Shen Bao came to us.
We had not expected that. The inquiry was designed to work through official channels, slowly and procedurally, drawing attention to the documentation irregularities without naming anyone directly as their source. The plan was to let the process create pressure, to watch where that pressure caused movement, and to be ready when it did. What we had not anticipated was that Shen Bao himself, within three weeks of the inquiry being filed, would contact Ru Songyi's registry official and request a private meeting.
Ru Songyi delivered this information on a cold October morning, standing in our front hall still wearing his travelling coat, with the focused expression of a man who has news and is deciding how to frame it.
"He wants to talk," Ru Songyi said. "He didn't say about what. But the request came within days of the inquiry escalation, which is not a coincidence."
"He's frightened," I said.
"Or he's been sent," Kaien said.
