The afternoon sun had begun its descent behind the western peaks, casting long shadows across the flagstones of the inner guest grounds.
The wind had grown colder, slipping through the carved lattice of the covered walkways.
Rulan followed the permitted stone path with her cloak wrapped around her shoulders.
Her ankle felt considerably better, though she maintained a slight stiffness in her step whenever they passed the guards stationed along the perimeter.
Lian’er walked half a step behind her, carrying a lacquer box of fresh tea leaves they had collected from the temple storehouse.
As they approached the lower service passage, an argument interrupted the quiet.
Rulan paused beside a stone lantern.
A young temple runner stood before two Imperial Guards, clutching a sealed bamboo tube.
His robes were dusty, and he kept trying to offer the tube to the senior guard, who had one arm extended across the entrance.
“I tell you, it is an urgent private letter for Her Grace, Duchess Shen!” the runner pleaded.
“It was passed up from the lower valley through the checkpoint. I was instructed to deliver it directly to her household.”
“All correspondence entering or leaving the inner compound must be cleared by the officer on duty,” the guard replied.
“Hand it over.”
“But Her Grace has been waiting for news—”
“Then you should have no objection to following the procedure.”
The runner looked between the two soldiers before reluctantly surrendering the tube.
Rulan remained where she was and motioned for Lian’er to stay beside her.
She had no intention of interfering with General Meng’s security arrangements, but the mention of Duchess Shen had caught her attention.
The guard inspected the tube, broke its wax seal, and removed the folded paper inside.
After reading it, he checked the exterior once more before handing it to his subordinate.
“A private dispatch. Have it recorded and delivered to the Shen compound.”
The runner released a breath.
“Thank you, sir. The courier didn’t even leave an address for a reply. He said the gentleman Her Grace was expecting fell ill on the road and had to be taken to a physician in the lower valley.”
“Then the household can make its inquiries through the proper channels,” the guard said.
The runner bowed and waited while the second soldier entered the dispatch in the checkpoint register.
Rulan glanced toward the passage.
A gentleman expected by Duchess Shen.
Taken to a physician in the lower valley.
She remembered their conversation over tea.
Shen had mentioned an unwell acquaintance and had shown particular interest in Lu Zhen’s departure.
Perhaps the two matters were connected.
But the lower valley held several villages, and Lu Zhen was hardly the only person practicing medicine there.
For now, all she knew was that someone Duchess Shen had been expecting could no longer make the journey.
Footsteps sounded from the walkway.
Duchess Shen was approaching with her walking staff, accompanied by a senior maid.
She had evidently received word that a dispatch addressed to her household was being held at the passage.
The guard bowed as she drew near.
“Her Grace.”
“I understand a letter has arrived for me,” Shen said.
“Yes, Your Grace. It has been inspected and cleared.”
He retrieved the paper from his subordinate and presented it with both hands.
Duchess Shen accepted it and held it toward the afternoon light.
She read the short message once, then again.
Her expression remained composed, but her thumb pressed against the edge of the paper.
When she raised her head, she noticed Rulan standing beside the lantern.
“Princess.”
“Duchess.”
They exchanged a brief nod.
Rulan made no move to ask about the letter.
Whatever had brought Duchess Shen to the passage was her private affair.
The duchess turned back to the guard.
“Can a reply be dispatched down the mountain?”
“I apologize, Your Grace. Under General Meng’s orders, household servants and private messengers are not permitted to leave the grounds. Outgoing correspondence must be handed to an authorized military courier.”
“I wish to request the patient’s location and confirm that he is safe.”
“We can forward your reply to the sergeant at the lower gate. He will arrange delivery when a courier is available.”
Duchess Shen considered this, then nodded.
“Very well. I shall prepare a reply.”
Before the guard could answer, hurried footsteps sounded along the upper terrace.
Another maid from the Shen household approached.
She was pale and breathing hard, but slowed as she reached the duchess.
“Your Grace.”
