6

"Be careful," Xue Lian said, her voice dropping low. "She would sell her own soul if it got her what she wanted. Lin Hua is brutal. And here's the real news — she's been sleeping with the emperor. She plans to tear Shen Fuchen down and replace him the second she gets the chance. You're going to help her... and when she least expects it, you'll be the reason she falls."

Nothing about what Xue Lian said made any real sense.

But I didn't ask questions.

I just nodded once, cold and quick, and pushed myself up from the ground as the guards barked at me to move.

The heavy doors ahead swung open, and the noise inside the grand hall hit me like a wave.

"Emperor Luan, thank the divine gods for your good health! A toast to your eightieth birthday!" Lin Hua's voice rang through the hall, sickly sweet and sharp enough to cut skin.

Everyone in the room — ministers, generals, concubines — raised their hands and cheered at her words.

I lifted my eyes.

There she was.

Lin Hua.

Draped in blood-red silk trimmed with gold, she stood with a flawless smile plastered across her lips.

From a distance, she looked harmless. Elegant. Sweet. But up close... you could almost see it — the hunger in her eyes, the way her fingers twitched slightly at her sides like a predator ready to strike.

"Fourth Lady Shen, you still look pretty as always. General Fuchen must be lucky to have you as his wife." A sleek smirk crossed the emperor's eyes sharply and melted into a frown when his gaze landed on Fuchen holding up to Lin Hua.

"Emperor, you flatter me too much. As a gift from I and my husband, I present to you the eternal frankincense. Please do accept this gift from us." She fell to her knees, her fingers running through Luan's toes. She got up, and took a seat beside him while Fuchen took one next to her.

"Aiyoo, it is such a blessing to have you all celebrate my birthday with me. I open this ceremony with the power invested in me as the Emperor, I hereby open my birthday!"

Servants rushed forward with wine and plates stacked with rare delicacies ranging from the famous red date soup, to the steamed meat buns, crab roe dumplings and so on.

I walked forward, evading the crowd skillfully till I got to the court yard far away from people. I took a deep breath, my hands cupping my cheeks. 'This is just a lot to handle's

I said to myself. Bring transmigrated from my world where swords and saggers were used to this shitty world were everyone was literally your enemy.

"Want some steamed buns?" Xue Lian appeared behind me with a smoker wrapped meat buns in her right palm and one in her mouth which she munched on. "You ain't going to eat?"

"I guess I'd skip the meal. Here is too dangerous for my liking. One wrong move and hell I know I'd be poisoned." I curled up at the corner, taking a seat on the concrete ground. The ceremony was a lively one but something cold wasn't just right.

"You backing out? Your soul chose this timeline and body for a reason."

"Oh really? You weren't the person who mistook my timeline for this?" A sarcastic laughter resounded from my mouth as I countered Xue Lian

"Okay partly my fault too. But you've heard about Shen Mi story, shouldn't guilt pruck you to change her story?"

"The fuck I don't care if I don't come out alive. Just a stare from Lin Hua or is it the rapist Shen Fuchen is enough to send me to an early grave."

"Say no more. Get up and follow me."

"To where?" My eyes rolled into a circle out of annoyance. It was evident that I had taken enough of this bullshit of a world.

Xue Lian didn't wait for me to argue again.

She grabbed my wrist like a thief stealing meat from a butcher's stall and yanked me up.

"Stop asking questions. Just move," she hissed under her breath.

I barely had time to curse before she dragged me through a narrow side corridor, away from the courtyard and the noise of the drunk ministers. The torchlight dimmed until we were swallowed up by a much darker, quieter part of the palace.

"Where are we even going?" I grunted, stumbling over my own shoes.

"To the hall where the real wolves sit," Xue Lian said without even looking back.

She pushed open a thick panel hidden behind a tapestry, and just like that — we were inside another grand room.

But this hall wasn't like the first.

It was colder. Deadlier.

Here, the guests didn't clap or laugh like fools. They sat high above the ground on raised platforms, sipping wine with slow, calculating smiles.

Chief ministers, warlords, noble families... the real power in this damn empire, all gathered in one place.

My skin crawled.

Xue Lian leaned into my ear.

"To fight your enemy, you need to understand your enemy. Better yet—you need to know their enemies," she whispered.

