The northern winds had turned thin and sharp again, threading through the gaps of broken ramparts and fallen banners. Frost clung to the spears still buried in the earth; beneath them, the snow was streaked faintly pink old blood, refusing to fade.
From the tower above Fengzhou Fortress General Mu Yun stood silent, his armor darkened by mist. He watched the horizon stretch like a frozen sea, its quiet surface betraying no trace of the battle that had once raged there.
He remember what the emperor said
"Though the banners of victory had returned to Jianning, not all soldiers had come home. Along the frost-bitten frontiers, Commander Gu Shen and General Mu Yun remained to seal the last wounds of war guarding the silence that followed thunder."
Below him, soldiers moved with slow precision, mending walls and clearing the scorched remains of siege towers. Beyond the camp, ravens picked at the bones of old campsites. What peace there was felt borrowed, fragile a glass surface waiting for the next crack.
Commander Gu Shen approached, brushing snow from his cloak. "The scouts from the northern ridge returned," he said grimly. "They found footprints fresh ones. Whoever left them, they weren't our men."
General Mu Yun's expression barely changed. His breath rose like smoke in the cold air.
"Then the snow lies," he murmured. "And we have trusted it too soon."
They walked along the battlements together. The flags fluttered faintly above them the sigil of the Eastern Realm, a golden dragon coiled against crimson silk. But even that seemed to waver in the pale light, its glory dimmed by weariness.
Commander Gu Shen said "The Emperor must believe the war ended clean. Yet the wind carries another whisper."
General Mu Yun rely back Then we listen to what the wind hides."
Commander Gu Shen entered his tent, where a map of the northern plains lay pinned beneath carved jade weights. Ink trails marked old battles, rivers, and outposts. But one stretch of land a blank space beyond the Tianshui Mountains remained uncharted.
Gu Shen sat, his gloved hands steady as he wrote upon a strip of parchment.
His words were brief and coded:
"The snow does not sleep. Shadows still breathe beneath the peaks.... The falcon keeps its eyes open."
He sealed it with a small insignia a red falcon's wing pressed into wax and handed it to a trusted scout.
"Ride south," Gu Shen said. "If Heaven guards you, this will reach the Lady Yue Qin. No one else must see it."
The scout bowed deeply and vanished into the storm.
Outside, the wind rose again, howling against the tents a sound that might have been merely winter's breath… or something moving far beneath it.
Far from the northern frost, the Cloud Temple stood high upon a mountain draped in fog. Its roofs shimmered faintly under morning frost, and wind chimes whispered among the eaves like silver bells.
Lady Liu Hua, High Priestess of the temple, knelt before the altar of white jade. She wore a robe the color of falling ash, and her hair, unbound, spilled like ink across her shoulders. The incense smoke curled upward, thin as silk threads rising toward Heaven.
A temple acolyte entered, bowing low.
"Lady, a messenger from the south seeks your hand," he said, presenting a sealed letter bound in crimson silk.
Her gaze sharpened the instant she saw the seal the Crimson Falcon, symbol of Gu Shen's house.
She broke it gently, and the words within were few, but every line breathed of unease:
"Heaven's silence has grown too heavy to trust. Beneath the snow, something breathes still.
If the Emperor's eyes turn elsewhere, the dragon may sleep while the serpent wakes."
The candle beside her flickered. Outside, crows circled the temple's peak, their wings cutting through the mist.
Liu Hua folded the letter, pressing her fingers briefly to her lips. "The serpent hides beneath the scales of the dragon," she murmured repeating the warning Yue Qin had once sent her.
Half the letter she burned it as she normally do when she receives secret letters, but the rest she sealed anew. Her eyes turned toward the lower valley, where the imperial capital slept beneath distant clouds.
Liu Hua said "Truth must live, even if faith dies."
She turned to her attendant. "Carry this to the palace to the scribe Chen Yu in the Hidden Archives. Tell him the bells of the temple are ready."
At dawn, the Palace of Clear Skies gleamed under a pale sky, its golden roofs wet with melting snow. Inside the Hall of Eternal Harmony, the Emperor sat upon the Dragon Throne, surrounded by kneeling ministers.
Silken banners swayed gently from the ceiling, painted with dragons coiling through clouds. The scent of camellia incense filled the chamber, too sweet, almost suffocating.
Minister Rong stepped forward. "Your Majesty, the reports from the northern frontier confirm peace. Commander Gu Shen assures us all roads are secure. Grain convoys have resumed, and the borders are tranquil."
The Emperor's gaze was unreadable. His fingers rested lightly against the arm of the throne carved from a single slab of jade, its surface worn smooth by years of rule.
