The night was deep, and a chilly mist hung over the mountains. Inside the guest room, however, it was warm and dry. A silent warmth flowed slowly through the thick stone walls and floor, quietly permeating the entire Muwei Palace. It was said that years ago, the North Chen Patriarch had an old servant skilled in mechanical engineering. While others were obsessed with adorning palace beams and jade steps with gold and jewels, he quietly built these hidden conduits behind the stone walls.
In cold winters, they channeled in hot springs, and in sweltering summers, they switched to cool spring water, keeping the palace comfortable year-round.
Cai Han rolled over slightly, mumbling incomprehensibly. One chubby little arm and half a shoulder dangled off the bed. Cai Zhao estimated that with just a slight shift of his plump little bottom, he would inevitably roll onto the floor. Suppressing a chuckle, she gently pushed the little chubby boy towards the inner side of the bed.
Sitting by the bedside, Cai Zhao gazed at her younger brother’s steady breathing.
Since she could remember, she had always thought she was her aunt’s child, and those called “Dad” and “Mom” were kind neighbors who often brought treats and toys to visit. It wasn’t until she went out to play and heard other children calling their parents that she vaguely understood that “Dad” and “Mom” were her birth parents. Her first childhood worry was that if she was her parents’ child, then her aunt wouldn’t have a child of her own.
When Cai Han was born, she was secretly happy for a long time, feeling that her aunt and parents would no longer need to feel guilty towards each other.
Placing her palm on the chubby boy’s chest, feeling the lively heartbeat beneath, Cai Zhao suddenly thought of the “future sect leader” of Sigui Gate she had seen earlier that day. Even she, with no medical knowledge, could see that the child was born weak with damaged meridians, barely sustained by precious medicines and human effort.
Over the past two hundred years, the Six Sects of North Chen have undergone many changes.
Qingque Sect and Taichu Temple, being master-disciple lineages, were no longer of the original bloodline.
Guangtian Gate and Peiqiong Mountain Villa relied on having numerous descendants. If the direct line had no heirs or mediocre offspring, a side branch could take over.
Sigui Gate, however, clung to old ways. The struggle for power among siblings was intense. Whenever one branch rose to power, the others would either mysteriously “die young” or change their names and retreat from the martial world. The other five sects had tried to mediate, but family affairs were difficult for outsiders to resolve. Gradually, the Yang bloodline grew weaker, now having five consecutive generations of single heirs.
According to Cai Zhao’s ancestors, this was Heaven’s way of preventing the Yang family from further fratricide, simply making them have only one child per generation so there would be no more fighting. Heaven was quite considerate, they thought.
Only Falling Petal Valley took a different path.
Since the first generation, Falling Petal Valley had followed the principle of letting nature take its course, believing that having too many children was detrimental to both peaceful cultivation and physical well-being. Thus, Falling Petal Valley always had few offspring. If there was a son, he would inherit; if not, a daughter would marry and bring in a son-in-law. If the daughter was capable, she would become the valley master; if the son-in-law was more capable, he could take charge. If a son had other aspirations or lacked talent, the daughter and son-in-law could still run the household.
As for which surname to use or which ancestors to worship? It didn’t matter; they could choose whichever they preferred. After all, there was no Falling Petal Valley two hundred years ago, and the founders were open-minded.
As a result, Falling Petal Valley had changed surnames three times in two hundred years.
The least pleasant was when the valley founder’s surname was Niu (Ox), which even the nature-embracing ancestors couldn’t tolerate. The most pleasant was the husband of the third-generation Niu family’s only daughter, whose surname was Gu. The difference between Niu Ling’er and Niu Yuxuan versus Gu Ling’er and Gu Yuxuan was quite noticeable.
There were exceptions in Falling Petal Valley’s history. For instance, one generation of valley masters enthusiastically had five sons and four daughters, leading people to believe that Falling Petal Valley was about to flourish. Reality proved otherwise.
