Chapter 25
Hua Lian moved quietly through the inner palace, silver trays balanced perfectly in her delicate hands. She served tea to the princes, her head bowed, her hair pinned with rose quartz, her steps graceful.
She was beautiful. Too beautiful to be dangerous.
No one noticed how her eyes flicked toward the conversations around her, catching every detail.
No one noticed the slight callouses on her fingers—the kind only a blade wielder would have.
No one suspected the night breeze often carried her scent back through hidden tunnels before dawn.
Only she knew.
That just last night, she had crouched above Lord Pang's bedroom ceiling beam, listening to him boast drunkenly about hiding his jade under a secure place.
Only she knew that she had slipped in, silent as fog, retrieved the jade, left the lotus—and vanished into the wind.
Night draped the imperial city in velvet silence, but to the nobles, that silence had become a source of dread. Wind tapped against the windows like ghostly fingers. Flickering lanterns danced nervously in the corridors of wealthy estates. And somewhere in the darkness, the shadow thief moved.
He came like a breath—soundless, invisible. One moment, a corrupt official would be sipping tea inside his chamber; the next, he'd find his coffers emptied, documents exposing his bribery missing, and in their place… a single silver lotus, glowing faintly in the moonlight.
The thief Yue Ying—Moon Shadow. A figure cloaked in dark silk, his crescent-shaped mask glinting coldly as he vanished into the night. It was said he could walk across roofs without making a single sound, slip past elite guards, and pick a dozen locks in the time it took a candle to burn an inch.
Palace officials trembled in meetings. "We must tighten security! That scoundrel grows bolder!" they roared. But their voices masked fear—fear that their secrets would be next.
Even the soldiers and officers knew Yue Ying was beyond their reach. He was just too fast.
In the slums and villages, however, Yue Ying was a legend.
"Mother, did you hear? He left sacks of rice in the alley again!" a child squealed.
"And moneyfor the poor people !" another added, holding up a silver lotus pendant as if it were sacred.
"I wish I could get a glimpse of him. Just once" another added lost in fantasy