Inside the imperial study, the Emperor flipped through a thick dossier, frowning.
"South Garrison," he murmured. "Why is this report more detailed than half my ministries?"
The chief eunuch bowed low. "Prepared by the depot's current overseer, Shen Lian."
The Emperor's eyes narrowed. "The same Shen Lian who once served under the Empress's court?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. She was reassigned after… recent tensions."
"Tensions," the Emperor echoed, then tossed the scroll onto the desk. "She reorganized a failed garrison, halved smuggling, and turned cloth into coin. All without formal funding."
He stood. "Send someone. Quietly. I want her observed."
Back in South Garrison, Shen Lian stood atop the rebuilt granary, wind tugging at her robes.
"Someone's watching us," Zhou said.
"I know."
"You're not concerned?"
"I'm counting on it."
That evening, a scholar posing as a traveling healer arrived in town. He treated a few farmers, spoke politely at the inn, and lingered too long near the depot gates.
Shen Lian spotted him before he entered.
"Bring him tea," she told Lin Mu. "Let him think we've nothing to hide."
Zhou added, "Should we feed him false ledgers?"
"No," Shen Lian said. "Let him see the truth. It'll confuse them more."
Far away in the capital, the Emperor sat alone by candlelight.
He remembered a girl with frost in her eyes and blood on her lips.
"Let's see what you become," he whispered.
And turned another page.