Chapter 20
Edward Quan ·
He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice.
“Then our cooperation…”
“I can consider it.”
I interrupted gently.
“But I need time. This is no small matter.”
“Of course.”
His answer was decisive.
“I’ll await good news.”
Then his eyes grew unreadable.
“One reminder.”
“What?”
“Be careful of those around you. Especially those who seem closest. You may know a face… without knowing its heart.”
He stood.
“That’s enough for today. I’ve paid for the tea. Take your time.”
With another gentle smile, he left, his steps unhurried but firm.
Alone, I watched the thin tea steam curl.
Outside, sunlight glittered on the water.
Inside, I was cold to the bone.
Those around me?
Know a face, not a heart?
Who did he mean?
Father? Mother?
Or… Yunzhou?
I took one of the supposed evidence letters from my sleeve and held it to my nose.
A faint ink scent.
But something seemed wrong.
The ink was too fresh.
As though written only yesterday.
A frightening thought grew wildly.
Zhao Kai.
Who was this arrow aimed at?
15
I carried the letters back to our residence, thoughts tangled throughout the journey.
His warning was a poisoned thorn in my heart.
Kind advice—or malicious discord?
I dared not pursue it.
Once suspicion began, everyone around me would seem suspect.
A terrifying feeling.
I locked myself in my room, spread the letters on the table, and read them countless times.
Every word. Every stroke.
Exactly like Zhao Yi’s hand in my memory.
The contents made sense too.
The northern commander truly was his trusted man.
Stealing provisions was something he could do.
Yet unease kept rising.
It was too easy.
Easy as a prepared trap.
I held the paper to the light.
Fine Xuan paper.
The longer I looked, the newer it seemed, almost glaring.
I closed my eyes.
Fragments of the previous life swept through me.
I tried to remember everything about Zhao Yi. Habits, tastes, handwriting…
Wait.
Handwriting!
I opened my eyes.
I remembered.
He had a habit with the character *guo*, meaning “country.”
In its inner jade component, he always pressed hard on the final dot, like a private mark.
It began in his youth. To correct careless writing, his tutor had made him press the final stroke to cultivate caution.
An intimate detail.
Almost no one knew except me and that tutor.
I seized each letter and searched carefully for the character, holding my breath.
Found it.
In the first letter, the mark was wrong.
A forgery.
The second, the same.
Then the third…
My pupils contracted.
The final dot of the jade component was subtle, but clearly darker and heavier than the other strokes.
Cold sweat soaked my back.
This one was real.
Zhao Yi’s own hand.
Why had Zhao Kai given me a genuine letter?
Wasn’t he afraid I would take it to the emperor and accuse the crown prince?
What could he gain?
A thought flashed like lightning.
I understood.
Everything.
Not a choice.
A game with death as its inevitable end.
If I submitted all three, the crown prince would fall. But the emperor would trace their source.
Zhao Kai could deny involvement. Even accuse me of forging the other two to frame the prince.
I had no proof he gave them to me.
The charge of framing an imperial son alone could destroy the Qins beyond recovery.
But if I didn’t submit them…