During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Northern Wei and Southern Liang faced each other across the river. Though hostilities appeared to have ceased, undercurrents ran deep.
The most famous pleasure house in Jiankang, Moon-Plucking Tower, was in truth the Southern Liang Secret Pavilion’s intelligence hub. Twenty-four-year-old Liu Yinmeng was the tower’s real owner and the youngest commander of the Secret Pavilion.
Her weapon was not a blade, but a pair of ears that never forgot a sound.
Once she heard a sound, she would remember it forever. Music, footsteps, breathing patterns, even the subtle differences in the rustling of paper as a secret letter was unfolded: to her ears, all could be decoded as intelligence.
Then the Secret Pavilion received an urgent report: Northern Wei had sent a top spy into Jiankang to steal the city’s defense plans. The spy’s codename was “Faceless.” Three months after entering the city, no one knew their identity. The only clue was a seemingly meaningless fragment of sheet music.
Following the sound, Liu Yinmeng pursued the trail, only to keep running into the same person during her investigation:
Tuoba Shuo, a Northern Wei hostage and the son of the Duke of Changguang.
He had been a hostage in Liang for three years, indulging in wine and women, and was considered the most useless young nobleman in Jiankang.
But when he brushed past her, Liu Yinmeng heard it:
His heartbeat had never once faltered.