Emperor Xuan Li said Tranquil?" His tone was calm, yet cold. "Then why do my couriers return silent? Why do my northern granaries stand half-stocked? Peace, you say. I hear only the echo of lies."
Minister Rong hesitated. "Your Majesty....
Emperor said with an angry tone "Enough."
The single word struck like a blade through air.
Silence flooded the hall.
The Emperor rose. His dark steel beneath the dragon robe caught the dawn's light, scattering a dull gleam across the floor.
Emperor said "Words can forge victory, Minister Rong. But they cannot forge truth."
He turned and descended from the dais, ending court abruptly. Ministers bowed, but none dared to lift their heads.
Behind him, the Crown Prince followed, his young face composed, though his eyes burned with questions.
Crown Prince Qi said Royal father, you doubt Commander Gu?"
Emperor said "I doubt those who speak for him."
They walked through a corridor lined with vermilion pillars. The Emperor's voice dropped, low and dangerous.
"Summon Chen Yu from the Hidden Archives. Tonight. No word of this to the ministers. If the truth has been rewritten, I will read it from the ashes myself."
Beneath the palace, where lamps burned low and the air smelled of paper and ink, Chen Yu knelt before the head of imperial bodyguard the emperor trusted servant His hands shook as he presented a bundle of scrolls bound with a dark ribbon.
Chen Yu said with shaking voice and scared Captain Yan I found two reports identical in seal, different in hand. One carries the mark of Commander Gu Shen; the other… the Treasury's ink."
Captain Yan said Two ministries. One deception."
Before Chen Yu could reply, a faint creak echoed down the stone corridor. Then the hiss of an arrow. It struck the pillar beside them, quivering.
Guards drew blades, but the torchlight flickered and a masked assassin emerged from the shadows, blades flashing silver in both hands.
The captain of the imperial guard drawing his sword to protect Chen Yu behind him as the guards clashed steel against steel. The fight was brief but furious and when the assassin retreated into the dark, the scent he left behind was sharp and wild, like pine needles crushed in winter frost.
Captain Yan said "The same scent the emperor spoke of in his campaign northern air."
Chen Yu trembled, clutching the rescued scroll. "Then the north has returned to the capital, … just not through its soldiers."
Rain traced silver threads down the carved eaves of the Gu Residence. Inside, Lady Yue Qin sat beside a lantern, her gaze distant. The messenger knelt before her, his cloak heavy with snow.
He opened his hand, revealing the Crimson Falcon insignia her husband's private seal.
The paper he handed her bore only three lines:
The snow does not sleep.
Trust no seal.
Her breath caught. "The phoenix…" she whispered Someone in the inner palace was entangled in this treachery.
She rose, steady though her pulse raced. Her maid, Liao Web , approached hesitantly.
Lian Wen said Madam, should I send for the Minister of War again?"
Yue Qin: "No. he's not trusted."
She took up her brush, ink bleeding swiftly into silk.
"Heaven's eyes are turning blind.
The serpent stirs beneath the dragon's heart.
If the Temple still keeps faith, prepare the bells."
She sealed the message and handed it to Ling.
Yue Qin said "To Lady Liu Hua of the Cloud Temple. Tell her the storm has begun."
She did not know that before she could even think of saying prepare the bells lady Liu Hua have already done that .
When she was alone again, Yue Qin looked toward the rain-dark courtyard. Her reflection shimmered faintly upon the window a woman's face calm as jade, yet beneath it, iron.
"Hold fast, my heart," she whispered. "Until the snow melts, I will keep his truth alive."
Night fell upon Jianning like a shroud of black silk. The palace roofs gleamed with frost, each tile reflecting a shard of moonlight. On the highest balcony, Emperor Xuan Li stood alone, the cold wind tugging at his cloak.
In his hand lay two scrolls one forged, one real. He tore both open, comparing their words, his eyes burning with the weariness of a man who had seen too many lies wearing the mask of loyalty.
Snow began to fall again slow, soft, relentless. The world below seemed asleep, but the Emperor could feel it a pulse beneath the stillness, a whisper beneath the snow.
Emperor said softly Peace is but the stillness before the next roar."
Far away, a falcon's cry broke through the night faint but piercing. And at that same moment, from the palace's lower courtyard, a bell tolled once the signal from the Cloud Temple.
The Emperor turned, eyes narrowing. His breath misted in the air.
Emperor: "So… the silence watches after all."
He lifted his gaze to the heavens, where the moon burned cold and high, its light washing the palace in silver.
"If Heaven will not reveal the truth," he whispered, "then I shall tear open Heaven myself."
The snow fell thicker now, covering the dragon carvings on the roof, until the empire seemed cloaked in white serene above, trembling beneath.