Princess Gu Yue

Chang'an.

Daming Palace.

Deep within the palace city lay a garden called Moon Remembrance Garden.

It was said that the late emperor had poured the strength of the entire realm into building it for a concubine without name or rank.

Every blade of grass and every tree in the garden had been transplanted from the Shu lands of Longyou, thousands of miles away. The pavilions and towers imitated the style of the northwest, and the gold and silver spent on it were beyond counting.

Yet the garden's owner had long since faded away like fragrance and jade.

The two words "Moon Remembrance" had become, like that concubine's name, a taboo no one in the palace dared mention.

Who was Consort Ming?

No one dared say.

All anyone knew was that she was the current emperor's birth mother, originally a common girl from the northwest.

When the late emperor had personally led an expedition against the Western Regions Demon Court, he had brought such a woman back from the battlefield, from amid ten thousand troops.

Within the garden, at the pavilion in the lake's heart.

Plump koi chased after fish food in the water, stirring ring after ring of ripples.

A young man dressed in black casual robes stood by the railing, scattering handful after handful of fish food into the water at an unhurried pace.

A long while passed.

After scattering the last handful of food, he dusted off his hands.

"Any news?"

The old eunuch bowed and nodded. "Yes..."

"Speak."

"...Um..."

"Hm?"

The young man frowned, and his heart suddenly sank.

A bad premonition spread through him.

"Speak."

The koi in the lake startled and scattered in all directions.

The old eunuch's body went weak. Trembling, he said, "Reporting... reporting to Your Majesty, according to those below, after