I stayed frozen, half hidden behind her as she nodded subtly at the men and women seated in the dark.

"Every Grand Chancellor, every Great General in this room," she murmured, "has something to hold against Shen Fuchen. Some were humiliated by him. Some lost men under his reckless orders. And guess what?"

I glanced at her from the corner of my eye.

"Half of them..." Xue Lian's voice dropped even lower, "...have slept with Lin Hua."

I blinked, my mind blank for a full second.

"You're kidding me," I muttered.

"Dead serious," she said. "She's played them like a damn flute. Promised them power, land, wealth — whatever their dirty little hearts wanted. She's the sweetest snake in this empire."

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding loud enough to hear.

"And now?" I asked, my voice dry.

"Now..." Xue Lian smiled coldly. "You'll find their weaknesses. One by one.

Use them. Break them.

Because when the moment comes... you'll be the one pulling the sword through Shen Fuchen's heart, and Lin Hua's too."

Xue Lian nudged me forward, just enough so I could peek out from behind the pillar without being seen.

She crossed her arms and started pointing them out one by one, her voice barely louder than a breath.

"You see that fat pig in the golden robe?" she said.

I followed her gaze.

"That's Minister Zhou Cheng. Minister of Taxes. He's been siphoning tribute money from the border provinces for years. Half the peasants in the east are starving because of him, but here he sits—gold rings on every damn finger. He's greedy, but even greedier for secrets. Feed him the right bait, and he'll sell out his own mother."

I swallowed hard, my eyes shifting to the next man.

"And that stiff old bastard with the scroll tucked under his arm?

Minister Han Rui. Minister of Labor. Every coin that's supposed to go to soldiers, or to pensioners? Half of it vanishes before it even leaves the palace. Han Rui has been pocketing the dead men's salaries for fifteen years."

My fists clenched without me even realizing it.

Xue Lian kept going, her voice cold and sharp like a dagger sliding into flesh.

"Next — the woman dressed in lilac. Lady Qu Mei, Minister of Welfare. She's supposed to run orphanages and disaster relief.

Instead?

She sells the rice meant for famine victims to private merchants and fills her own wine cellars with the gold."

My stomach twisted, but Xue Lian gave me no time to linger.

"That rat-faced one near the end?

Minister Bai Zhong. Overseer of the Imperial Guard. The one who's supposed to protect the Emperor.

Word is, he secretly takes bribes from enemy clans to 'look away' when needed. If war breaks out, half the palace would burn before he even lifts a sword."

I shook my head slightly, disgust crawling under my skin like ants.

"And that pretty boy over there," she said, nodding towards a young man with long, glossy hair and a cruel smile, "that's Minister Liu Fang. Keeper of the Royal Archives. Every forged decree, every fake law, every bloody cover-up? He's the ghost writer behind it."

My heart thundered faster.

Xue Lian wasn't done yet.

"Beside him, the sour-faced woman in green? Madam Wei Lian, Minister of Commerce.

She controls trade routes, taxes, merchants. Rumor has it, she charges secret taxes to smugglers—and has slaves working in her private factories deep in the south."

I bit the inside of my cheek, the taste of blood making it real.

"And finally..."

Xue Lian's voice dipped lower than before.

"That old dog seated closest to the Emperor?

Grand Chancellor Xu Wen.

He's the puppet master behind most of the court's corruption. Pretends to be a loyal servant, but he's been slowly bleeding the empire dry to build his own army in the west. If anyone is close enough to shove a knife into the Emperor's back when the time is right—it's him."

I stared, barely breathing.

Seven names. Seven sins.

Seven loaded cannons ready to explode if someone lit the fuse right.

"And Lin Hua?" I asked under my breath.

Xue Lian smirked darkly.

"Lin Hua's fucked half of them. Promised the others power when she rises.

Problem is—"

She leaned even closer.

"—they don't trust her. Not really. They're just waiting to see who falls first — Lin Hua, Shen Fuchen, or the Emperor himself."

I clenched my jaw.

"So where do I start?"

Xue Lian's eyes glittered.

"Tonight? You're going to serve wine to the ministers. Smile sweetly. Listen even sweeter. One of them will slip up. All you need is one thread to start pulling."