Yan and Jin Liwei's residence
The connecting pavilion had never been so quiet.
After leaving the court, no one had the mood to speak loudly. The words spoken beneath the eyes of heaven still weighed on them, and the insult Song Byin had thrown before everyone had not disappeared just because the palace doors were behind them.
In the outer pavilion, Ye Qiran sat with her arms crossed, her face calm but her eyes sharp. Jin Fen leaned against one of the pillars, pretending to be relaxed, though his fingers tapped against his sleeve without rhythm. Ye Qingyang stood near the entrance, silent and composed, but every now and then, his gaze moved toward the closed doors of the inner lounge.
They were all waiting.
No one rushed inside.
No one asked Yan to explain herself.
That itself made the air heavier.
Inside the lounge, Lu Tao Yan sat on the soft couch near the window, one hand pressed against her temple. The incense burning in the corner was light and soothing, but it could not completely chase away the pressure in her head.
Court.
Curse.
Past lives.
Proposal.
Song Ziyi's eyes.
The judgment of officials.
The way everyone looked at her as if she was both victim and danger.
Yan closed her eyes.
Her future felt like a mist-covered road. Every step forward seemed to reveal ten more paths, and every path seemed to hide something she had once known but could no longer touch.
It was annoying.
No, it was more than annoying.
It was frightening.
The door opened softly.
Yan did not need to look up to know who it was. The footsteps were steady, neither too light nor too heavy, carrying a familiar patience she had no memory of earning.
Jin Liwei entered with a tea tray in his hands.
He did not speak immediately. He placed the tray on the low table, warmed the cup with practiced ease, and poured the tea slowly. The clear liquid carried a faint emerald tint, and the fragrance spread through the room like spring rain falling on old bamboo.
Yan watched him.
He moved too naturally here.
As if this room had always allowed him in.
As if he had done this many times before.
That thought made her uncomfortable, but not in a way she could reject. It was the kind of discomfort that came from standing before a mirror and seeing a version of herself she did not remember becoming.
Jin Liwei placed the cup near her right hand.
"The temperature is right. Drink before it cools."
Yan stared at the cup, then at him.
"You are very used to this."
His hand paused.
Only for a breath.
Then he sat across from her and answered calmly, "I had to be."
Yan lowered her gaze.
The answer was simple, but it pressed against her heart more than she expected.
She reached for the cup and took a small sip. The warmth slid down her throat, gentle and clean. Her headache eased slightly, but the questions did not.
"At court," Jin Liwei said, "what you remembered and what you felt were not illusions. They were parts of your past."
Yan's fingers tightened around the cup.
"I know."
"You remember pain first because pain was the hardest to seal."
Yan laughed softly, but there was no humor in it. "That sounds like something only my life would do."
His eyes softened.
"A long time ago, when you woke from one of your deeper slumbers, you were disoriented for days. You could not tell which life you were in. You spoke to people who were no longer alive. You forgot where your body ended and where the memories began."
Yan's smile faded.
Jin Liwei's voice remained steady, but the look in his eyes changed. It became quieter. Older.
"Your father could not bear to watch it. Lu Si Cheng could not either. So they guided you to create something that would hold what your mind could not safely carry."
Yan looked up.
"What kind of something?"
Jin Liwei opened his palm.
A small emerald stone rested there.
It was not large. At first glance, it looked like a polished jewel, clear and deep green, with faint golden lines sealed inside. But the longer Yan looked at it, the more those lines seemed to move, like writing hidden beneath water.
Her breath caught.
The stone was unfamiliar.
Yet her soul recognized it before her mind did.
Jin Liwei placed it on the table between them.
"This was made from your cultivation, your soul power, and the protection of the two people who refused to let your memories destroy you."
Yan did not touch it immediately.
She stared at the emerald for a long time before asking, "So… it is like a diary?"
The corner of Jin Liwei's mouth lifted faintly.
"Yes."
Yan blinked.
He looked at the stone.
"A diary written by your soul, not your hand."
Something in Yan's chest trembled.
A soul-written diary.
The phrase sounded ridiculous and heartbreaking at the same time.
"If I have questions," she asked slowly, "I cultivate with it?"
Jin Liwei nodded. "You hold it, guide your energy into it, and let it answer what your soul is ready to face."
"What if I ask something it does not want to answer?"
"It will remain silent."
"How stubborn."
"It was made by you."
