The night air in the outer corridor was cooler, its breath curling faintly against Mingyu's skin as he crossed into the smaller strategy chamber. This one had windows, narrow and high, the paper screens closed against the drafts. A brazier burned in the corner, the smoke scent sharper here than in the rooms they'd just left.
Deming and Longzi entered in right after him, splitting up in different directions, already getting to work. They'd cleared the central table of scrolls, leaving only the map that bled from Daiyu's capital and up into Baiguang's crippled heart.
Mingyu took the seat at the head without hesitation.
Like in the other room, his guards stopped at the door; the eunuchs and maids who had trailed him peeled away like shadows dissolving at dawn. He didn't need them here. This was not court, and he would not be attacked in this room with these men.
