Chapter Two: The Man Who Heard Secrets

The door opened. Gu Minglan stood there in a robe, looking from the poker to Shen Yan. "Explain." "Sleepwalking," Han gasped before Shen Yan could answer. Shen Yan watched the old man's shaking hand. "I heard the piano. He was here when I entered." Minglan believed neither of them. She summoned servants to take Han away, then locked the music room. Before leaving, she stopped beside Shen Yan. "Your first day, and you have broken our only rule." "House rules don't usually make stewards bleed." Her gaze held his for half a second. "Nine tomorrow morning. Bring a better explanation." Xingyao did not come to her lesson. Shen Yan found her paper inside the piano bench. Beneath the thirteen lines, she had written: