Chapter 13: Scheming and Catching the Mole

Bai Huan summoned Steward Lu, who was in charge of external affairs, and Madam Song, her mother’s most trusted housekeeper. Steward Lu had served beside Bai Huan’s grandfather since he was a teenager, growing as close as a brother to Bai Huan’s father. Madam Song had been her mother’s maid since the dowry, and both were steadfastly loyal to the Bai family.

Bai Huan had grown up under their watchful eyes; if they had ever harbored any thoughts of betrayal, the Bai family would have long since been sold out.

“Uncle Lu, Madam Song, do you know what evidence the Imperial Guards claim to have found?”

Steward Lu fell to his knees, tears streaming down his aged face. “Young Miss…”

Bai Huan quickly supported his elbow. “Uncle Lu, please rise. I call you uncle not only out of respect, but because I trust you and regard you as family.”

Madam Song, weeping as well, helped him up. “Steward, do get up. The Young Miss has enough on her mind; don’t add to her sorrow.”

Wiping his tears, Steward Lu stood. “Young Miss, the falsified ledger the guards found was taken from the study. Only a handful of people could enter the master’s study. I will find the traitor.”

Suppressing her anger and grief, Bai Huan gave her orders calmly. “The Bai family’s misfortune is the result of a plot, but thankfully, I have earned the imperial consort’s trust, and His Majesty has praised my filial piety. I will strive to help our family weather this crisis.”

“The most important thing is to remain composed and give no one an opportunity to exploit our chaos. I ask both of you, during the time the residence is sealed, to uncover the traitor. But do not alert them—simply monitor and quietly prevent them from leaking information outside.”

After a pause, she added, “Do nothing rash. If you can, quietly notify all our shops to close and cease operations; if not, I will find a way to notify them myself. Everything else can wait until I return and we discuss further action.”

Steward Lu nodded. “Young Miss, the shops outside are managed tightly; you need not worry. I can contact them and will have them closed and guarded immediately.”

“Good.”

The Bai family, merchants and renowned incense craftsmen, had always kept strict internal controls. Otherwise, their secret incense formulas would have been stolen long ago, and their enemies would not have resorted to using Bai Huan’s marriage and the incense contest to destroy them.

Luckily, this raid was primarily to find evidence of falsification and to detain the household, not to conduct a thorough search or seize their incense stock.

Bai Huan suspected their enemies were so confident of the Bai family’s demise that they felt no need to rush to seize their assets. Before a formal conviction and extermination order, they dared not touch anything, lest it arouse suspicion and public outrage.

After all, the Bai family’s dominance in incense-making was not only due to their own skill but also because influential allies would not stand idly by.

With this in mind, Bai Huan felt somewhat reassured. As long as the charges did not stand, her family could be saved.

“Madam Song, how long can the household’s food stores last?”

Madam Song wiped her tears. “Young Miss, with 108 people in the household, we have enough grain and vegetables for ten days.”

Bai Huan was further reassured. “The estate is sealed, but I am free to come and go. I can bring in the medicine Father needs, and if food runs short, I’ll find a way. Tell everyone to remain calm and avoid further harm. Those who have passed away will be properly laid to rest once this is over.”

Steward Lu bowed. “We will follow your instructions, Young Miss.”

Madam Song curtsied. “Young Miss, rest assured. The Bai family has always treated everyone generously—they understand.”

Bai Huan gave a few more careful instructions, and once she saw both had regained their composure, she made her way to the incense vault.

Her first task was to prepare for the consort’s peaceful rest.

The Bai family’s incense vault, though not large, was divided into a ground level and a basement, storing the most precious raw materials and finished incense.

Besides the family head and Steward Lu, only Bai Huan held a key to the ground-level vault. The basement key, however, belonged solely to the family head and Bai Huan.

The door to the basement vault had been crafted by the famed Mechanist Mo of the Xuan Sect, requiring both a mechanism and a key to open it; otherwise, the defenses would be triggered.

Inside were not only rare materials but also generations of the Bai family’s incense-making archives.

Bai Huan entered the vault and placed the family heirloom inside the iron mechanism box crafted by the Mechanist.

Suddenly, she understood why their enemies had struck at this moment, and why the Marquis of Ruyang had insisted on moving the wedding up by three months.

The annual Incense Contest was just a month away. Every year, her father would take out the heirloom to craft incense for the competition.

For that month alone, the heirloom would be kept in her father’s study!

The world coveted the Bai family’s treasure, but few knew its true nature. Only the elite of the incense world realized that the sovereign scent worn by generations of emperors originated from this very treasure. It was also the reason the Bai family had won the contest five years in a row.

This treasure was the rarest of incense: ancient texts called it “Amor Ambergris,” believed to be formed from a dragon’s drool falling into the sea. Hence its name—Dragon’s Spittle Incense.

The Xuan Sect claimed it was the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea’s own incense, capable of warding off evil and pleasing the heavens when burned at imperial rituals.

In the flourishing days of Tian Sheng, the pursuit of supreme incense became a passion. Since Emperor Taizong, Dragon’s Spittle Incense was revered as the finest of all.

The most prized is white as silver, translucent as wax—White Dragon’s Spittle—regarded as rare as a phoenix’s marrow or a dragon’s liver.

The Bai family’s heirloom was the only piece in all the land—a fist-sized chunk of the finest White Dragon’s Spittle.

Bai Huan moved to the cabinet of finished incense, drew out a drawer, and took a black porcelain vial containing “Deep Curling Incense.”

Both Deep Curling Incense and Chrysanthemum Pillow were precious due to their complex preparation, yet the Bai family had finished stock on hand. Bai Huan’s earlier display was a ruse to buy time and protect her father and the Bai family.

As for the incense she burned for the consort—within a quarter hour, the consort was drowsy. Bai Huan had added a hypnotic to the “Goose Pear Chamber Incense.”

Her claim that Deep Curling Incense was required for the midnight ritual was both true and false.

If the hypnotic was omitted, it would not harm the consort, and she would wake refreshed and in good spirits—more amenable to conversation.

Bai Huan had also spoken of substituting Siamese aloeswood and adjusting the formula, all to buy her father more time and secure daily visits to her family.

She looked around at the dazzling array of incense—the legacy of generations of Bai artisans.

She would defend them with all her might!

Her father had never raised her as a sheltered lady. He always said a woman must possess skills to avoid being preyed upon.

He believed she was gifted, with an extraordinary sense of smell. From the age of six, she had followed him through the workshops, learning to recognize and blend scents.

After twelve, she traveled with him across the land, seeking rare ingredients, sharing many brushes with death.

Business was a battlefield, he taught her; all was fair in war and commerce.

She had learned every art and trick.

She was not afraid to confront the lurking monsters that hid in the shadows.

If one does not fight, how can one know who is truly stronger?