The imperial decree arrived just after dawn.
A gilded scroll carried by two silver-armored eunuchs, stamped with the seal of the Inner Court, its crimson ribbon fluttering like the tongue of a dragon.
By the time Shen Lian stepped into the main hall, Madam Xu and Shen Yue were already kneeling, heads bowed.
Zhou stood silently in the shadows behind a column, watching.
"The daughters of the Shen household are summoned," the eunuch announced, "to participate in the Spring Court Selection of Virtuous Ladies. Prepare within seven days."
As soon as the officials departed, Madam Xu broke into tears of joy.
"My Yue'er… chosen by Heaven! What an honor for our household!"
Shen Yue looked dazed, then elated, then frightened. "We're going to the palace…"
Shen Lian stepped forward slowly. "Yes," she said. "And we must be ready."
That evening, Shen Lian sat with Zhou in the inner courtyard, a map of the palace districts spread before them.
"Do you remember this?" she asked.
Zhou scanned it. "A little. The servants' halls run beneath the east wall. Cold storage near the concubines' quarters. Guards change every fourth bell."
"Good," Shen Lian murmured. "Memorize the details. Once we enter the palace, you'll be listed as a runner under the outer steward's name."
He glanced at her. "You're planting me?"
"I'm arming myself," she said. "With a blade no one sees coming."
Later, as she bathed under the dim lamplight, a maid brought her a letter sealed in black wax.
No name. Just a phoenix pressed into the wax.
She opened it.
Beware the Mirror Test. They seek not beauty, but the shadow behind it.
Shen Lian folded the paper slowly.
So the palace still played games with illusions.
She looked out at the plum trees shivering in the wind.
"Let them test," she whispered. "I'll give them something to fear."