The echoes of the Emberfall victory hadn't faded before new whispers began to curl like smoke through the corridors of the Eastern Empire.
"The disgraced prince... he defeated the Crown Prince himself." "No, they say he toyed with him." "They say the Emperor has already sent an envoy."
And just like that, Xie Lan was no longer invisible.
He was dangerous.
---
The Jade Envoy Arrives
The Imperial Martial Academy trembled with anticipation as the Jade Envoy, personal representative of the Emperor, arrived under full ceremonial guard. Green banners fluttered in the wind, each bearing the sigil of the Dragon Throne.
Fan Yushu whistled. "They brought the whole damn court with them."
Ji Hanlin grunted. "That's not an envoy. That's a warning."
Xie Lan stood still, hands folded, expression neutral.
From the palanquin emerged a tall man clad in imperial white, his hair a perfect silver knot, eyes sharp as daggers behind golden spectacles.
Eunuch Xue Liansheng. Whispered to be more dangerous than most generals.
"His Imperial Majesty sends his warm regards," Xue Liansheng said with an elegant bow that carried menace. "And... invites Prince Xie Lan to attend court in the Capital."
There was no mistaking the weight in his words: You've made waves. Now answer for them.
---
Farewell to the Academy
Before dawn, Xie Lan stood before the Silent Wind Hall, the quarters that had become his rebirth's starting point.
He touched the doorframe once.
Then turned away.
Li Meiyan arrived at the gate in traveling robes. "You're really going, then."
"I need to see their faces," he replied. "All of them."
"Then take this," she said, handing him a thin vial. "My alchemists call it the 'Whispering Heart.' A single drop amplifies hearing across an entire banquet. Useful for catching what isn't meant to be heard."
He accepted it without a word.
Their eyes met. For a moment, something old stirred between them, something painful.
Then it passed.
"Be careful," she said.
"Always."
---
Arrival at the Capital
The Capital had not changed.
High towers of jade and gold, floating spirit lanterns hovering day and night, and the scent of incense thick enough to choke memory. It smelled like power.
It smelled like the past.
Xie Lan rode through the gates in a black cloak with no crest, drawing attention and fear with every step. Murmurs followed him like ghosts.
"The Cursed Prince returns." "He dares to show his face here?"
He smiled beneath the hood.
Good.
Let them remember.
---
The Court of Masks
Inside the imperial audience hall, walls of gold and dragonfire murals wrapped around an ocean of whispering ministers.
The nobles wore painted expressions kind eyes with venomous smiles, bowed heads with sharpened tongues.
And at the center of it all, raised on the throne carved of obsidian flame:
The Emperor.
Older than Xie Lan remembered. Grayer. But no less cruel.
"Xie Lan," the Emperor said, tone unreadable. "My Seventh Son returns to court."
Xie Lan knelt.
"May your rule be eternal, Father."
"I've heard... interesting things," the Emperor said. "About Emberfall. About humiliation."
A murmur ran through the court.
Xie Yan sat on the dais, his face still marked by shame, his aura unstable. But his smile was intact. Smug. Masked.
"Father," he said smoothly. "The competition encourages aggression. Nothing more."
"Indeed," the Emperor said. "But I wonder... does ambition still cloud your vision, Xie Lan?"
Xie Lan looked up, meeting the Emperor's gaze without flinching.
"Not ambition, Your Majesty. Clarity."
A pause.
Then the Emperor laughed.
Low. Long. Amused.
"Rise then. Show me how clear you've become."
> [System Alert: Major Plot Node — Court Favor or Condemnation Begins]
[Passive Skill Unlocked: Courtly Guile — +5% persuasion success among nobles, reduced suspicion when lying.]
---
Banquet of Blades
That night, the palace hosted a feast to welcome the princes and contenders. Food laced with spirit herbs. Music composed by wind cultivators. Poison hidden beneath every smile.
Xie Lan wore robes of midnight silk, the Shadow Cloak woven into his inner lining.
"We should make a toast," said a Duke's son. "To the Crown Prince... and his glorious defeat."
Laughter rippled.
Xie Yan's fingers twitched.
"My brother is very fond of theatrics," Xie Lan replied. "He always did enjoy pretending to be invincible."
> [Sub-Quest Progress: Undermine Crown Prince —45%]
Later that evening, he sipped from a golden cup laced with paralysis powder.
He smiled at the assassin posing as a maid and drank anyway.
> [Poison Resistance: Active. Tolerance Level: High. Status: Unaffected.]
"Tell your master," he whispered to her as she recoiled, "that I prefer daggers to poison."
---
Whispers and Offers
In the shadows of the Phoenix Courtyard, a noble approached.
"We have watched you, Prince of Embers," she said. Her eyes glowed violet — a trait of the Hidden Court, the clandestine sect of puppetmasters within the Empire.
"You're gathering enemies quickly. We'd rather be allies."
She offered a scroll sealed with blood wax.
"If you survive the fourth trial, come to the Hall of Hollow Mirrors. Our mistress wishes to sponsor your next move."
Xie Lan took it, fingers brushing the seal.
> [New Faction Unlocked: The Hidden Court] [Sub-System Expansion: Alliance & Betrayal Matrix Activated]
---
Court Intrigue — System Update
> [Villain System Update: Political Arc Engaged]
Influence Gauge: 12%
Suspicion Level: Moderate
Targets of Interest: Crown Prince Xie Yan, Grand Chancellor Huai, Lady Jinru of the Hidden Court Suggested Action: Orchestrate a scandal.]
