[ Third Person ]
The expected bloodbath did not arrive by the dawn. Instead, the morning brought a suffocating, paralyzed silence to the imperial grounds.
Following the frantic midnight infiltration of the Finance Minister's estate, the Empress abruptly commanded a total cessation of the remaining house raids. The ledger Weicheng and Bai Ku Ji had retrieved did not contain a simple list of political dissidents; it was an extensive, black-inked record of localized graft and systemic corruption. The names inscribed within did not merely implicate external opposition ministers—they explicitly included high-ranking military commanders and noble houses directly beholden to the sovereign Yun Clan.
Before the rest of the academy candidates had even dressed for morning drills, Weicheng and Ku Ji were summoned deep into the palace to recount the precise, bloody details of the night's failure.
"We cannot explicitly release these findings to the high courts," Queen Yun Ni Xua declared, her voice devoid of its usual terrifying stability. She paced the polished floorboards, her fingers violently digging into the silk of her sleeves. "If these names are exposed, the structural integrity of the northern military will fracture. The kingdom will fall from within."
"Then why haven't your agents cleared these sectors before my arrival?" the Empress demanded, her tone dripping with a cold, piercing displeasure. She did not look at her sister; her focus was fixed on the steam rising from her citrus tea. "If we suppress this ledger, the ministers currently mobilizing against our regency will undoubtedly locate the duplicate records and publish them to force a coup."
The Queen halted her pacing, her calm, icy aura completely dissolving into a restless, defensive paranoia. Her eyes scanned the empty corners of the grand hall. "There is an active mole inside our central perimeter. A treasonous entity must have tipped off the ministry cells to counter our offensive before your shadow assets could secure the perimeter."
Bai Ku Ji stepped forward, dropping to one knee with a rigid, calculated precision. "Your Imperial Majesty, our team was aggressively ambushed during the breach. The perimeter guards did not discover our presence—they were systematically eliminated by an external force before we could initiate an interrogation. The primary assassin must have carried away the true asset."
Ku Ji reached into his robes, producing a long, dark iron needle and handing it to the waiting palace eunuch. "The intruder utilized a specialized, triple-tiered sleeve arrow tipped with high-grade curare poison to silence the guards instantly before slipping over the northern wall."
"Somebody has played a lethal trick upon our house," the Queen hissed, her voice vibrating with an enraged, primitive fury.
Weicheng, maintaining a flawless kowtow beside Ku Ji, kept her eyes glued to the wood grain of the floorboards while her mind spun. What book are they actually hunting for? The ledger they had retrieved was thick and bound in dark ox-hide. But from the frantic whispers of the royal sisters, the true object of their desperation was a manuscript bound in gold, crafted entirely from high-quality ivory parchment. The ledger of the year 807. The very document Weicheng had partially stolen a piece of—the manifest currently burning a hole against the skin of her left sleeve.
The Queen violently snatched the ox-hide ledger from the table and threw it through the air. It slammed against the floorboards inches from Weicheng's fingers, its pages fluttering wildly.
"Your Majesty, we beg you to ease your imperial anger," Ku Ji and Weicheng chanted in perfect unison, bowing their foreheads until they brushed the cold wood.
Internally, Weicheng rolled her eyes so hard it physically pained her.
"An invisible hand is actively operating behind the backs of the Ministry," the Empress murmured, her voice returning to its smooth, chillingly detached cadence. She raised her hand to dismiss the tension. "If we continue along this offensive route, we will simply be driving ourselves off the edge of a cliff. You two may rise."
Weicheng and Ku Ji stood up slowly, smoothing the wrinkles from their uniforms. The Empress truly was the more dangerous of the two sisters—her calm was a predatory tactic, not a lack of fury.
"For the immediate future, you will vacate the central pavilion and report to the West Hall," the Empress commanded smoothly. "Meet with your Grand Master. I have explicitly requested your names be added to his specialized vanguard."
[ Weicheng's POV ]
The moment the heavy oak doors of the Magnolia Hall sealed behind us, the freezing mountain wind hit my face, cutting through the lingering scent of bitter citrus.
