Chapter 2
Chapter 2
The Second Loop: The Mole
The window stood half-open, and a peach-pink dress hung from the rack beside it.
The sky was dim, and a fine drizzle drifted into the bedchamber. I stepped forward and took down the dress.
Shanhua walked in with a smile. “Xiao Yue’er, what are you standing around in a daze for?”
I turned to look at the almanac hanging on the wall and murmured, “Today is the sixteenth day of the seventh month?”
She took the dress from me and folded it. “Obviously. Are you still half asleep?”
I said nothing. Shanhua let out a long breath. “Thank goodness it didn’t get wet. I almost forgot about it.”
If she had almost forgotten, that meant she had no memory of being reprimanded by the Princess Consort. Could all that have been a dream?
Consort Zhan entered the hall and immediately spotted the dress in Shanhua’s arms. “Did it get wet?”
Shanhua unfolded it. The Princess Consort gave it a quick glance. “Good. Drape it over the stool, then leave us.”
This time, Shanhua and I were neither berated nor forced to kneel as punishment. Only the Princess Consort and I remained in the bedchamber.
I picked up the wooden comb. She suddenly said, “I’m tired. I won’t be serving tea to His Majesty the King this evening. You go in my place.”
Even those words were exactly the same. If everything before had been a dream, this was far too much of a coincidence.
At last, I was certain.
I had been reborn.
And it seemed I was the only one.
Given the rare chance to live again, I naturally intended to stay as far away from that monster as possible.
Instead of accepting Consort Zhan’s order, I hurriedly dropped to my knees.
“This servant received a letter from home saying that my mother has fallen gravely ill. I beg Your Highness to allow me to return home.”
“A letter from home?” Consort Zhan turned around. “Where is it? Let me see it.”
My expression tightened. What could possibly be worth seeing in a palace maid’s letter from home?
Consort Zhan rose and began pacing impatiently. “Guan Shanyue, where is your letter?”
The dress draped over the stool was hanging halfway to the floor.
She even stepped on it several times, yet paid it no attention.
Earlier, she had been so worried about the dress getting rained on. Why was she treating it so carelessly now?
A bold possibility suddenly occurred to me.
Consort Zhan did not care about the dress itself.
She cared whether anyone had remembered to bring it inside.
Anyone who remembered might have retained their memories of being punished before.
In other words, what she truly cared about was whether anyone remembered the previous sixteenth day of the seventh month.
I ventured, “Your Highness, did you also…”
Did you also enter the loop?
In that split second, Consort Zhan lunged at me in panic.
She clamped both hands over my mouth and shook her head, warning me to stay silent.
Strangely enough, there was clearly no one passing outside the window.
Consort Zhan picked up a book from the table, took up a brush, and began circling characters on its pages.
“You saw it too, didn’t you?
“Don’t make a sound. He can hear us from a thousand miles away.
“Save me! This is my third loop!”
Consort Zhan’s brush flew across the pages.
The pages rustled as she flipped through them, piecing together the bizarre events she had experienced.
During the first loop, Consort Zhan had entered the hall to serve tea. She had discovered His Majesty the King’s secret and died at his hands.
During the second loop, Consort Zhan had sent me to serve the tea. I never returned. Terrified, she summoned her birth mother to the palace.
She sealed the doors and windows, told her mother what had happened, and begged to be taken out of the palace. But her mother merely thought she was spouting nonsense.
At midnight, she was too afraid to sleep. Then countless worms crawled into the hall and devoured every living person inside.
During the third loop, Consort Zhan noticed that I had brought in the dress that had been left out the day before and then asked to leave the palace. She began to suspect that I had entered the loop as well.
But an immensely powerful monster was watching from the shadows, so she did not dare question me outright. Instead, she asked to see my letter from home.
If I could not produce it, she would know that I had made up the lie on the spot because I was desperate to escape the palace.
Consort Zhan wrote, “Everyone in the palace is sharp enough to see through a lie. If you’re willing to risk your life by lying just to leave, then he must be the reason.”
