Morning came washed in silver light, the scent of rain still clinging to the air. Dew glittered like pearls on the courtyard stones, and the Gu residence stirred slowly awake after the long storm. Servants moved about briskly, hanging damp robes over bamboo poles, wringing out linens, and sweeping fallen petals from the veranda.
Lianhua was already awake.
She stood by the lotus pond, barefoot, her reflection rippling in the water as she balanced a stick like a dancer's staff.
"Left foot, right wing!" she declared, pointing at the snow-white crane flapping beside her. "Now bow gracefully!"
The crane, Xiaobai tilted its head and promptly stole a pastry from the plate she had left by the steps.
"Xiaobai!" she cried. "That was for practice motivation!"
Tianyi, seated on the railing, burst out laughing.
"He's motivated by food, not your dancing!"
Lianhua frowned.
"You're just jealous because he understands rhythm better than you."
The maids covering their mouths giggled softly as the crane strutted across the stones, crumbs on its beak, while Lianhua tried to look stern.
"He's not greedy," she explained earnestly. "He's a scholar of good taste."
"Then he'll fit right in with this family," one of the servants joked, earning another round of laughter.
Yue Qin appeared then, her pale blue robe gliding through the morning light, embroidery shimmering faintly at her cuffs.
She smiled at the sight of her children and the mischievous crane.
"Already causing chaos, I see."
"Not chaos," Lianhua said proudly. "Art."
Tianyi snorted.
"Art that eats cake."
Lianhua spun to face him, her sleeves fluttering like soft wings.
"Mother, he's being disrespectful to art!"
Yue Qin chuckled, lowering herself to sit on the veranda steps.
"Then show me, my little artist. What masterpiece are you creating today?"
"A dance to welcome Father home," she said, her eyes bright. "When he returns, I'll dance for him under the moonlight."
The mention of Gu Shen softened Yue Qin's smile.
"Then we must make sure your steps are perfect," she whispered, brushing a strand of hair from her daughter's cheek. "Your father will be proud."
At that moment, a carriage stopped outside the gate. The steward hurried forward, announcing,
"Lady Wen has arrived to visit, madam."
Yue Qin rose gracefully.
"An old friend," she murmured. "Lianhua, Tianyi behave."
The gates opened with a creak, and Lady Wen stepped inside slender, elegant, her robe a cascade of pale lavender silk embroidered with silver magnolias. A faint perfume of amber clung to her, and her hair was wound high, pinned with a jade and silver hair pin like flower opening it petal. Silver tassels shimmered at the sides of her face, catching the light with every turn. On her wrist, a bracelet of white jade gleamed like frozen moonlight, and from her ears hung delicate pearl drops that swayed gently with her steps. Her curved white brocade shoe chimed softly with tiny silver bells at the straps the mark of noble lineage and refined taste.
"Yue Qin," Lady Wen greeted warmly, inclining her head. "It's been too long. Your home looks livelier than ever."
Yue Qin smiled and returned the greeting by putting her two hand on her sides and half squat
"It's the children. They refuse to let peace last."
Lady Wen's eyes flickered to Lianhua and Tianyi, curiosity soft behind her painted lashes.
"So these are the little ones I've heard of. How clever they must be your daughter especially. The dancing tutors speak often of such gifts. Clever children are… always noticed."
Her tone was light, but Yue Qin heard the weight beneath the words.
Lianhua, meanwhile, had stepped closer, wide-eyed at Lady Wen's jewelry.
"Your bracelets sparkle like the stars," she said sincerely.
Lady Wen laughed softly, touching the girl's head.
"And your tongue sparkles sharper than most courtiers', little one. You'll be a heart-stealer when you're grown."
"I don't want to steal hearts," Lianhua said, pouting. "I want to dance so the world remembers me."
The answer made both women pause. Yue Qin's heart tightened. Lady Wen simply smiled again, though her gaze lingered too long as if memorizing the child's face.
After tea and pleasantries, Lady Wen rose to leave. As she stepped back into her carriage, she turned once more.
