The Veil of False Blossoms

The imperial palace lay hushed as ever that night.

Yet the silence tonight did not carry tranquility it was steeped in suspicion, shadowed by doubt, and soaked in intrigue that seeped through every crevice of its elegant halls.

Under moonlight filtering through gauzy curtains of Hua Lan Palace, faint shadows stretched across the cold stone floor like the strokes of a painter's brush, uncertain if it depicted beauty or nightmare.

Footsteps crept softly over the damp grass…

A woman dressed in a plain maid's attire walked slowly through the side gate of the residence. Her frame was slim, her movements too swift and sure to be merely a servant. Stranger still was the crimson-violet peony tucked into her hairpin no maid of Hua Lan wore such a flower.

To those who knew… it was a signal.

But alas, the night's darkness was too thick for any eyes to witness it.

⸻

Inside the Study, Hua Lan Palace

Xianlan sat calmly beside a sandalwood desk, brush moving steadily across parchment with deliberate rhythm.

The oil lamp swayed faintly with the breeze, yet her shadow remained still, unshaken.

Beneath the desk, a jade mechanism box lay in silence octagonal, carved to contain secrets once belonging to her mother. It was fitted with a trap: should any footstep approach within ten paces unbidden, the jade needles inside would shoot forth without hesitation.

Yet the steps… stopped precisely at the seventh.

Xianlan lowered her brush at once.

"If you've come only to steal," she said coldly, "then you should turn back while your hands remain whole."

Her voice held no emotion, but within, she had already mapped the intruder's breathing.

The young woman in maid's garb slowly raised her face sharp-eyed as a concealed dagger. Her right hand clutched a jade hairpin tightly.

"I was ordered to retrieve what lies beneath your writing desk… but I was not told what it is."

Her voice was steady. Neither fear nor bravado tainted her tone.

Xianlan rose with grace, lifted the jade box, and placed it atop the desk. Without pause, she pressed the hidden latch and opened the lid.

It revealed… nothing.

"This box has been empty longer than you imagine," she said.

The girl flinched subtly, her eyes flickering.

"Who told you it held something of worth?" Xianlan asked, her voice soft yet piercing.

The girl did not answer, but her earlier tone had betrayed it there was not merely coercion at work, but fear… fear of losing something or someone.

Moments later, footsteps sounded from outside.

Liu Meirong and Wen Yichen entered swiftly, responding to the secret signal sent from the palace.

"Shall I take over?" Wen Yichen asked evenly, though his sharp eyes gleamed beneath his long brows.

Xianlan shook her head gently. "No need for unnecessary force."

She turned again to the girl still frozen in place.

"Have the Black Tea Room prepare her a quiet seat. The one who sent her is likely waiting to see if she vanishes… or returns."

Wen Yichen chuckled under his breath.

"Then someone out there is no doubt sipping tea, awaiting the news."

⸻

At Dawn – Crown Prince's Quarters

The air still held the damp chill of last night's rain, as if even nature itself refused to grant the palace a moment of peace.

Feng Yuhan stood before his worktable, one hand holding a report just delivered from Hua Lan Palace, the other resting gently on his sandalwood fan.

Wen Yichen leaned against a carved pillar nearby, speaking low.

"That maid… bears a tattoo beneath her shoulder. The crest of the Zhao clan from Xuan Yu."

Feng Yuhan raised a brow slightly.

"Zhao… is that not the family of Bai Yuening?"

Wen Yichen nodded.

"And for them to send a hand into the palace now… it means they're displeased. Their influence is slipping."

Feng Yuhan lowered his gaze.

"Or perhaps… they've realized Xianlan is no longer the powerless girl they once dismissed."

⸻

Elsewhere in the Palace – Guifei's Residence

Consort Su Zhen sat demurely in a side pavilion, sipping hot osmanthus tea. Her favored maid whispered hastily by her side.

"The maid captured last night… she was not one of ours, Your Grace."

Su Zhen set her cup down gently upon a jade tray, her lips curved into a cold smile.

"Even if she wasn't mine… an enemy of my enemy still serves a purpose."

The maid hesitated, then asked softly,

"Do you wish to manage the rumors?"

Su Zhen shook her head.

"Not yet. Those who rush to extinguish a flame only invite suspicion."

She laughed softly into her sleeve.

"Let the small piece stir the board. I'll watch to see which players turn on each other first."

⸻

Within the Inner Interrogation Room – Hua Lan Palace

The chamber was built of thick wood, windowless and dim. Only a single oil lamp flickered in the corner, casting a long shadow of the maidservant seated in silence faint and fragile as a dream not yet disturbed.

