Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I stood frozen in the heavy rain.

I couldn’t understand why he would ask such a baseless, nonsensical question.

At that moment, mud and sand mixed with rainwater streamed down, blurring my vision. Subconsciously, I wiped my eyes with hands that were still trembling.

Through the gaps between my fingers, I saw the general. High atop his horse, his gaze suddenly darkened, and his iron-clad hand slowly moved toward the saber at his waist.

…

Perhaps at the critical turning points of fate, the mind automatically rewinds to seemingly insignificant details that actually hide a deeper mystery.

It suddenly occurred to me.

Just now, as I walked toward him step by step through the curtain of rain…

The general’s first glance had landed on my collar.

What was on my collar?

A white gardenia was embroidered there.

I hadn’t embroidered it.

It was the work of my personal maid, Bai Zhi.

Half an hour ago, she-along with my guards, carriage, and luggage-had been swept down the cliff by a sudden, roaring torrent of mud and rock.

I had been thrown out as the carriage tumbled, landing in the mud by the roadside and losing consciousness.

I didn’t wake up until the city’s official soldiers arrived and rescued me.

…

Across from me, the general stared at me expressionlessly, his rough palm slowly tightening around the hilt of his blade.

My heart hammered like a drum as my mind continued to race.

My memory flashed back to a scene two days ago, just before the carriage departed:

My father, mother, Erniang, and Sanniang-the whole family stood before the manor gates to see me off, their eyes red and swollen from crying.

Sanniang, who came from a background of mountain bandits, suddenly spoke up. She told me to remove my hairpins and jewelry and change into Bai Zhi’s clothes.

“The world is unstable, and there are rebel armies everywhere. If anything happens, Lanzheng will be less conspicuous dressed as a maid.”

So at this moment, I was wearing Bai Zhi’s clothes.

Bai Zhi liked to embroider a white gardenia on the collar of every garment she owned.

She said it was a habit she’d had since childhood.

…

I still hadn’t spoken.

The long saber was drawn inch by inch. Raindrops hitting the blade were instantly sliced and shattered. The general’s gaze was sharper than the steel.

My blood ran cold, and my throat tightened. The clamor of voices and the sound of the rain suddenly seemed to drift far away.

A strange little detail popped into my head.

Before leaving for the Capital, the usually well-behaved and quiet Bai Zhi had actually talked in her sleep for several nights in a row. She always said the same thing:

“It seems there’s one less chicken in the backyard.”

At the time, I only thought she was overworking herself and paid it no mind.

For this trip to the Capital to enter the palace, my mother had originally arranged for Nanny Shen-who had lived in the palace before-to accompany me. Unexpectedly, Nanny Shen broke her leg a few days before our departure, so Bai Zhi was sent to take her place.

On the road these past two days, Bai Zhi’s expression had been solemn, as if she were a different person. She often sat alone, lost in thought, not even hearing me when I called her. When our eyes met, her gaze was uncharacteristically complex.

I thought she was just like me, worried about entering the palace.

…

*Clang!*

The blade left its sheath.

The general looked down at me as if he were looking at a dead woman.

The rain poured down as lightning tore through the sky like a silver dragon.

In that split second of light as bright as day, I suddenly said:

“It seems there’s one less chicken in the backyard.”