The Eastern Palace.
Yan Nantian stepped into the western hall, and Wen Nuannuan immediately came forward.
"Brother Yan!" she exclaimed, stamping her feet lightly, her tone disapproving. "I'm so worried! Why didn't you tell Miss Yun the truth? Now she wants to break off the engagement with you. What are we going to do?"
Yan Nantian didn't seem to care. "Zhao is always childish. That was just a fit of pique."
Whenever he mentioned Yun Zhao, a faint smile would always flicker in his eyes.
He didn't seem to notice it himself.
She bit her lip. "You should have told Miss Yun. You're protecting me, not just because of my background, but also because of that big case... Maybe I should go and explain it to her properly?"
Yan Nantian looked down at her fingers.
She twisted her slender fingers together in front of her, the tips turning white from the pressure.
"Are you sure," Yan Nantian said, his tone ambiguous, "that wouldn't make things worse?"
Her fingers paused, and her expression slowly turned crestfallen. "Yes, I'm just a naive country girl who can't talk properly. If I try to explain and only make things worse, what would I do? I must be so foolish. I'm sorry."
Yan Nantian didn't offer any comfort, only said coldly, "Go rest."
He told her to rest, but he didn't leave. Instead, he sat by the window, picking up a cold teacup and drinking from it—not caring if it had been used by someone else.
Her ears turned slightly red, and she looked troubled.
Although there was a peony screen divider in front of the bed, the large petals were as thin as cicada wings, allowing light to filter through everywhere... A man and a woman alone together...
Wen Nuannuan bit her lip, ultimately saying nothing, and obediently climbed onto the bed.
He was gentle and kind, but for some reason, she was a little afraid of him.
From the bed, Wen Nuannuan looked out through the screen. The solitary figure by the window was blurred and indistinct.
The magnificent sleeping chamber was as silent as a tomb, suffocating.
Even a gentle turn would produce a harsh sound of fabric rubbing against fabric. She was full of worries, unable to sleep, yet too afraid to move.
Time trickled by, and he still didn't leave.
Wen Nuannuan couldn't stand the atmosphere any longer. She choked back a sob, moaning softly, "Brother Yan... Yun girl must hate me now, right? I'm the intruder, the one who destroyed her perfect world... But I had no choice, Brother Yan. I had to save my mother... I had to save her..."
The man didn't respond, only poured another cup of tea.
As he drank, the curve of his Adam's apple was clearly visible through the transparent petals.
*
Yun Zhao burst out of the majestic palace, kicking at every step she saw, growing angrier with each thought.
Blood relatives? What a joke!
Yan Nantian's half-siblings, those sons and daughters of the same father, who weren't they fighting to the death?
As a prince who successfully seized the throne, how dare he talk to her about brotherly affection?
Thinking of this, Yun Zhao became even angrier—
At the time, why was she so foolish not to realize this? Listening to his righteous nonsense! She should have countered him right then and there!
Now it was too late to regret.
That's how arguments go. No matter how good the comebacks are afterward, they're useless.
Yun Zhao was furious, her anger boiling over. With all her strength, she leapt up and kicked the head off a stone Pixiu by the side of the road.
"Huff—"
The heavy Pixiu head crashed into the Lingyun flower by the side of the path.
A dragonfly was dazedly perched on the tip of a blue leaf, not flying away even when a shadow fell over it.
"Bang!"
The petals were crushed, splashing juice everywhere.
“You’re unlucky!” Yun Zhao narrowed her eyes. “I’ve killed people before, let alone a mere dragonfly like you! Wait, I’ll find a way to kill that pair of dog men and bury them with you!”
She squinted, looking at where the Pixiu head had rolled.
The Liumyunhua bushes were leaning haphazardly.
She didn't find any fragments of the dragonfly.
"Flew away, huh?"
Yun Zhao pouted in disappointment, turned, and walked away.
When she encountered steps, she leapt over them lightly.
She didn't kick them anymore.
*
Before nightfall, Yun Zhao returned to Yun Manor.
The entire road in front of the manor was paved with luxurious carpets, with lanterns on either side every three steps.
The manor itself was magnificent.
It wasn't an ordinary courtyard.
Yun Manor occupied an entire mountain, with majestic or exquisite pavilions and terraces seamlessly integrated with the mountain itself. The mountain was the manor, and the manor was the mountain.
Through the hollowed parts of the mountain, the mist glowed with a pearlescent brilliance, magnificent and splendid.
Looking across a thousand miles, the most dazzling places were the Nine-Story Mountains where the Imperial City was located, the Sky-Reaching Tower under constant construction, and Yun Zhao's home.
She walked up the mountain path, looking up, and felt a strange sense of unfamiliarity again.
