The morning of the palace entrance came with a bell, loud, deep, and clear. It echoed through the Selection House like a dragon's roar. Lu stood still as Xiao Zhen tied the last silk ribbon around her waist.
"You look like a noble lady already," Xiao Zhen whispered.
Lu turned to the bronze mirror. A pale green robe embroidered with silver plum blossoms clung to her figure. Her hair was twisted into a simple knot, held with a hairpin made of carved jade. But it was not her appearance that made Xiao Zhen speak so. It was the fire in her eyes.
The selected girls were led through the city by a line of imperial guards. The streets were cleared and civilians knelt. No one dared to look too long.
Lu kept her head lowered, but her eyes missed nothing.
They passed through the Gate of Heaven's Blessing, a towering red arch with golden dragons carved into its beams.
It was said that once you walked through that gate, your life would never belong to you again. Lu stepped through without hesitation.
The Forbidden City unfolded before her like a dream. Gold-tiled roofs glittered in the sunlight. Courtyards stretched endlessly, lined with stone lions, carved phoenixes, and trees shaped like clouds. Servants in blue rushed silently along the paths, heads down, never meeting eyes.
The girls were taken to the Hall of Gentle Virtue, where they would wait for their audience with the Emperor.
There, older maids scrubbed their faces, painted their lips red like pomegranate seeds, and rubbed crushed pearls into their skin. One of the girls, a tall noble from the House of Qi, sneered as she looked at Lu.
"Some of us were born for this," she said loudly.
Lu said nothing.
At noon, a sharp drumbeat rang through the hall. An official in red robes entered, holding a scroll.
"By decree of His Majesty, the following candidates will be seen today."
He read twelve names. Lu's was among them.
They were led into a smaller court chamber with high red pillars and gold-paneled screens. A thin curtain separated the Emperor from view. The girls would not see his face, not yet.
One by one, names were called. Each girl stepped forward, knelt, and gave her name, her background, and answered a question about virtue, loyalty, or family.
Lu's name was last. When she stepped forward and knelt, she felt dozens of unseen eyes watching.
The voice came from behind the curtain. Calm, young, and smooth.
"What virtue do you value most?"
Lu raised her head slightly. "Patience, Your Majesty," she said clearly.
"And why?"
"Because a snake waits to strike only when it knows it cannot miss."
A silence fell. Then, from behind the screen, a quiet laugh.
"Interesting."
Lu was dismissed with a wave, but her name was marked.
That night, the twelve girls were placed in separate quarters for further observation. The other girls whispered about the Emperor.
"He's only twenty-one," said one. "But they say he reads five memorials a day and remembers every line."
"They say his mother died when he was young," another added. "Killed by poison."
"Some say it was the Black Crane Clan," whispered a third.
Lu sat in silence, her tea untouched. That name again.
The next day, the chosen girls were officially entered into the Inner Court as court attendants, the lowest rank. They were given uniforms of light blue and a schedule of duties, serving meals, preparing incense, tending to the Empress's quarters.
Lu's assignment was rare: assisting in the Imperial Library. Few girls were given such placement. The library was a place of knowledge, secrets, and power. When she was led through its wooden doors, Lu felt something shift in the air. It smelled of ink, dust, and silk.
There, she met Eunuch Song, the head librarian. He was old, thin, and walked with a cane. He studied her silently before nodding.
"You're not just here to shelve books, are you?" he said.
Lu bowed. "I'm here to serve."
He chuckled. "Then let's begin."
Lu spent her days organizing scrolls, reading banned books, and memorizing names. She learned more here in one week than she had in years at the temple.
She discovered tales of wars between clans, how the Black Crane had once tried to control the imperial astrologers. She found scrolls describing blood ink, said to hold curses when written under the moon. She found names that were erased, rewritten, or hidden between pages.
One night, as she returned a scroll about imperial sorcery, a thin piece of silk slipped out. It was a map. A map of the Hidden Hall, a place not shown in any official diagram. Her heart thudded. She carefully hid the silk under her robe.
Three days later, Lu was summoned to serve tea during the Empress's Evening Gathering. The Empress, Lady Hua, was a graceful woman in her thirties. Cold, beautiful, and quiet. Her smile never reached her eyes. Beside her sat three noble consorts.
One was Consort Mei, the one rumored to have spies. She wore golden robes and watched everything without blinking. As Lu poured tea, she felt the weight of their gazes.
"She's new," Consort Mei said.
Lady Hua didn't look up. "Another village girl hoping to rise."
"She carries herself differently," said another consort.
Lu kept her face calm. Her hands steady. She poured the tea without spilling a drop.
That night, Lu returned to the library under the excuse of retrieving scrolls. Eunuch Song was asleep. The lamps burned low. She took the silk map from her sleeve and followed it quietly.
Down a narrow hall past the northern archive behind a screen carved with lotus petals. There, a door.
Painted black. No handle. She placed her palm against it but nothing happened.
Then, slowly, the door shifted open with a whisper. Inside, the air was cold. Lanterns flickered by themselves, lighting the walls. Scrolls lined the room wrapped in red silk, sealed with black wax.
At the center, a low stone table. On it, a symbol she had seen before. A crane, drawn in ash. Lu stepped back. A figure appeared in the doorway. She froze. It was a tall man in gray robes. His face was half-covered with a silk mask.
"You shouldn't be here," he said.
His voice was low, but not threatening.
Lu met his eyes. "Then you shouldn't be here either."
The man studied her.
"You carry something ancient," he said. "It clings to you like shadow."
She didn't move.
He stepped aside. "Go. Before you are seen."
Lu ran.
That night, she couldn't sleep.
The Hidden Hall existed. The Black Crane symbols were real and someone within the palace was guarding it.
The next morning, she received a scroll. It was sealed with the Emperor's personal mark.
Inside: only a sentence.
"A snake waits. So does a dragon."
Lu smiled. The game had begun.