The Lantern Festival night in Heavenly Capital was bathed in the warm gold of thousands of lotus lanterns. The hustle of朱雀大街 (Zhuque Street) drifted along the moat to the painted boat, but the candlelight within its carved windows was colder than the night. Li Yu placed a white stone at the center of the go board, his jade thumb ring tapping the rosewood table with a clear ring.

"The salt department’s treasury silver will flow into the Cui clan’s private estates in three days," said Su Ruoxue, her fingers grazing the bronze compass. The needle at its center suddenly spun half an inch counterclockwise. "The undercover agent I placed in the inner city had their tongue cut out last night."

When she looked up, her gaze met the dark tide in the regent’s eyes. Out of his court robes, Li Yu wore a moon-white silk robe that made his shoulders seem narrower, yet more intimidating than the black ceremonial garb he wore in the palace. This was the same posture she’d seen twelve years ago in the冷宫 (abandoned palace), when he’d held her bloodied body, his eyes reflecting the flames consuming the Crown Prince’s palace.

"Cui Mingyuan wants the Huai Bei salt monopoly," Li Yu said, tracing the board where white stones formed the character 贪 (greed). "But he doesn’t know a third of this year’s salt permits to Jiangnan were replaced by smuggled salt from the Canglang Tribe."

The secret letter in Su Ruoxue’s sleeve burned. The barbarian star map拓印 (rubbed) from the Cui clan’s private residence three days ago now glowed in cinnabar at the letter’s corner, matching the纹路 (patterns) on the back of her compass. She smiled, placing a black stone dead center of the 贪 character. "My lord intends to use the Canglang’s blade to sever the Cui’s hand?"

The boat lurched violently as the grind of hidden mechanisms echoed from beneath the frozen moat. Li Yu’s white stone clattered to the board, stopping at a decade-old crack—one he’d split himself upon returning from the northern front, carrying half her father’s waist token.

"At the third hour tomorrow, the salt department will receive an anonymous letter," Su Ruoxue said, rising as the compass hummed, its needle pointing northwest to the Cui manor. "It will accuse Cui Minghao, the second son of the Cui clan, of colluding with barbarians, with evidence stored in the west district pawnshop."

Li Yu suddenly seized her wrist, his warmth seeping through silk. "You know I want more than a single arm from the Cui," he said, thumb brushing the old whip scar on her wrist—the mark of a prison guard’s lash meant for him. "Su Ruoxue, we both know only one of us will survive this game."

She twisted his pulse point, the compass’s edge pricking her palm. Blood滴在 (dripped onto) the board, forming the character 死 (death) with the white stones. "So you’ll let Cui assassins ‘fail’ to kill you at the young emperor’s birthday宴 (feast)?" she whispered, her breath laced with aged sandalwood. "But you forget, Dark Pavilion agents already guard the secret tunnel to the Cui armory."

A cry rang out as a lotus lantern capsized, firelight staining Li Yu’s eyes crimson. Su Ruoxue wrenched free, but the compass needle spun wildly—three鹧鸪哨 (partridge whistles) echoed from the northwest, the Cui estate.

"The salt department’s deficit is a falsified ledger you ordered," she said, slipping half a map from her sleeve—the same map her agent had stolen from the Cui vault that morning. "The real smuggled salt is at the south dock, escorted by Blood Sword Alliance men."

As the map unfurled, Li Yu laughed—a cold, familiar sound, like the night he’d bandaged her wounds in the冷宫 (abandoned palace). "You always overplay your hand," he said, tracing the Canglang totem. "But have you considered Lu Chen’s target isn’t the salt… but you?"

Below the ice, metal clanged. Su Ruoxue’s compass screeched. The needle pointed to her chest, where half a bronze tiger tally—信物 (token) from the late Crown Prince—lay hidden.

"At申时 (3–5 PM) the day after tomorrow, Canglang envoys enter through West Market," she said, folding the map into a paper boat. "Their cargo isn’t silk—it’s thirty crates of black iron." The boat drifted three feet before erupting in flame, mirroring the palace fire that had defined their childhood. "If you want to brand the Cui as traitors, have the censorate wait at the dock."

