Weaving Allies Behind the Curtain

Chapter 42 – Weaving Allies Behind the Curtain (Lianhua’s POV)

The peach blossoms were late this year.

Lianhua watched from her window as the branches stirred in the wind, stubborn buds clinging tightly to bare stems.

She understood.

Some things required time before blooming.

With her betrothal delayed, she wasted none of it.

The next day, she gathered her circle—not in the official lecture halls, but in the old east courtyard, where no ministers wandered and the trees offered natural cover.

Six students. Two visiting scholars. One curious concubine from the western wing.

They spoke of war history. Of cycles of peace. Of policy hidden in poetry.

Lianhua asked questions like daggers wrapped in silk:

“What would a union between two empires look like if neither wished to conquer?”

“Can stability be founded on mutual fear—or only on shared trust?”

Her words spread.

Not directly.

But in echoes.

At night, she drafted reports.

One questioned General Wu’s loyalty—citing vague ties to military clans known for personal ambition.

Another noted the sudden rise in grain prices near his family estate.

She didn’t accuse.

She planted doubt.

When the Empress Dowager invited her to tea again, Lianhua came with no scrolls.

Only conversation.

And left with the Dowager saying:

“You do not speak like a bride.”

To which Lianhua replied:

“Because I am not a prize.”