The sound of drums could be heard all over the palace. Everyone was already talking, the significance of the drum etched into their minds.

Someone was about to be executed.

The kiss of death tainted the air, most of the maids wearing a solemn expression. One of them turned to Lang Ying who was sweeping the courtyard.

"Will you be joining us later?"

Lang Ying, whose best friend was currently the reason for those drums, shook her head. "I still have a lot of work to do. I’ll go with you next time."

"That’s what you get for seducing a crown prince."

"In her next life she’ll never go after a man that’s not hers."

"Can you imagine? She killed Princess Lin Yuexin because she didn’t want her to marry the crown prince."

Lang Ying had heard even more cruel words since the first trial. Usually she paid it no mind. After all, people were entitled to their own opinions.

But today...as the reality of things grew stronger, she couldn’t keep her anger in. She let the broom in her hand drop to the floor as she turned to the group.

"If you don’t know what to say, then keep your mouth shut!" Lang Ying yelled, the veins on her forehead threatening to snap loose.

One of the maids gave her a condescending look, like she was dirt on their shoes. "Well, well, well...if it isn’t the pig’s friend? You might not be rolling in the mud with her but you stink the same."

"Ru Yi is not like that! She’d never even hurt a fly."

The girl turned to her friends. "You better not fall in love like her, love can make you do crazy things."

Lang Ying drew her arm back and swung, her fist connecting with the girl’s eye. The maid shrieked, hand going to the tender flesh.

"What is wrong with you?"

Lang Ying wished she could teach them all a lesson, but she settled for this small victory. "How about you worry about your own stinking behaviour towards other people first?"

Bai He, the headmaid, who heard the commotion from outside, walked over to them. "What is all that noise for?"

The girl pointed an accusing finger at Lang Ying. "She hit me for no reason!"

Lang Ying didn’t say anything.

Bai He glanced between the two groups before dismissing them with a sigh. Then she looked at Lang Ying and asked her to follow her.

Lang Ying trailed after Bai He with her shoulders sagged in defeat. "Do you think she killed the princess too?" she asked in a soft voice.

Usually, Bai only spoke when she was giving orders. But she felt sympathetic towards Lang Ying who had struggled to make friends when she’d first joined them.

"For what it’s worth, I know Ru Yi did not kill her."

That made Lang Ying perk up. "Right! Everyone seems to think she’s plain evil." She continued in a depleted tone, "but I know her. Ru Yi would never hurt someone."

Lang Ying knew deep in her heart that there was more to the story, but she wasn’t even allowed to see Ru Yi. She’d spent all her nights worried that her friend was being tortured somewhere within the palace walls.

People even cursed her more because Princess Lin Yuexin had not yet been giving the proper burial rites because they were waiting for the final verdict on her murderer.

"It doesn’t matter, does it? For people like us with the inability to defend our truth, those with power will always have the final say in the end."

Bai He did not like Ru Yi. She thought the girl was obnoxious, parading with a man like she should be rewarded for it.

But she had also been in the palace the night of the masked ball, delivering tea to one of the Empress’s maids, when she had seen Princess Lin Yuexin in a heated argument with someone.

From the person’s frame she could tell they were male with a full face mask on. From where Bai He stood she could see the moment their conversation turned for the worse—the masked man immediately striking Princess Lin Yuexin with a sword the moment she turned her back to him.

Bai He had screamed, then immediately ducked when the person turned towards her. She’d ran out as fast as she could that night, heart hammering beneath her ribs.

Ru Yi had only taken the fall. But she was a mere maid, her word would never stand in court. And whoever framed Ru Yi would make sure no one stood in their way.

"I wish there was something I could do for her," Lang Ying continued, not realizing they’d left the courtyard. "But me forcing myself inside the court to testify would be as good as replacing my neck with hers under the executioner’s knife."

Bai He thought for a minute.

If Lang Ying, the closest friend Ru Yi had, wouldn’t give her life in place of her friend’s—then why should Bai He attempt to do the same?

"The only thing you can do is pray for her peaceful transition to the afterlife," Bai He muttered, not even flinching from words she knew very well were cruel.

But she’d lived longer in the palace than all the other younger maids. She knew you needed teeth and grit to survive in a cut-throat place like this.

It was how she lasted this long working for the royal family. It was why she didn’t tell a soul about what she saw that eventful night.

Even as they stood outside the court waiting for Ru Yi to be escorted out of the cell and into the hall, there was no emotion in her eyes.

"Look!" Lang Ying yelled, her voice louder than the other workers that were gathered outside in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the culprit. "I think she’s coming."

Bai He was about to put a hand on Lang Ying’s shoulder when she suddenly withdrew it at the last possible second.

"Say your goodbye," Bai He said instead, "she’ll keep living as long as you keep cherishing her in your heart."

"You think so?" Lang Ying asked in a broken voice that almost made the headmaid show an actual emotion.

"I know so..." she was half way through her sentence when a man walked out of the hall, eyes searching the crowd gathered outside.

His shoulder filled out his robe perfectly, face schooled into an indifferent mask.

Bai He looked carefully, flinching when their gaze met. She knew that man, and it was not a good thing.