.

If that was true, then this man would be almost as powerful as Siwang, wouldn’t he? She might not be able to use qi, but she knew the theory of how things worked. To be able to expand the influence of your qi onto another person without the use of dark qi … that required an enormous amount of precise control over one’s qi, which only came with absolute mastery of it.

That would mean that this man would have easily caught them had it not been for the fact that he was busy with Royal affairs and the fact that she had the perfect ability - or rather, inability - that allowed her to evade him.

She would have to be very careful around this guy.

“Our beloved concubine seems to be lost in thought.”

Samaya blinked, realising that she had been staring at the man for the past few moments.

She quickly averted her eyes. “Apologies, Your Majesty. I am just happy to see that you are taking an interest in my child.”

“Well.” The man patted Manu on the back. “He’s my child too.”

His eyes then moved towards the others in the courtyard.

“Lady Fu, it is a pleasant surprise to see you here. How are Our princesses doing?”

Samaya looked back to find the two princesses pressing to their mother’s sides, heads bowed nervously. She frowned. Were they scared of the man? It seemed so. It would seem natural here, where fathers were so distant from their children. Especially if that father was the King. But … it did not sit well with her. She hoped the man did not abuse them in some way.

She watched Fu Caiyi bow. “They are well, thanks to Your Majesty. It is our pleasure to be graced with your presence, Your Majesty.”

The two girls parroted their mother. Samaya’s frown deepened. It made something bitter rise in her to see children so wary of their parents. It dug up bitter memories that were embedded in her. It … reminded her of herself, when she was forever trying to gain her mother’s love, no matter how much the woman hurt her, only to be abandoned in an alley.

The Emperor nodded in acknowledgment. “I would like to stay and dine with my son and Lady Qing. Beloved concubine Fu, I would ask you and my dearest princesses to go back to your residence.”

It was an order.

Samaya could see Fu Caiyi’s lips struggling not to curl downwards. She must be disappointed. She might even resent Samaya a bit. It was inevitable, in this place where everyone had to fight for the favor of the Emperor to survive. No matter how kind Fu Caiyi was, she had to look out for herself and her daughters. To see that favor being bestowed upon Samaya and Manu while her children were being deliberately pushed aside … must hurt.

Was Huang Yasheng doing this on purpose, to separate her from what little goodwill and ally she managed to get?

Samaya’s eyes flickered to the kids, who were now looking up at the Emperor with wide, almost fearful eyes.

She hated seeing that look on children.

It took but a moment for Fu Caiyi to compose herself and bow with a smile. “Of course, Your Majesty. This one shall take your leave.”

Fu Caiyi walked out of the courtyard with her daughters. And Samaya found herself still frowning after them.

“Is something the matter, Lady Qing?”

She wiped the frown off her face and shook her head at the man. “Of course not, Your Majesty. Please, come in.” She tilted her head toward her son. “Manu, go get changed for dinner.”

Manu nodded quietly before rushing into the building. That was unusual. Manu was not usually that quiet. Maybe the presence of the Emperor was keeping him restrained? She sighed softly, resolving that she would talk to him later.

She led the man into the house as well. She refrained from sitting down like she would have before. Apparently, you had to wait for permission to sit with the Emperor. Which … okay, it made sense, but she had been too preoccupied back then to think on it.

Fortunately, the man soon gestured at the chair in front of him in a clear invitation for her to sit. So, she did, noticing the soft smirk on the man’s face.

“It looks like you have finally been learning some etiquette, my lady.”

God, that tone of his infuriated her.

She smiled blandly at the man. “Well, I have to, if I wish not to offend everyone in this Palace, Your Majesty.”

A soft scoff. “Do you actually care about that?”

Samaya shrugged. “I would prefer not to make enemies of everyone here. It would be a nuisance.”

“A … nuisance.” Huang Yasehng parroted back at her.

Not quite. It would become quite troublesome for her, but she was not going to give the man the satisfaction of knowing that.

She shrugged again. An awkward pause followed their brief conversation. It was the Emperor who broke the silence.

“Prince Xu has been doing well in his lessons,” the man started. “I have watched him today. He did multiplication … it’s a strange method that he used. Strange symbols on paper, with no rod calculus. It was quite a learning experience for me as well

“I taught him the way I learned.” She replied.

“And this … Xin Yue taught you? Where did he come from?”

She paused at that. How should she answer that? She could make up tons of lies but she was sure the man would not believe most of them. But how could she say that she was from another world, a futuristic one, where they had simplified the mathematical methods of the past?

She thought for a moment and decided to go with the truth … or, well, a version of it.

She shrugged. “The Western continent. He was called Milton. But he also went by Xin Yue amongst the local people. But he never gave me his true identity. I was in his care for a while. I left when I was 16.”