Duchess Shen looked at her.
“What is it?”
The maid leaned close and spoke in a low voice.
Rulan was near enough to catch fragments.
“…detained near the lower service grounds… the secondary grain shed…”
Duchess Shen’s fingers tightened around her staff.
“Are you certain it is him?”
“Yes, Your Grace. It is him. The attendant assigned to accompany the gentleman you were expecting.”
The duchess turned fully toward her.
“Where is he?”
“The soldiers are holding him in the lower guardroom. He apparently arrived at the temple last night, before the lockdown, but never came to our compound.”
Rulan glanced toward the service passage.
So the missing visitor’s attendant had reached White Cloud Temple after all.
But instead of reporting to Duchess Shen, he had ended up near the grain stores.
Duchess Shen took a moment before speaking again.
“Who informed you?”
“One of the temple stewards recognized him when the soldiers brought him through the lower courtyard. He sent word to our household.”
“Did he say anything?”
“The steward wasn’t permitted to speak with him.”
Duchess Shen looked toward the guard.
“I have just been informed that a man associated with my expected guest has been detained in the lower guardroom. I wish to speak with him.”
The guard hesitated.
“Your Grace, if he is being held in connection with the stable investigation, I cannot authorize a visit. General Meng has restricted access to everyone under questioning.”
“Then forward my request to the general. Tell him I can confirm the man’s identity and his connection to my household.”
The guard bowed.
“I will send a runner at once, Your Grace.”
Duchess Shen inclined her head in acknowledgment.
Her senior maid moved closer, clearly anxious, but the duchess raised a hand to stop her from speaking.
There was little else they could accomplish at the passage.
The reply would have to be prepared, and General Meng would decide whether she could see the detained man.
Duchess Shen turned toward Rulan.
“Forgive the disruption, Princess. It seems our stay has become rather more complicated than expected.”
“There is nothing to forgive, Duchess. I hope you receive satisfactory news soon.”
“Thank you.”
Duchess Shen gave her a small nod and returned toward her compound, her maid following closely.
Rulan watched them pass beneath the stone archway.
The duchess had been concerned by the message from the valley.
The news about that attendent, however, had prompted her to request an audience with General Meng immediately.
That was understandable.
An attendant entrusted with accompanying a guest had arrived alone and failed to report to the household expecting him.
And now he was being questioned near the site of the horse poisoning.
“That’s strange,” Lian’er murmured as they resumed their walk.
She held the tea box against her chest.
“Why would he come all the way to the temple and not inform the duchess?”
“Perhaps he tried and couldn’t.”
“But he arrived last night. The gates weren’t sealed then.”
“Which makes it worth asking what happened between his arrival and his detention.”
Lian’er glanced back toward the service passage.
“Do you think he had something to do with the horses?”
“I don’t know.”
Rulan adjusted her cloak as they passed another guard post.
The man had been found near a grain shed.
That gave General Meng a reasonable basis to question him, but it did not establish that he had poisoned anything.
The service grounds were busy even under ordinary circumstances, and Rulan had no idea what the attendent had been doing there.
For all she knew, he had been sent through that passage by someone else.
She would rather hear his explanation before deciding what it meant.
Still, the afternoon had given her several new pieces of information.
Duchess Shen’s expected visitor had fallen ill on the road and been taken to a physician in the lower valley.
Lu Zhen had left before dawn for an urgent house call in the same area.
Meanwhile, the visitor’s attendant had reached the temple separately, failed to report to the Duchess, and been detained near the grain stores.
Rulan could not yet say whether the three events were connected.
But he was now in General Meng’s custody, and unlike the absent physician or the missing visitor, he was someone the general could actually question.
As they reached her pavilion, Lian’er looked at her.
“Will Your Highness inquire about him?”
“Not yet.”
Rulan stepped through the guarded entrance.
“General Meng has twenty-seven dead horses and a mountain full of people demanding answers. I imagine he has already prepared a few questions of his own.”