Echoes In The Jade Hall
The imperial court was never silent, not truly. Beneath the hush of reverence and the rustle of silk, the Jade Hall thrummed with whispered allegiances, silent treachery, and the ceaseless shuffling of power.
Lin Qiyue stood at its threshold now, flanked by two eunuchs and the faint scent of cherry blossoms drifting in from the open portico. Her presence had been summoned for the imperial inquiry—the beginning of the Emperor's promised investigation.
A line of ministers stood in ceremonial robes, their faces carefully composed but taut with concealed tension. The Crown Prince, confined but permitted to appear for defense, sat rigid on a red-lacquered bench. Prince Rui leaned beside a pillar, detached, observant. Shen Yan stood guard at the hall's edge, a silent pillar of strength.
The Emperor sat upon the Dragon Throne, expression unreadable.
"Let the lady speak," he commanded.
Qiyue stepped forward, bowing with a grace that belied the iron behind her spine.
"Your Majesty, I bring before you truths long buried—crimes veiled beneath the cloth of loyalty, and a future stained if silence persists."
A murmur rippled through the hall.
Minister Qu stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I can confirm the ledgers she submitted. The funds diverted from the disaster relief in Yun Province never arrived. They were instead rerouted to—"
He hesitated.
"—to the private accounts of the Crown Prince."
The room froze.
The Crown Prince surged to his feet. "Lies! You dare?"
The Emperor raised a hand. "Sit."
Reluctantly, the prince obeyed. His jaw clenched hard enough to crack.
Minister Fan, older and once loyal to the prince, coughed uncomfortably. "Your Majesty, while these accusations are serious, they remain allegations. The Lady Lin—though eloquent—lacks official standing."
Qiyue's voice cut through the air. "Then grant me such standing. Give me authority as the palace investigator. If I am wrong, you may strip me of all name and shelter. But if I am right…"
She turned to the ministers. "Then let those who call evil loyalty be cast out like rot from a fruit."
Prince Rui gave a slow clap. "Bold. Very bold."
The Emperor studied her for a long moment.
"Very well. Lady Lin, you are hereby named the interim investigator under royal authority. You will have access to the archive vaults and audience with any official, but you will be watched."
A test.
But Qiyue bowed. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
---
Later that night, in the Moon Courtyard, Qiyue met with Madam Yun and Shen Yan in secret.
"The Emperor is watching. But we now have eyes inside the vaults," she said.
Madam Yun unfurled a map of the capital.
"We must move swiftly. The Crown Prince's supporters will cover their tracks. But I have a lead—there's a ledger missing from the northern archives, hidden beneath an assumed name."
"I'll retrieve it," Shen Yan said. "But I'll need a diversion."
Qiyue nodded. "Then I'll cause one."
---
The next morning, Qiyue attended court dressed not in the muted colors of a minor noblewoman, but in imperial crimson—a signal.
Ministers whispered.
"What game is she playing?"
"She dares wear the colors of the Inner Court?"
She walked directly to the vaults under guard escort. While she asked loudly for records on trade, Shen Yan slipped into the forbidden chamber, retrieving the ledger with a forged pass.
Outside, Qiyue kept the clerks busy with innocuous questions.
Later, they reconvened in the abandoned shrine of the Fifth Concubine, long untouched by anyone except the rats and ghosts of forgotten power.
The ledger was worse than expected.
"It's not just the Crown Prince," Madam Yun whispered. "Half the War Ministry is implicated. These signatures… they include General Fei."
Qiyue's expression darkened. "If they control both court and military, we are racing a noose."
Shen Yan rested a hand on his sword. "Then we sever the rope before it tightens."
Qiyue looked to the flickering candle between them.
"No. We turn it into a torch. And burn their web."
---
That night, the Emperor received a scroll delivered in silence.
It was unsigned, but within it were copied pages from the ledger, names circled in red. It did not accuse, merely illuminated. A nudge, not a cry.
The Emperor did not sleep.
By dawn, five ministers had been summoned for quiet questioning.
Qiyue watched it unfold from the shadows, every step taken a stitch in the tapestry she had begun to weave.
But a tapestry this intricate had many weavers.
And not all threads remained obedient.
---
In the cold corridors beneath the Hall of Records, someone else moved.
A figure in gray.
He opened the hidden drawer beneath the archives desk, pulling out a torn piece of parchment.
It bore Lin Qiyue's name.
And a bounty.
Not official. Not public. But known.
A whisper-mark from the Silent Guild.
He tucked the parchment away and vanished into the dark.
Outside, the palace thrived with lanterns and whispers, unaware that beneath its beauty, the empress-to-be had lit a fire that would not be extinguished.