THE MAN WHO FOLLOWED
1646 Words
By the time Shen Yichen reached the eastern passage, the palace felt different.
Perhaps it was because he now knew that his mother's name existed somewhere inside these walls.
Perhaps it was because the Emperor had looked at him as though he were a ghost from a past everyone else had agreed to bury.
Or perhaps it was because his father's presence had followed him into the palace.
Yichen slowed.
The elderly eunuch walking ahead glanced back.
“Why have you stopped?”
Yichen looked toward the corridor behind them.
“I thought I heard footsteps.”
The eunuch listened.
Nothing.
“Probably a guard.”
Yichen didn't answer.
He continued walking.
They passed through two smaller courtyards before reaching a narrow doorway hidden behind a carved wooden screen. The eunuch pushed it open.
“This passage leads to the outer palace.”
Yichen frowned.
“Why aren't we returning through the main hall?”
“The Emperor ordered it.”
“Of course he did.”
The eunuch lowered his eyes.
Yichen noticed the man's hands trembling.
He stopped again.
“You knew my mother.”
The eunuch froze.
Yichen watched his face carefully.
It was only a moment.
A tiny change.
But it was enough.
“You knew her.”
The eunuch swallowed.
“I served in the inner palace many years ago.”
“That wasn't my question.”
The old man looked around the corridor.
“Prince Shen…”
Yichen's expression changed.
“Don't call me that.”
The eunuch immediately lowered his head.
“My apologies.”
Yichen stared at him.
Why had he called him that?
The old eunuch seemed to realize his mistake.
“I meant no disrespect.”
“You called me Prince.”
“I misspoke.”
“People don't usually misspeak with titles.”
The eunuch said nothing.
Yichen stepped closer.
“Was my mother a palace lady?”
The old man looked at him.
Then away.
“Yes.”
“Why was her record sealed?”
Silence.
“Who ordered it?”
The eunuch's lips parted.
Before he could answer, a voice came from the other end of the passage.
“Because some records are better left forgotten.”
Yichen turned.
His father stood beneath the archway.
Shen Rong had changed out of his formal outer robe, but he still wore the dark robes of an Imperial Advisor.
Two palace guards stood behind him.
Yichen stared at him.
“You followed me.”
Shen Rong's expression remained calm.
“You were summoned to the palace.”
“That doesn't explain why you're here.”
“I am your father.”
“And?”
Shen Rong's eyes hardened.
“And I will not allow you to wander around the palace asking questions you don't understand.”
Yichen laughed once.
“I don't understand anything because you refuse to explain anything.”
The old eunuch quietly stepped away.
Shen Rong noticed.
“You may leave.”
The eunuch bowed deeply and disappeared through the side door.
Yichen watched him go.
Then he turned back to his father.
“You're afraid.”
Shen Rong's jaw tightened.
“Of what?”
“My mother.”
“Enough.”
“You said she was a concubine.”
“She was.”
“The Emperor says she wasn't ordinary.”
Shen Rong's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Yichen saw it.
“The Emperor spoke to you?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Yichen smiled.
“You tell me.”
Shen Rong walked toward him.
“What did he show you?”
Yichen didn't answer.
His father's eyes narrowed.
“The hairpin?”
Yichen's heart stopped.
So he knew.
“You know about it.”
Shen Rong looked away.
For the first time, Yichen saw something that wasn't anger in his father's face.
Regret.
“You knew the Emperor had it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I gave it to him.”
Yichen stared at him.
“What?”
“Your mother had it when she died.”
Yichen's voice became quieter.
“She didn't die naturally.”
Shen Rong said nothing.
“Did she?”
Still nothing.
“Father.”
Shen Rong finally looked at him.
“You should never have been told any of this.”
Yichen felt something inside him crack.
“For twenty years, you told me she was sick.”
“She was.”
“Then why does everyone look terrified whenever I say her name?”
“Because her death caused problems.”
“What kind of problems?”
“Political ones.”
Yichen took a step closer.
“Who killed her?”
Shen Rong's face became unreadable.
“I don't know.”
Yichen stared at him.
It was a lie.
He knew it.
His father knew it.
And somewhere inside the palace, someone else knew it too.
“You're lying.”
Shen Rong's expression hardened.
“Be careful.”
“With what?”
