Chapter 26 — The Scarlet Flame
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The imperial court, still rustling with the recent upheavals - the disappearance of Emperor Xù Liyan's brother (chapter 19), whom everyone still believes to be his brother even though he is in truth his son - froze.
Few people knew this truth. Only the emperor, Meilin (Xù Liyan's mother), and a few rare figures like Xuèhuā, the spy in charge of secretly monitoring Liyan for ten years (chapter 22), knew something about it.
To this was added the imprisonment of Xū Fang (chapter 23).
Then came a silence. A silence where even the fans stopped, and where the feathers stopped sliding on the tissue papers.
It was a silence that does not arise from the absence of noise, but from the weight of a presence.
Because that morning, Mei-Ling, the Emperor's second wife, entered the central palace.
Not an arrival.
An ascent.
She did not walk: she walked like a goddess.
She did not greet: she imposed.
She was not expected. It had not been announced.
And yet, when she crossed the doors of the Pavillon des Étoiles, we immediately knew that she would not leave.
Behind her walked a discreet, almost invisible figure: Shuyin, her faithful maid. Mute shadow, lynx look. She never spoke, but saw everything.
The oldest dignitaries of the palace knew her. They called her "the Silent with a hundred poisons".
But no one had ever seen her kill. What, precisely, made it even more worrying.
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In the fragrant corridors, the whispers went faster than the steps:
- Is it her?
— The Scarlet Flame?
- She is much younger than what we said...
- Or it is his fire that erases time...
Some courtiers, out of habit or arrogance, immediately compared her to Xīyue, the imperial favourite, nicknamed the Fox for her sharp wit and her plays of influence.
But this time, the duel was not words or smiles.
The Flame does not play. She consumes.
And what she burns... never grows back.
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The Emperor, sitting on his throne, leaning over reports brought by Zi Chang, raised his head.
And this simple gesture changed the atmosphere of the room.
He saw it.
And the world seemed, for a moment, to stop turning.
As if his gaze had recognised a missing piece. Not forgotten. But long refused.
Mei-Ling bowed.
A perfect greeting. Neither too low nor too short.
A bow that asked for nothing... and that took everything.
The Emperor's fingers stopped moving.
His gaze, usually icy, warmed with a subtle nuance.
The ministers, witnesses in spite of themselves, understood: the fire had just found its fuel.
And this fire would not need any wood.
Just with a look. Of a presence. With a name.
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Not far away, Xīyue observed, alongside Jinlian.
Stee. Proud. Beautiful — as always.
But inwardly, she thought of Ken:
He's been in prison for a month..., she thought, gritting her teeth. I hope he's doing well...
Then she remembered what her mother, Liánhua, and Jinlian had told her:
It will be executed (chapter 21).
Then, Xīyue said to himself:
Forget it. He is already dead.
But this thought lasted only a second.
Just a second.
Mei-Ling had come to take the emperor in front of Xīyue.
But what Mei-Ling didn't know... was that Xīyue no longer thought about the Emperor.
She had come to change the rules.
She was not a piece on the imperial chessboard.
She was the new rule of the game.
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Shuyin, for her part, scrutinised the room.
She noticed every breath, every frown, every eye that turned away too late.
Then she looked at Jinlian, the famous genius of medicine, almost the equal of Yuèyao, the genius of poison.
She looks at me as if she thinks she's superior..., Shuyin thought as she squeezed her arm.
Then she observed two other women:
- Meilin, the emperor's ex-wife, whose gaze seemed empty.
- And further, Liánhua, mother of Xīyue, and wife of Prime Minister Zi Chang.
When Shuyin met Liánhua's frozen gaze, she tilted her head very slightly.
An almost invisible gesture.
Almost.
And yet sufficient.
Liánhua looked down, imperceptibly.
Not on fear.
But as we recognise an enemy.
An enemy of his daughter Xīyue.
Or rather... of his pawn.
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The rumours were faster than the wind:
- His arrival coincides too perfectly with the fall of Liyan's disciples, and the new genius of medicine, Xū Fang (chapter 23).
- And the disappearance of Liyan and Yuèyao (chapter 19)...
— She's the only one who's not worried. She must know something.
Some murmured that she had been recalled by the Emperor himself.
Others, that she had acted without permission - and that this was, precisely, her most formidable audacity.
But a handful - the smartest - analysed in silence.
Xīyue didn't care.
She was only thinking about Ken.
And even if she wanted to forget it so as not to suffer... she couldn't do it.
Jinlian analysed everything in silence.
She thought: It's going to be interesting... hhhh.
Meilin, internally:
What is the emperor preparing? For our son Liyan... he is too calm.
Does he know where he is?
Liánhua, for her part:
This woman is dangerous. For Xīyue's position.
Or rather... for my strategy.
I have to use my daughter-in-law Jinlian to get rid of the other women, without the Emperor noticing.
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The Emperor, after an exchange of words that no counsellor heard, offered him a smile.
A real one.
A rare one.
Then, with a slow, almost theatrical gesture, he held out his hand to invite him to follow him to his private apartments.
And Mei-Ling followed him. Without turning around.
Without a look for Xīyue.
Without a word for Shuyin.
Without a doubt.
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The courtyard remained there.
Mute.
Frozen.
Xīyue, standing but alone, felt a new thing beating in her chest.
No jealousy.
She felt that she could no longer forget Ken, even if she wanted to forget him so as not to suffer.
She knew: he is already dead... or she is losing the only man she has ever loved.
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End of Chapter 26