The moonlight dripped like silver ink over the tiled courtyard as Li Wei made his way toward the East Wing.
He had been summoned, though the reason was unclear. A thin fog of anticipation curled in his chest. Something was coming he could feel it.
He stepped to the East Wing before stopping there.
It is now confirmed.
Miss Mei sat like a drift of silk, her robe moving slightly again in the night breeze.
Beside her, Sir Sebastian sat upright , his piercing green eyes gleaming coldly under the amber lantern light. Behind them stood two females and a young male servant, eyes lowered and ear-held.
Li Wei's breath caught for a second. This wasn't a private conversation. This was associates gathering. Some official business.
His heart began pounding hard. Stolen something? His mind cavorted into absurd possibilities. Am I a suspect? The thought gripped him, but he quickly shoved it aside. No-he had done nothing wrong.
He stepped forward and bowed deeply. "Miss Mei. Sir Sebastian."
And thus followed silence, long, and cold.
Then Miss Mei straightened herself just the least bit. The silence was broken by her voice, "Is he the one?"
Li Wei's eyes flicked to the maid who had stepped forward. Her fingers trembled as she pointed.
quot;He's the one," she said. "I saw him enter Sir Sebastian's chamber."
Li Wei's heart sank. All right, I did enter that room... but- he blinked, confused. His expression conveyed innocent and stunned.
She continued, voice steadier now. "I saw him go in that evening. After that... I found things missing. The notes. And... the sapphire pendant."
Some gasps escape from the mouths of a few of the others.
Another maid spoke. "I saw him, too. He was standing by the writing table. He turned when he noticed me."
The other added, & quot;The pendant-Sir Sebastian's sapphire heirloom-it was gone... The foreign-ink scrolls. "
Sir Sebastian was inscrutable as always, but he didn't mouth a word.
Mei's fan fingers coiled around her fan. Her knuckles were pale. "He can't have..." she murmured under her breath, but even she could feel her trust shaking.
She finally turned to Li Wei. "Did you do this?"
There was perfect silence in the Courtyard.
Li Wei bowed again, this time slower, deeper.
"No, Miss Mei, I swear I didn't," he said, voice firm yet humble. "That evening, I was given to understand that Sir Sebastian had urgent business with me. I went to knock at his door. Quite a number of times. No one answered."
He took a breath, his eyes lifting to meet hers.
"I was about to leave... but then I heard a creak. The kind a floor makes when someone's moving inside. Curiosity... I let it pull me. I opened the door. But the room was empty."
He paused to let the truth sit in some mental spaces.
"I saw the jewelry. The notes. Strange inscriptions in foreign tongues. I didn't touch a thing. I left ;went back to my room."
Murmurs stirred.
"But... something wouldn't leave my mind. So I returned later. Knocked again. Still no response. This time... the door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open... and the items were gone."
Miss Mei immediately leaned forward with narrowed eyes.
"I searched around," Li Wei went on. "and I saw something. A strand. The type given to the maid. Caught on the edge of the drawer."
While muttering this, murmurs arose from all the people around here.
"I found it and kept it. I thought... may be it will prove something."
"Do you still have it?" Miss mei asked impatiently.
Li Wei nodded. "It's in my room. Shall I fetch it, then?"
Miss Mei gave a sharp nod. "Hurry."
He turned and dashed away.
Minutes passed. No one spoke. Sir Sebastian's expression remained calm, yet tense. The others stood still: judging, guessing, wondering.
Then footsteps.
Li Wei returned with the little piece of pale cloth, tightly woven and barely visible, with thin red marking at the edge. He put forward both hands to present it.
Handing it to Miss Mei in a delicate manner, it soon dawned on her that something big was about to happen.
"All the maids shall be summoned," she commanded.
Guards immediately moved.
Before long, continued the business of filling the courtyard.
About 30 maids in total, gathered in orderly rows, their hands folded before them, uncertain but obedient. Miss Mei stepped forward.
"Each of you," she called clearly, "show your strand. Now."
Like petals unfolding, each maid reached beneath her robe and lifted her chest title—a thin piece of woven strand unique to every maid in the household. One by one, the strands rose.
But then...
One girl was hesitant.
Eyes turned toward her.
Still searching, hand fumbled over the robe.
All others had lifted theirs.
The tension rose like thunderclouds over the courtyard.
Guards stepped forward and quickly seized her.
Two other maids were also kept behind—those who had testified too quickly, too confidently. The others were dismissed quietly.
Only three remained.
And the one fumbling now knelt with tears threatening in her wide, panicked eyes.
Miss Mei took a slow step toward her. "Speak," she said quietly. "Or someone else will speak for you."
Li Wei looked at her and something just hit him, he didn't notice the woman who served as the maid for Sir Sebastian (Guest).He went closer to Miss Mei and whispered to her,
"One of the maids wasn't here". Just then they heard a shout from the gates some distance away .It was the guards, one shouted "Bring her don't make her escape "
They all waited for what the gates guards bring....