Mei Lin's POV
I'm pacing the war room when Qian returns.
What happened? I demand. Did Han
The enemy withdrew. Qian's expression is grim. Our cavalry found empty passes. No ambush. No battle.
I stop mid-step. What?
It was all theater. A performance designed to make you look incompetent and create panic. He moves to the map. Someone orchestrated this entire scenario.
My mind races. But the letter said they'd been there for days
They probably were. Then they left hours before our forces arrived. He looks at me. This wasn't about killing soldiers. It was about killing your credibility.
The implications crash over me. Someone went to enormous effort just to make me look bad?
To make you look dangerous. There's a difference. Qian's voice hardens. A bad advisor makes mistakes. A dangerous one destabilizes the government, causes panic, gets soldiers mobilized for non-existent threats.
They're trying to make you look weak for trusting me.
Yes.
I sink into a chair. Then they succeeded. The court thinks I nearly got hundreds killed. That you're a fool for listening to a woman.
Let them think it. He sits across from me. We know the truth. And now we know someone has the resources to manipulate enemy movements and palace intelligence simultaneously.
That's... that's an enormous conspiracy.
Which is why we need to be smarter. He leans forward. No more open strategy sessions. From now on, you advise me privately. We implement ideas without revealing they came from you.
Pain lances through me. You're hiding me.
I'm protecting you. There's a difference.
Is there? I stand abruptly. Or are you just realizing Han was right? That having me visible makes you look weak?
Mei
I should go. I move toward the door before tears can escape. Thank you for defending me to the court. But maybe it's better if I just... fade back into irrelevance.
You think I want that? His voice stops me. You think I spent years suffocating in a palace full of people who tell me what I want to hear, and now that I've finally found someone who thinks independently, I want to silence her?
I turn back. Then what do you want?
I want you safe! The words explode from him. I want you alive and thinking, not dead like the others because you dared to be visible!
The raw emotion in his voice steals my breath.
The previous empresses, he continues, quieter now. They were all intelligent. All tried to be useful. And they all died for it. I won't His voice cracks. I won't watch that happen again.
Understanding dawns. You cared about them.
I didn't love them. But I... I respected them. Valued them. He looks away. And I failed to protect them. So yes, I'm hiding you. Because I'd rather have you alive and hidden than brilliant and dead.
The confession hangs between us.
I'm not them, I say softly.
I know.
And I'm not fragile. I survived fifteen years of my family trying to break me.
This is different. This is
Dangerous. I know. I move closer. But I'd rather die mattering than live invisible. I told you that.
His eyes meet mine, anguished. And I told you I'm not ready to bury another empress.
Then don't bury me. Protect me. There's a difference. I echo his words back. Let me keep advising you, but we're smarter about it. More careful. We find whoever's doing this before they make their next move.
He stares at me for a long moment. Then: You're not going to back down, are you?
Would you?
A ghost of a smile crosses his face. No.
Then stop asking me to be smaller than I am. I straighten my spine. I'm terrified. But I'm also tired of being afraid. So either we fight this together, or you're fighting it alone.
Something shifts in his expression—respect, admiration, something warmer that makes my heart stutter.
Partners, he says quietly.
Partners.
The door bursts open. Lady Xiu rushes in, her face flushed.
Your Majesty, both of you, you need to hear this. She glances at Qian. May I speak freely?
You're Minister Shen's daughter. You have permission.
Xiu takes a breath. I've been gathering information from the court ladies. About the previous empresses.
My pulse quickens. And?
They all had something in common. They all discovered something—evidence of corruption, embezzlement, treason. And they all died within weeks of their discovery.
Ice runs through my veins. What kind of evidence?
Empress Lian found discrepancies in military supply contracts. Empress Jing uncovered a bribery scheme in the Ministry of Rites. Empress Zhou discovered someone was selling state secrets.
Qian goes very still. You're saying they were murdered because they found corruption?
I'm saying someone has been systematically eliminating empresses who get too close to the truth. Xiu meets my eyes. And Your Majesty has already started investigating your father's embezzlement. Which means
Which means I'm following the same pattern, I finish, my blood running cold.
Silence.
Who knew about your investigation? Qian asks quietly.
Just you. And... I trail off, horror dawning. And my father. I confronted him about his accounts.
When?
Three days ago.
The day the threats started.
Qian's expression turns lethal. Your father is connected to this.
He's corrupt, but murder? I shake my head even as doubt creeps in. He threw me away to save himself. But killing previous empresses—
Maybe not him directly. But he's part of something. Qian stands. Xiu, keep investigating. Find connections between all the corruption the empresses uncovered. See if there's a pattern.
She bows. Yes, Your Majesty.
After she leaves, I'm shaking.
Three empresses dead because they found corruption, I whisper. And now I'm
Being protected. Qian grips my shoulders. No more investigating alone. No more confronting suspects. Anything you discover, you tell me first.
But
Mei. His voice is raw. Please. I can't... He stops, jaw working.
Can't what?
Can't lose you too. The admission is barely audible. You matter. More than you should, more than is safe, but you matter. So please—be careful.
My heart hammers. The way he's looking at me—like I'm precious, irreplaceable, valued—is everything I've ever wanted and completely terrifying.
I'll be careful, I promise.
His hands slide from my shoulders. Slowly. Reluctantly.
Good. He steps back, rebuilding his walls. Now go rest. I have work to do.
It's a dismissal, but a gentle one.
I leave, my mind spinning.
Someone is killing empresses who discover corruption.
My father might be involved.
And Qian just admitted I matter to him.
I don't know which truth is more dangerous.