Reborn as a playboy on the brink of death from poison, I lead three thousand iron cavalry to the gates of the city, only to discover that the slender, taciturn Fourth Prince has a scent of rouge and powder about him.
I stand outside Qianyuan Hall, looking at the Fourth Prince who has lived there for twenty years. No, the Fourth Princess. She walks out in a dragon robe, and the eyes behind her ceremonial beads are exactly the same as they were that night in the rear garden.
“Lin Yan,” she calls to me. “Are you still going to investigate?”
Snow and wind sweep over the capital. Suddenly, I can no longer tell whether I am a chess piece or the one moving the pieces.
And the person hidden in the palace is still laughing in the shadows.
