THE VEILED GENERAL

The Dead Man's Sleeve

For three breaths, nobody moved.

Then the banquet hall exploded.

"Protect His Majesty!"

"Seal the doors!"

"Find the assassin!"

"Nobody leaves!"

Soldiers rushed forward, shields raised.

The musicians scattered.

Several concubines screamed as servants pulled them toward the walls.

Shuishui barely had time to react before Yin caught her wrist.

"Stay behind me."

She pulled her hand free.

"I can protect myself."

"I know."

He looked at her.

"That's not why I said it."

Before she could answer, a body crashed against one of the tables.

The fallen man was one of the palace musicians.

He wore a pale blue robe embroidered with clouds. His instrument lay shattered beside him.

Blood stained his collar.

Bai Xue pushed through the crowd.

"Move."

She dropped to her knees.

Her fingers went immediately to his neck.

Everyone waited.

The physician's expression changed.

"He's alive."

A collective breath escaped the room.

"Move him somewhere quiet."

Two attendants lifted him.

Bai Xue examined the wound.

"Don't touch the blade."

Shuishui looked down.

A tiny metallic glint was visible beneath the man's sleeve.

Not a sword.

Not a dagger.

A needle.

Bai Xue noticed it too.

Her eyes narrowed.

"This isn't a normal wound."

Yin immediately turned toward the guards.

"Close every door."

The doors slammed shut.

No one left.

The emperor's face had become frighteningly calm.

"Search everyone."

A senior official bowed.

"Your Majesty—"

"Everyone."

His voice cracked through the hall.

"Officials. Soldiers. Servants. Guests."

He looked toward the musicians.

"Especially them."

Within minutes, the banquet hall became an interrogation chamber.

Every person was searched.

Every servant was questioned.

Every musician had their clothing inspected.

Shuishui stood near one of the pillars, watching.

She noticed something.

The musicians had entered from the eastern corridor.

The eastern corridor connected directly to the gardens.

The eastern gate had been opened from inside.

And the injured musician had been standing closest to that gate.

She turned.

"General Lu."

Jianyu looked over.

"Yes?"

"Who admitted the musicians?"

"The palace steward."

"Where is he?"

Jianyu's expression changed.

"I'll find him."

He immediately left.

Shuishui followed.

They found the steward in the servants' courtyard.

He was hiding behind a storage room.

When Jianyu dragged him out, the man's knees were shaking.

"You were responsible for tonight's musicians?" Jianyu demanded.

"Yes."

"Who approved them?"

"The Ministry of Rites."

"Who checked them?"

"The palace guards."

"Which guards?"

The steward hesitated.

Jianyu's voice hardened.

"Answer."

"Guard Captain Shen."

Shuishui interrupted.

"Where is Captain Shen?"

The steward looked terrified.

"He was at the eastern gate."

"And now?"

"I don't know."

Jianyu's eyes darkened.

"Find him."

Four soldiers immediately scattered.

Shuishui looked at the steward.

"Did you personally inspect the musicians?"

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"Did you notice anything strange?"

"No."

"Think."

The steward squeezed his hands together.

"I..."

He swallowed.

"There was one thing."

"What?"

"One musician wasn't supposed to be there."

Shuishui's eyes sharpened.

"Who?"

"A young man playing the flute."

"Name?"

"I don't know."

"Then how did you let him inside?"

The steward looked ashamed.

"His papers were correct."

"Who signed them?"

The steward hesitated.

Then whispered,

"Captain Shen."

Shuishui and Jianyu exchanged a look.

The search for Captain Shen began immediately.

They found him twenty minutes later.

Not in the eastern courtyard.

Not in the palace.

Not near the gates.

They found him in the imperial stables.

Alive.

And unconscious.

Bai Xue examined him.

"Drugged."

Yin crouched beside him.

"Will he wake?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Eventually."

Yin looked at her.

"That's not useful."

"Then ask a better question."

He stared at her.

She stared back.

Jianyu quietly turned away to hide a smile.

Shuishui examined Captain Shen's clothes.

His boots were muddy.

But the palace grounds had been dry all evening.

She frowned.

"Why are his boots wet?"

Jianyu looked down.

He crouched.

"Not water."

He touched the mud.

"River clay."

Shuishui's eyes moved toward the eastern wall.

"There isn't a river near the eastern gate."

"No."

Jianyu stood.

"But there is one beyond the old hunting grounds."

Shuishui looked at him.

"How far?"

"Three li."

Yin immediately stood.

"Take twenty soldiers."

Jianyu nodded.

"Yes."

Shuishui stepped forward.

"I'm coming."

Yin looked at her.

"No."

"I found the clue."

"And you are not a soldier."

"I don't need to be."

He stared at her.

She stared back.

Jianyu sighed.

"She's coming."

Yin looked at him.

"You too?"

"I've learned that stopping her wastes time."

Shuishui smiled.

"Smart man."

Yin muttered something under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing."

The old hunting grounds were completely different from the palace.

No lanterns.

No silk.

No polished stone.

Only trees.

Mud.

And darkness.

The group moved through the forest with torches.

Shuishui walked beside Jianyu.

Yin followed behind them.

After nearly half an hour, one soldier stopped.

"General."

Jianyu raised his hand.

Everyone froze.

A faint metallic sound came from ahead.

Shuishui looked through the trees.

A small wooden bridge crossed the river.

On the other side stood an abandoned hunting pavilion.

The door was open.

Jianyu whispered,

"Stay here."

He moved forward.

Yin followed.

Shuishui followed them both.

