Chapter 15 — The Secret the Empress Dowager Concealed

The ceremonial platform was hewn in two, sparks cascading like dying stars through the air. My father shoved me violently away from the side door of the main hall.

"Run!"

I spun on my heel, head down, and scrambled forward. Behind me, the chaotic clash of steel echoed against the palace walls, punctuated by my father’s defiant shouting.

"Xiao Zhi! You protect the Emperor, I shall protect my daughter!"

Xiao Zhi’s voice rang out, cold and unyielding: "Your daughter has already run off."

"Then I shall protect myself!"

I nearly stumbled, my foot skidding on the cold stone. Even in this life-or-death moment, he remained stubbornly defiant. The side hall was not far from the Eternal Brilliance Hall, yet the path felt as though it were being stretched into an infinite, suffocating expanse. Shadows flitted constantly along the base of the palace walls—some were imperial guards, others were the grey-clad assassins. Just as I rounded a corridor, an arrow whistled past my sleeve and embedded itself deep into a pillar. I pressed myself flat against the wall, heart hammering.

From the eaves above, two assassins dropped down. I gripped the dagger hidden in my sleeve, my palms slick with sweat. In the next heartbeat, a porcelain vase came hurtling from the side. A sharp crash rang out. The lead assassin’s head snapped sideways as the ceramic shattered against his temple. Xie Xiaoman poked her head out from behind a door.

"Sister!"

My mother followed closely behind, wielding another heavy vase.

"Get in here!"

I dived into the side hall. Xie Wencheng was lying on the bed, his leg still splinted with wooden boards, yet he held a crutch high above his head with resolve.

"Sister, do not be afraid. Even though my leg is broken, my spirit remains iron-clad."

I cast him a sharp look. "Can you actually fight?"

He paused for a heartbeat. "I can scream."

Before the words could fade, the second assassin lunged through the doorway. Xie Wencheng immediately let out a blood-curdling shriek. "Save the Emperor! The assassins have reached the side hall!"

My mother hurled her vase. The assassin dodged, but Xie Xiaoman grabbed a handful of incense ash and threw it with precision. The attacker stumbled, blinded by the soot. I lunged forward, pressing my dagger against his throat.

"Do not move."

He showed no fear; instead, he stared intently at my face. "The young master requires you alive."

My heart turned to ice. My mother kicked the back of his knee, forcing him to the ground. She was colder and more clinical than I could ever be. "I ask, you answer."

The assassin’s lips twitched. I remembered the nursemaid who had bitten down on a poison capsule back in the Eternal Brilliance Hall, and I reached out to lock his jaw. But I was a moment too late. He spat out black blood and slumped over, dead. Xie Xiaoman recoiled in horror.

"Dead again?"

I looked down at the corpse, a chill running down my spine. They wanted me alive, yet everyone else was desperate to kill me. There was a secret buried in the center of this web that I still could not fathom. My mother slid the bolt across the door.

"Ming Duong, come here."

She reached into her bodice and pulled out a longevity lock. It was the one Xie Xiaoman had worn since childhood; the silver edges were worn smooth and bright. Xie Xiaoman looked stunned. "Mother, that is mine."

My mother nodded. "Which is why it is the safest place."

She used a hairpin to pry at the back of the lock. With a crisp click, the core popped open. Inside was not a talisman, but a small, translucent piece of jade, warm and polished. The jagged edge of the fragment fit perfectly against the missing half of the Phoenix Feather Jade that had been on the tray earlier. I held my breath.

"The other half of the jade?"

My mother placed the shard into my palm. "When you were six, you cracked the jade. Your father dared not tell you, so he spent the night grinding a fake half to soothe you. This real piece—the true half—I hid inside Xiaoman’s lock."

Xie Xiaoman’s eyes went wide. "So I have been wearing the key to the imperial decree for over a decade?"

Xie Wencheng wheezed weakly from the bed, "It seems not being in the family registry actually had its uses." Xie Xiaoman glared at him.

I gripped the shard of jade tightly. Suddenly, a shadow flickered against the paper screen of the window. A shrill, feminine voice rang out: "Miss Xie. Hand over the jade."

A blade sliced through the paper screen. A small crossbow was pushed through the opening, the bolt aimed directly between Xie Xiaoman’s brows. The voice giggled. "Otherwise, I shall kill this one who is not on the family registry first."

The crossbow bolt pressed firmly against the paper. Xie Xiaoman froze, too terrified even to weep. My mother’s face darkened with a terrifying intensity. I tightened my hold on the jade and lowered my voice. "Who are you?"

The person outside the window laughed. "That is something Miss Xie does not need to know. Pass the jade through the window, and I shall spare her life."

Xie Xiaoman’s voice trembled. "Sister, I suddenly feel that being in the family registry is not all that important."

Xie Wencheng lay on the bed, murmuring weakly, "Xiaoman, do not be afraid."

Xie Xiaoman’s eyes brightened. "Brother, do you have a plan?"

Xie Wencheng replied with absolute seriousness, "If you die, I will burn you a roasted chicken leg every year."

Xie Xiaoman stared at him. My mother grabbed a pillow and hurled it directly at his face. "Quiet!"

The figure outside the window seemed momentarily stunned by the absurdity. The crossbow tip wavered. In that split second, my mother acted. She grabbed the teapot from the table and threw it straight at the paper window. Hot tea splashed everywhere. A muffled curse came from outside, and the crossbow shifted a fraction of an inch. I lunged, pulling Xie Xiaoman down and rolling across the floor.

*Zip.*

The arrow whistled past her hair and thudded into the wall. Xie Xiaoman shrieked, "My hair!"

I pinned her down. "You still have your life! Hair can grow back!"

My mother was already at the window, yanking the arrow from the wall and plunging it back through the torn paper with a desperate, vengeful fury.