The other three turned toward Linyue at the exact same time. Four pairs of eyes locked on her. Heads tilted like owls. Curious. Suspicious. A little judgmental. A little haunted.
Oh? Even they didn't know?
Linyue blinked, unbothered, and slipped her hand into her sleeve. Their stares sharpened instantly.
"To fetch something," she said.
Everyone leaned in at once. The air grew heavy with suspense. Was it a forbidden weapon that could split mountains? A secret scroll carrying the fate of the realm? The final key to a long-lost treasure vault?
She pulled it out and held it up.
A flute. The hidden weapon disguised as flute.
There was a long silence.
Shen Zhenyu recovered first. He cleared his throat politely. "It must be really precious," he said, trying very hard to be supportive.
Linyue beamed, dimples flashing, clearly delighted by the response.
Shu Mingye, meanwhile, was trying to make sense of it. His mind jumped back to the wooden box sitting untouched in his study. She had said it was precious too. Yet she never asked for it again. Did she forget? Or… did it no longer matter to her?
Before he could voice the question burning in his chest, He Yuying suddenly spoke, his tone casual. "Right. What about the thing you asked me to get?"
Linyue blinked, as if she had only just remembered. "Oh! That. Did you bring it with you?"
He Yuying reached into his robe and pulled out a thick stack of papers. "Yep. I wanted to give it to you earlier, but he showed up." He tilted his chin toward Shu Mingye.
Shu Mingye gave him a flat look.
He? Was he now just the inconvenience?
His gaze slid to the papers. Suspicion rose. So. They had stolen something else? The list of crimes was growing faster than his ability to keep up.
Linyue accepted the stack, then plucked the first sheet from the top. She unfolded it, glanced at it for half a second, then flicked it aside without second thought.
Next paper. Glance. Immediate toss.
Next one. Read. Toss without mercy.
The pile of discarded papers began to spread across the table like a small avalanche.
Across from her, the other three leaned in, eyes wide, waiting to see what earth-shattering secret was hidden among the pages.
Shu Mingye took another tea cup and began to sip stolen tea again, forgetting for a moment that he had sworn off tea in this room, and immediately regretted it.
Linyue's cheerful expression slowly twisted into a look of pure disbelief. Her smile slipped, her brows pulled together, and her eyes narrowed at the stack of paper in front of her. Her voice went flat. "Is this all?"
He Yuying straightened, confident as ever. He nodded without hesitation.
Linyue frowned. A deep, dangerous frown. "Do you really think I'd go through all that trouble… for this?" She flicked one of the papers into the middle of the table with a sharp snap of her wrist.
Everyone lunged a little closer. Song Meiyu was fastest. She snatched the paper and held it up, as if preparing to announce a royal decree. She cleared her throat and began to read aloud:
"You bought me pearls, you pledged your heart,
My peerless looks? A work of art…
You said my eyes outshined the sun,
Turns out it was just hairpin's glint on my bun."
The room went silent.
Song Meiyu slowly lowered the paper, her face caught between confusion and delight. "Wait… is this a love letter?"
Across the table, Shen Zhenyu slapped a hand over his mouth, shoulders trembling as he tried to keep his composure. His efforts failed immediately. A muffled snort escaped, then another, until his whole frame was shaking with suppressed laughter.
Shu Mingye didn't even try. He threw his head back and let out a full, unrestrained howl of laughter. It was loud, unashamed, completely chaotic. He even slapped the table once.
He Yuying looked unsure. He peeked at Linyue from the corner of his eye, as if checking whether it was safe to breathe in her presence.
Linyue let out a deep sigh, then waved her hand. "Fine. Forget it. It's not that big of a deal."
On the inside, however, she was this close to flipping the entire table and burying him under the wreckage.
Her gaze slid back to the paper. "Where did you find this?"
He Yuying swallowed. "The place you told me to go."
Linyue narrowed her eyes. "The emperor's secret study?"
She had sent him there for one thing. A map. A very specific map. It was supposed to be hidden inside a secret compartment in a bookshelf, a compartment so well concealed even the emperor might not know it existed. The map of the palace's underground passages. The very same passages that person had used thirteen years ago. And He Yuying… came back with romantic poetry.
Linyue stared at the stack again. Was he serious? Did he not even look for the compartment? Did he just grab the first scroll he saw and think, "Yes. This must be it. The highly classified secret document we risked our lives for. A tragic poem about hairpins."
Across the table, Shu Mingye, who had been laughing like a madman only moments before, suddenly froze.
Wait. She even knew about the emperor's secret study? And actually snuck in to steal something? And what she ended up with… was this love letter?
His shoulders began to shake again, a dangerous mix of horror and amusement warring in his chest.
Meanwhile, Song Meiyu was still happily digging through the stack of papers. "But who wrote this love letter?" she asked, eyes sparkling with scandalous curiosity.
