In the Longde Hall, the dragon-saliva incense coiling from the bronze beast-head censer failed to disperse the stagnant, murderous atmosphere. The candlelight on the coiled-dragon pillars flickered in the draft, casting twisted shadows of the civil and military officials onto the gold-brick floor, like a dance of demons. Shen Mingyue knelt on the dais, her simple dress soaked through with cold sweat, clinging to her back; every breath she took felt like a searing burn. The cinnabar seal on the secret letter in her bodice pressed painfully into her palm, and the letter featuring the pattern of a Xiuchun Saber, sent by Gu Jinghong three days prior, still felt scorching in her sleeve. The words, "At the third quarter of the Hour of the Rabbit, do not let this Superintendent down," were written with such force they pierced the paper, acting like ice and fire against her spine. Glancing at the faint, inscrutable smile on the Second Prince’s lips below the steps, she clenched her fist—this public trial was a trap meticulously woven by all parties, and she was both the strategist and a piece on the board.
"Bring in the Crown Prince!" The Head Eunuch’s shrill voice pierced the stifling silence of the hall like a blade. The crimson-lacquered doors groaned open, the sound echoing through the vast chamber like the sigh of death. Two guards hauled the Crown Prince into the hall; his once-magnificent python robe was crumpled like dead leaves, the five-clawed golden dragon embroidered in …
Chapter 21