The morning after the rain smelled of earth and peonies. Dew clung to the courtyards of the Gu residence, where the night's storm had washed every roof tile clean. Servants moved quietly between the halls, sweeping fallen petals from the ground.
In the east wing, laughter broke the stillness.
Lianhua hair was tied with a ribbon shaped like butterfly wings, and have a hairpin pin in it then she spun in the courtyard barefoot, the hem of her pale pink robe fluttering around her ankles. "Brother, watch! This new dance is called The Victory of Father's Return!" she declared, spinning too fast until her ribbon came loose and landed on Tianyi's head.
Tianyi, who was cleaning his small wooden sword, gave her a calm look and he started laughing and he said it would be a victory if you stop before you crash into the flowerpots again."
She stopped mid-twirl, feigning offense. why are you laughing at me she poked her face as if she was angry
The servants near the door tried not to laugh. Even their mother, Yue Qin, paused with her brush midair, a soft smile curving her lips. She had been writing letters since dawn, her desk neat except for one a letter sealed with the Imperial Crest.
It lay untouched, heavy with silence.
"Mother, aren't you going to read Father's letter?" Lianhua asked, hopping closer, her curious eyes shining.
"Later, sweetheart." Yue Qin's voice was light, but her hand brushed the paper like one touches a sleeping snake. "Now go practice your bows the real kind, not your dancing ones."
"Then Tianyi must practice too!" Lianhua said quickly.
Tianyi sighed. "I already did."
"Then you can practice again!" she countered.
The siblings' chatter filled the air like morning birdsong, their laughter echoing against carved wooden pillars. But when Yue Qin finally lifted the letter, the world seemed to quiet around her.
---
The seal broke with a soft crack.
Inside, Commander Gu Shen's handwriting flowed steady and sure words of love and longing, a promise that he would return before the autumn leaves fell.
But beneath the ink, faint and hidden, she caught something strange.
A second line almost invisible appeared when sunlight hit the parchment.
Her heart skipped.
"The Crown watches what the border hides."
Yue Qin's breath caught. That was not her husband's hand. It was someone else's smaller, deliberate, and dangerous.
Before she could study it further, a voice called from behind her.
"Mother! Look what I made!"
Tianyi stood there proudly, holding what looked like a sword made from folded paper and string. "I made it strong enough to fight the wind!"
She hid the letter quickly beneath another scroll and smiled. "That's a very fine weapon, young general."
"Not general," he corrected. "Commander like Father."
Lianhua appeared beside him, laughing. "Then I'll be his deputy dancer! When he conquers kingdoms, I'll dance in front of the troops!"
Yue Qin laughed softly, though her eyes were shadowed. "Then both of you must train hard. The Empire needs clever minds and brave hearts."
Her children beamed, unaware that their mother's heart was trembling.
---
By noon, the market runner returned with news.
The servants gathered in hushed circles, whispering like the rustle of silk.
"I heard the Emperor sent investigators to the south," one said. "They say one is bound for the border camps."
"Commander Gu Shen's camp?" another whispered.
A bowl clattered. "Hush! Madam Yue will hear you."
But she already had.
Yue Qin dismissed them gently, her face unreadable. As the servants dispersed, she turned to the open courtyard and found Lianhua crouched behind the bamboo screen.
The child blinked up guiltily. "Mother… is Father in trouble?"
Yue Qin knelt, brushing stray hair from her daughter's cheek. "No. Sometimes the Emperor sends people to check on things. That's all."
Lianhua frowned. "But if he's checking, does that mean he doesn't trust?"
For a moment, Yue Qin had no answer. Then Tianyi's quiet voice came from behind:
"Maybe it's not Father the Emperor doesn't trust. Maybe it's the ones standing beside him."
His words, though spoken softly, were sharp with insight. Yue Qin felt a pang of pride and sorrow. How quickly they've grown.
"Come," she said finally. "Let's eat before you two start a war of words."
---
Evening brought a thin wind scented with osmanthus. The family gathered for dinner beneath hanging lanterns shaped like golden fish.
Halfway through the meal, a servant hurried in. "Madam, a visitor he claims to bring a message from the Commander."
The children's eyes brightened. "Father?"
A tall man stepped into the courtyard. His robe was travel-stained, his smile too polite. "I was a companion of Commander Gu Shen during the River Campaign. He asked me to deliver this."
He presented a small wooden box, its seal faintly cracked.
Inside lay a carved hairpin of dark sandalwood the same pattern Gu Shen had promised Yue Qin before he left for war.
But something felt wrong. The edges were worn, as though handled for years, not weeks.
"This looks… old," Yue Qin murmured.
The man bowed. "The Commander said it would bring comfort. He sends his love."
Lianhua tilted her head, studying him. "If Father sent it, why do your eyes look sad?"
The man stiffened. "Children imagine things."
But Yue Qin's gaze met her daughter's. They both knew the man was lying.
"Please thank the Commander," she said calmly. "And rest before you continue your journey."
He left soon after, too quickly for a true friend.
---
When the gate closed behind him, the night deepened.
Lanterns flickered, throwing long shadows across the courtyard.
Lianhua tugged her mother's sleeve. "Mother, that man's smile was cold."
Yue Qin nodded slowly. "You have your father's eyes, little one. They see what others miss."
"Then what did I see?"
"Truth," Yue Qin whispered.
The answer puzzled the child, but she remembered it as she always remembered everything.
---
That night, the wind rose again.
Yue Qin sat awake, the sealed letter before her. The wax shimmered faintly, as though the storm's fire still lived within it. She reached out and the faint hidden writing seemed to shift, revealing a second message beneath the first:
"The border bleeds, but not from war."
Her pulse quickened. What did it mean? Treachery? A hidden battle? Or something worse a betrayal close to the throne itself?
Lightning flashed far in the distance, and thunder rolled like a slow drum.
In the children's room, Tianyi slept soundly, one hand over his paper sword. Lianhua murmured in her sleep, dream-tangled. "Father's coming home soon… I saw him in the lanterns."
Yue Qin stood by the window, watching the moon shimmer on the wet tiles.
She whispered into the night, her voice trembling only slightly. "Then may the lanterns guide him home before the storm finds us first."