When the granary doors closed behind her, they made a hollow sound.
As if something had been sealed away in the dark forever.
Qing Tian did not say another word to Consort Shen.
She understood perfectly well—that woman had not come to explain anything tonight.
She had come to warn her.
—You may do your job.—But you may not cross the line.
And grain was that line.
By the time Qing Tian returned to Tingyu Pavilion, dawn was already near.
She did not sleep.
Instead, she spread the ledgers across her desk and copied them again, line by line.
Not for the Internal Affairs Office.
For Yangxin Hall.
She used no inflammatory words.She did not write theft, embezzlement, or corruption.
She wrote only cold numbers:
Actual grain in storage
Grain that should have been distributed
The discrepancy
And beneath it—
A simple conclusion:
This shortage is enough to leave thirty-six low-ranking palace workers without sufficient food for two full months.
When daylight finally broke, Gao Dequan arrived.
"Steward Qing," he said calmly, "His Majesty requests another copy of the ledger you submitted yesterday."
Another copy.
The phrase carried weight.
She knew—the emperor had already seen it.
Yangxin Hall was quiet.Incense burned steadily.
Tang Yi sat behind his desk, Qing Tian's ledger laid open before him.
There was no anger on his face.No surprise.
Only a depth of stillness that felt bottomless.
"You went to the granary," he said.
"Yes."
"What did you see?"
"Empty crates."
Tang Yi raised his eyes to her.
"You know where the grain went."
It wasn't a question.
It was a statement.
Qing Tian's throat tightened.
"I know."
"The Empress Dowager's Buddhist halls."
"That is the name it goes by."
Silence fell.
Outside, the wind stirred the gauze curtains, light and shadow shifting across the emperor's profile.
"Then why did you still come to me?" he asked.
Qing Tian lifted her head and met his gaze.
"Because," she said quietly,"the ones who are starving are not Buddhas."
The words dropped like a pebble into deep water.
Tang Yi's eyes flickered—just once.
Then he looked away, back to the ledger.
"What do you want?" he asked.
Qing Tian did not hesitate.
"I want grain."
"For whom?"
"For the lowest people in the Imperial Kitchen."
"You know whose grain that is."
"I do."
"You know who I will offend if I agree."
"I do."
Tang Yi let out a slow breath.
"You are smarter than I thought," he said.
Then came the words that chilled the room.
"And far more dangerous than you realize."
He closed the ledger.
"This matter—I will not intervene for now."
Qing Tian's fingers trembled sharply.
"Your Majesty—"
"You think I don't know?" Tang Yi cut in, his voice low."You think there is a single 'offering' in this palace that is clean?"
"But they are starving—"
"This palace starves people every day."
The words were cruel.
And true.
"If you lift this lid now," he continued,"what falls won't be just Consort Shen."
"There will be the Empress Dowager.""Half the Internal Affairs Office."
"And—"
His gaze fixed on her.
"You."
For the first time, Qing Tian truly understood:
Power was not inaction.
Power was choosing when to be silent.
"So learn this," Tang Yi said slowly."In this palace, saving people is sometimes more dangerous than killing them."
He paused.
"However—"
He looked back at her.
"I will not stop you."
Qing Tian froze.
"I will not give you grain," he said."And I will not give you an edict."
"But if you can reclaim that grain by your own means—"
His eyes were deep, unreadable.
"Then that will be your ability."
This was not protection.
It was release.
And it was a test.
Qing Tian finally understood—
The emperor was not standing on her side.
But he had left the board to her.
She bowed deeply.
"This servant… understands."
When she stepped out of Yangxin Hall, sunlight flooded the palace paths.
Yet she felt only cold.
Because she knew—
From this moment on,the enemy was no longer just one Consort Shen.
It was the entire inner palace system—
A system that survivedby devouringthose at the very bottom.