The crowd turned their heads in unison and saw behind a clump of longleaf orchids a man with half his face left in the shadows.

"Meng Xuan?" He Danggui was taken aback and rushed forward, pulling him aside as he quietly asked, "Why did you run here? Does your father know about your return to the capital?"

The visitor was dressed in plain robes, very conspicuous in the dark night, yet no one realized that he was also in the garden until the moment he appeared. He had sword brows ...