Chapter 74: The Flower That Grows Underground
The hour of Si (03:00–05:00) the moment when shadow and light become one. Neither night nor day, it is the hour when the whole world seems to hold its breath.
In the shadows of the inner maidservants' quarters, tucked into a secluded corner of the palace, Jiang Xinluo crouched beneath the shadow of a bush. Her sharp eyes scanned the soil and surrounding walls as though studying a map of escape routes.
Her clothing resembled that of the lowest ranking palace maids faded, smudged linen. An old cloth covered her head. The wooden pail she carried brimmed with wet laundry and soap stains nothing suspicious at all.
No one who passed by gave her a second glance. No one remembered her face. Because no one believed that this "servant girl" was the same person once known as the shadow envoy of the Hybrid Territories the spy who once watched Xianlan's every breath.
Her footsteps made no more sound than a cat's paw brushing grass as she slipped into the quarters of a senior maid. The storage room inside held only a flickering oil lamp too dim to reveal even her own reflection in the warped shadows.
She stood before an old chest of drawers thick with dust. Slowly, she knelt, inhaled deeply, and began to open the hidden compartment as if she were the hand of darkness itself.
The wood creaked softly as the knot loosened.
Inside the drawer was nothing more than a tattered piece of embroidery and a small sandalwood box.
The box was sealed with a complex knot unique to the Palace of Yu Fei a sailor's weave softened by the hand of a seamstress. A knot only those from the consort's quarters would recognize.
It took her time to unravel it layer by layer. The wood was ice-cold. The silence outside pressed so heavily that she could hear her own heartbeat.
"The scent of these flowers… it's not from today it belongs to sixteen years ago…" she whispered.
When the box opened, the fragrance of aged sandalwood mingled with dried blossoms rose into the air.
Inside were three items:
• Shredded fragments of a hastily torn letter
• A single silver-tipped black feather an emblem once used by the intelligence branch of the palace
• And a golden nameplate engraved with only one name:
"Qian Shiming."
A woman once known as a maidservant of Consort Yu Fei's palace never seen again after the night of the fire.
Xinluo's eyes widened. A tremor of recognition flashed through her chest.
"…The one who vanished… was the one who knew everything…"
———
Elsewhere in the empire, the morning sun had yet to touch the horizon.
Feng Yuhan moved silently through a busy street, clad in the humble garb of a traveling merchant. His elegant stature blended with the haze of rising steam and the low murmur of early morning travelers.
The teahouse called "Vanishing Moon" was the only place where messages from both the borderlands and the inner court crossed paths without question.
The owner was a pale-faced man of middle age, his right hand polishing a table with a cloth. One eye twitched uncontrollably when he saw Feng Yuhan take a seat at the farthest corner.
His voice, barely above a whisper, broke the quiet.
"…The supply routes from the Yan Kingdom… someone new replaced the old groups three months ago."
Feng Yuhan set his teacup down without a sound. His sharp eyes narrowed.
"And they didn't go through the Central Treasury, did they?"
The man swallowed hard. His palms began to sweat.
"N-No, Your Grace… That is… no, they didn't. I beg your pardon. Behind it is… a woman from the inner court. Someone with very… high influence."
No names were spoken. No accusations given.
But Feng Yuhan knew instantly who the shadow was.
…Noble Consort Su Zhen…
He placed a gold coin before the man, then rose without a flicker of hesitation.
"The game of strategy I've waited for… has just begun its first move."
———
Back in Moonshadow Hall.
Xianlan rose from her seat and opened a small cabinet beside her. Within it were rolls of silk belonging to her mother kept, preserved, untouched.
Hidden deep between the folds of one piece was a slip of paper the size of a palm, tucked between embroidered verses.
She unfolded it carefully.
The paper bore only a single line of writing:
"Those who believe shadows exist only beneath their feet will never see the ones above their heads."
Xianlan stood frozen for a long while, until the sound of her own breathing filled the room.
"Mother… you knew, didn't you? That no one would ever look up for the light… if they were taught to bow their heads."
She spoke softly to herself not shaken, but filled with weight.
Her fingers clenched the paper tightly, as if to prevent it from ever disappearing again.
———
At the residence of Noble Consort Su often called a palace within the palace.
Su Yan stood quietly by the balcony. A breeze carried the scent of willow blossoms to his nose.
Inside, he heard the soft voices of his mother and her trusted minister.
"That metal ring…"
"…shouldn't still be listed in the registry."
He listened in silence, but his heart pounded louder with every word.
"A ring? A registry? …Is it about me?"
In his spinning thoughts, his hand curled into a fist.
"Who am I, really…?"
The question that had once laid dormant now rang loud as a war bell.
———
Night returned once more to the heavens.
Li Wenlong rode out of the palace in the guise of a common soldier. His back was straight. His gaze, unshakable.
In his right hand, he carried one item a baby's iron ring, etched with the crest of the royal lineage.
"If someone once altered destiny… then I'll unearth it even if I must stand atop a pile of bones."
Behind him, Xianlan stood behind a curtain, watching the darkness beyond the window.
In her hand was an embroidered cloth-bound book. The characters inside were layered in three strokes:
"Long" "Qing" "Yu."
She whispered as if afraid of her own answer.
"We… truly aren't children of the same mother… are we, my brother?"
———
A feather fell upon wooden floorboards.
Beneath the trembling lanternlight, a single flower began to bloom beneath the earth.
The first petal truth.
The next blood.
For the secret buried sixteen years ago…
…will never stay dead.
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