The dawn crept in muted and pale, as though even the sun hesitated to approach the palace today.
Yunan dressed in quiet, unflinching movements.She chose plain robes. Light silk. Easy to run in, easy to disappear in.She braided her hair tightly, tucking away the softness.
She would not give her brother anything to cling to.
The bullet comments popped up like mischievous spirits:
[Our girl choosing stealth mode at dawn… iconic.][She said 'don't perceive me.'][If she survives this family she deserves free snacks for life.]
Yunan stepped into the courtyard.
Spring blossoms scattered across the ground like spilled secrets. She crossed the stone bridge leading to the south wing—avoiding the Eastern Pavilion where the emperor had cornered her only hours ago.
Today, she needed answers.
Not fear.
Not hesitation.
Answers.
But as her sandals brushed against the last stair, her pace slowed. Because someone stood waiting beneath the old apricot tree.
Someone she hadn't seen in weeks.
Song Xiao.
His posture was straight, elegant, steady as always. His eyes, however—dark crescent moons—widened in something dangerously close to relief when they landed on her.
He bowed low.Not as a childhood friend.But as a subordinate paying respect to a princess far above him.
That alone irritated her.
"You're back," she said flatly.
"Princess," Song Xiao replied, voice low, warm, too gentle for the sharp air they stood in. "Forgive my intrusion. I… was concerned."
"About what?"
"About you."
The words fell between them like a pebble into a well—small, yet echoing.
Yunan turned her gaze away, focusing on the apricot blossoms drifting down. "If you came here to ease your conscience, you've done that. You can leave."
A flicker of pain crossed his expression.
"So cold," Song Xiao murmured. "You weren't like this before."
"Before," she repeated, "I was foolish."
His jaw tightened. "Jang Linghu shouldn't have—"
She cut him off with a raised hand. "Do not finish that sentence."
The silence pulsed.
Song Xiao bowed his head. "As you command."
He took a step back to give her space. But the moment he moved, another shadow appeared from the opposite walkway.
Jang Linghu.
Wearing simple guard clothing.Hair tied loosely.Eyes tired, hollow around the edges.
He froze when he saw her.
Song Xiao tensed instantly, stepping slightly in front of Yunan like a shield.
Jang Linghu's voice cracked open in a whisper:
"Yunan…"
She inhaled sharply. That old name, spoken with that old softness, landed like a thorn lodged too deep to pull.
The bullet comments exploded:
[NOT THE EX AND THE EX-BEST FRIEND MEETING AT SUNRISE.][I smell violence. Emotional violence.][Song Xiao guarding her? Oh he's whipped.][Linghu don't even breathe wrong.]
Yunan straightened her spine. Her face became a blade.
"Address me properly."
He swallowed. "Princess."
Better.
"What do you want?" she asked.
Jang Linghu lifted something wrapped in cloth. His hands trembled, barely noticeable except to someone who once knew his heartbeat.
"I came to return this," he murmured.
She hesitated.
He unwrapped it.
Her mother's jade hair comb.
But not the phoenix one she kept. The other pair. The twin design.
The one she thought lost during childhood.
Yunan stared.Her breath stilled.Her fingers curled reflexively.
"How did you—"
"It was left in my old residence," Jang Linghu said quietly. "You must have dropped it years ago. I didn't know how to give it back until now."
A memory flickered—dusty sunlight, two children playing under the old peach tree, someone tripping, someone laughing, a jade comb falling into tall grass.
Yunan clenched her jaw.
"Keep it," she said.
Jang Linghu's grip tightened. "I can't."
"You already did once."
Song Xiao flinched.
Jang Linghu's eyes filled with something raw, something desperate. "Princess… please… let me at least return what belongs to you."
"It doesn't belong to me," she said coldly. "Not anymore."
A silence stretched—thin, brittle.
Jang Linghu looked as if something inside him splintered. But before he could speak again…
A shadow sliced across the courtyard.
Fast. Silent. Purposeful.
Prince Yuanxiu.
Black robes.Black gloves.Expression unreadable beneath the half-mask he always wore in the mornings.
He bowed politely to Yunan. "Princess. His Majesty requests your presence."
Song Xiao shifted, instantly alert. "She is busy."
Prince Yuanxiu didn't even look at him. "The emperor insists."
Jang Linghu stiffened. "At this hour?"
"Immediately," Yuanxiu said.
His gaze slid to Song Xiao. Then to Jang Linghu. Then back to Yunan. Calculating every connection, every threat.
The tension curled around them like smoke.
Yunan lifted her chin, emotionless.
"Lead the way."
Prince Yuanxiu turned.
As she followed, she sensed three sets of eyes burning holes into her back:
Song Xiao's fear.Jang Linghu's regret.Yuanxiu's vigilance.
And somewhere beyond the palace walls…
Her brother waited.
Not like a ruler.
But like a storm that had chosen its target.