Linyue squinted at the paper thoughtfully. The handwriting was elegant, every stroke smooth and confident. A faint perfume clung to the paper, soft and floral. "A woman wrote this," she said at last. "If it was from the Empress or the First Concubine, there'd be no reason to hide it…" She trailed off. Unless...
Shu Mingye, still recovering from shock, spoke before she could finish. "A married woman," he said. "Or someone important. High position. Dangerous to be exposed."
Linyue and Shen Zhenyu both nodded, their faces turning serious.
The atmosphere shifted. Intrigue thickened in the air.
Then Song Meiyu gasped and leaned across the table. "Does that mean… we just uncovered an imperial secret?"
Everyone paused.
Even Shu Mingye couldn't decide if this was horrifying or hilarious.
Shen Zhenyu quietly reached for the letter Song Meiyu had been waving around. He studied it closely. His brows drew together, his eyes narrowing as if he were staring into a memory he would rather not revisit. For a brief moment, something sharp flickered across his expression. Recognition. Disgust. Or maybe a hint of both.
Linyue noticed. She didn't comment, though a guess had already formed in her mind. Instead, she turned to Shu Mingye. "Do you know who sent those assassins?"
"They were soldiers from Shenlin. Disguised as assassins."
Linyue simply nodded. She didn't look surprised. She had already noticed the storm hidden behind Shen Zhenyu's calm expression and quietly put the pieces together. Shenlin siding with the emperor… the sudden death of King Shen only a few years ago… everything lined up a little too neatly.
She turned her gaze on Shen Zhenyu, silent but steady.
He met her eyes and spoke without hesitation. "It's from Queen Shen. The love letters."
The room exploded.
Song Meiyu let out a scandalized gasp so loud it nearly rattled the teacups. He Yuying, completely unbothered, chose that exact moment to bite into another dried plum with a loud crunch. Linyue, in contrast, did not so much as blink.
Shu Mingye sat very still, his face unreadable, though his mind was racing.
That would explain a lot.
He glanced around at the four of them, still in various states of shock or smug knowing.
This group… truly was something else.
All this—because she mentioned "entrance fee." From there, it somehow spiraled into uncovering embezzlement, spies, and an assassination plot. And now, by pure accident, they had stolen love letters and stumbled into an imperial scandal. He couldn't tell if they were unbelievably lucky or just dangerously cursed. Probably both. Definitely both.
Shen Zhenyu was still holding the love letters in his hands. His brows were furrowed so hard, they looked like they were trying to meet in the middle of his forehead.
Linyue noticed, but wisely decided to leave him to his suffering. Emotional damage could take a while to process. Instead, she turned her calm gaze to Shu Mingye. "Why are you still here?" she asked, voice calm, gently reminding him the tea party was over.
Shu Mingye stared at her. Was that her polite way of kicking him out?
"I'm not done yet," he said firmly, unwilling to move an inch. His eyes narrowed. "What about the emperor? Didn't he ask you to do something?"
Linyue blinked innocently. "Of course. Did you enjoy it?"
...Enjoy?
Shu Mingye frowned, his mind racing. He went through several recent disasters in his mind—assassins, demons clawing at the walls, his ribs breaking not once but twice, blood loss, headaches, near-death experiences. No, none of that landed in the "enjoyable" category.
Across the table, Song Meiyu nearly bounced in place, her whole body sparking with gossip-fueled energy. She leaned forward, eyes glittering. "Sister Linyue, do you really give him that?"
Linyue nodded, completely unbothered.
Shu Mingye's eyes narrowed further. A warning bell rang in his chest. His danger sense was screaming. He leaned forward slowly, voice low and sharp. "Give me what?" He paused, expression deadly serious. "I don't remember you giving me anything."
Linyue looked slightly offended. "Don't you remember? The demon. I even presented it in front of you."
Wait. Wait.
He remembered it clearly now. Right after the battle, when he was sore, bruised, bleeding and running dangerously low on patience. And out of nowhere, Linyue had casually shoved a demon corpse at him. No warning, no explanation, just plop—a dead low-level demon at his feet.
At the time, he had been too tired to question it. He thought, Fine. She probably wants me to burn it. Whatever. I've seen stranger things this week.
But now… hearing her explanation… he was beginning to suspect he had gravely underestimated her level of chaos.
Shu Mingye narrowed his eyes. His voice was sharp with suspicion. "The emperor asked you to do that?"
Linyue tilted her head, expression thoughtful. "Not specifically. He gave me a vial of suspicious liquid. Said it was good for the body, cultivation, and something else… I don't really remember. Then he told me to put it in your breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner."
There was a long pause.
Shu Mingye's jaw tightened. His voice came out slow, careful, dangerous. "Then what does that have to do with the demon?"
Linyue brightened as though he had finally asked the right question. "I heard you drink demon blood for breakfast. And you even bathe in it. So, I choked it to the demon and presented it for you… to take a sip."