Chapter 2: Striking First

Wei Yunxi gazed at Wei Lingyue with deep longing in her eyes. In the end, he still reached out and took her into his arms, his tone stiff as he tried to comfort her:
“Yunxi, be good. Your mother has only gone to heaven; she will watch over you from above.”

She buried her head into Wei Lingyue’s neck, closing her eyes to hide the mocking glint within them. Yet a single crystal tear slipped onto the neck of her unworthy father, making his gentle patting of her hand falter for a moment.

Softly, Yunxi spoke, her voice childish and sweet:
“Father, are you going to let Aunt Du become my mother?”

Wei Lingyue’s eyes grew sharp at this, sweeping coldly toward Chunyu and Xiamao, his presence unconsciously oppressive. The two maids immediately dropped to their knees in fear.

He replied coolly, “Yunxi, you’re still young. These are not matters for you to worry about.”

With that, he gently stroked the back of his younger daughter’s neck, and Yunxi instantly lost consciousness.

Looking down from above, Wei Lingyue instructed the kneeling maids, “Take your young lady back to rest.”

“Yes, Master!”

The two maids rose, trembling, and hurriedly took the unconscious girl back to Yunxi’s small courtyard.

As she slipped into darkness, Yunxi had only one seething curse for her wretched father. She had underestimated the means of the cultivation world—her coquettishness and feigned innocence could not achieve her aims here.

Wei Lingyue entered his late wife’s quarters. The three rooms in a row before him had all been put to use by his wife: the central room for receiving guests, the left as her bedroom and cultivation chamber, and the right as a talisman studio, each left exactly as she had arranged them.

Extending his spiritual sense, Wei Lingyue searched all three rooms, then retrieved an exquisite storage pouch from a hidden compartment in the white jade bed in the bedroom. The pouch was now ownerless; as soon as his spiritual sense entered, a satisfied smile spread across his face. He then turned and left the Zhuohua Pavilion.

All of this was unknown to Yunxi. She slept until the sun was high before waking. Upon waking, she spent a good while cursing her father in her heart before calming herself. Only then did she call Chunyu and Xiamao in to help her dress and eat, for she was still unable to cultivate.

Once sated, Yunxi began to seriously consider her next steps. She still remembered the events of the novel: the first—and most crucial—treasure she gave to the heroine, Wei Yunqing, was a redwood token originally left to her by her mother, but which Yunqing later tricked her out of.

Her mother’s sudden passing had left no instructions or clues, and the treasure concealed itself so well that even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator like Wei Lingyue failed to notice its true nature. Thus, Wei Yunqing had seized upon it—perhaps due to the protagonist’s halo, she alone saw the little token’s special qualities. Yunxi’s first priority, then, was to secure this treasure for herself.

Just as she was planning, Qiutao and Dongmei returned. Yunxi’s eyes flickered, and she said to Xiamao at her side,
“Xiamao, have them come in. I have questions for them.”

Xiamao hesitated, but went to summon the two.

“Qiutao (Dongmei) greets the young lady. Blessings upon you, miss!”

Yunxi tried to look as stern as her young face would allow, crossing her legs as she spoke:
“Stand up to answer me.”

“Yes, miss!”

When the two had risen, Yunxi asked,
“Has my uncle arrived?”

“Reporting to you, miss, Master Jiaqing from the Feng residence has come. He’s in the reception hall with Master Wei.”

Yunxi sorted through the maternal side of her family. She knew this Feng Jiaqing was her mother’s elder brother—her uncle—at the peak of Foundation Establishment, a man of unquestionable strength and the current head of the Feng family. He had been close to her mother; his immediate arrival showed how much he cared.

She recalled this episode from the novel: Uncle Feng wished to take Yunxi to stay at the Feng residence for a while, hoping to keep her from attending the ceremony where her father would elevate his concubine to the principal wife.

But the original Yunxi, eager for her father’s affection, heeded his implication and refused her uncle’s offer, even attending the ceremony that made Wei Yunqing’s mother the new Lady Wei. This left Uncle Feng desperately disappointed. Though he visited his niece from time to time after, his heart was no longer truly invested.

Yunxi sighed. As an adult, she could weigh matters by her own interests, but for the real five-year-old Yunxi, losing her mother naturally made her cling to her father.

But in the world of cultivation, blood ties were bonds, not guarantees of love; strength was what truly mattered. Young Yunxi, raised too simply by her mother, could not understand this.

Having thought it through, Yunxi turned to Chunyu and instructed,
“You and Xiamao will accompany me to my mother’s courtyard. Qiutao and Dongmei, sort out my usual clothes and jewelry—I’ll need them later.”

It was rare for their young lady to show such initiative. Chunyu agreed at once and nodded to the others to follow the order.

When Yunxi and her two maids arrived at the main courtyard of Zhuohua Pavilion, a maid was about to enter but was stopped by the gatekeeper.

Yunxi glanced at the girl, finding her unfamiliar, but Chunyu frowned. Xiamao, quick-tongued as ever, said,
“Miss, this is Willow, the head maid serving Aunt Du. She’s probably here to check on Zhuohua Pavilion. The mistress has only just passed, and already they’re so eager—”

“Xiamao, don’t speak carelessly in front of the young lady.”

Yunxi’s expression turned cold as she said,
“Chunyu, send Willow away. Even if the courtyard is to be vacated, it should only happen after Aunt Du becomes Lady Wei. My uncle is still in the front hall!”

“Yes, miss!”

Chunyu curtsied and went to dismiss Willow.

Yunxi guessed that Willow had been sent to test the waters by Aunt Du, so Chunyu quickly sent her away with a few words.

Accompanied by her two maids, Yunxi then entered her mother’s bedchamber.

“Chunyu, Xiamao, wait outside. I want to be alone for a while.”

“Yes, miss.”

Knowing their young lady must be missing her mother, the two withdrew quietly, closing the door behind them.

Yunxi lost no time. She went straight to her mother’s dressing table, pulled out the lowest drawer of the jewelry box, and retrieved a small lacquer-red wooden token, about two fingers wide and one finger long, carved with a simple cloud pattern—utterly unobtrusive.

Glancing over the dressing table, she took one of her mother’s favorite hairpins, steeled herself, and drove it into her own thumb. As blood welled up, she pressed a drop onto the wooden token. In the next instant, the token dissolved into a stream of red light and shot into her brow.

In Begonia Pavilion, Wei Yunqing suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if something precious had been lost, though she couldn’t say what. Tears fell from her eyes like a broken string of pearls, and her maid frantically tried to comfort her.

“Miss, what’s wrong? Are you unwell?”

“I want to go out,” Wei Yunqing said clearly.

“Where would you like to go, miss?”