Even without a written promise, the words spoken beneath tonight's moon…
will become a bond that time shall never erode.
⸻
The winter breeze brushed gently across the jade-stone garden of Xianyan Palace,
caressing Xianlan's face as she stood silently beneath the night sky.
The full moon cast its reflection across the still pond,
and in that hushed stillness, her thoughts rang clearer than ever before.
Tonight, she had arranged to meet someone—
not Feng Yuhan, not Wen Yichen…
but Jiang Xinluo.
Soft footsteps echoed behind her, stopping beneath the shadow of the bamboo grove.
"You came alone,"Xianlan said, without turning around.
"I came as Xinluo—not as an envoy," the other woman replied calmly.
The two stood beneath the moonlight,
like mirrored reflections on the pond—
separated only by the thin line called trust.
"Why did you help me with the poisoned merchant?"Xianlan asked bluntly.
Jiang Xinluo paused, then answered softly:
"Because I knew… if I let you fall into that trap,
I would become the kind of person I despise."
She turned to meet Xianlan's gaze.
"And because… you fight not to defeat others—
but to keep yourself from being swallowed by the shadows."
Those words did not come from an enemy.
They came from a woman… who had begun to set aside her orders, to follow the voice of her own heart.
⸻
Later that night,
at the secluded training courtyard of the Inner Palace,
Feng Yuhan sat quietly in a teahouse.
Across from him was Emperor Li Sichen—a father in title, whom many believed indifferent to his children.
"Are you planning to play this palace game on your own?" the emperor asked flatly as he sipped his tea.
Feng Yuhan set his cup down with composure.
"Not for the game… but for someone who shouldn't be consumed by it."
"Xianlan?"
The prince nodded.
Li Sichen let out a quiet chuckle before replying,
"Good. I know you hold strong cards.
But in the rear palace, the best card is not power or position—
it's the one who knows when to stop."
"And Xianlan… is the one who can stop me,"Feng Yuhan said without hesitation.
The emperor was silent for a long moment.
Then he set a small jade box on the table.
"This contains the truth behind Noble Consort Suzhen.
Use it—when you believe she's ready to face it."
⸻
At dawn,
Xianlan awoke from a hazy dream—
a murmur of her mother's voice and the scent of blood lingering in the air.
She walked to the window,
gazing at a plum tree blooming fully in a season it should not.
"Something… is beginning to change," she murmured.
Just then, footsteps approached.
Wen Yichen arrived with a thick bundle of documents and a ledger from the inner palace supplies.
"I've checked it… this month's royal provisions have gone missing—without a trace," he said in a low voice.
"Whose doing?" she asked.
He handed her a single page.
Her calm face shifted slightly.
"Su Yan…"
Her half-brother.
Wen Yichen continued:
"It's highly likely he's stockpiling resources to build his own base of power.
And that… could be the trap Mengyu plans to push you into instead."
Xianlan closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Then it's time… we lay a new set of moves."
⸻
That evening,
beneath the blooming plum tree by the pond,
Feng Yuhan came to see Xianlan once more.
"I received something from my father," he said, handing her a jade box.
Inside was a confidential letter—
detailing Consort Suzhen's past,
and her secret dealings with the Yan Faction—a group intent on toppling the royal family.
Xianlan was silent for a moment, then asked softly:
"You trust me this much?"
He smiled faintly.
"Not because I trust you blindly…
but because I know you're strong enough to handle it—without destroying yourself."
The moonlight bathed them both in silver.
Xianlan spoke in a gentle voice:
"Will you walk beside me through this?"
Feng Yuhan nodded,
then gave his answer—simple and unwavering:
"As long as the moon still shines over the palace…
I will stand by your side."