Silk and Serpents
Bai Jinghong frowned, moon-pale face etched with sorrow. "Fifth Sister, silence! Princes are not tavern gossip."
The chided girl—Bai Huayan , fifth daughter of concubine Xiao Ye —pouted behind a mask of honeyed obedience. At ten, she'd mastered the viper's arts: toadying flattery and wolf-in-lamb's-wool threats . "Elder Sister's wisdom guides me," she simpered, clinging to Bai Jinghong's arm like ivy on marble.
Bai Jinghong's sigh misted the frigid air. "Second Sister's fate wrings my heart. Add more jade to her spirit dowry—she knew so little comfort in life."
"A bodhisattva's heart!" Bai Huayan chirped. "No wonder all whisper: Jinghong is Dongqin's fairest rose and kindest soul!"
*
Funeral Farce**
A wail shattered the hush. Paper money showered like ash, dusting Bai Huayan's cheeks.
"Who dares?!" she shrieked, spitting grave-snow. "Cease this keening!"
Mourners flinched. "But milady—we keen for the dead as custom demands! Silence curses the living!"
Bai Huayan sneered. "Custom? This ghost wedding is imperial favor—a celebration!"
"Wretched spawn!" The voice cracked like glacial ice. Dowager Zhou , leaning on attendants' arms, emerged—a withered willow in mourning white. "Ghost weddings bring no joy! Is this what you learn beside Jinghong?"
Lady Ye swooped like a carrion bird. "Mother speaks truth. Ghost weddings are sorrow's crown—not festivity." Her gaze pinned Bai Huayan. "A ward raised in my household must not shame my name. Heed well?"
"Yes, Mother." The girl curtsied, venom veiled by silk.
Lady Ye turned to the mourners. "Dry your tears. Weeping insults the royal decree. Wen Guogong's neck won't bear that blade."
A servant gasped, pointing at newly arrived paper effigies . "Gods above—that bride-doll... it wears Second Miss's face!"