"I do not," says Liu Mingyan, her nose wrinkling in dismay at the idea. "But—there are four souls in the Palace who know your absence is not by your own design. Myself, Ning Yingying, Mobei-jun, and her." How exactly Ning Yingying and Sha Hualing found out, when it had been Liu Mingyan and Mobei-jun who found Xin Mo, is beside the point.¹ "You know she toys with the loyalty her former subjects still have for her like an assassin with a knife. The appointment was strategic; she believes I hold her in high regard and have granted her power, but with the Empire at peace there is little use for her other than shoring up guard outposts and overseeing the building of ships, both of which she finds boring and tires of easily." She folds her hands over her knee. "And I intend to keep the Empire at peace."

This is approximately the truth. It is as much the truth as anything she ever tells Luo Binghe about Sha Hualing. She has a momentary pang at the thought; are these half-truths at odds with their newfound friendship?

¹ There may have been an argument; Ning Yingying may have been beautiful in her anger over Liu Mingyan keeping secrets; Sha Hualing may have been a fucking sneak who'd developed counter-talismans to specifically spy on Liu Mingyan's warded conversations—and other encounters²—in her private quarters.
² Sadly said other encounters do not yet include Ning Yingying. Though not for lack of trying on Liu Mingyan's part, recently.