Xu Lianhua's POV
I smiled at Grand Scholar Feng, my face a perfect mask.
How did someone so young see what seasoned generals missed? he asked warmly.
A test. Measuring how dangerous I was.
I got lucky, Grand Scholar. I read Father's military books. The pattern just appeared.
Remarkable. His eyes were kind. Grandfatherly. What other patterns do you see? In the palace, perhaps?
My heart stopped. Was he asking if I'd connected him to the murders?
I only understand military strategy. Court politics confuse me completely.
He relaxed. Good. He thought I was naive.
We'll remedy that in our lessons. Until tomorrow, Your Majesty.
After he left, I found the Emperor and Li Jian.
He's testing me. Trying to figure out what I know.
A messenger arrived with a sealed letter. For the Empress. From the Xu family compound.
My blood ran cold. I broke the seal.
Father's handwriting.
My dearest daughter, congratulations on your marriage. When might we visit home? Your mother misses you. With love, your devoted father.
I stared at the words until they blurred.
Devoted father. The man who watched them drug me. Did nothing while they sold me.
It's from my father. He congratulates me. Wants me to visit home.
The hypocrisy burned like acid.
The audacity Li Jian started.
He's dead, I said quietly. Father's been dead for days. Poisoned. So who wrote this?
Silence fell like a hammer.
The Emperor examined it carefully. This is his handwriting?
Exactly like it. But impossible.
Someone forged it, Li Jian said. But who? Why?
I thought hard. To test if I still have emotional ties to my family. Or... Horror struck me. To get me to leave the palace. Visit 'home' where someone could kill me away from your protection.
A trap, the Emperor agreed, voice grim.
I wrote back coldly: I serve the Emperor now. The Xu family is no longer my concern. Do not contact me again.
Short. Final.
That night, I couldn't sleep. Memories haunted me. I walked to the garden.
You should be resting.
The Emperor stood in shadow.
Couldn't sleep. Too many memories.
We walked in silence.
Do you regret staying? he asked finally.
I considered carefully. No. For the first time in my life, someone values what I can do instead of what I was born as. That's worth the danger.
He studied my face with intensity that made my heart race.
Your mind is extraordinary. Your birth is irrelevant. It always has been.
The kindest words anyone had ever said.
Thank you, I whispered.
I mean it. You see patterns others miss. You're not just valuable. You're essential.
Essential. Not worthless. Essential.
A scream shattered the night.
We ran toward the sound. Servants clustered around someone on the ground.
A body.
My stomach dropped.
Yue'er.
My maid. My friend. The only person who ever loved me.
Lying in blood, throat cut.
NO! I fell beside her, hands shaking. No, Yue'er, please
But she was already gone. Eyes staring at nothing.
The woman who raised me. Who taught me to read. Who tried to save me from the substitution. Who'd been tortured and rescued and brought here to safety.
Only to die anyway.
Because of me.
In her hand, a piece of paper.
The Emperor pried it free.
A message: This is what happens to those who talk. You're next.
Who did this? My voice shook.
Your Majesty! A guard ran over. The kitchens fire! Spreading to the east wing!
That's where the investigation files are! Li Jian's face went white.
It's a distraction, I said through tears. They killed Yue'er while they destroy evidence.
The Emperor made a decision. Li Jian, save those files. Everyone else, seal the palace. No one leaves.
He knelt beside me. I'm sorry.
I looked at Yue'er. The woman who raised me. Tried to save me. Brought here to safety.
Only to die anyway.
This is my fault.
This is the murderer's fault. He helped me stand. Don't let her death be meaningless. Help me catch them.
I wiped tears, fury burning. I will.
Li Jian returned later, covered in soot.
The files?
Half destroyed. Someone burned specific documents. All testimony about the man in palace robes. Everything that could identify Grand Scholar Feng.
Feng had killed Yue'er and destroyed evidence.
What time is our lesson tomorrow? I asked.
Morning. But you're not going
Yes, I am. He thinks he's won. Thinks he scared me. My voice was steel. I'm going to smile and let him think that. Then destroy him.
The Emperor studied me. You're not the same girl who entered this palace.
No. That girl was trying to survive. This one wants revenge.
He smiled grimly. Tomorrow we set the trap. You go to your lesson. Act devastated. While he's focused on you, my guards search his quarters.
What if we find nothing?
Then we make him confess. Trust me?
I thought about Yue'er. Yes.
Get some rest.
I returned to my empty quarters.
On my pillow lay another note.
I opened it with shaking hands:
Your maid talked. You're smarter. Don't make her mistake. Stop investigating. Or everyone you care about dies. Starting with the Emperor.
They'd been in my room. While I was in the garden.
Threatening the Emperor's life.
I studied the handwriting carefully.
Then I saw it.
The way certain letters curved. The spacing between words.
I'd seen this handwriting before.
Recently.
My heart stopped.
This wasn't Grand Scholar Feng's handwriting.
It was someone else's.
Someone I'd trusted.
Someone with access to everything.
I ran to find the Emperor, note clutched in my hand.
Because I'd just realized something that changed everything:
We'd been hunting the wrong person.
And the real mastermind was much, much closer than we thought.