Midnight found Bai Liu unable to sleep. Her mind replayed the banquet over and over again.
Yes, she had stunned the crowd—but the very person she had intended to win over looked more irritated than impressed.
She knew the Emperor was young, recently coronated, and desperately searching for an heir.
The six consorts and the Empress had already borne him daughters, yet it was not enough. That was why the Empress' miscarriage had struck him so deeply—so deeply that he could not even bring himself to forgive her.
Zhou Wei's memories surfaced as Bai Liu recalled the fall. From her observations, both she and the Empress had been pregnant at the same time.
The Empress must have felt threatened, especially since Bai Liu had conceived first, and rumors claimed she carried a male child. The Emperor's growing favor—his gifts and rare attentions—had only worsened the Empress' jealousy.
As Bai Liu tossed restlessly on the bed, a deep pair of hazel eyes flashed through her mind.
They felt familiar—achingly so—yet she could not place them.
Fragments of Bai Liu's memories rushed forward. He had always been there, watching like a shadow. Those hazel eyes were the last thing she had seen before her soul left this body.
"My lady!".
Lin Yan's soft voice snapped Bai Liu back to reality.
"I can't sleep, Lin Yan," Bai Liu murmured.
"It's almost dawn, my lady," Lin Yan said gently, stepping forward and handing her a familiar object.
It was a red ruby bracelet.
"General Shan Yu sent this," Lin Yan continued. "He said you dropped it when you tripped at the banquet."
Bai Liu accepted it slowly. This bracelet was her mother's precious heirloom.
"…General Shan Yu?" she repeated softly, her fingers closing around the ruby. The metal was still warm, as though it had only just left someone else's hand.
Lin Yan nodded. "Yes, my lady. He personally sent a palace eunuch before curfew. He said…" She hesitated, then lowered her voice. "He said he was relieved you were unharmed."
Bai Liu's chest tightened.
So it was him.
The hazel eyes. The strong arms that had caught her before she hit the ground. The presence she had always felt—quiet, distant, constant. Like a shadow that never stepped into the light.
"Did he say anything else?" Bai Liu asked, keeping her tone even.
Lin Yan shook her head. "Only that the night air was cold and Your Ladyship should rest well."
Such ordinary words.
Yet they stirred something dangerously warm in her chest.
After Lin Yan withdrew, Bai Liu sat upright against the headboard, turning the bracelet slowly in her fingers.
Bai Liu's memories—fragmented and unfamiliar—rose like mist.
Shan Yu had always been there.
When she was ridiculed for her weight.
When she slipped during etiquette lessons.
When she was made to kneel in the snow for hours.
He never intervened. Never crossed the line. But he always watched.
And the night she fell down the stairs…
Her breath hitched.
He was the one who found her.
Not the Emperor.
Not the Empress.
Not even her attendants.
Him.
The bracelet slid easily onto her wrist, as if it had always belonged there. Bai Liu stared at it, her pulse racing, before her thoughts drifted back to the Emperor.
"I can never please the Emperor, can I?" Bai Liu murmured as Lin Yan poured her tea. "Nothing I do ever seems right."
She noticed, not for the first time, that she had no guards like the other concubines. Lin Yan was her only maid—but she was worth a thousand.
"My lady," Lin Yan said gently, handing her the cup, "after the rumors that you orchestrated the Empress' fall and caused her to lose her child, how could the Emperor not hate you?".
Bai Liu stared into the spiraling steam. Her voice was low, almost broken.
"Do you think I did it?".
Silence filled the room.
"I never believed it, Mistress," Lin Yan said firmly. "You're too kind to do such a thing. You don't deserve all the misfortune that's happened to you… not even the loss of your child."
She swallowed hard.
"Some maids say it was karma," Lin Yan continued, emotion thick in her voice. "But I know that fall was not ordinary."
"No one would take me seriously," Bai Liu said quietly. "She is the Empress. She holds the highest rank. I'm surprised I'm even alive."
"You must have forgotten," Lin Yan said softly, "the Emperor wanted you executed.
The Empress Dowager intervened and said it was wrong to kill without solid proof."
Bai Liu froze.
She remembered then the Empress Dowager, her mother's childhood friend.
That was why Bai Liu had been chosen as a consort despite her size. That favor had sparked jealousy and hatred from the others.
"Where is the Empress Dowager now?" Bai Liu asked.
"She resides in the Palace of Benevolence," Lin Yan replied. "Her illness has kept her bedridden for two years."
A thought struck Bai Liu suddenly.
"I want to see her."
"My lady," Lin Yan hesitated, "you'll need the Emperor's permission."
"Leave the tea," Bai Liu said decisively, rising.
"We're going to the Imperial Palace now."
She needed to see the woman who had always cared for Bai Liu. Perhaps she could help her recover. After all, Zhou Wei had once been a medical student—one who never finished, but whose knowledge still remained.
By the time they reached the imperial Palace, dawn was already breaking. Bai Liu's residence lay far from the center, making the journey long.
She entered briskly, finding the Emperor seated beside the Empress.
"What an unpleasant sight this morning," the Empress scowled.
"Seventh Consort," the Emperor said coldly, irritation evident in his voice, "have you come to cause trouble again?"
"No, Your Majesty," Bai Liu replied, bowing gracefully. "I come in peace. I have a request."
He gestured lazily.
"Speak."
"I wish to visit the Empress Dowager and care for her at the Palace of Good Fortune."
"Care for her?" the Emperor scoffed. "She is attended by the finest physicians in the state. I will not allow your evil influence near her."
Bai Liu nearly rolled her eyes.
"Since Her Majesty cherishes me," Bai Liu said calmly, "my presence may ease her recovery. I also possess some medical knowledge that could help."
The Empress burst into mocking laughter. "So from a guqin player, you've suddenly become a doctor?"
Bai Liu clenched her fists.
"Do you mock me, Seventh Consort?" the Emperor snapped.
Lin Yan tugged gently at Bai Liu's sleeve, urging her to stop. But Zhou Wei had never been one to retreat.
"Thirty days in the Palace of benevolence," Bai Liu declared. "If the Empress Dowager does not recover, you may strip me of my position.
Lin Yan gasped.
The Emperor's eyes gleamed. "You would lose your status—and I will punish you as I see fit."
"I'll choose the punishment," the Empress added eagerly.
"And if I succeed?" Bai Liu asked calmly.
"I will elevate you to Noble Consort," the Emperor replied.
The position had remained vacant since the former Noble Consort's mysterious death.
"Deal," Bai Liu said firmly.
Lin Yan clutched her head in despair. Her mistress would truly be the death of them both.
As Bai Liu turned to leave, Lin Yan rushed forward and prostrated herself.
"Your Majesty, you cannot send my lady unguarded. She has no guards of her own."
"She may choose one," the Emperor said indifferently.
"One?" Bai Liu whispered to Lin Yan. "Then pick the strongest."
"General Shan Yu," Lin Yan announced.
The Empress' expression darkened. "Shan Yu is not a guard. He is a general burdened with state affairs."
"You may take him," the Emperor said lazily.
"There is no war. It's only for a month."
Bai Liu smiled—not mockingly, but triumphantly.
Yet deep inside, unease stirred at the sound of his name.
If he was the best, then fate had already chosen.