Whisper of Conspiracy

Crown Prince Ji Haoyu stood in the dim light of the colonnade, his golden eyes watching him with amused, dark expression.

"You've been busy," Ji Haoyu remarked, voice smooth as ever.

A'Xian lowered his gaze slightly, an instinct more than a conscious decision. He had learned long ago that men like Ji Haoyu were predators in human skin, drawn to weakness like blood in the water.

"I was summoned," he said simply.

"Ah. And did you impress my mother?"

A'Xian lifted his head at that, meeting the Crown Prince's gaze fully. But he did not answer immediately.

Ji Haoyu's lips curved slightly. He took a step closer, and A'Xian felt that unmistakable shift in the air, the weight of power pressing down.

"You intrigue her," Ji Haoyu mused. "Do you realize that is both a blessing and a curse"

Or what? Do you take me as a fool!?

A'Xian did not flinch. Instead, he smiled, the kind of expression that revealed nothing yet invited everything.

"Much like Your Highness," he murmured.

Ji Haoyu laughed softly, his gaze sharpened.

"You are not nearly as afraid of me as you should be, Prince Ling."

A'Xian tilted his head, as if considering something deeply, before offering the barest shrug.

"And you, Your Highness, are not nearly as indifferent as you pretend to be."

Ji Haoyu's smile remained, but the air grew heavier.

Then, just as easily as it came, the tension vanished. The Crown Prince took a step back, as if this was all some great amusement to him.

"Careful, A'Xian," he spoke while leaving. "The palace has no need for clever hostages."

A'Xian lowered his lashes, offering nothing but a soft hum in response.

Ji Haoyu lingered a moment longer before turning away, his robes trailing behind him in a grandeur fashion.

This man....his presence is maddening.

As his figure disappeared down the corridor, A'Xian let out a slow breath.

--

A letter came at dusk.

A'Xian found it tucked beneath the tray of his evening meal, a harmless piece of folded parchment, unsealed but deliberately placed. The dim glow of candlelight flickered across its surface, casting shadows over the rushed strokes of ink.

For a brief moment, he considered ignoring it.

He was exhausted, exhausted in a way that had nothing to do with physical weariness. Every day since he had arrived in Yonglan had been a drama, a constant push and pull between survival and submission. He was a foreign prince, a hostage dressed in silk, a man who walked the tightrope of diplomacy with a blade hovering just beneath his throat.

Every word he spoke, every glance he exchanged, carried weight. The court watched him, waiting for a single misstep.

He should not- no, could not afford any unnecessary risks.

And yet, something about the way the characters were scrawled, hurried, impatient, almost frantic. It made his fingers hesitate over the rice bowl.

He unfolded the parchment.

> Midnight. The Plum Blossom Inn. Come alone.

No signature. No seal.

A'Xian's breath stilled.

A trap. It had to be.

There was something about those words, about their stark simplicity, that sent an uneasy shiver down his spine. The letters on the parchment seemed familiar, like a whisper from a past he should remember, but couldn't quite grasp.

Was this a summon from someone he had known before? Someone from his home?

His memories before Yonglan were murky at best, scattered like shattered glass. He woke up in this body much later, when he was already a hostage. There were pieces he could pick up such as the scent of sandalwood and rain, the weight of a blade in his hand, but only this much at best.

More importantly, what had he been sent here for?

For peace?

His jaw tightened. His first instinct was to burn the letter. To pretend it had never existed.

This was Yonglan's imperial court. Secrets did not remain secrets for long. Every shadow held spies.

If someone had intercepted this letter before it reached him, if Ji Haoyu or his advisors got word of it, they would assume he was conspiring with an unknown faction. And in the delicate position he held, a prince without power, a guest without freedom, he would have no way to prove his innocence.

The consequences would be merciless.

A single word from the Crown Prince and he could be dragged in chains before the Emperor.

Or worse, he might never even make it in front of the throne bearer.

A'Xian had seen firsthand how things were handled in Yonglan. Here, problems were erased before they became public concerns.

If he ignored the letter, however—what then?

The fact that someone had risked slipping him this message meant that the information, whatever it was, was urgent. Dangerous, perhaps.

And if he refused to go, would they come to him instead?

Would he wake to find a knife at his throat, a whisper in his ear, someone hissing that he had failed to play his role?

But what role?

His fingers curled around the parchment, crumpling its edges.

If he left the palace tonight, he would be walking into unknown peril.

But if he stayed, he would remain caged in ignorance, his fate dictated by forces he did not yet understand.

Now this is why I hate secrets. I just hate being kept in dark.

His decision had already been made the moment he hesitated.

He would go. But he would not go blindly.

A'Xian forced himself to sit through his evening meal, chewing slowly, pretending as though nothing was amiss.

His mind, however, was already racing ahead, calculating.

The first thing he needed to consider was how to leave the palace undetected.

The Cold Pavilion, where he was housed, was isolated from the main palace grounds, a quiet prison dressed in luxury. Guards patrolled the outer corridors, not to protect him, but to ensure he remained exactly where he was supposed to be.

He would have to find a way past them.

Then, there was the matter of the streets.

The Plum Blossom Inn was not far from the palace as far as he knew but far enough that he could not risk walking the roads alone.

Would someone be waiting for him outside?Would they be friend or foe?

Do I have allies in this kingdom?

He didn't know.

Might as well get transmigrated to another world if things don't go the sweet way..

He stretched his back and arms.

I just have to bear the pain of getting stabbed to death again, that's it.

For too long, he had played the role assigned to him, that of a hostage prince.

Perhaps, tonight, he would begin to reclaim something of himself.

And if the Crown Prince discovered his absence?

A'Xian exhaled slowly.

Then he would deal with it when the time came.

For now, he had a meeting to attend.