"If you receive any word from Commander Gu," she said quietly, "do keep it safe. The court has become… attentive to every letter these days."
Yue Qin inclined her head, her smile perfectly serene.
"Of course, Wen Chun." As it is the name lady Wen love Yue Qin to call her
But when the carriage rolled away, her hands trembled slightly. Attentive to every letter? What did the palace truly seek in her husband's correspondence?
---
That afternoon, Yue Qin sat alone in her study. The scent of sandalwood filled the air. On the desk before her lay the sealed scroll brought by the soldier the one marked faintly with the Imperial Crest. The wax had dried a deep red, the edges crisp from travel.
She stared at it for a long time, her heart whispering old prayers. Then, slowly, she unrolled it once more.
Gu Shen's words were simple duty, reassurance, delay but her eyes kept returning to the faint crest. That mark did not belong on a personal letter.
A knock came at the door. The steward bowed deeply.
"Madam, a messenger from the palace came earlier. He asked if you had… received the Commander's reply."
Yue Qin's fingers froze.
"The Commander's reply?"
"Yes, madam."
Her pulse quickened.
"Did he say why?"
The steward shook his head.
"Only that the Emperor's scribes are keeping record of all communications from the border."
When he left, silence pressed against the walls. Yue Qin closed the scroll again and locked it inside a lacquered box, hiding the key beneath her inkstone.
She rose and looked out toward the courtyard where her children's laughter drifted faintly in the wind. For their sake, she would stay composed. But the shadow behind that Imperial mark had begun to darken the edges of her thoughts.
---
Near the storage pavilion, Lianhua and Tianyi were on a new adventure.
"I told you Xiaobai hid it here!" Tianyi said, pointing under a bench.
"No, he didn't," Lianhua insisted, kneeling to look. "He doesn't hide things, he is storing treasures!"
"What treasure? Half-eaten buns?"
"Think brother. Think."
Her words were grand enough that the maids giggled from a distance. But suddenly, Tianyi froze.
"What's this?"
He picked up a scrap of parchment half-soaked from the rain, marked with strange plum-blossom symbols drawn in dark ink.
Lianhua's eyes widened.
"It's a secret code! Father's dance symbols!" She said it seriously
Tianyi frowned.
"That doesn't look like a dance. It looks like a map."
"It's both!" she declared. "A dance map! she said as if she was correct
Before he could argue, Yue Qin appeared in the doorway. Her eyes immediately found the parchment.
"Where did you get that?"
"The wind brought it!" Lianhua said innocently. "Can I keep it? I'll make it part of my choreography."
Yue Qin's heart stilled. She knelt, smiling gently as she took the parchment from her daughter's hands.
"Perhaps later, my love. For now, let me keep it safe."
When the children ran off again, chasing Xiaobai's snowy wings through the garden, Yue Qin unfolded the fragment in private. The ink had blurred slightly, but she could still see it the same plum-blossom pattern that faintly shadowed her husband's signature.
She placed it beside the sealed scroll. The marks aligned perfectly.
Her breath caught.
Gu Shen had sent her a message within the message.
---
That night, the storm returned faintly soft rain pattering like whispers on the roof. Yue Qin couldn't sleep. Beside her writing table, the box lay closed, silent.
Outside, Yu Meng stirred from a troubled dream. She had dreamt of a white lotus blooming in a pool of blood, petals scattering under a red sky. Heart pounding, she ran to the veranda for air and froze.
The family crane, Xiaobai, was pacing restlessly, wings half spread, crying toward the north.
"What's wrong, little one?" she murmured, but the bird only cried louder, as if warning of something unseen.
The sound woke Yue Qin. She stepped out into the rain-damp air, her robe whispering over the stones, the lantern in her hand flickering in the wind.
From the north horizon, a faint red glow shimmered against the clouds—not dawn, but fire.
She stood still, the light reflecting in her eyes.
Far beyond the Gu walls, at the empire's edge, something had begun to burn.
And in the quiet before dawn, Yue Qin whispered to the wind:
"Hold fast, Shen… whatever storm this is, we will endure it together."