Li Yu watched her silhouette vanish into moonlight, fingers brushing the bloodstain on the board. The central white stone had been replaced by black, perfectly centered over 贪. For the first time in twelve years, she’d left a flaw in her game.

The midnight bell rang—子时三刻 (11:45 PM). He smirked, withdrawing a half-scroll from his sleeve, cinnabar characters reading: Use the salt monopoly deficit to lure the Cui into the trap; use barbarian black iron to confirm treason. The ink was still wet, her handwriting.

"Of course you knew," he murmured, tracing the final line—a tiny chessboard sketch with a black stone at its center. "I want more than the Cui. I want—"

A thud from the hold cut him off. Li Yu opened the hidden compartment, finding a salt department official’s letter with the Cui seal: Huai Bei salt garrison rotation, 15th lunar month. He tossed it into the brazier, watching the character 崔 (Cui) curl in the flames. "Ruoxue, you still soften at the wrong moment."

As the boat docked, the distant recitation of Liu Tao (The Six韬) by Gu Qingshan, head of White Deer Academy, carried on the wind: War is the art of deception. Li Yu stared at the floating lanterns, recalling the morning’s report: Su Ruoxue had met the young emperor, a tiger tally hidden in her sleeve.

The stone was set. The central black piece gleamed in the firelight. He knew this risky gambit would force her to choose between the late prince’s legacy and their shared past—and no matter her choice, deadlier moves awaited beyond the board.

(End of Chapter 1)

In the Cui clan’s private chamber, bronze lamps cast twisted shadows over the star chart on the wall. Cui Mingyuan’s knuckles whitened as he clenched the secret report, the cinnabar characters Canglang Tribe black iron arrives at port mirroring Li Yu’s distinctive stroke.

"Lord, the barbarian envoys have reached Zhuque Street," said steward Cui Zhong, bowing at the hidden door. The jade pendant at his waist matched the patterns on Su Ruoxue’s compass. "Thirty escorts, all disguised as merchants."

Cui Mingyuan ran a finger over the Map of the Nine Provinces hanging on the wall, leaving a faint bloodstain over Huai Bei salt fields—the mark of his thumb after stabbing a salt department spy that morning. "Tell the envoys," he turned abruptly, a half-scroll of Canglang star charts slipping from his sleeve, "the black iron will be split into three garrisons as planned. But if by the third hour tomorrow the censorate receives news of Lord Li’s salt monopoly investigation—" His thumb ground into the wolf-head motif on his bronze paperweight, "—they’ll learn Great Yin’s prisons are colder than the northern wastelands."

A copper bell on the chamber ceiling jingled softly, seven directional lamps flickering out in sequence. Cui Mingyuan reached for the dagger in his sleeve, but the hidden door swung open on its own, revealing a figure in blood-red cloak, the character 彧 (Yu) etched into the sword hilt glinting in the gloom.

"Blood Sword Alliance moves faster than barbarian hawks," Cui Mingyuan said, pressing his palm to the jade pendant as the star chart projected a wolf shadow on the floor. "Does Master Lu come for my head, or—"

"To borrow your secret tunnel," Lu Chen pushed back his hood, the scar running from his eyebrow to jaw a relic of the barbarian blade he’d taken for Li Yu. "The ‘treason evidence’ the regent seeks is in the third hidden drawer of the west district pawnshop." He advanced, Blood Sword drawn three inches. "But you should worry why your second son visited the Canglang caravan last night."

Cui Mingyuan’s pupils constricted. Cui Minghao had indeed met the barbarians, but Li Yu’s men breaching twelve Cui sentries meant a mole existed in his household. He smiled coldly, pressing the star chart into the paperweight’s凹槽 (indentation). The chamber floor rose to reveal a bronze compass: "Does Master Lu know who holds the other half of this compass?"

Meanwhile, on the Dark Pavilion’s observatory, Su Ruoxue dipped a bloodstained silk robe into a medicinal tub. The old scar on her wrist paled in the moonlight, a twin to the burn Li Yu had taken for her twelve years ago in the冷宫 (abandoned palace).