"Why did you accept the terms to become the Empress's personal pawn?" Ku Ji asked in a low, guarded murmur, his eyes scanning the surrounding parapets as we crossed the oak bridge.
"In a territory like this, Ku Ji, we are all inherently born as pawns," I responded, my boots striking the stone with a rhythmic, hurried pace. "Some of us simply possess the strategic courage to advance toward the opposing pieces rather than waiting to be taken."
I could feel his sharp side-glance burning into the side of my face. "You still retain the option to retreat, Weicheng. The Yun sisters are entirely fearless, and their cruelty knows no bounds. A single misstep in their game, and you will find your life ending inside a subterranean prison cell. Or worse."
I simply shrugged, matching his tone with an indifferent calm. "The same advice applies to a rural scholar with an entire village on his back. Take care of your own safety."
I accelerated my pace, leaving him a step behind as we breached the grand archway of the West Hall.
When Ku Ji pushed the heavy iron-ringed doors open, the ambient noise inside the chamber instantly died. The room was occupied by six elite candidates gathered around a massive map table. My eyes swept the room: Tae Hua sat at the head, his jaw clenched into a tight line, while Niu Qiu Run, Candidate Eun Jo, and Yun Ji Wok occupied the flanking positions. The final two slots were filled by premier students from the parallel training platoons.
A sharp pang of guilt hit my chest. I knew Laohu and my other two roommates were currently throwing massive tantrums back at Dormitory 5 for being excluded from the assignment. But the list hadn't been drawn by merit; it had been explicitly engineered by the Empress and Grand Master Dan Pu Chi. Master Dan had intentionally drafted Laohu into the active frontier militia, forcing him toward the northern border alongside Mu Lin to learn the raw mechanics of actual warfare.
We were standing awkwardly by the threshold when Master Dan Pu Chi appeared behind us, callously shoving us aside with the flat of his staff to enter the room. "Take your designated seats immediately. We are bleeding daylight."
As we moved toward the remaining two chairs at the foot of the table, the side curtain parted, and Princess Xiao'er entered the hall with a sweeping, dramatic rustle of her silk train.
I stared at her, my brow furrowing in genuine irritation. Master Dan Pu Chi didn't even blink, guiding her directly to the absolute front of our strategic table.
"I shall be officially embedded within this tactical team for the duration of the campaign," she announced, her voice carrying a sweet, crystalline cadence that made my skin crawl. She offered a small, delicate smile, her eyes locking onto mine across the parchment maps.
She truly possessed an extraordinary talent for faking her human reactions. I immediately turned my head away, forcing my features into a blank wall to stop myself from openly rolling my eyes in front of the Grand Master.
"I never would have calculated that your name would appear on this deployment manifest," Eun Jo whispered, leaning his shoulder close to mine as he adjusted his seating cushion. His voice was a low, concerned murmur. "This specific task... it is going to be exceptionally dangerous, Weicheng."
"I never requested to be included," I muttered back, lowering my chin.
"I can initiate a private counsel with Master Dan to have your name purged from the roster," Eun Jo insisted, his eyes flashing with a sudden, protective intensity. "He owes my house a regional favor."
I lowered my head further, my mind flashing to the 807 manifest hidden in my sleeve. I needed an excuse to leave the capital gates to trace the origin of the gold. "No. It is acceptable. I actively require a position on this vanguard."
His eyes glowed with a subtle, questioning frustration. "Are you entirely certain of your safety parameters?"
To reassure him, I reached out beneath the shadow of the armrest, briefly tapping my fingers against his arm to signal my compliance.
The moment my fingers left his sleeve, the entire room seemed to drop five degrees in temperature.
I froze, slowly opening my eyes as a horrible realization dawned on me. The soft, rhythmic snapping of an iron fan cut through the silence. Niu Qiu Run had deployed his fan directly behind our heads, a massive, wildly amused grin splitting his face.
Every single pair of eyes at the table was pinned directly to Eun Jo and me. I nearly choked on my own breath.
