The sound of light rain whispered outside.
Xianlan sat alone in her study.
Spread out before her were sheets of paper—
a timeline she had reconstructed, beginning from the moment she discovered her mother's letter
to the return of Liu Meirong and the jade ring that had been silently returned.
One line was marked in red ink:
"Only the Crown Prince's seal… can release a servant from the Shadow Hall without opposition."
She gently traced the line with her fingertip.
"Feng Yuhan… are you merely protecting the truth?
Or have you already chosen a side—without ever saying a word?"
⸻
Elsewhere,
Jiang Xinluo received a new letter from Jianrong.
The message was short but clear:
"Destroy all new evidence before the alliance ceremony begins."
"If she lives, the roots of old power can never be uprooted."
She clenched the paper tightly.
For the first time, her heart trembled in her role as
"someone who once believed loyalty must come before all else."
"I may have been willing to betray the world… just to stand beside him."
"But I was never willing to destroy the innocent, just because a single line ordered it."
⸻
That night,
Jiang Xinluo disguised herself as a palace maid,
and entered the royal ash archive behind the palace.
In her hand was a thin cloth bundle,
containing Consort Yifei's ledger of withdrawn manuscripts—
which should have been burned long ago.
But instead of destroying it,
she hid it—beneath a wooden box under the Southern Water Pavilion.
She placed the key inside an incense urn—beneath the Jade Phoenix statue.
⸻
The next day – Crown Prince's residence
Feng Yuhan flipped through his daily intelligence reports.
One entry stood out even more than the recent assassination rumors:
"A wooden box was found beneath the Southern Pavilion,
containing an old ledger and a handwritten letter from Consort Yifei…"
"The key was left in plain sight—not as if someone was trying to hide it at all."
He was silent for a moment,
then murmured:
"Someone… is playing a game that defies Jianrong's intentions."
"And they've chosen to lay this 'card'… in front of me."
⸻
That same night – Hualan Residence
Wen Yichen arrived with a small item wrapped in cloth:
a jade tiger brooch that once belonged to a loyal court official under Consort Yifei.
"It was left at your door last night,"
"Along with a wooden tag that said: 'Returned on behalf of Lady Crescent Moon.'"
Xianlan paused.
The name "Lady Crescent Moon" was once an alias used by Jiang Xinluo
during her travels through the kingdom of Daxia years ago.
She clenched her fist lightly.
"She's starting to move against her own commands…"
"If someone like Jiang Xinluo… is beginning to defect,"
"Then it means the shadowed enemy… is running out of cards to play."
⸻
Behind the veil of the inner palace
Noble Consort Su Zhen sat in still silence.
Beside her, her trusted maid leaned in to whisper:
"The rumor of arson failed to take root."
"The Crown Prince is gaining more support from the reformist nobles."
Su Zhen offered a small smile.
"The game has only just begun…"
"And if the real dealer remains hidden in the shadows,
then I see no reason to reveal a single card of my own."