He was His Majesty the King, the monster whose body housed tens of thousands of writhing worms, which crawled inside people to lay their eggs.
I picked up the brush and wrote, “Your Highness concluded that ‘he can hear us from a thousand miles away’ because of what happened during the second loop?”
Her brush paused briefly. “During the last loop, I asked my mother for help inside this room, but it still came for me.”
I considered this for a moment before writing, “Perhaps it can’t actually hear from a thousand miles away. What if there’s a mole feeding it information?”
If the worms could disguise themselves in human skin and impersonate His Majesty the King, perhaps they could impersonate others as well.
Consort Zhan wrote, “What do you plan to do in this loop?”
I raised the brush and circled a single character in the book.
“Escape.”
In the second loop, we were going to escape.
But we could only succeed if no one tipped off the monster.
That meant our first task was to determine whether there was a mole in Chunchao Palace.
I devised a plan to expose the mole and circled characters in the book to show Consort Zhan.
The dim candlelight flickered. Twin flames seemed to burn in both our eyes.
My hand ached from holding the brush, so I stretched my stiff muscles and accidentally knocked over the ink tray.
Ink splashed across Consort Zhan’s robe. She flew into a rage and went to bathe and change.
White mist filled the bathing chamber. As I crouched behind the screen and ladled water, my thoughts began to wander.
When I was little, the mountain had been full of mosquitoes and other insects. My master taught me that there were two ways to destroy a nest: burn it with fire or flood it with water.
A human body was like an insect nest. Pour water inside, and any worms inhabiting it would crawl out.
Even if those worms were skilled swimmers, the hollowed-out human skin would swell as it filled with water.
To be safe, the two of us first had to prove our innocence before we could trust each other enough to work together.
Consort Zhan had second thoughts at the last moment and wrote on my palm: [You aren’t planning to seize this chance to kill me, are you?]
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. If you drowned here, would this servant ever make it out of Chunchao Palace alive?
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and she plunged into the water, splashing me all over.
Bubbles rose one after another. Knowing she was reaching her limit, I pressed down on her head to keep her from surfacing.
She began struggling violently, but I showed no mercy. Only after counting out enough time did I pull her back up.
Consort Zhan vomited up a great deal of water and coughed so hard it seemed she might bring up her internal organs. I stepped forward and patted her back.
“I… cough…”
She glared at me. I quickly dipped my finger in the water and wrote on the brick floor:
[Now is hardly the time to lose your temper, Your Highness.]
Once I confirmed that no worms had crawled out of any of her seven orifices, I repeated the process on myself to prove my innocence.
I was drenched and looked thoroughly bedraggled. Consort Zhan grabbed a robe and tossed it to me. “Take it.”
I used it to wipe my face. She stamped her foot in fury. “That was a reward for you to wear! It’s worth fifty gold taels!”
Fifty gold taels! My tastes were vulgar but unwavering: I liked money. The moment I heard its value, I folded the robe neatly and carefully put it away.
It was time to test the others for a mole. I looked at her and asked loudly, “Your Highness, did you lose your earring while bathing?”
Consort Zhan removed an earring and hid it in the outer robe she had taken off, then slipped on a fresh one. “Yes.”
Understanding at once, I pushed open the door and called everyone over.
“Her Highness lost an earring while bathing. Everyone, come in and help look for it.”
Chunchao Palace had two palace maids: Shanhua and me.
There were also two attendants: Zhan Zhao and Zhan Yue.
Even Chang Yan, the reclusive Third Princely Heir, came to help.
Including Consort Zhan, that made six of us in total.
Zhan Zhao entered the water first and remained submerged for a long time.
Just as he tried to raise his head, Consort Zhan reached out and held him down.
“Search more carefully. Don’t be lazy.”
Consort Zhan had always been arrogant and overbearing, so this was perfectly in character for her.
When Zhan Zhao finally surfaced, he coughed up some water, but showed nothing unusual.
Everyone took a turn underwater, and all of them swallowed a fair amount of water.
The last to enter the pool was Chang Yan, the Third Princely Heir.
Chang Yan was not her biological son. He had been adopted into her household.