Jianyu looked back.

"You're impossible."

"I know."

They entered the pavilion.

Empty.

Dust covered the floor.

A broken table stood near the window.

Then Shuishui noticed something.

A footprint.

Fresh.

She crouched.

"Someone was here."

Jianyu examined it.

"Two people."

Yin pointed toward the wall.

"Three."

A second footprint was partly hidden beneath the table.

Shuishui stood.

"Someone met here."

Jianyu searched the room.

Nothing.

Then Yin lifted the broken table.

A small wooden box was hidden underneath.

Inside were six objects.

A military seal.

Two silver coins.

A strip of red cloth.

A folded map.

And a letter.

Jianyu carefully opened it.

His face changed.

"What?"

He handed it to Yin.

Yin read it.

Shuishui watched his expression.

"What does it say?"

He looked at her.

"Nothing useful."

She frowned.

"Let me see."

He handed it over.

The letter contained only one sentence.

THE EASTERN GATE MUST REMAIN OPEN.

Shuishui stared.

"That's not nothing."

"No."

Yin's eyes moved to the map.

"Look."

The map wasn't of Zhao.

It was of Beiyuan.

Several Northern military positions had been marked.

Shuishui took it.

Her expression changed.

"This is wrong."

Jianyu looked at her.

"How?"

"The Northern army wouldn't place troops here."

"Why?"

"Because this terrain is useless."

She pointed.

"There's no water."

"No food."

"No defensible position."

"Any army stationed here would be trapped."

Yin looked at the map.

"So whoever created this doesn't understand Beiyuan's military strategy."

Shuishui nodded.

"Or they want us to think Beiyuan planned something stupid."

Jianyu stared at the markings.

"A false military map."

"Exactly."

Silence.

The three of them looked at each other.

For the first time, the investigation had produced something concrete.

Not rumors.

Not suspicion.

Evidence.

Someone was deliberately creating false information about Beiyuan.

But why?

A soldier suddenly rushed into the pavilion.

"General!"

Jianyu turned.

"What?"

"We found something near the river."

They followed him outside.

A horse stood tied to a tree.

Its saddle bore the crest of Zhao.

Jianyu immediately approached.

"Whose horse?"

The soldier shook his head.

"We don't know."

Shuishui examined the saddle.

There was a small tear underneath it.

Something had been hidden there.

She reached inside.

Her fingers touched paper.

She pulled out a folded document.

Jianyu took it.

His eyes widened.

"Military orders."

Yin looked over his shoulder.

"Whose?"

Jianyu read the name.

Then went completely still.

Shuishui noticed.

"Who?"

He slowly looked up.

"General Han."

The missing Northern commander.

The same commander whose disappearance had been reported by Beiyuan.

Shuishui's heart began pounding.

The document appeared to prove that General Han had secretly been communicating with someone in Zhao.

It contained dates.

Military positions.

Supply routes.

And a planned attack.

Everything they had been looking for.

Too perfect.

Shuishui stared at the paper.

Something bothered her.

"Wait."

Everyone looked at her.

She pointed toward the bottom.

"The ink."

Jianyu frowned.

"What about it?"

"Fresh."

He touched the writing.

Shuishui shook her head.

"No."

She looked at the document again.

"Not fresh."

"Then?"

"Recently copied."

Yin's eyes sharpened.

"How can you tell?"

"The original writing would have faded differently."

She pointed at a character.

"This stroke is darker than the rest."

Then another.

"And this one."

Jianyu stared.

"So someone copied an old military order."

"Yes."

Yin looked toward the horse.

"And planted it here."

Shuishui nodded.

The excitement of finding evidence vanished.

Instead, something colder settled inside her.

Someone wasn't merely hiding the truth.

They were feeding them lies.

Back at the palace, Captain Shen finally woke.

He was brought before the emperor.

His face was pale.

His hands trembled.

Zhao Li stood above him.

"Who opened the eastern gate?"

Shen said nothing.

"Who admitted the musician?"

Nothing.

"Who sent you to the hunting grounds?"

Still nothing.

The emperor stepped closer.

"Captain Shen."

The captain looked up.

His eyes were filled with fear.

"I didn't betray Zhao."

"Then tell me what happened."

Shen swallowed.

"I received an order."

"From whom?"

"I don't know."

"Whose seal?"

Shen hesitated.

"General Han."

The room went silent.

Yin's eyes narrowed.

"General Han is a Northern commander."

"I know."

"Why would he give you orders?"

"I don't know."

"How did you receive them?"

"A messenger."

"Who?"

"I never saw his face."

Yin stepped forward.

"What did he tell you?"

Shen's lips trembled.

"He told me..."

He looked toward the emperor.

"...that if the eastern gate remained closed, thousands would die."

"Who?"

Shen shook his head.

"I don't know."

"Why believe him?"

"Because..."

His voice broke.

"He showed me a military seal."

Yin's eyes sharpened.

"What seal?"

Shen looked at him.

"The emperor's."

Silence.

Nobody breathed.

Zhao Li's expression became unreadable.

Yin slowly turned toward his brother.

"Your Majesty."

The emperor looked back.

"What?"

Yin's voice was quiet.

"How many copies of your military seal exist?"

Zhao Li didn't answer.

That silence was enough.

Shuishui, standing near the doorway, felt a chill crawl down her spine.

The investigation had begun.

But instead of finding the person behind everything—

they had discovered something worse.

Someone possessed access to the highest levels of power.

And whoever they were...

they knew exactly how to make Zhao and Beiyuan blame each other.