The girl sat with her back straight, her gaze steady despite being surrounded by Xianlan's most trusted attendants. Her poise was not born of courage but of training. Training to remain silent, to show no expression, to neither tremble nor question instilled in her since childhood.

Xianlan entered quietly, the soft drag of cloth shoes brushing against the wooden floor. She did not speak at once. Instead, she circled behind the girl, as though studying every inch of the shadow sent to her.

Finally, Xianlan sat across from her, her gaze meeting the reflection in those dark, unreadable eyes.

"I shall ask only once," Xianlan said, her tone calm but steely. "If you choose silence, I'll send you to the same place I was imprisoned in my youth."

The words were colder than any threat.

The maid flinched faintly. Her lips tightened before she replied in a whisper,

"I serve as a lesser maid under Princess Bai Yuening's household."

"I wasn't ordered by Her Highness directly…" she lowered her gaze, "but a member of the Zhao clan offered me a task in exchange for absolving my mother's charges."

Xianlan listened without interruption, her expression unreadable.

The girl continued, her voice low.

"I was taught never to think. Since I was little… I've known only this: never ask, never shake, never weep not even with a blade in hand."

Her words were flat, her eyes dull like a child who had never been allowed a childhood.

Xianlan exhaled slowly.

"I understand." She stood, her voice steady yet weighty. "From this moment on… you will learn what it means to think for yourself."

She turned to her attendant.

"No one is to lay a hand on her."

"Let her rest. Give her food. And… give her a book."

"For a person who has never had her own thoughts… is but a pawn everyone is willing to sacrifice."

The maid froze. Her eyes trembled for the first time in years.

Something within her… began to crack.

⸻

At the same time – A hidden chamber in Princess Bai Yuening's residence

A soft click of the lock.

The wooden door creaked open as the alliance princess stepped in alone, without retinue. She slipped off her cloak, revealing a face cold and serene, untouched by even the shadow of a smile.

On the table lay a spread map of the imperial court, a single stone placed atop the location marked Hua Lan Palace.

She reached out and picked up a peony hairpin deep violet-red in shade.

Her fingers traced the delicate petals, which concealed a thin vial used to transmit coded messages.

"Hua Lan Palace…" she murmured, "That low-born woman carries more secrets than anyone dares imagine."

She pressed the tip of the hairpin onto Xianlan's palace on the map.

A quiet, chilling smile touched her lips.

"This time… I want to see just how long a common flower can pretend to be an empress."

⸻

That night – Shadow Wing of the Crown Prince's Residence

Feng Yuhan stood at the wooden threshold, gazing out toward the lotus pond shimmering beneath the pale moonlight.

In his hand was a sealed letter recent intelligence from the capital's underground network.

Its message was brief:

"Movements from the Zhao clan have grown clearer. Bai Yuening's people have been frequenting the rear quarters of the Imperial Archive."

Wen Yichen appeared silently behind him, like a shadow.

"Do you believe they are afraid or beginning to strike?"

Feng Yuhan didn't turn. His voice was low.

"Neither. They've begun… playing by Xianlan's rules."

He placed the letter down slowly.

"But her game… isn't one of power. It's a game of who dares to look into the mirror."

Wen Yichen gave a soft smile.

"And that mirror does not only reflect the face… but the shadows of a past everyone tries to bury."

⸻

Early dawn – Hua Lan Palace

Light filtered through ivory curtains. In its dim glow, Xianlan stood beside the window frame, one hand holding the peony hairpin found the night before.

In the other, a scroll of secret passageways through the rear palaces.

Her gaze did not waver. Her face calm, yet her mind moved through layer upon layer of possibilities.

"The Zhao clan…" she whispered.

"If they've made their move so soon, it means someone has realized… I'm no longer a woman with no cards to play."

A soft knock came at the door.

A female attendant stepped in, delivering a report from their informants in the city markets.

Within it was but one line, spoken by an old man who had once served the imperial treasury:

"If you dare pull back the peony curtain, you'll find more thorns than petals."

Xianlan read the line and smiled faintly.

"Good…"

"If they still see me as harmless… then let me remain their 'false blossom.'"

She placed the jade box atop the report.

Then turned to write a new letter.

"To Jiang Xinluo if the old shadows begin to shift hands, what kind of light will you choose?"

"This chapter has been updated with improved narrative and deeper character perspective. The plot remains unchanged."

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