As an Heir Apparent living at another’s mercy, his status was low, and he had to ingratiate himself to survive.
He therefore searched with painstaking care, staying at the bottom of the pool until he nearly drowned.
The bubbles on the surface dwindled from large to small before vanishing into complete stillness.
The attendants stood with their heads bowed and failed to notice. Consort Zhan was preoccupied with questions of life and death, her thoughts far away…
Ignoring everything else, I reached in and hauled Chang Yan out.
He slumped over the edge of the pool, coughing so hard that his entire body trembled.
His long hair clung to him, soaking wet, lending a seductive air to his strikingly foreign features.
He gave me a weak smile. “Shanyue, thank you.”
It seemed his relationship with Consort Zhan wasn’t particularly good.
I pondered that in silence, mentally placing a question mark between the two of them.
Only then did Shanhua snap out of her daze and hurry off to fetch a blanket.
After all that commotion, we confirmed that no one in Chunchao Palace had a problem.
Consort Zhan then found the earring in her outer robe, bringing the matter to an end.
But we weren’t finished yet.
After all, the mole in the palace might not be a monster. It could also be human.
If it was human, identifying them would be even easier.
We only had to gather everyone in one place and forbid them from leaving.
Consort Zhan had behaved very strangely today.
The mole monitoring her would surely be unable to sit still and would leave to report what had happened.
Everyone returned to their rooms to change out of their wet clothes. Then Consort Zhan said, “You all worked so hard just now… Let us dine together in the front hall tonight.”
Sitting at the table, I had no appetite. Neither did Consort Zhan.
Chang Yan served his adoptive mother a bowl of soup before placing a plate of meat in front of me.
His expression was warm and gentle, and the curve of his lips when he smiled was captivating.
“Shanyue, these are the termite mushrooms you like.”
Flattered as I was by his attention, something felt slightly off.
Was this really something I liked to eat?
I thanked him, lowered my head, and silently shoveled rice into my mouth.
Shanhua cracked open a crab, then recoiled and flung it away.
When everyone looked at her, she explained, “This male crab is full of worms. How disgusting.”
Consort Zhan set down her chopsticks and complained, “River crabs are always getting worms. Once one has them, they infest the whole pond. What an appetite killer!”
Using that as an excuse, she launched into a fit of anger and dragged the meal out for quite some time.
It was almost nine in the evening, yet no one had made a move. Two possibilities occurred to me.
Either there was no mole, or the mole was exceptionally patient.
Just as I was considering how to lure the mole out, someone suddenly spoke.
Chang Yan set down his bowl and chopsticks. “Your son has a matter to attend to and must excuse himself. I ask Mother’s forgiveness.”
Consort Zhan said, “Very well. Everyone may leave, then.”
Many flowers and medicinal plants grew in the rear courtyard of Chunchao Palace.
There was notoginseng, Malabar spinach, sweet flag…
They flourished there, and always attracted a great many insects.
Consort Zhan sent the other servants to the rear courtyard to stage cricket fights, then shot me a meaningful look.
She was signaling for me to follow Chang Yan and find a way to restrict his movements.
I tailed him to the entrance of a side hall, gripping the dagger Consort Zhan had given me as I waited for a chance to threaten him with it.
But Chang Yan suddenly stopped.
At that very moment, the clouds obscuring the moon drifted away, spilling moonlight across the ground.
Two slanting shadows appeared before the door to his room.
My presence was exposed!
Every hair on my body stood on end. I immediately pressed the dagger against his lower back.
“Your Highness, Your Highness the Princess Consort has asked this servant to relay a few words to you. Might we step inside to speak?”
He obediently stepped inside and shut the door, then closed the window and tightly plugged every crack.
He was actually breaking palace rules! I thought to myself. If anyone discovered this, wouldn’t he be as good as dead?
That brief moment of thought left my gaze unfocused for an instant.
Chang Yan immediately spun around and clamped a hand around my throat!
I tightened my grip on my dagger, pressing its point against his lower abdomen, ready to strike.