The familiar world seemed to hide another face.
Yan Nantian was like this, and so was her father.
“Uncle Yun,” she asked the old butler leading the way, “do you ever feel like you’re in a dream, and everything around you becomes so strange? Like there’s this huge purple gold furnace here, and I only noticed it today!”
Uncle Yun chuckled. "That's because the young mistress always has Prince Nantian accompanying her when she returns, so she only talks to him and doesn't notice the surroundings."
Yun Zhao felt a pang in her heart. "..."
Yes, all these years, she and Yan Nantian had always been together, and she was used to having him by her side wherever she went.
What made her feel strange wasn't the surroundings, but facing them alone.
She had just been away from him once... just once... and this had happened.
If she had gone to Whale Fall Sea, would things be different?
Why hadn't she gone?
Because it was too dangerous, and her cultivation wasn't strong enough.
Yun Zhao felt disheartened. "Uncle Yun, am I really so useless?"
"How could that be?" Uncle Yun smiled. "The young mistress being happy with Prince Nantian would be the best. In the future, you'll be like the Grand General and his wife, loving each other and growing old together!"
Yun Zhao: "..."
It was as if he was deliberately bringing up the sorest point.
Poking right where it hurt the most.
"The Purple Gold Furnace is actually new," Uncle Yun said with a laugh. "It wasn't here the last time you came back."
Yun Zhao: "Hmm?"
“Lady Xiangyang recently had a divination at Fragrant Mountain Temple,” Uncle Yun whispered to her. “The Purple Gold Stove is meant to bring blessings of offspring. It’s said to be very effective!”
Yun Zhao was astonished: "?!!"
So, her mother brought a bastard daughter into the family?
How very effective indeed!
Uncle Yun cupped his hand to his lips and coughed lightly. "Lady Xiangyang said that since she can't have children, they can just move the furnace to the Eastern Palace later, so it won't go to waste."
Yun Zhao was furious. "Stop talking! I'm going to break off the engagement with Yan Nantian!"
Uncle Yun didn't seem surprised at all, smiling knowingly. "Alright, alright, I understand."
Yun Zhao: "?"
Yun Zhao: "I'm serious!"
Uncle Yun nodded repeatedly.
Yun Zhao knew he didn't take her seriously.
These people all treated her like a child, thinking she was just throwing a tantrum.
Yun Zhao thought angrily, 'I'll tell Mother about this!'
It took more than half an hour to climb the mountain.
Every step revealed a new scene, with the beauty of Jinshan Yinshan not even coming close to the splendor.
When she reached the warm pavilion, Lady Xiangyang, who had already been informed, had the room scented and was waiting for her.
Lady Xiangyang was nearing forty but looked like a twenty-something beauty, her figure slightly plump, her elegance and charm captivating.
"I know everything," Lady Xiangyang said, her phoenix eyes narrowing, her lotus face filled with anger. "I've often told you before, to learn some tactics to control your man, but you never believed me, thinking I underestimated your Yan brother. Now look, a lowly servant has already bewitched him!"
"Mother!"
"Look at you, your eyebrows and eyes are all out of place with anger—it's just a small matter."
Lady Xiangyang pulled her into the warm tent.
"Alright, don't cry," she said, wiping Yun Zhao's eyes with a soft hand. "I've already sent someone out. She'll be killed tonight!"
Yun Zhao was shocked: "…What?"
"Silly child," Lady Xiangyang sneered. "Such things are best done quickly, while he hasn't developed any feelings for her yet. Better to eliminate her early—or else she'll just annoy you."
Yun Zhao was stunned.
What was this? Wasn't this the classic evil female supporting character?
That person from the old days had indeed said it—she and her mother were both villains in the story.
"No," Yun Zhao gritted his teeth. "Yan Nantian is already on guard! He's very meticulous, and he's the best at dealing with assassinations!"
Well, she herself was indeed an evil supporting character.
Lady Xiangyang lightly tapped the edge of the bed. "Let's try it first."
Yun Zhao pressed her lips together, her heart racing.
She thought of a question.
Her mother didn't know that person was a bastard daughter! Her father also didn't know he had a bastard daughter!
If that bastard daughter died now, Yan Nantian would have no reason to reveal the truth.
If things were like this, could her home return to what it was before?
If losing Yan Nantian was like cutting flesh from her heart, then losing this home would be like chopping her off at the roots.
Yun Zhao's gaze grew colder, and her resolve to kill was set.
Since her mother had already made her move...
To kill someone on Yan Nantian's turf, her mother couldn't do it—she had to do it herself.
She was the one who knew Yan Nantian best in the world; she was certain she could find his weakness.
Leave him defenseless.