Xie Lan stood on his private balcony that evening, the city sprawled before him like a jeweled corpse.
He whispered, "Status."
> [Villain Points: 265 | Alignment: Neutral Evil leaning Chaotic]
Reputation: Rising Active
Quests: Discredit the Crown Prince (45%), Win Support of Noble Factions (25%), Survive the Fourth Trial (Locked)]
Behind him, the lanterns of the palace flickered like dying stars.
In the capital, power came to those who lied best.
He would speak the loudest lies and make them true.
---
The Eastern Empire's capital, Yuehuang City, rose like a phoenix from the mist, its palaces glittering beneath a pale dawn. In the heart of the Forbidden Court, intrigue flowed deeper than the Imperial Rivers, and today, Xie Lan would wade into it.
Yet as the carriage wheels clattered over polished stone, his thoughts turned not to courtly masks or noble daggers.
They turned to her.
---
Years Ago – Snowfall Garden
It had snowed the day he first kissed her.
Back then, Xie Lan had been a mere sixteen-year-old, the Seventh Prince dismissed by most as a failure. Li Meiyan had been a rising star in the Imperial Academy—brilliant, aloof, desired by every noble son.
And yet she had chosen him.
They'd met in secret, in the hidden corner of the Snowfall Garden where plum blossoms clung to frozen branches like lovers too stubborn to part.
"You're not like them," she'd whispered, brushing snow from his sleeve.
"You don't know me," he'd said, coldly, but she had only smiled.
"I see the way you watch the stars. I know what it's like to pretend you're weaker than you are."
Their fingers brushed. Her eyes soft brown, like burned cinnamon locked with his. And that night, the world melted in her touch.
He remembered that warmth even now. Remembered the promises they made, hidden behind red walls and under ink-black skies.
They had spent hours in the Pavilion of Autumn Winds, playing qin melodies while the world slumbered beyond. She laughed without fear then, his fierce Meiyan, whose kisses once made him believe he could survive even his father's disdain.
"If I weren't Crown Princess someday," she'd murmured against his shoulder once, "I'd run away with you. Ride west to the edge of the empire and never look back."
He had believed her. Foolishly. Devoutly.
And then remembered the blade she drove through his heart.
---
Present – Hall of Verdant Echoes
"Prince Xie Lan has arrived."
Whispers flitted through the hall like startled birds as he stepped into the chamber. Nobles flanked both sides, arrayed in colors of their house banners—amber for House Zhao, jade for House Lin, crimson for House Feng.
At the far end sat the High Chancellor, a brittle old man with eyes like glass and a voice that could freeze fire.
"Seventh Prince," he rasped. "You're late."
"Fashionably," Xie Lan replied with a faint bow. "The war beast broke a hoof."
A chuckle—scandalous, delighted—escaped from a lady in violet robes.
The Chancellor did not laugh.
---
A Web of Spies and Songbirds
Seated in the gallery of state, Xie Lan quickly grasped the situation.
House Zhao had grown too bold.
They'd proposed new funding for the military sects loyal to Crown Prince Xie Yan, using the pretext of northern raider threats. A clever ploy. On the surface, patriotic. Underneath? A bid to tip balance.
He spoke:
"If the raiders have grown bold enough to merit threefold funds, surely you must have evidence? May we see it?"
Silence.
Then, a nervous cough.
Zhao Heng's father paled.
Xie Lan leaned back. "No evidence? Curious. I suggest delaying any allocation until such is produced. Unless you believe the court should fund phantoms."
> [Villain Points +20] [Hidden Influence Increased: House Lin now watches you with interest.]
The debate turned. His words spread like wildfire.
Later that day, a pair of eunuchs were seen running scrolls to the Chancellor's quarters, and the Zhao envoy left red-faced. Whispers bloomed in the corridors of the Imperial Library, and three junior scribes recorded his speech for historical record—an honor rarely given to disgraced princes.
---
The Return of a Ghost
Later, beneath the Pavilion of Falling Stars, he stood alone, breathing the scent of osmanthus blossoms. And that's when she came.
Li Meiyan.
As beautiful as ever.
Her hair pinned in gold, her robes ink-dyed with phoenix feathers, and her voice—so familiar it pierced bone.
"You've changed, Lan-ge."
He didn't turn.
"You haven't."
She stepped closer. "I never meant for it to end that way."
"And yet it did."
He turned then, eyes colder than the snows of their youth.
"Do you still dream of plum blossoms?"
She swallowed. "I dream of the boy who touched my hand in the snow."
His smile was bitter. "That boy died. You helped kill him."
She touched his sleeve. "Then let me help bring him back."
> [System Alert: Emotional Echo Detected — Memories Strengthened. Villain Points +10. Sub-Quest Unlocked: Determine Li Meiyan's True Intentions.]
She looked at him not as a traitor nor a ghost of her past but as something else. Something fractured. Something precious she thought she had buried.
He left her standing beneath the starlight, her eyes bright with unshed tears.
---
Letters and Secrets
That night, he received a letter. Wax seal broken. Ink fresh.
From: House Lin.
"We enjoyed your performance today. The Zhao dogs bark too loud. Should you seek wolves instead, you know where to howl."
He smiled.
The game had begun.
But the heart of the villain still beat somewhere beneath ash and bone.
And behind that heart, a wound still bled her name.