The palace gates closed behind Li Xuan with a heavy groan.
It felt less like coming home—
and more like walking into a cage.
Servants bowed as he passed.
Guards saluted.
Everything looked exactly as it always had.
Yet every glance lingered a little too long.
Every whisper stopped a little too quickly.
Advisor Chen had done his work well.
The palace was watching.
"Fourth Prince."
Li Xuan turned.
Advisor Chen stood beneath a flowering plum tree, hands folded neatly behind his back.
"I heard you were away."
Li Xuan smiled lazily.
"I needed fresh air."
"The mountains?"
"You know where I went?"
"I know many things."
Chen stepped closer.
"The question is whether Your Highness knows how much I know."
Li Xuan laughed softly.
"You're beginning to sound like a storyteller."
"And you're beginning to sound like a man with something to hide."
For several long seconds, neither looked away.
Then Chen bowed politely and continued down the corridor.
The conversation had ended.
The game had not.
That evening, Li Xuan entered his private study.
Waiting on his desk was an unsigned letter.
No seal.
No name.
Only a single sentence.
The lotus blooms beneath the dragon's throne.
His expression changed immediately.
Someone inside the palace knew the truth.
Or wanted him to discover it.
Far beyond the capital...
Shen Lian stood before the entrance to an abandoned temple hidden deep within the mountains.
The Black Lotus symbol was carved into the stone.
Old.
Weathered.
Almost forgotten.
Almost.
Inside, dust covered the floor.
Broken weapons lay scattered where they had been abandoned years ago.
He walked deeper until he reached a small shrine.
There, hidden beneath loose stones, rested a weathered wooden box.
He opened it slowly.
Inside were faded mission records.
Names.
Dates.
Imperial seals.
His breathing stopped.
The Black Lotus had not been acting against the throne.
It had once served it.
Every assassination.
Every disappearance.
Every political accident.
Ordered.
Approved.
Paid for.
By members of the imperial court.
Someone had created the Black Lotus.
Someone powerful.
Someone still alive.
Shen Lian closed the box.
"If Li Xuan sees this..."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"...everything he believes will collapse."
Back in the palace, Li Xuan stood alone on his balcony.
Moonlight reflected off the small silver bell resting in his palm.
The only thing Shen Lian had left behind.
It didn't ring.
The night was completely still.
Yet somehow...
he could still hear it.
He closed his hand around the bell.
"Come back."
The words disappeared into the darkness.
No one answered.
High above the palace walls...
hidden among the shadows...
someone in white watched silently.
Shen Lian had returned.
But not for himself.
For Li Xuan.
He remained unseen.
Just long enough to make sure the Fourth Prince was safe.
Then, before dawn broke—
he vanished once more.