The Lotus Shadow’s Startling Scheme

A pair of mandarin lotus flowers embroidered in gold thread concealed a secret star map, while the soft chime of a silver bell brought the calamity of imprisonment. Su Wantang, an embroiderer at the Yunzhi Pavilion, was swept from a Jiangnan embroidery workshop into a whirlpool of power struggles over a jade token engraved with the character “Tang.” Branded a remnant of the Night Shadow Pavilion, she was reunited outside the prison cart's window with the mysterious young gentleman who had protected the Book of Heavenly Secrets while covered in blood three years earlier: Shen Yanci, now a junior minister at the Court of Judicial Review.