Yan narrowed her eyes at him.
Jin Liwei looked away, but the faint curve of his lips betrayed him.
For the first time since returning from court, Yan felt the urge to smile. It was small, almost unwilling, but it loosened something inside her.
Then her gaze returned to the emerald.
"Will it hurt?"
Jin Liwei did not lie.
"A little."
Yan looked at him.
"Only a little?"
His expression became serious. "I will be here."
That answer was not a promise that pain would disappear.
It was something better.
It said she would not face it alone.
Yan placed the tea cup down and slowly reached for the emerald. The moment her fingers touched its surface, the golden lines within the stone brightened. A cold current rushed into her palm, followed by warmth, then a pull so deep it felt as if something buried inside her had finally opened its eyes.
Yan sucked in a breath.
Jin Liwei immediately moved to her side, one hand hovering near her shoulder, close enough to steady her but not touching until she allowed it.
Yan clutched the emerald tighter.
"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth.
"You always say that before you are not fine."
She shot him a look.
He lowered his gaze obediently, though his expression did not change.
Yan closed her eyes and guided her cultivation into the stone.
The emerald pulsed once.
Then twice.
The golden lines rose from within it, circling her fingers like threads of light. They wound around her wrist, climbed slowly up her arm, and gathered over her heart.
Yan stiffened.
The stone melted.
Not like wax, but like water remembering its shape.
The emerald light stretched into a thin pendant, its chain forming from the same golden lines that had been sealed inside. Before Yan could react, it floated upward and settled against her chest.
The moment it touched her, a deep silence fell over her mind.
Not emptiness.
Shelter.
Yan's breathing slowed.
Jin Liwei watched her carefully. "It recognizes you."
Her lashes trembled. "I feel… tired."
"Do not fight it. Let the emerald guide your breathing."
Yan wanted to argue, but the warmth spreading from the pendant was too gentle. Her body sank deeper into the couch, her fingers relaxing against the fabric.
Jin Liwei sat beside her and guided the flow of energy around her meridians, careful and controlled. The pendant glowed faintly, then dimmed, as if hiding itself beneath her soul.
After a while, Yan's expression eased.
She had entered deep cultivation.
Jin Liwei remained beside her until he was certain her breathing had stabilized. Only then did he rise. Before leaving, he adjusted the thin blanket over her and looked at her for a moment longer.
The Yan before him was quiet.
But the storm around her had only begun.
When Jin Liwei stepped into the connecting pavilion, everyone turned.
Jin Fen straightened at once. "Sister-in-law?"
"She is cultivating," Jin Liwei said. "Do not disturb her."
Ye Qiran's shoulders relaxed slightly. Ye Qingyang nodded, but his gaze still lingered toward the lounge.
Before anyone could speak further, footsteps sounded from outside.
Yong Yuan entered first, carrying several sealed record boxes. Behind him came Lu Si Cheng, his expression colder than it had been in court.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Jin Fen looked at the boxes and raised his brows. "That does not look like a friendly visit."
Yong Yuan sighed. "Young master Jin Fen, if this were a friendly visit, I would have brought snacks instead of ledgers."
"Then next time, bring both."
Ye Qiran glanced at him. "Can you be serious for one breath?"
"I am serious. Evidence is easier to read with snacks."
Even Lu Si Cheng looked at him for a moment, as if considering whether to throw him out before the investigation began.
The small exchange loosened the tension by a thread, but only a thread.
Lu Si Cheng placed his hand over the first record box.
"These are complaints from the past to the present. Anything connected to the officials' accusations, missing children, forbidden cultivation, and unexplained deaths has been gathered here."
The pavilion fell silent.
Ye Qingyang stepped forward. "I will go through the ledgers."
Ye Qiran's eyes sharpened. "I'll check the current witness submissions, locations, rumors, and any movement from the officials after today's court session."
Jin Fen crossed his arms. "Then I will find the hidden witness."
Jin Liwei looked at him.
Jin Fen's smile faded slightly, replaced by something more focused. "Someone dared to submit evidence but refused to reveal their identity. That means fear, guilt, or survival. Either way, that person is one of the first pieces moved on this board."
Lu Si Cheng opened the box.
Dust rose from the old records like the breath of buried secrets.
"Good," he said. "Then before Yan wakes, we decide where the next move begins."
Outside, the wind stirred the bamboo curtains.
Inside, the first ledger was opened.