Some truths remain buried for generations.
Some questions cannot be answered until the people seeking them have walked a long and difficult road.
At this point in the story, Song Jia has only begun to uncover the shadows surrounding the past. The events that follow belong to a later period, after discoveries, confrontations, and decisions that have yet to unfold.
This is a glimpse of one chapter in that future investigation.
For now, the story remains at the beginning of the marriage competition, where Song Jia has just completed her first official trial.
....
The Mao Hanying letter had never reached the fake Consultation Office.
That was the first surprise.
Ding Shun's restricted trace showed the document leaving the Song ancestral archive under HCR-4 Supplemental Review six days earlier.
From there, it entered the Imperial Palace.
Not the Restricted Records Wing.
Not the Interview Annex.
Not even the Historical Correlation Review Unit.