Most of that was the truth. One of her mentor’s pseudonyms was Milton and she did take her first mission when she was sixteen. Ir was also true that she knew little of his past or true identity. She only knew her as the father figure who saved her and brought her up. Who taught her how to survive and live in a wretched world. Who protected her until she was old enough to protect herself … and that was all that mattered to her.

“And who taught you how to read and write?” The Emperor’s question brought her attention back to him.

This time, she answered truthfully. “Well, some of it was taught by Xin Yue. The rest, I learned by myself.”

After all, she did have knowledge of Mandarin from her world.

She sighed softly. “Your Majesty, is there a reason for this interrogation?”

Huang Yasheng leaned forward over the table. “The better question would be … is there not? You, a commoner I do not remember, appear out of nowhere with my child. A commoner who can evade my Shadow Guards. A commoner who is somehow educated. And QingHu only knows that you appeared five years ago with Prince Xu. Nobody knows anything about you before that.”

She sighed softly. “My life before I had Manu is … of no significance here. It does not exist anymore, however much I wish otherwise. Manu is my life now. I only wish for him to live a happy, healthy, long life. So, you have no need to worry. As long as my child is safe and healthy, you will find no trouble from me.”

“Yes, you have mentioned. Your first day here said otherwise.”

She cleared her throat at that. “That was … a lapse of judgment. It will not happen again.”

Hopefully.

“Make sure it does not.”

Another awkward pause, which was broken by Samaya this time.

“May I ask you a question now, Your Majesty?”

The man did not speak but tilted his head in clear acquiescence.

She decided to rip off the band-aid in one go. “Have you ever hurt the princesses?”

Huang Yasheng blinked. “What?” He sounded dumbfounded.

She repeated her question without hesitation. “Have you. Ever. Hurt. The princesses?”

For the first time, she saw a hint of emotion in those golden orbs.

The beginnings of wrath.

“Just because We have granted you leniency for the sake of Our son,” he growled out, “does not mean We will not punish you for your impertinence. How dare you speak in contempt of your Emperor?!”

Fuck, she felt pressure coming down on her. It was something Siwang liked to use to slow her down. The pressure of one’s qi to make the other submit. And sometimes, it was the pressure caused by extreme emotions stimulating one’s qi. If Siwang had not used it on him many times before, she would have been on her knees by now.

Usually, she would be moving regardless of the pressure and trying to break her opponent out of their concentration. But there was no such option here. She clenched her fist, digging her nails into her palm before speaking as calmly as she could.

“I only asked a simple question,” she said, keeping her voice steady. “I only wish to know why your own daughters are so afraid of you.”

The pressure ceased immediately as the man blinked at her. “Afraid of me?”

“They were practically hiding behind their mother when they saw you. Even Manu behaved more freely with you once he got used to your presence.”

The man seemed to think it over. “Well, that is a given. Those children do not see me as much as Prince Xu does.”

She ignored the emphasis he put on the words Prince Xu and focused on something else. “Do you mean to tell me,” she leaned forward, frowning, “that you have spent more time with a child who has been here barely a week than with the children who have been born and living here for years now?”

“That’s … not …”

The Emperor was frowning, seeming deep in thought. Samaya had never seen him so lost for words. It seemed he had never even thought of the matter before. It angered her greatly, in a way that things unrelated to her rarely did. It was an old, ugly, bitter anger … stemmed from night after night after night of her little self running after her mother on her little legs, trying to keep up, trying to earn love, afraid of being cast away.

“I have done my duty by them.” The voice from beside her brought her out of her mind and she realized that she was once again clenching her fist under the table. “They have been provided with all the luxuries of the world and tutors for their education. The Ladies take care of their daughters as they ought to. A daughter’s education and life are mostly handled by their mothers. I visit them now and then to ensure they are alright. I have done my duty towards those children.”

She stared at him for a moment before chuckling. “I have never seen you speak so much at once.” It would have been funny - how the man was scrambling for excuses - if it was not so enraging. “You cannot even bring yourself to call them your daughters, Your Majesty. Who are you fooling?”

Samaya was sure the man would have gotten angry, had it not been for Manu arriving at that moment. She turned around and beckoned him over with a smile, all signs of irritation and anger gone from her face.

When he came over, she gently put him beside her and told him to show his hands. The boy seemed to hesitate for a moment, which made her stomach drop. But then he held his hands out. Very visibly, she checked his palms and the back of his palms for any marks or bruises. She then checked his wrists, sighing in relief when she saw the unblemished skin.

“Alright, let’s eat, shall we?”

Ignoring the questioning look the Emperor sent her way, she began to serve the food that had been brought by the maids.

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