Chang Yan’s long hair was still damp. As he moved, the strands fell across my chest.
They were wet and icy against my skin, like a snake licking me.
In the deserted darkness, he bared his claws without the slightest restraint.
Consort Zhan had good reason to dislike him after all.
“Shanyue, you’ve got some nerve. What if I call for help right now?”
“Then how about Your Highness dies here together with this servant?”
I was certain there was something wrong with him.
If the traitor remained alive, I would be the one who suffered.
Chang Yan seemed oblivious to my murderous intent and continued, “You and Mother Consort were acting very strangely today. Could it be that you…”
Don’t say it out loud!
But his grip on my throat only tightened, leaving me unable to stop him.
Before I could bury my dagger in his abdomen, he finished the rest of his sentence.
“Could it be that you also discovered the monster’s secret and became trapped in the loop?”
The words struck me like a thunderclap. He leaned close to my ear with a faint, knowing smile.
“It can’t hear us.” His voice was mocking. “Go. Bring your dear mistress here.”
He picked up a stick of incense, lit it, and placed it in the burner.
Its red ember flickered like a star.
Consort Zhan hurried over, and the three of us sat around the table.
Our ranks were different, but these were extraordinary circumstances, so we agreed not to waste time on formalities.
Before we began, Chang Yan rose to make sure the window was tightly shut. This had to do with his theory.
With the window closed and sound unable to travel outside, His Majesty the King would not be able to hear us.
Neither Consort Zhan nor I stopped him, but not because we placed complete faith in his theory.
If His Majesty the King could hear us, then he would already have heard every word of our earlier conversation.
Switching to silent communication now would be nothing more than shutting the stable door after the horse had bolted.
Whether sealing the window worked or not, it was already too late for remedial measures.
If death was unavoidable, we might as well communicate as efficiently as possible before it came.
Chang Yan had some notoginseng powder in his room, which I applied to his wound.
Once the wound was treated, Chang Yan pulled his robes closed. “How formidable you are, Shanyue.”
I accepted his veiled sarcasm without complaint and merely said, “Please explain in detail how Your Highness learned that it cannot eavesdrop through sealed doors and windows.”
Chang Yan coughed lightly twice.
“My first loop was Mother Consort’s second.
“On the sixteenth day of the seventh month, Mother Consort invited my maternal grandmother into the palace and told her about His Majesty the King and the loop.
“I heard everything clearly from the other side of the wall. I didn’t believe it, but I wasn’t about to let such an opportunity to improve my position slip away.
“Since our lives are at stake, I’ll be blunt.”
He glanced at Consort Zhan’s dark expression and changed how he addressed her.
“My maternal clan is of low birth. Being adopted by Consort Zhan merely meant moving somewhere else to scrape out a living.
“This year, I am to leave Diannan Palace for my fief. The quality of that fief will determine my future prospects.
“I had no hope that she would put in a good word for me, so I planned to report her for spreading heretical nonsense, demonstrating my loyalty and currying favor in the process.”
“You wretch!” Consort Zhan trembled all over with rage and shot to her feet, slamming a hand against the table. I stopped her before she could do anything else.
Chang Yan laughed with delight. “After overhearing everything from the next room last night, I wrote a letter to His Majesty the King before dawn.
“Once the urgent letter was sent, His Majesty the King came to Chunchao Palace. However, because my grandmother was present, he did not stay the night.
“Perhaps it was because I had just informed on her, or because I feared Consort Zhan would suspect me the next day, but I slept poorly that night.
“I woke during the third watch to find the floor beneath my bed covered in reddish-brown worms. They were trying to crawl into my mouth and nose…”
“Wait.” I interrupted him. “Your Highness’s grandmother learned the secret during the previous loop. Why didn’t she enter the loop?”
If she had entered it, she would certainly have tried to contact Consort Zhan, who was inside the palace and knew the truth. Yet she had not.
Chang Yan’s expression grew thoughtful. “You mean there is more than one condition for entering the loop?”
“Yes. If we can determine those conditions, we might even be able to use them to make someone else enter the loop.”
