The Crown Prince's manor had always been too quiet. Like a house pretending not to be haunted.
But this time, it felt crowded.
Not with footsteps or noise—no, it was the silence that gave them away. Women in silk robes glided across polished stone, heads bowed, eyes too curious. They didn't speak unless spoken to, didn't smile unless observed. But they were everywhere. In the walkways. In the libraries. In the gardens that should have been empty.
Each one more beautiful than the one before. Each one planted.
I walked slowly, letting the quiet settle around me like smoke. Shi Yaozu followed at my back, silent as ever, but I could feel his unease. He noticed them too—the way they watched me, not like a future Crown Princess, but like a threat to their sponsors.
One of the women bowed too deeply near the southern corridor. I recognized the sigil embroidered at her wrist—a mountain plum, the emblem of Minister Liang. I smiled slightly. So that was the game now.