“With believing that knowing the truth will make your life better.”
Yichen gave a bitter smile.
“My life isn't exactly good now.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Shen Rong reached inside his sleeve.
Yichen immediately tensed.
His father pulled out a small object.
A piece of jade.
Yichen recognized it instantly.
His mother's jasmine pendant.
He had left it in his room.
Or thought he had.
Yichen stared.
“How did you get that?”
“I told you to destroy it.”
“I didn't.”
“I know.”
Yichen's eyes narrowed.
“You took it.”
Shen Rong held the jade between two fingers.
“You don't understand what this is.”
“Then tell me.”
“It is not merely a keepsake.”
“What is it?”
Shen Rong looked at the pendant.
Then at Yichen.
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
Before Shen Rong could answer, a sharp sound came from the courtyard outside.
A whistle.
Both men turned.
The palace guards immediately reached for their swords.
A second whistle followed.
Then shouting.
Shen Rong's face changed.
“Stay here.”
Yichen almost laughed.
“You expect me to obey now?”
“Yichen.”
His father's voice carried something he had never heard before.
Fear.
“Do not leave this corridor.”
Then Shen Rong rushed toward the courtyard.
Yichen waited three seconds.
Then followed him.
The courtyard had erupted into chaos.
Several guards were running toward the western gate.
A palace servant lay unconscious near the steps.
And at the center of the courtyard stood Xiao Lian.
The Fourth Prince was holding a sword.
Blood dripped from the blade.
Yichen stopped.
Xiao Lian looked directly at him.
“Get back!”
Yichen didn't move.
A masked man suddenly appeared behind the prince.
“Your Highness!”
Xiao Lian turned.
Too late.
The attacker raised a dagger.
Yichen saw the movement before anyone else.
“Xiao Lian!”
The prince turned.
Yichen grabbed the nearest object—a bronze candle stand—and threw it.
The stand struck the attacker's wrist.
The dagger fell.
Xiao Lian kicked it away.
Guards rushed forward and surrounded the masked man.
Within seconds, he was pinned to the ground.
Yichen exhaled.
Xiao Lian looked at him.
Then at the candle stand lying across the courtyard.
“You threw that at me.”
“I threw it at him.”
“You could have missed.”
“I didn't.”
Xiao Lian stared at him for another second.
Then smiled.
“You really are interesting.”
Yichen rolled his eyes.
“You're welcome.”
The guards dragged the masked man away.
Yichen looked toward Shen Rong.
His father was not watching the attacker.
He was staring at the jade pendant still in his hand.
Yichen noticed.
“Father.”
Shen Rong closed his fingers around it.
“What?”
“Why would someone attack the Fourth Prince?”
Shen Rong's gaze shifted toward Xiao Lian.
“Because the palace is dangerous.”
Xiao Lian laughed softly.
“That's a very comforting answer.”
Shen Rong ignored him.
Yichen looked at the captured attacker.
“Did he come for the prince?”
“No,” Xiao Lian said.
Yichen turned.
The prince's smile was gone.
“He wasn't looking at me.”
“What do you mean?”
Xiao Lian glanced at Shen Rong.
Then at the jade in his hand.
“He was looking at you.”
Silence fell.
Yichen's stomach tightened.
Shen Rong immediately stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Xiao Lian's eyes narrowed.
“Advisor Shen.”
“Your Highness.”
“You should explain why an assassin would enter the palace on the same day your son is summoned by the Emperor.”
Shen Rong's expression remained calm.
“I have nothing to explain.”
Xiao Lian smiled.
“That's interesting.”
Yichen looked between them.
Something was happening.
Something neither man wanted him to understand.
He stepped around his father.
“Show me the assassin.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you are returning home.”
“I want to know why someone tried to kill the prince.”
“That is not your concern.”
Yichen's eyes hardened.
“Then why was he looking at me?”
Shen Rong said nothing.
Xiao Lian answered instead.
“Because he may have been sent for you.”
Yichen looked at him.
“Why?”
Xiao Lian's expression became serious.
“I don't know.”
A pause.
“But I intend to find out.”
Yichen looked toward the western gate.
For the first time since entering the palace, he understood something.
The danger wasn't waiting somewhere in the future.
It had already found him.
And somewhere beyond the palace walls, someone had just learned that Shen Yichen was alive.
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