They both stared at me, then simultaneously shifted their pearwood stools farther away.
I explained, “It was only an idle thought. I want to understand the conditions so we can identify others like us.”
Consort Zhan said, “I believe anyone who sees the secret will enter the loop.”
Chang Yan replied, “The palace is crowded. Some of the attendants on night duty must have seen those things, so why haven’t they entered the loop?”
I considered it for a moment. “The condition is knowing the secret of His Majesty the King.”
I explained to them, “Those who only see the worms don’t understand what they mean, while those who merely hear the truth are unwilling to believe it.”
Realization dawned on Chang Yan. “So someone who has only discovered part of the truth doesn’t count as knowing it.”
“Exactly. It appears that, so far, the three of us are the only unfortunate souls trapped in the loop.”
Chang Yan said, “Understood. Now, back to the worms…”
“Enough.” Consort Zhan cut him off just before goose bumps could rise on my arms.
“I… I don’t want to hear it. You’re only describing them in such detail to disgust us on purpose.”
I summed it up. “In other words, the worms came to Chunchao Palace that night because Your Highness wrote to His Majesty the King.”
Chang Yan nodded. “He’ll come, but not because he overheard Consort Zhan’s conversation. He’ll come because he read the letter.”
Consort Zhan gritted her teeth. “Chang Yan, you truly are an ungrateful wretch who bites the hand that raised you.”
“And what if I am?” The faint smile on Chang Yan’s lips vanished completely as he spoke in a cold voice.
“I’m only discussing this with you because I want to live, not because I intend to keep you alive.”
I said, “In other words, we share the same goal for now: staying alive.”
Chang Yan said, “For the sake of survival, I can set our differences aside for the moment and hear what you have planned.”
Consort Zhan said, “We escape the palace, of course. We’ll come up with some excuse and take everyone from Chunchao Palace with us.”
Chang Yan sneered. “The three of us can barely save ourselves. How could we possibly have time to worry about anyone else? We should just-”
He stopped abruptly as a shrill voice called from beyond the courtyard wall, interrupting our conversation.
“Congratulations, Your Highness! Wonderful news, Your Highness! This servant has come especially to deliver the good tidings.
“His Majesty the King has selected your tablet. The royal procession will arrive at Chunchao Palace in forty-five minutes.”
All three of us instantly went deathly pale.
It was too late to escape the palace tonight!
A measured knock sounded at the door.
Zhan Zhao’s voice came from outside. “Attendant Wei has come to deliver a message and awaits an audience with Your Highness.”
Consort Zhan was beside herself. “In the last cycle, His Majesty the King didn’t stay the night…”
Chang Yan said, “That was because your birth mother entered the palace and slept beside you. Tsk. I’d forgotten about that too.”
I said, “It’s already come to this. Our first priority is surviving tonight.”
Chang Yan nodded. “Tomorrow at first light, once it leaves for morning court, we can discuss our escape.”
Beyond the courtyard wall, Attendant Wei persisted. “Is Your Highness the Princess Consort there?”
I rose and opened the door. While Consort Zhan went to receive Attendant Wei, Zhan Zhao stopped me. “Shanyue.”
His gaze swept over the closed window. “You’ve been acting strangely today.”
I opened the window with an awkward smile and changed the subject. “Where are Shanhua and Zhan Yue?”
Zhan Zhao’s gaze darkened. “They’re still making their crickets fight.”
He was waiting for an explanation, but this secret was far too dangerous to reveal so easily.
I stepped around him and said evasively, “Attendant Wei has left. I need to help Your Highness change.”
Mist swirled through the air as we entered the bathing pool once more.
Behind the folding screen, Consort Zhan dug her fingers into my arm. “I… I…”
No. She couldn’t say it aloud.
I tapped her palm once and silently pointed toward the screen.
The window behind it stood half-open. Someone might overhear us.
She stubbornly reached out, took my hand, and traced the words one stroke at a time.
[I’m scared.]
I wrote back.
[Don’t be. We’re all here.]
She looked deeply into my eyes, then dipped a fingertip in the water and wrote on the tiled wall.
