Palaces are full of things left in corners: petitions forgotten, gifts misplaced, and sometimes puzzles that want solving. One morning a steward delivered a small wrapped parcel to the nursery, marked with the seal of a distant prefect. It carried local clay dolls meant as a token of goodwill.
[Steward:] "From Prefect Hu, for the child."
The Empress accepted with customary grace, and Aunty Lin arranged the dolls on a low table as a play set. Long Yue toddled forth, keenly interested in new textures and voices. But as he touched one of the dolls, the wooden base clicked—revealing a tiny hidden compartment and a folded slip inside.
SYSTEM: Unexpected object event. Hidden compartment detected. Recommend quick analysis by Physician Wang and secure reporting to Empress.
The slip contained a single line, a half-poem praising the child's "brightness" and noting the prefect's loyalty. It seemed harmless. But the system, trained on patterns and wary of palace subtleties, flagged the occurrence: someone had hidden a message in a gift—an old method to pass discreet petitions.
[Empress Wu:] (coolly) "Who arranged the delivery?"
[Steward:] "The prefect says it was a gesture of goodwill, Your Majesty."
The Empress's face did not change, but her mind tightened like a net. She ordered a quiet inquiry—no accusation, only careful questions. In the courtyard, Bodyguard Shen and Scholar Zhao exchanged looks and Aunty Lin hummed a little lower than usual.
[SYSTEM:] Risk assessment: low-high ambiguity. Recommendation: trace courier, check prefect's recent activity, and test message for cipher clues.
The steward's courier was traced—an unremarkable fellow from a nearby town who had been paid double for the delivery. Prefect Hu's account, when questioned, was defensive but polite; the prefect swore loyalty and produced a ledger showing sincere gifts over time. Nothing conclusive emerged.
[Minister Li:] (sober) "Hidden messages are a language of their own. They can be kindness or a gauntlet."
[Empress Wu:] "Then we must learn the language without shouting."
Rather than confrontation, the Empress chose the subtlety of observation: she had the prefect's staff quietly observed over weeks, and she ordered that such gifts be opened only in the presence of two witnesses. The system noted her restraint approvingly.
SYSTEM: Political wisdom: high. Slow response increases probability of catching intentional cryptography. Apply surveillance gently to avoid offense.
Long Yue, who understood little of ciphers but loved the texture of surprises, was amused. He broke another doll open later, finding a small carved fish. The system annotated each find as a data point. For a toddler, this was treasure; for a court, it might be a rolling message.
Over the next week, small coincidences wove a pattern: a new envoy writing oddly flattering notes, a scribe in the prefect's office arrived late the day a petition was delivered, and a minor clerk repeated a phrase that matched the slip in the doll. The Empress compiled these notations like a seamstress matching thread to pattern.
[Empress Wu:] "We will invite the prefect's envoy for tea. Observe their speech and hands."
[SYSTEM:] Observational meeting scheduled. Outcome probabilities: uncover intentional subtext +32%.
During the meeting, the envoy's hands fluttered more than his speech. He kept touching the inside of his sleeve—an old courier's habit when hiding slips. Scholar Zhao's eyes, practiced at reading paper, slackened with suspicion.
[Scholar Zhao:] "Gentleman, might I ask about your craft? Couriers' habits are an interesting study."
The envoy, off-balance, smiled thinly. Aunty Lin offered tea laden with a faintly fragrant herb that made tongues loosen and jaws more honest. No one in the room realized it was a subtle palace trick to ease the untruthful—only that the envoy became chatty and less skillful at hiding his intent.
[Envoy:] "Oh—it is nothing, merely a habit. Prefect Hu writes many letters…"
The Empress let him talk. She let him talk until the talk tripped into confession of small favors expected in return for "petty goodwill." Nothing seditious, but the Empress had what she needed: a map of gratefulness that smelled faintly of obligation.
SYSTEM: Result: indirect influence traced. Political leverage increased for Empress by small measures. Log: Prefect Hu – friendly but expectant.
Back in the nursery, Long Yue held the carved fish and thought it a fine toy. He had no need for the politics it represented; he only liked the way the carved eye caught the light.
[MC / Long Yue:] (thought) "People hide messages like people hide dumplings. Some you share; some you keep."
SYSTEM: Analogy logged. Cultural observation: culinary metaphors increase memory retention for MC by 7%.
The prefect's game had been subtle, unsuccessful in changing the Empress' mood, but useful in reminding everyone of the slow art of palace conversation. For Long Yue, it was another piece in a growing puzzle: the world around him had layers, and toys sometimes carried maps.
He slept that night with the carved fish beside his wooden horse, pleased with the small reveal. The palace hummed like a cautious hive—quiet, suspicious, and always watchful.
SYSTEM: Toddler cognitive enrichment: +10. Side quest: 'Observe and report' initialized for MC (short-term reporting tasks for age-appropriate info). Reward: 150 XP on first successfully recorded observation.