Her name is A Zhao, a covert agent raised by the Night Patrol.
At nineteen, the organization gave her a new identity: she would take the place of a deceased poor scholar, disguise herself as a man, and enter the court as an official. From the imperial examinations to taking office, from the Censorate to the emperor himself, she proceeded cautiously, believing she was hidden in the shadows and could see everything happening at court.
Until that night at the examination compound, when someone saw every character she wrote through the curtain of rain.
Lu Shenxing, son of the chief minister and a Hanlin Academy lecturer. He was as pure and bright as a breeze beneath a clear sky, with a brilliant future ahead of him, yet he grew suspicious of her at first sight. He tested her, drew close to her, protected her, and even took a knife for her without hesitation when she was attacked.
“Who are you?” he asked.
For the first time, she told someone her real name: A Zhao.
But before she could make sense of his feelings, a greater maelstrom swept her in. Some wanted to investigate her, some wanted to kill her, and some knew her secret. Someone had laid a vast net, waiting for her to walk right into it.
And when the one who had spun that net finally appeared, she realized...
The shadows she thought she hid in had always been someone else’s chessboard.
The person she thought was all alone had always had someone standing behind her.
“A Zhao, I’ll always be here.”