[During the drought, the man I loved took a post at Dianrong Hall in exchange for grain. I never heard from him again.
[I married into the palace to search for news of him, but every guard who entered service at the same time as he did is gone now.
[Did he discover the secret too? Did he die at the hands of His Majesty the King? If…]
She wrote quickly, but the water dried just as fast.
Only faint, indistinct stains remained on the tiles, like tears dried by the wind.
There was nothing after the word “if.”
The royal procession was drawing near.
She had to rise, dress, and go welcome His Majesty the King.
I helped her into her court robes and fastened a vivid red embroidered sash around her waist.
Its dazzling pattern was unlike the sash worn with ordinary court attire.
“This is called a flower sash.” She slipped an earring hook through her pierced ear. “Yi women all wear this kind of sash.”
As though deliberately trying to ease her nerves, she lowered her head and fiddled with the sash’s colorful embroidery.
I couldn’t help reaching up to touch the hairpin set with round pearls at my temple, trying to calm myself as well.
His Majesty the King’s procession arrived at Chunchao Palace.
We waited at the palace entrance to receive the royal procession.
Attendant Wei held his fly whisk and bowed, raising one arm.
His Majesty the King, still a young man, rested a hand on Attendant Wei’s forearm and stepped out of the palanquin.
The hem of his robe, embroidered with a massive python, swung aside to reveal gilded shoes.
Fear of the unknown crept up my spine.
Why had I never noticed before?
This monster was clearly-
Clearly riddled with flaws!
The heavy scent of ambergris was meant to conceal the unnatural odor coming from its body.
It wore thick, heavy robes on a summer night without sweating because the writhing worms beneath the human skin could not secrete bodily fluids.
A long, slender worm fell beside its foot. Had it slipped through a tear in the human skin?
My eyes widened almost to the point of splitting as my peripheral vision darted repeatedly toward the wriggling worm.
It was dark as blood and covered in tiny tentacles.
One end bore a chrysanthemum-shaped mouth that contracted ceaselessly, while the other tapered to a narrower point.
Hundreds of tentacles waved limply.
The worm struggled to turn itself over, trying to crawl back onto the shoe and burrow into the body again.
A dark purple boot came down on it.
Squelch!
When His Majesty the King lifted his foot again, the worm had been flattened into a thin scrap of skin.
Bloodred fluid sprayed from its body, instantly corroding a small hole in the ground.
“Rise, my beloved consort,” His Majesty the King drawled. “The rest of you need not attend us. Return to your rooms and rest.”
It was sending everyone away! That meant I couldn’t remain on duty outside the hall tonight and watch what happened inside the bedchamber.
Your Highness, please keep your composure! I instinctively wanted to look at Consort Zhan and see her reaction, but I gritted my teeth and resisted.
Consort Zhan’s coquettish laugh rang beside me. She linked her arm through His Majesty the King’s and entered the bedchamber, her jade pendants chiming with every step.
“Why are you all still standing around? Do I have to drive you back to your rooms on behalf of His Majesty the King?”
Attendant Wei impatiently flicked his horsetail whisk. “Back to your rooms, all of you. Don’t disturb His Majesty the King’s enjoyment!”
Shanhua and I returned to our room, where the small window stood half-open. I said I wasn’t tired and curled up beneath it, hugging my knees.
Shanhua shoved a jar of ointment into my hands. “Here. Zhan Zhao told me to give you this. He said your collar was too tight around your neck.”
He noticed? I raised a hand to rub my neck and accepted it with a guilty twinge. “Thank you.”
She teased, “There are so many palace maids hoping to pair up with him. You may not be in a hurry, but I’m anxious for you.”
I gave her an awkward smile. Shanhua burst out laughing. “You’re such a clam. Even a beating couldn’t knock a word out of you.”
She prattled on for a while before falling sound asleep.
I alone tossed and turned, unable to drift off.
Propping myself up, I glanced toward the bedchamber in the front hall.
Its window was half-open. Verdant curtains swayed gently inside, and every so often I caught a glimpse of the blankets rising and rolling like waves.
