The palace had grown quieter.
Too quiet.
When scandals surfaced, noise usually followed — outrage, accusation, spectacle.
But this time, after Yu Lan's private meeting with Imperial Master Long Tianwei, the investigation slowed.
Ministers avoided eye contact.
The grain audit expanded.
And the Emperor stopped smiling so easily.
Suspicion had begun to spread — not only toward Yu Lan, but toward everyone.
That made her more dangerous.
And more vulnerable.
Huo Yun requested to see her at dusk.
Not in the main hall.
Not publicly.
In the bamboo courtyard behind the Prime Minister's residence.
The setting sun cast long shadows between the stalks, the wind carrying the faint scent of ink and earth.
Yu Lan arrived alone.
Huo Yun stood beside a stone table, sleeves folded neatly, posture composed as always.
But when he turned to look at her, his eyes were not calm.
"They say," he began quietly, "you met with Imperial Master Long in private."
Yu Lan did not deny it.
"Yes."
The single word was steady.
Huo Yun studied her face, searching for something — fear, perhaps. Or regret.
"Do you understand what that implies?" he asked.
"It implies I am desperate," she answered gently.
"It implies," his voice lowered slightly, "that you are aligning yourself with the most dangerous man in the empire."
A breeze stirred the bamboo leaves above them.
Yu Lan held his gaze.
"If I had not spoken to him, I would already be condemned."
"That is not what concerns me."
The words came more sharply than he intended.
He stepped closer — not threatening, but urgent.
"What concerns me," he said quietly, "is that you are placing yourself in his line of sight."
Yu Lan blinked slightly.
There it was.
Not political calculation.
Not strategy.
Concern.
"You believe he will use me," she said softly.
"I believe," Huo Yun replied, voice tightening just slightly, "that he uses everyone."
For a moment, silence stretched between them.
Yu Lan's expression softened — just barely.
"Prime Minister," she said gently, "do you worry for the empire…"
Or for me?
She did not finish the sentence.
She did not need to.
Huo Yun's composure cracked, just enough.
"If the empire loses capable people," he said carefully, "it weakens."
Yu Lan smiled faintly.
"And if one person falls?"
His eyes held hers.
"Some losses," he said quietly, "are not easily replaced."
The words lingered in the air between them.
Neither moved.
Neither stepped back.
In another world — a simpler world — this might have been confession.
But this was the palace.
Where feelings were liabilities.
Yu Lan lowered her gaze first.
"I will be careful," she said.
Huo Yun exhaled softly.
"Do not be careful."
She looked up again, surprised.
"Be necessary," he corrected.
A faint warmth rose in her chest.
He understood.
Not her ambition.
Not her fear.
Her method.
And he did not condemn it.
As she turned to leave, he added quietly—
"If Long Tianwei ever corners you, send word."
Yu Lan paused.
"And you will oppose him?"
Huo Yun's gaze darkened slightly.
"I will stand where I must."
For the first time since the scandal began—
She felt less alone.
Meanwhile, within the inner palace—
Emperor Zhao Mingde paced.
The grain audit had revealed discrepancies that predated Yu Lan's involvement.
Funds missing.
Reports altered.
Signatures forged.
Not by one person.
By many.
The Emperor's hands trembled slightly.
"Who," he demanded, "benefits from this chaos?"
No one answered.
Because the truth was simple.
Everyone.
The Emperor's gaze hardened.
"Summon Minister Chen."
"Restrict access to the Revenue archives."
"And place observers in the Prime Minister's office."
Paranoia had taken root.
When rulers grew suspicious—
Innocence ceased to matter.
That night, Yu Lan stood alone on her balcony.
The sky was heavy with clouds.
She replayed her conversation with Huo Yun.
His voice.
His restraint.
His warning.
He had not tried to control her.
He had not accused her.
He had simply—
Chosen to stand near her.
A warmth she had not expected lingered quietly beneath her composure.
But warmth was dangerous.
She could not afford softness.
Not yet.
Footsteps echoed faintly in the courtyard below.
A familiar, steady presence.
General Bo Li.
He paused at the edge of the lantern light, as though debating whether to approach.
Yu Lan watched silently from above.
His loyalty was different from Huo Yun's calculation.
Where Huo Yun strategized—
Bo Li protected.
Where Huo Yun weighed—
Bo Li acted.
And lately—
He had been watching her more closely.
Yu Lan's fingers tightened lightly around the balcony rail.
The empire was fracturing.
The Emperor was growing suspicious.
Long Tianwei was intrigued.
Yu Ya was waiting.
And two powerful men were beginning to stand within her orbit.
This was not merely politics anymore.
It was becoming something far more dangerous.
Attachment.
The wind shifted.
Below, Bo Li finally stepped forward into the light.
And for the first time—
Yu Lan felt that the next move on the board would not be made in the court.
But in the heart.