Tang Yuehua closed the ledger, her slender fingers lightly stroking the cover, her knuckles white.
She raised her head, her gaze falling on the black bamboo outside the window. The swaying bamboo shadows reflected in her emerald eyes, yet they could not conceal the exhaustion and anxiety buried deep within them.
Profits had fallen far short of before.
That sounded simple enough.
The reality was far crueler than those four words suggested.
Moonlight Pavilion had operated in Heaven Dou City for many years. It had never relied solely on etiquette lessons, but on the network of information hidden behind music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
The noble children who came here to study sought more than refinement. They also came to build connections and exchange information.
But now, with the new emperor Xue Qinghe ascending the throne and news of the marriage alliance between Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire spreading through every street and alley, the nobles who had once flocked to Moonlight Pavilion began distancing themselves from it one after another.
It was not that Moonlight Pavilion had changed.
It was that Tang Yuehua's identity had become sensitive under this new political landscape.
Clear Sky Sect.
Those three words had once been her pass through Heaven Dou's circles of power and privilege. Out of respect for the Clear Sky Sect, those nobles had treated her with added courtesy and had often supported Moonlight Pavilion's business as well.
But now, those three words had become her shackles, stones weighing on her shoulders, and the reason those who had once greeted her with smiles avoided her at all costs.
Tang Yuehua sighed softly, rose to her feet, and walked to the window.
The night wind slipped through the crack in the window, carrying the chill of early autumn as it