"阁主 (Master), Blood Sword assassins have passed three guard posts," aide A Qing burst in with a bloody report. "Their target is the tiger tally at your waist."

Su Ruoxue traced the star map on the compass’s back. When the needle stopped at Tian Shu (Alpha Ursae Majoris), a hidden drawer ejected a half-scroll—the same Canglang star chart in Cui Mingyuan’s chamber. She gripped A Qing’s trembling shoulder: "Send word to White Deer Academy. Master Gu must present his memorial on ‘anonymous imperial exam scoring’ to the empress dowager by the third hour." Seeing A Qing hesitate, she pulled down her silver chain, revealing the late crown prince’s dragon tattoo: "Tell them the man who retrieved Prince Yu’s body will die in the Cui manor tonight."

Three partridge whistles echoed from the moat—their retreat signal. Su Ruoxue hid the tiger tally in the compass as琉璃瓦 (glazed tiles) creaked overhead: Lu Chen’s Blood Sword was already descending.

"I knew you’d come," she said, spinning the compass as twelve silver needles shot from its star positions, only to shatter against his face guard. The boy who’d brewed her medicine in the冷宫 (abandoned palace) now had eyes only for his mission: "Do you remember that blade you took for the regent should have killed me?"

The sword grazed her ear, leaving a half-inch gash on the compass edge. Su Ruoxue rolled into a star-position mechanism, the floor flipping to drop them into the Pavilion’s secret tunnel. The tang of sea salt clung to the damp air—south dock, where Cui’s treason evidence lay, and Li Yu’s trap.

"Lu Chen, do you truly think Li Yu will spare anyone who knows he murdered his brother?" She pressed a stone wall, revealing twelve sword marks beneath, each engraved with a dead soldier’s name. "Beneath the third mark lies your fiancée’s jade bangle—he pushed her into Erhai Lake with his own hands."

The Blood Sword clattered to the tunnel floor. Lu Chen stared at the marks, fingers brushing A Ying. The scar beneath his eye twitched. Twelve years ago at Erhai, he’d escorted Su Ruoxue south, only to receive Li Yu’s order: Kill all but her.

"So now you’ll kill me for her?" he laughed bleakly, the sound mixing with dripping water. "Su Ruoxue, we both know we’ve been discardable pawns since the day we were thrown into that冷宫 (abandoned palace)."

The clash of imperial guard armor echoed nearby—Li Yu’s Golden Guard had arrived. Su Ruoxue grabbed her compass, its needle spinning wildly toward the Cui chamber: "By the fifth hour tomorrow, the censorate will receive five ledgers detailing silver exchanges between Cui, Lu, Zheng, Wang clans and the Canglang." She pressed half the tiger tally into his palm, "But we both know the real evidence is hidden—"

The tunnel ceiling exploded, Li Yu emerging in moonlight, his black iron sword dripping Dark Pavilion blood. His gaze fell on the dragon tattoo at Su Ruoxue’s collarbone—the late crown prince’s mark, his twelve-year fear.

"Ruoxue, you still played this card," he crushed Lu Chen’s sword beneath his boot, voice breaking with tenderness. "Using the annihilation of the four clans to force my guard deployment map." He pointed to the tunnel’s end, where the young emperor’s cry echoed, "But you forgot, the game’s center isn’t the Cui. It’s—"

Su Ruoxue spun, compass needle pointing to the Pavilion’s dungeon. There lay her decade-long secret: the late crown prince’s only surviving heir, the true claimant to the throne.

Lu Chen’s Blood Sword suddenly protruded from Li Yu’s ribs. The Blood Sword Master had switched stances mid-move, using the Thirteen Killing Strokes Li Yu himself had taught him. "I searched Erhai’s depths for three years for A Ying," he hissed, driving the blade deeper as Li Yu’s shock registered. "Her wrist bite mark—you confirmed she wasn’t a spy by biting her."

