Chapter 11 · The Ledger Under His Bed

I'm holding my mother's handwriting and I can't breathe.

The ledger's open on Gu Hanchuan's desk. Ink so faded it's almost gray. Dates going back ten years. Names I recognize—servants who disappeared, disciples who "left the sect for family reasons." Next to each name: extraction volumes. Spirit root purity percentages. Recovery intervals.

And signatures at the bottom of every page.

Gu Hanchuan's standing by the window. Not looking at me. His shoulders are tight.

"How long have you known?" My voice comes out flat.

"Three months." He turns halfway. Still won't meet my eyes. "I found it when I was going through my predecessor's quarters after the succession ceremony."

"Three months." I flip through the pages. My hands aren't shaking. That's weird. They should be shaking. "You've known for three months that my cousin's been draining people like livestock and you didn't—"

"I needed proof that would hold up in front of the Council."

"Proof?" I slam the ledger down. The sound cracks through the room. "This is proof. These are names. Dates. His personal seal on every goddamn page."

"His seal and seventeen other signatures." Gu finally looks at me. His face is carefully blank.