A rain-damp upper archive chamber at night. The roof leaks steadily into an old bronze bowl no one has emptied. Lihua waits alone with the stolen wax spoon from Shen's kit.

Shen Qifeng enters the leaking archive chamber. Lihua begins the confrontation without naming treason.

Lihua confirms she found Shen's kit. Shen refuses to let her frame the conversation as an accusation.

Lihua pushes for concrete answers: the fourth copies, the future date, and Bai Yuan's collateral clause.

Shen opens a hidden passage behind the archive shelves, inviting Lihua into the concealed part of the records.

Lihua follows Shen into a hidden archive corridor built inside the walls of the Ministry of Records.

Lihua searches a shrine base and copies more hidden decrees while keeping the order straight in memory.

Night two. Lihua searches the kitchen smoke vents and continues copying while fever begins to rise.

Night three. Lihua reaches the last location she can safely search and copies until dawn begins to pale the windows.

At dawn before execution day, Lihua returns to the leaking bowl with a hidden archive written into her own skin.