The moon hung heavy above the Ju estate, its silver light cloaking the
garden in ghostly calm. Inside, Ju Xian moved swiftly.
She had discarded her embroidered robe and replaced it with a servant's
cloak. Her hair, always pinned in elegant coils, now hung in a simple braid.
Her heart raced — not from fear, but from purpose.
Taotao leaned against the outer window ledge, arms folded. "Still don't
believe this is a bad idea?"
> "It's an excellent idea," Ju Xian replied. "You just lack vision."
> "I lack interest in nobles and their marriage problems."
She tossed him a pouch. It clinked with coin. "Two days' worth of interest."
That silenced him.
With Meilan's help, the guards were distracted with spilled wine and a false
alarm at the eastern wall. Ju Xian slipped out through the servant's corridor
with Taotao trailing behind, now cloaked in shadows.
> "For someone being kidnapped, you're bossier than most," he muttered.
> "If we're faking a crime, we might as well do it right."
At the estate's boundary, Taotao boosted her over the stone wall. She landed
with a stumble but rose with steady eyes.
They vanished into the city — not through the wide streets, but the smoke-
veiled alleys and quiet river paths.
Far behind, bells rang faintly.
> "They've noticed," Taotao said.
> "Good," Ju Xian replied. "Let them think I'm already gone."
As they disappeared into the night, neither of them knew they'd just stepped
into the heart of a past life they had forgotten — and a destiny that had only
just begun.