The central pavilion was louder than any battlefield.
Not because weapons clashed.
Because silence was breaking in waves.
Participants gathered in tight circles around the announcement board, shoulders brushing, voices lowered but urgent. The imperial staff had just finished posting the list, and already the parchment was being scanned as if the ink itself might rearrange if stared at long enough.
"Move aside."
"I can't see..."
"Read it aloud."
A hand traced down the vertical columns of names.
"Lei Fan..."
A pause.
"Mu Qing... no, that's not here."
"Shan Rui... no."
Another voice interrupted.
"Jin."
The single word landed softly but carried.
Jin Yue stepped forward through the edge of the crowd.
He already knew.
Still, he looked.
He found the name easily.
Jin.
Short. Simple. Impossible to mistake.
He did not frown.
He did not stiffen.
He simply regarded the ink for a moment longer than necessary... as though weighing it.
Not as accusation.
Not as threat.
