Seeing Through the Conspiracy, Resolving the Early Crisis

A guard rushed into the pavilion, panting. "Young Master Chen! A secret letter was found in the eastern side hall... still unopened. The deputy general asks you to come at once!"

Chen Wuya was leaning against a desk in the archives, his fingertip still resting on the entry titled "Sacrificial Grain Provisions" in a case file. He lifted his eyes and glanced at the guard, his gaze settling on the man's faintly trembling hand. This was no ordinary sentry, but the Second Prince's personal soldier—usually steady as a rock. Yet now sweat beaded his brow, and his breathing came in ragged bursts.

Chen Wuya did not move. He merely closed the file softly and set the brush beside the inkstone.

"Where is the letter?"

"With the deputy general. He said... he did not dare open it without authorization."

Chen Wuya nodded. As he rose, he casually ground a piece of broken ink at the corner of the desk between his fingers. When he stepped outside, Bai Zhi was already waiting beneath the corridor eaves. Her sword remained sheathed, but her cuff was slightly open—she had clearly only just withdrawn her hand.

"There's movement," she said.

"More than movement." Chen Wuya did not slow his stride. "Someone wants us to see the movement."

The two passed through the covered corridors one after the other, lantern light stretching and shrinking their shadows along the walls. The deputy general paced back and forth outside the eastern side hall. Seeing them approach, he immediately handed over a letter. The seal was intact, but along its edge ran an exceedingly fine scratch, as though someone had gently pried it open with a thin blade before pressing it flat again.

Chen Wuya accepted the letter and turned it over twice. Then he suddenly smiled. "Who delivered