Chapter 24

The struggle for the throne was still ongoing but the attention of the princes were diverted due to the recent happenings in the kingdom. The palace buzzed with rumors again.

Another theft.

This time, Lord Pang's private vault had been emptied clean—gold ingots, jade seals, rare scrolls, even the emerald-encrusted ring he'd stolen from a merchant two summers ago. The only thing left behind was a single lotus blossom, its petals carved in silver, catching moonlight like a whisper.

"Yue Ying," they muttered under their breath.

The infamous "Shadow Thief" had struck again.

And for the first time, the thief had breached past the imperial inner gates. The security, the guards, the dogs—none of it had stopped him.

Lord Pang trembled with rage, throwing his wine goblet against the wall. "He mocks us!" he barked at his steward. "And I've had enough!"

Across the jade halls, other corrupt officials shared similar grief. Their stolen riches—once looted from the taxes of peasants—now mysteriously disappeared and resurfaced in the hands of beggars and villagers miles away.

But the most unsettling part?

No one had seen Yue Ying.

Not even once.