The Black Flag of Deceit

From dawn till dusk, whispers spread like wildfire throughout the imperial palace. Suspicion thickened the air so much that even the lowest-ranked maidservants no longer dared utter the name "the Fourth Princess" without first glancing over their shoulders.

"Did you hear? They say over half of the palace's supply funds have vanished."

"I heard it was due to extravagant feasts—far beyond the palace's proper dignity."

"But… has the Empress found out yet?"

That was precisely what Bai Yuening wanted—

Rumors were the first black flag in a war of information.

If courtiers and commoners began to doubt, then what could possibly prove innocence?

But…

Xianlan was not a woman who stood still as a storm gathered—she was the one who tied the cloak herself before stepping into the wind.

⸻

At Yuhan Palace

Upon a sandalwood table inlaid with carved jade, a set of audit request forms for the Inner Court's finances were meticulously arranged.

Among them, forged documents had been seamlessly mixed in—indistinguishable from the real ones.

"His Majesty remains unaware…" whispered Wang Jingyi, standing quietly by her side.

Xianlan lifted one of the documents.

"Even better. The more they see me as just a girl… the less they'll suspect the game."

"But what if the bait we've set… hooks something bigger than we anticipated?"

Xianlan smiled faintly.

"Then we've been blessed. I'd drag an enemy out of hiding without so much as drawing a blade."

⸻

The documents were delivered through "a servant", who was instructed to whisper to a certain treasury official that "a secret order from the Empress" had requested special off-record purchases.

As expected, the greedy official eagerly opened additional procurement channels—none of which passed through official ledgers…

Three days later, an imperial audit officer from the emperor's household "coincidentally" received an anonymous complaint.

The forged documents were compared against official records, and a secret investigation quietly commenced—without anyone knowing.

⸻

Meanwhile,

Bai Yuening had caught wind of the forged documents—

and of how the rumors had begun to turn against her.

"She's provoking us to strike in the wrong place…" the allied princess said calmly, seated in a chamber laced with perfumed smoke.

"Baiting a big fish? Or hoping to lure me into wearing the villain's mask myself?"

Beside her, Jiang Xinluo remained silent, eyes filled with unease.

"Let me handle this quietly," Bai Yuening said softly.

"If our trap won't catch her, then we stab from the shadows."

Jiang Xinluo understood instantly—

The princess meant to unleash the Shadow Hands, the assassination unit of the allied state.

⸻

That very night—

Yuhan Palace was cloaked in silence.

A shadow crept across the old wooden rooftops like a cat in the dead of night.

…But the assassin did not know—

This palace was the battlefield of a princess who had studied the art of strategic warfare since before she turned fifteen.

A faint crack of a twig was all the signal Xianlan needed to rise from her desk—without panic.

The window flung open.

Candlelight flared—

And a black-clad figure plummeted into a steel-wire net seamlessly strung beneath the roof.

A soft shriek rang from the shadows, followed by the heavy panting of someone tightly bound.

Xianlan stepped forward, peering down at the insignia sewn into the man's sleeve.

"An assassin from the allied state…" she murmured.

"Sending your shadows now, are you? So… you're afraid."

Wang Jingyi emerged from the darkness.

"Shall we send him back… or—?"

Xianlan shook her head, lips curling into a razor-thin smile.

"Send him back. Let her know—I'm not the prey here.

I'm the one who guards the slaughterhouse."

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