Perfect fool

The blood on the scroll had dried by dawn.

Lin Yue sat by the window of her chambers, the crimson-stained parchment tucked into the folds of her robes like a viper she refused to release. Her hands trembled as she poured herself tea, but the ceramic cup clattered against its saucer. She didn't flinch. Not when assassins had hunted her to the edge of death. Not when she had survived the fire meant to erase her name.

But this... seeing her husband's name etched into the ledger of traitors?

That rattled her to the marrow.

There was no time for tears or sentiment. She had to move.

She slipped the scroll into a hidden compartment beneath the floorboard and secured the edge with a sliver of dragon bone, a gift from her mother, said to ward off deceit. Her mind raced. If the Emperor truly played a role in her family's downfall, confronting him now would be suicide.

She needed confirmation. Proof that couldn't be denied, even by the heavens.