Blood and Birthright

Changyu receives an anonymous letter claiming that she is not Fan Dagui's biological daughter. The letter includes details that only an insider would know — her mother died in childbirth under suspicious circumstances, and the midwife who attended the birth disappeared afterward. The implication is that Changyu's true origins are far more significant than anyone realizes.

Shaken, Changyu writes to her father in Qingzhou, but his reply is evasive and emotional. He assures her she is his daughter in every way that matters, but does not directly deny the claim. This half-answer torments her. Meanwhile, Xie Zheng quietly tasks Wei Liang with investigating Changyu's birth records.

Qi Min, it turns out, sent the letter. His intelligence network has uncovered something about Changyu's heritage that he believes he can weaponize. The question of her true parentage becomes another thread in the increasingly tangled web of court intrigue.