Li Yu laughed, blood frothing on Su Ruoxue’s compass: "You think killing me protects her?" He nodded toward the dungeon, where torchlight crackled. "Imperial guards wait behind the Pavilion’s triple gates. Their arrows now aim at the child you’ve hidden for ten years—"

Su Ruoxue shoved Lu Chen aside, racing for the dungeon. The compass burned in her hand, its needle drawing a straight line unrecorded in any star map—pointing to Young Emperor Li Zhi’s chamber. She realized too late: Li Yu’s target had never been the Cui. He’d used her to legitimize accusations of the young emperor’s "questionable lineage."

At the dungeon’s iron door, torchlight revealed the boy curled in a corner, wearing the late crown prince’s coiled dragon pendant. Su Ruoxue understood why Li Yu had let her live: he wanted the world to watch the crown prince’s bloodline destroy itself within his game.

"Master Su," the boy looked up, eyes calm beyond his years, "the regent plans to announce my parentage at tomorrow’s court." He pressed a hidden compartment on the pendant, revealing a blood-stained scroll. "But he doesn’t know Master Gu hid the real accession edict seven days ago in White Deer Academy’s—"

The dungeon ceiling collapsed, Li Yu’s black iron sword slicing through smoke. Su Ruoxue shielded the boy instinctively, but Lu Chen’s Blood Sword intercepted the killing blow, blood splattering the compass and staining the Tian Shu star red, mirroring the palace fire of their childhood.

"Go!" Lu Chen pushed her away, a guard’s pike at his throat. Su Ruoxue fled with the boy through the underground river, compass humming as its needle pointed at Li Yu—the trap had been set the moment she intercepted the barbarian letter.

By the time they climbed from the river, dawn teased the horizon. The boy pulled a broken jade from his pocket, engraved with a half wolf-head matching the lock on Li Yu’s secret imperial archives.

"Aunt Xue," he whispered, "the third drawer of the regent’s archives holds—"

She silenced him, staring at the burning Pavilion. Through the smoke, she saw the young Li Yu promising, No one will ever hurt you again when I hold power. Now he wielded her as his sharpest blade, even if it risked his own heart.

The compass needle steadied, pointing to the Cui manor. There, Cui Mingyuan pressed the Canglang star chart into his bronze compass, its halves fitting perfectly with Su Ruoxue’s. In his chamber’s hidden drawer lay the late crown prince’s edict—and Li Yu’s childhood blood record of abuse by the deposed crown prince.

(End of Chapter 2)

Chapter Analysis:

1. Converging Plots:

- Court Intrigue: Cui Mingyuan识破 (sees through) Li Yu’s salt monopoly trap, redistributing black iron to three garrisons, showcasing the noble clans’ resilience;

- Jianghu Conflict: Lu Chen’s betrayal driven by A Ying’s death reveals Li Yu’s past ruthlessness, blurring loyalties between mission and emotion;

- Royal Secret: The young emperor’s lineage crisis deepens, with the late crown prince’s edict and Li Yu’s abused past positioning for a legitimacy showdown.

2. Critical Foreshadowing:

- The matching bronze compass halves hint at shared origins between Su Ruoxue and Cui Mingyuan, possibly under the late crown prince’s faction;

- The broken jade and secret archives lock suggest Li Yu’s "brother-killing" truth will emerge through physical evidence;

- The White Deer Academy edict becomes the young emperor’s trump card against Li Yu’s "lineage" smear.

3. Character Depth:

- Cui Mingyuan evolves from idealist to pragmatist, his collusion with barbarians justified by clan survival;

- Lu Chen’s vengeance adds emotional stakes to his betrayal, making his motives more than just ideological;

- Li Yu’s "affectionate trap" is laid bare—his love for Su Ruoxue coexists with exploitation, setting up tragic endgame tension.

4. Escalating Schemes:

- Li Yu’s "sacrificial pawn" strategy: provoking Lu Chen’s revenge to locate the hidden heir, revealing his willingness to risk his life for the game;

- Su Ruoxue’s failed counter-plot forces her to confront the limits of her control, pushing her toward using the late crown prince’s edict—a move that could shatter the dynasty’s stability.