The moon was deathly pale, its light spilling silently from the windowsill onto the green wormwood below.
When I looked up, I saw dozens of Buddhist pagodas looming in the distance within the royal palace. They resembled a host of silent giants staring down at me.
The stifling night breeze carried the fragrance of plants.
The scent was so rich and cloying that it left me slightly light-headed.
No one had gone to serve tea or deliver a message today.
That meant His Majesty the King probably hadn’t noticed anything unusual yet.
Relief loosened the knot in my chest, and drowsiness washed over me…
Someone shook me awake.
The room was choked with acrid black smoke. Shanhua clutched my shoulders.
“Shanyue! Shanyue! There’s a fire!”
When she saw that I was awake, her nose scrunched up and tears spilled from her eyes.
“You’re finally awake! You scared me to death!”
Holding a silk handkerchief over her mouth and nose, she struggled to push open the door and escape outside.
But she soon discovered that someone had barred it from the other side!
“It was already like this when I woke up!” Tears and snot streamed down Shanhua’s face. “Shanyue, think of something! Please, save me!”
I scrambled out of bed and swept my gaze around the room.
At some point, the window had also been fastened from outside. I snatched up a stool and slammed it against the window with all my strength.
Thud!
The impact produced an extremely muffled echo.
We both realized at once that someone had boarded up the window from outside!
Someone out there had started this fire.
I wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead. “The door and window are both sealed. If we make enough noise, someone will notice us.”
Urgent shouts came from beyond the window. The voice belonged to no one in Chunchao Palace.
The smoke was so suffocating that my thoughts ground to a halt. I couldn’t remember where I had heard it before.
Shanhua said, “Queen Xu’s Qingkun Palace is right behind Chunchao Palace. She must have… cough… sent her servants to put out the fire!”
I spoke rapidly. “Bang the tables and chairs together! Let her know someone is trapped in here!”
“Cough, cough… But won’t Your Highness the Princess Consort tell them? Do we still… need to…”
Shanhua’s chest heaved violently. She was nearly at her limit.
No. If I assumed the worst, perhaps the others were also trapped in the flames, struggling to survive just like us.
And if I assumed the absolute worst…
One of the four of them had set this fire. But why?
The situation was too dire. I couldn’t think clearly.
My hands could no longer grip the stool’s legs. It crashed to the floor, where flames lapped over it again and again.
The fire closed in on the center of the room.
I desperately crawled toward the stool leg, now charred black, and tried to seize the burning wood to write on the floor:
NOT… HERE…
The arsonist was not here.
Shanhua and I were both trapped in the fire, and the door and window had been sealed from outside.
Every muscle in my body was spasming.
The searing heat scorched my palm. My flesh stuck to the charcoal, making each stroke crooked and unsteady.
It hurt, but I refused to let go.
If those two survived, then even on the brink of death, I had to leave them a clue. I had to give the living something to go on.
Who had set the fire?
Shanhua and I could be eliminated as suspects. Did that leave the Princess Consort or Chang Yan?
Only those two had experienced the cycle before.
Even if they died in the fire, they could be reborn, so burning down the palace would not be unthinkable.
But neither of them had any reason to start the fire.
Was it His Majesty the King, who had discovered that his secret was known? Or Queen Xu, who was at odds with Consort Zhan?
No. If His Majesty the King wanted to silence us, why go to all the trouble of setting a fire?
Still gripping the burning charcoal, I smelled the flesh of my palm charring. I could no longer continue forming even a single word.
I had exhausted every last ounce of strength.
Billowing smoke and waves of heat engulfed me as though I had been cast into hell itself. Everything around me began to warp and twist.
I curled into myself.
Flames licked across my body, burning hideous patterns into my skin. Like a worm doused in boiling water, I writhed in agony.
The sea of fire swallowed me whole.
If I could be reborn again, I had to escape. I couldn’t wait until the seventeenth day of the seventh month. I had to flee before the fire at Chunchao Palace…
I had to escape before Chunchao Palace burned-
I opened my eyes.