"Candidate Eun Jo, Candidate Dan Weicheng," Master Dan Pu Chi's voice cut through the air like a whip. The two of us slowly, awkwardly distanced our seating positions. "Would the two of you care to share your profound internal insights with the rest of the vanguard? What exciting, domestic stories are you currently communicating?"
The physical weight of the glares in the room was piercing through my chest. Ji Wok was staring at my hand with a deadpan, chillingly blank expression, but it was Tae Hua who looked ready to execute someone.
Eun Jo cleared his throat, answering on our behalf with a smooth, unbothered grin. "Master, I was merely educating Weicheng on the historical parameters of the Night Pavilion."
Master Dan turned his eager, piercing eyes directly onto my face. "Ah. And what precisely did he communicate to you regarding the Night Pavilion, Weicheng?"
The Night Pavilion? My mind frantically fired through its memory logs. What kind of story was that? I had never heard those words in my entire life. Beneath the table, I sharply kicked Eun Jo's boot, silently cursing his choice of excuses.
Before I could open my mouth to manufacture a lie, Tae Hua stood up with violent suddenness. He slammed his jade-accented broadsword onto the center of the wooden table with a loud, echoing CRACK.
"If the communication does not directly advance the strategic parameters of this mission, cease the useless talking," Tae Hua snarled, his face completely furious, his knuckles white against his sword hilt.
His temper truly was the shortest, most volatile entity in the Northern Kingdom. I glanced across the table and saw Princess Xiao'er letting out a slow, thoroughly delighted smirk at his outburst. She was enjoying his chaotic reaction immensely.
Eun Jo merely maintained his smooth, defiant grin as Tae Hua dropped back into his seat, his chest heaving with silent irritation.
Master Dan Pu Chi cleared his throat, tapping his staff against the floor to regain control. "Actually, Prince Tae Hua, Candidate Eun Jo's excuse is entirely relevant. We must discuss the Night Pavilion. It is our primary destination. It sits at the exact geometric heart of the Village of Nantong."
Nantong? My heart skipped a violent beat. The location of the Shabby Inn. The place where the assassins had first tracked me.
"You mean the rural settlement of Nantong situated at the absolute foot of the border mountain range?" Bai Ku Ji inquired, his brow creasing in deep academic confusion.
Master Dan offered a grim nod. "The structure is designated as the Night Pavilion because of a singular, anomalous celestial condition: the pavilion only physically manifests its gates during the exact duration of a full moon."
"A full moon?" one of the platoon students muttered skeptically. "I thought the Night Pavilion was merely a provincial myth engineered by traveling bards."
Qui Run let out a soft, knowing chuckle from behind his iron fan. "Of course it isn't a myth, my friend. The Night Pavilion is living confirmation that the foundations of this world hold incredibly dark, ancient secrets."
My thoughts were escalating into total haywire. I remembered standing outside the Shabby Inn during the regular weeks—the fields had been completely barren, nothing but empty grass and cold wind. There had been no trace of a secondary palace structure.
"The phases of the moon do not stay too long," Lady Suan Ming's cryptic voice suddenly echoed through my memory. "If you happen to have things to ask me about, you can come back here again."
"The lunar cycle reaches its peak the day after tomorrow," Master Dan announced, drawing a heavy crimson line across the parchment map. "Which means this vanguard must set out later this afternoon. We will take the dangerous, unmapped high-altitude route through the mountain passes to bypass the regional checkpoints. If we do not arrive before the full moon breaches the horizon, the gates will seal, and we will be entirely unable to enter."
I stared at the map, my fingers turning cold against my knees. This was the exact moment the blind seer had warned me about. The Empress's stolen manifest, the hunt for the lost princess, the mysterious golden mask, and Lady Suan Ming's cards—all of it wasn't a series of random political crises.
It was a single, massive web, and the center of the web was waiting for me in the dark of Nantong.
"The most dangerous illusion a piece can harbor is believing it moves by its own volition, when in truth, every step across the board was decided before the ink on the map had even dried."