Chapter 8

One double-hour passed. Then two more.

Time dragged painfully.

Just as I could barely sit still, Tie Mian appeared, silent as a ghost. Without his voice, I might not have noticed him.

“Your Highness.”

He knelt on one knee, offering a ledger.

“I fulfilled the task.”

I opened it.

The dense entries were alarming. Each led to the Eastern Palace. Each was flesh torn from Qin assets.

My “good” aunt had acted on a grand scale.

For her daughter’s seat as crown princess, she had nearly emptied half our wealth.

Father knew nothing.

“Well done.”

I closed it.

“Any further instructions?”

“His Highness says the rest is yours to handle. He won’t interfere.”

I understood. He was testing me.

He had given me the blade. I had to drive it into the enemy’s heart myself.

Good. This debt was mine to collect.

“Go. Thank him for me.”

He nodded and vanished in a flash.

I took the ledger to Father’s study.

Busy with official work, he looked surprised.

“Yue’er, why are you here? Feeling better?”

“Much.”

I put it on his desk.

“Please look at this.”

He took it doubtfully, casual at first.

His face darkened as he read. By the end, his hands trembled.

“This… this…”

“Aunt’s accounts,” I said calmly. “Evidence of her secret support for the Eastern Palace. She’s treated our family as her private treasury, a stepping stone for Qin Wanrou.”

“Will you still show them endless kindness?”

Bang!

Father struck the desk hard enough to shake it.

Red-faced, chest heaving, he cried, “Outrageous! I treated her like my own sister. She dares plot against me? Against our family?”

He valued loyalty and affection.

That was why betrayal by someone he trusted most enraged him so.

“This isn’t the time for anger.”

I reminded him softly.

“What will you do?”

Breathing hard, he watched me. Then, unexpectedly, “What do you think?”

He had never asked my opinion before.

I explained calmly.

“We can’t hand this outside. She’s Uncle’s wife, family. Public shame would make us the capital’s joke and offend the crown prince completely. We aren’t ready to break with him.”

He nodded.

“Then?”

“Remove the fuel beneath the pot.”

I spoke clearly.

“Quietly reclaim every asset she’s transferred. Cut her funds and Qin Wanrou’s escape route. As for this ledger…”

I went to the candle and, before his astonished eyes, threw it into the flame.

Fire flared, lighting my calm face.

“No ledger, no evidence. Even if she suspects, she’ll have no leverage. She can only watch the assets return to the Qins.”

Father stared at me and the rising flames.

At length, he sighed.

“You’ve grown up.”

His eyes no longer held the first worry or reproach.

Pleasure, unfamiliarity, and a little respect mingled.

From today, my place in the family was different.

Father acted decisively.

The next day, under the name of putting family businesses in order, he began inspecting every asset managed by the clan’s branches.

Aunt’s was first.