Alliance Crisis, Conservative Forces Obstruct

The morning wind blew in from the far end of the palace road, brushing across Chen Wuya's face. He stood outside the side gate, his palm still smeared with mud and ash from the night before, the gaps between his fingers faintly itching. Bai Zhi stood half a step behind him, one hand already resting on the hilt of her flexible sword, her gaze sweeping over the crack in the gate—there was no movement inside, but she knew that door would not remain vacant for long.

They did not have to wait long.

Just as the sun crested the palace wall, a short, stout figure hurried over, his steps still dragging. Half an eagle insignia slipped from his left sleeve. He looked around, pushed open the gate, and the instant the gap closed behind him, Chen Wuya was already pressed against the wall.

"Same route," he said quietly. "But they've changed locations."

Bai Zhi nodded. "In the map you drew last night, the secret council hall on the west side was forbidden ground."

"It isn't now." Chen Wuya wiped the ash from his palm and stepped onto the jutting bricks at the corner of the wall. "A place is forbidden because someone doesn't want others hearing what's inside."

Using the shadows beneath the eaves, the two climbed to the upper level and slipped through the ventilation duct. The crawlspace was low and packed with thick dust; every step had to be as light as falling snow. Halfway through, Chen Wuya abruptly stopped and pressed his ear to a crack between the wooden boards.

From below came the sound of an iron crutch striking the floor, dull and heavy as a drum.

"...Our century-old blood feud remains unavenged, and yet we are to call our enemies brothers?" An aged yet powerful