The courtyard remained silent long after the guard revealed the broken jar of oil.
Lantern light flickered against the charred walls of the eastern wing, casting trembling shadows across the gathered servants. Smoke still curled lazily into the night air, carrying the bitter scent of burned wood and ruined silk. No one spoke. No one moved. All eyes rested on Yu Meilin.
She knelt near the fountain, her pale hands trembling against the stone as she stared at the evidence in the guard's grasp. The carefully crafted image of a frightened victim had begun to crack, and Lin Qin watched the shift with the quiet patience of a hunter who had already sprung the trap.
Hua Yong observed from the edge of the courtyard, his sharp eyes glinting with amusement beneath the lantern glow. He had not moved from his chair, yet his presence carried the quiet authority of someone who understood the game unfolding before him.
Lin Qin stepped forward slowly, her silk robes whispering softly against the stone path. Her movements remained delicate, almost fragile, yet there was nothing weak about the way she held herself.
"Oil," she said softly.
Her voice was gentle enough to be mistaken for sympathy, but every person in the courtyard heard the blade hidden beneath the word.
The guard bowed slightly. "Yes, Fourth Miss. Several jars were hidden beneath the eastern stairwell."
A murmur rippled through the servants.
Lin Qin's gaze drifted back to Meilin.
"Strange," she continued calmly. "Oil jars hidden in your own residence."
Meilin's lips parted, but no words came out.
Fear had replaced the confidence that once glimmered in her eyes.
For the first time since her rebirth, Lin Qin saw the truth beneath her sister's carefully polished mask: desperation.
"You accuse me of burning your home," Lin Qin said quietly, "yet the fire was prepared in advance."
Her voice remained soft, but the weight of her words pressed heavily over the crowd.
"Tell me, Sister… why would I store oil beneath your staircase?"
Meilin's breathing grew uneven.
"I.....I don't know how it got there....."
Lin Qin tilted her head slightly.
"Of course you don't."
The courtyard grew colder somehow.
Lin Qin leaned down slightly, bringing her face close to Meilin's trembling form.
Her voice dropped into a whisper.
"Your mistake was thinking I would panic."
Meilin flinched.
Lin Qin straightened again and turned calmly toward the assembled servants.
"Escort my sister to her chambers," she said. "She has suffered a terrible shock tonight."
No one missed the quiet authority in her tone.
Two maids hurried forward and helped Meilin to her feet. She did not resist, but as she was led away, her eyes met Lin Qin's once more.
The hatred in them burned hotter than the fire behind them.
Lin Qin simply smiled faintly.
The crowd slowly dispersed as the guards continued extinguishing the last stubborn flames.
Hua Yong wheeled himself closer, the faint creak of the chair's wooden frame barely audible over the distant clatter of buckets.
"You dismantled her beautifully," he said.
Lin Qin did not look at him immediately. Her gaze lingered on the smoldering ruin of the eastern wing.
"It was a sloppy work," she replied.
Hua Yong studied her face.
"You almost sound disappointed."
Lin Qin finally turned toward him.
"I prefer enemies who think."
His lips curved slightly.
"And your sister does not qualify?"
"She is ambitious," Lin Qin said. "But ambition without patience leads to mistakes."
Hua Yong watched her quietly for a moment longer.
"You didn't expose her completely."
Lin Qin's eyes flickered toward him.
"No."
"Why?"
She folded her hands lightly before her.
"Because someone gave her the oil."
The prince's expression sharpened.
"And you want to know who."
"Yes."
A breeze swept through the courtyard, stirring ash and petals together across the ground.
Hua Yong leaned back slightly in his chair.
"You're certain she had help?"
Lin Qin's gaze returned to the charred building.
"My sister is reckless, not stupid."
Her voice lowered slightly.
"This fire was meant to kill someone."
Hua Yong's eyes narrowed.
"Not you?"
Lin Qin shook her head.
"No."
A quiet pause stretched between them.
"Then who?" he asked.
Lin Qin did not answer immediately.
Her mind was already retracing the night's events: the timing of the blaze, the hidden oil jars, Meilin's theatrical entrance into the courtyard.
Too many things had aligned too neatly.
And then something else surfaced in her memory.
The servant who had warned her earlier.
The trembling girl.
Lin Qin's gaze sharpened.
"Where is the maid who delivered the warning about the poisoned tea?"
Hua Yong frowned slightly.
"I haven't seen her."
A cold feeling slid down Lin Qin's spine.
Without another word, she turned and began walking quickly toward the servants' quarters.
Hua Yong followed more slowly behind.
The corridors were quiet now, most of the household still gathered near the burned wing.
Lanterns flickered weakly along the walls as Lin Qin reached the small room assigned to the young maid.
The door stood slightly open.
Lin Qin pushed it wider.
The room smelled faintly of iron.
Moonlight spilled through the window, illuminating the still figure lying on the floor.
The maid's eyes stared blankly at the ceiling.
A thin line of blood traced down her throat where a blade had cut deep and clean.
Lin Qin stopped in the doorway.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Hua Yong arrived behind her and took in the scene with a quiet sigh.
"Well," he said softly, "that answers your question."
Lin Qin stepped into the room slowly.
Her gaze moved across the scene with clinical precision.
The window was open.
The blade used for the killing was gone.
No signs of struggle.
The maid had likely opened the door willingly.
Which meant the killer was someone she trusted.
Or someone powerful enough that she did not dare refuse.
Lin Qin knelt beside the body.
Her voice, when she finally spoke, was quiet.
"They silenced her."
Hua Yong leaned against the doorway.
"The palace moves quickly."
Lin Qin's eyes lifted sharply.
"You believe the Emperor ordered this?"
"Possibly."
The prince's expression was unreadable.
"Or someone very close to him."
Lin Qin rose slowly.
The game had just changed.
Before tonight, the battlefield had been the Yu household.
Now the shadow of the imperial court had fallen directly over her.
She walked to the open window and stared into the dark gardens beyond.
Somewhere out there, an assassin had already vanished into the night.
Hua Yong watched her carefully.
"You're not frightened."
Lin Qin's reflection stared back at her in the glass.
"No."
Her voice was calm.
But something cold had settled beneath it.
"I'm irritated."
Hua Yong chuckled quietly.
"That may be worse."
Lin Qin turned toward him.
"If the palace wishes to test me," she said, "they should at least send someone competent."
The prince's smile widened slightly.
"I look forward to seeing how you respond."
Lin Qin stepped past him into the corridor.
Her mind was already moving several steps ahead.
Someone in the palace had just tried to erase a witness.
Someone powerful enough to order a silent execution within the Yu residence.
And now they knew something else.
They knew Yu Caiwei was no longer the fragile girl she pretended to be.
Behind her, Hua Yong followed slowly, watching her with growing fascination.
Because the woman walking ahead of him no longer looked like prey.
She looked like a general returning to war.
And the capital had no idea what it had just awakened.