For three days the Yun Manor had been empty of its patriarch.
No one knew where Yun Muqing had gone. No messages. No orders. The clan trembled in uneasy silence.
Today was the day the Second Elder,Yun Zhenhai would come out of seclusion after five years. Tradition demanded the clan leader go in person to escort him home. But there had been nothing but chaos. Yun Muqing's absence had left the Yun Family raw and uncertain.
Yun Zhenting had been smiling privately for days.
He had taken up the mantle of acting leader, and every decision he'd made had been a step toward the seat he'd waited his whole life to claim. If Yun Muqing failed to return, Yun Zhenhai's corpse could be draped in mournful cloth and Yun Zhenting would claim the throne by righteous right or by force. Either way, his ascent was nearly complete.
Now he stood at the manor gate, excitement coiling in his chest.
"Zhenting." A voice older than the stone paths called.
Yun Zhenting turned, and everything in his chest tightened. Madam Min, the dowager who carried the Yun blood like a talisman had arrived, accompanied by a handful of elders. Her presence scowled at his plans.
"Old Madam," Yun Zhenting said too smoothly. A bad feeling crawled up his spine.
Madam Min's expression was calm. "Today Zhenhai comes out of seclusion. We will go together."
Zhenting's smile froze. She had come to steal his thunder. He wanted to snap, to tell her she was old and in the way. But she was the matriarch. The room tightened around him.
"Old Madam, it's been a long journey. You should rest at home," Yun Zhenting suggested, voice honeyed.
"If there is an accident, will you bear it?" Madam Min asked coldly.
Zhenting's jaw clicked. This old fox, he thought. Still, she climbed into the prepared carriage and they set forth. He forced cheerfulness like armor.
Blazing Flame Valley was where the Yun family's elders cultivated in seclusion. The waiting group paced and murmured. Moments stretched thin as they anticipated the Second Elder's appearance.
Yun Zhenting prowled like a caged tiger. If Zhenhai is alive, my plans will be delayed. If he's dead, I will be vindicated. He fed himself that rationalization nightly.
Time drifted. The crowd's murmurs grew. Madam Min's gloved hand tapped the carriage frame. Zhenting's smile hardened. He turned to gloat: "Old Madam, if we truly investigate."
"Is it not clear?" Madam Min interrupted. "Zhenhai will come."
Zhenting's smile took on the edge of a threat. He decided to prod. "Is that so? Then we'll see how long this old man can hold on. If he's weak, the Yun Family will be easy to fold."
Madam Min's pale eyes didn't flinch. She only said, "Let us go."
They reached the valley to wait. The sun slanted down, painting the rocks with gold. The group's anxious conversation scattered like leaves in the wind.
Then a voice rang out, warm and bright as if someone had struck a bell.
"Madam Dowager! I haven't seen you in a long time! How are you!"
Heads snapped toward the opening path.
Yun Zhenhai strolled in, broad-shouldered and carrying a heavy pack. He looked healthy, stronger than rumor had claimed. The old man's face was lined with years, but his eyes were sharp and amused.
Madam Min sagged with relief, the corners of her mouth lifting until the day felt lighter. "Good, good."
Yun Zhenting's grin vanished into a blank mask.
Zhenhai set his burden down with a thud. Two bodies tumbled from the cloth; assassins, dead and bound. The murmurs in the crowd died like a snuffed candle.
Yun Zhenting's expression twitched. So this was the man who had been "finished" in his plotting. He had miscalculated.
A crisp voice broke the tension. Yun Qianyue dropped into Madam Min's arms like a favored child returned from a long trip. She was small, barely a whisper in those great pockets of family pride. Her veil hid part of her face, but her eyes shone.
"It's so good to hold my great-grandfather alive," she trilled, tone equal parts relief and triumph.
Yun Muqing stepped out of the valley behind them, moving slowly, bowing deeply to the dowager. "Grandma."
Madam Min's face softened into indulgence.
Yun Qianyue glanced down at the bodies and then up at Madam Min. "Great-Grandmother… who would be so bold as to hire killers to slaughter our Yun family?"
The question rippled across the elders. Even those who liked gossip stilled. Whispers turned into guilty, awkward chuckles all around everyone but Yun Zhenting.
Yun Zhenhai smiled, amusement pulling at his mouth. "A pity I did not arrive earlier to be slain. I would have felt honored." He turned a mock bow to the assembled faces.
Madam Min's satisfaction shone. She looked to Yun Muqing and asked softly, "Muqing, where have you been these last three days?"
Yun Muqing bowed and offered an explanation practised by those who needed cover. "Grandmother, I received news that someone planned to assassinate the Second Elder. To keep this quiet, I secretly guarded Zhenhai with Qianyue and her husband."
Those words softened hearts. Elder after elder voiced relief and gratitude. In their eyes, Muqing had proven loyalty and courage.
But Yun Qianyue did not smile at their gratitude.
She looked at Yun Zhenting. There was no outward sign on his face . He held himself like a man who had been offended, playing his part. But Yun Qianyue's gaze pierced right through the practiced poise. There was a small, ugly twitch in Zhenting's mouthline that betrayed something else: fear.
If you did this, she thought, then you had hidden your claws well.
Madam Min clasped Yun Muqing's hands warmly. "You're tired. Rest. You've earned the family's thanks."
Yun Muqing bowed, but guilt softened his features. He glanced at his daughter, a question in his eyes. Did you do this alone?
She only patted his shoulder and said, "Father, you need not be so formal."
He let out helpless breath. "I should have sent more protection. Years have stolen my strength."
Now that the elders were gathered and the Second Elder had returned, the family felt whole again or so they believed.
Madam Min's expression, however, betrayed a new calculation. She looked at Yun Qianyue cradling the small child and felt an unexpected warmth in her chest. Direct descendants still have fire, the old woman thought. Maybe there is hope for this line yet.
Her voice dropped with carefully measured coldness. "But these are dangerous times. The clan leader lacks a single trusted confidant. What luck will protect them next time?"
Her words fell like small knives, sticking into the skins of those assembled.
A few faces paled. No one answered. The old had more influence than the ambitious had expected.
Yun Zhenhai stepped forward in a lighter tone to fill the sudden silence. "I'm hungry," he announced, ridiculous as it sounded. "Old Madam, treat me to a feast."
Madam Min's eyes met his and they shared a private joke. She turned and motioned for the party to move back to the manor for the welcome rituals. People began shifting, restarting the choreography of polite gossip.
Only Yun Zhenting remained frozen with a mask of forced composure. His designs had been upended; his agents had been found dead; his timing exposed. He had placed pieces across the board and now the board shifted under his feet.
He tried to regain control with bravado. "Is there any martial skill among those killers?" he asked loudly, attempting to direct attention to the men at the center of the clearing.
Yun Qianyue's lips curved. She lifted a hand. "Wait a moment. Take the killer's body with you."
The command was deceptively simple; the meaning pierced the air.
Yun Zhenting's heart slammed. The old elder and the elders around him exchanged looks. In a second the silence hardened into suspicion, and the seeds planted by his deceit began to sprout like weeds revealing themselves.
Zhenting's control had slipped.
Yun Qianyue's eyes were very calm as she watched the shifting faces. Her mind ticked and planned, colder than the valley wind.She had protected her family once. She would not be fooled again.
The feast would be prepared. Stories would be told. But now a new story had begun.
One where plots were exposed and masks fell away.
Yun Zhenting, who had thought himself so clever, found his hands empty under a sky that had suddenly turned against him.