After trying all the routes around her, she realized she was really lost.
Helpless she stood in one place hoping Xi Shu would find her quickly but as time went, she got tired.
Looking around the area, she was in. She spotted a large rock not too far away where she could rest until help finally came.
As she walked closer, it was just a mirage due to exhaustion. She ignored it and moved closer.
When she was only five feet away, she heard it clearly
She stood very still, her heart beginning to beat faster. Was it some sort of wild animal. Should she continue standing this close.
Then she heard it again—a soft rustle behind her.
She turned.
The child was there, standing at the edge of the path, watching her. He was not running now. He was watching.
"You shouldn't follow strangers," Wei Lin said, his voice quiet but steady. "You could get lost."
She blinked, slightly surprised that a child this young could speak properly and articulate the words he wanted to say with no issues.
She smiled kneeling in front of the child "My name is Shen Miao, What's yours"
Wei Lin glanced at the girl in front of him like he was older than her.
"You are foolish, you know that"
"I just wanted to help you" Shen Miao glanced down
"I'm thirteen ....and am not a child" he said his tone slightly tinged with disgust and annoyance
"thirteen" Shen Miao stood up raising her brow
Stepping back and observing him.
Now that she saw him properly his body structure seemed older though maybe because of prolonged deficiency, he was smaller than an average thirteen-year-old.
Wei Lin narrowed his eyes
"Aren't you the one who's lost and needs help"
"My apologies."
He tilted his head, studying her.
Then he turned and walked a few steps—and stopped. He looked back.
"You're following me again," he said.
She felt a small smile tug at her lips. "Yes...I actually don't know my way here. I lost my guide, so can I follow you instead? You seem to know your way around."
He didn't answer. He just kept walking.
And, despite everything—despite the dark, the silence, and the fact that she no longer knew where she was—or who was she following.
After walking for a while, Shen Miao followed the boy through a narrow archway, her robes brushing against the stone.
The garden was behind them now. Ahead, a dim corridor stretched into the darkness, lit only by a few guttering candles in wall sconces. The air was cooler here, stiller.
The child did not look back. He walked with the confidence of someone who knew every turn, every shadow, every hidden door.
She hesitated. "Where are we going?"
He paused but didn't turn. "Somewhere."
"Where?"
"..."
" How did you get to know the way?"
"I got lost a few times"
"Got lost "she said
Her eyes narrowed.
She glanced around.
Then back at him.
"Do you know where we are? " She walked in front of him blocking his path.
He glanced at her and shrugged.
Sidestepped and walked around her.
" Don't tell me we are lost "he heard her say
Wei Lin merely glanced at her over his shoulders "Then I won't"
--
Shen Yiyi laughed at something one of her cronies said, her fan fluttering idly in her hand. Her eyes, however, were elsewhere.
Ling Feng stood near the edge of the hall, his cup in hand, his gaze fixed on the service corridor—the entrance to the kitchens. He wasn't watching the guests. He wasn't watching the dancers. He was staring at the corridor, his jaw tight, waiting.
Shen Yiyi remembered seeing his mother earlier, pulling him away from a disturbance. And she remembered, too, the lady‑in‑waiting who had slipped away from Madam Ling's side, her sleeve bulging with something hidden.
She excused herself with a practiced smile.
"I need some air."
She walked toward the garden, but at the last moment, she turned. She passed behind a row of pillars, moving silently, keeping to the shadows. She watched the corridor.
Madam Ling had pulled her son into the corridor whispering something in a low voice before handing him a small pouch.
Ling feng smiled at his mother nodded then turned in the opposite direction.
Shen Yiyi's smile returned.
"Interesting ...."
She turned and walked back toward the hall, her steps lighter than before.
"Let Ling Feng do the dirty work. I'll watch from here."
She returned to her seat, laughing with her cronies, her eyes bright and empty.