Of these nine children, excluding those who became monks or married out, the rest either roamed the martial world unmarried or traveled overseas never to return. In the end, only one was left to inherit the position of valley master.
Perhaps this was fate.
About seventy or eighty years ago, when that generation’s valley master couple approached forty without children, they observed the stars and concluded that Heaven wanted Falling Petal Valley to have new blood. Following this divination, they sought an adopted son and soon found an orphan with great talent and good character. The couple felt incredibly fortunate, believing it was truly Heaven’s will.
Unexpectedly, ten years later, they suddenly had a beautiful daughter of their own.
Given past precedents, they considered having their adopted son marry their daughter to strengthen family ties. However, due to the large age gap, they decided to let nature take its course and send their daughter to a brother sect, where she would naturally find a good martial brother to marry. But when their daughter turned sixteen, as the old couple was sunbathing on a hillside, they heard a great commotion outside the valley.
Their steady and capable adopted son had inexplicably gone out and defeated all the eligible young men in their daughter’s sect, as well as several young heroes who happened to be nearby, under the pretext of “friendly martial arts exchanges.” This news nearly knocked the old couple off their rattan chairs. The Qingque Sect leader at the time even came to hint, “Your son’s future is limitless. Do you have any intention of competing for leadership of the Six Sects?” The old couple nearly shook their heads off.
After understanding the shy, unspoken love between their adopted son and daughter, the old couple quickly arranged their marriage. They also begged their son not to go out for more “friendly exchanges,” as Falling Petal Valley had maintained a moderate and peaceful stance for over a hundred years, which the martial world had grown accustomed to. The adopted son replied, “Now that I have my wife, I don’t like going out anyway.”
Incidentally, this adopted son’s surname was Cai.
While reading the ancestral records, Cai Zhao often thought that her aunt must have inherited this ancestor’s exceptional talent, enabling her to be so capable and world-shaking. However, over the past three years, as Cai Zhao sat in her aunt’s cold, empty room at midnight, she tearfully wondered if perhaps that ancestor was right to conceal his talents and maintain a low profile.
The candlelight flickered slightly as if plucking a string in her mind. Cai Zhao came back to her senses and went to check on Chang Ning in the next room.
Unlike the sprawling Cai Han, Chang Ning slept neatly, lying on his side like a tall pine tree. His long eyelashes were motionless, but his blanket was no longer neatly arranged as it had been in the afternoon. Half was on the bed, half on the floor. Naturally, his robe had opened even more, revealing a larger expanse of his jade-like, solid chest.
Cai Zhao honestly averted her gaze, maintaining a righteous expression as she properly covered Chang Ning with the blanket. She then stepped back three paces and stood at a distance.
Cai Zhao had met Chang Hao Sheng three or four times when she was young.
Searching deep in her memories, she found a handsome, steady face. Though he rarely smiled, he was meticulous and considerate. Every time he came to Falling Petal Valley, he would check the formations inside and outside the valley entrance three times. Her aunt would tease him, saying he was “once a nanny, always a nanny.”
Chang Hao Sheng didn’t visit Falling Petal Valley as often as Qi Yunke and Zhou Zhizhen. Each time he came, he would have long, in-depth conversations with Cai Pingchu. He neither played with little Cai Zhao nor brought many gifts, so naturally, he didn’t leave as deep an impression in Cai Zhao’s heart.
Since Cai Pingchu passed away, he had never returned to Falling Petal Valley, busy with who knows what. As three years flowed by, Cai Zhao’s memories of this hurried Master Chang grew increasingly vague. She never expected to hear the news of the Chang family’s annihilation today.
Cai Zhao let out a small sigh, feeling downcast.
At that moment, there was a slight sound and voices from the adjoining room. Cai Zhao’s heart stirred, and a smile appeared on her lips. She quickly left Chang Ning’s room, stepped past the room where Cai Han was sleeping soundly, and walked to the third guest room. There, the lights were already on; Cai Pingchun and Ning Xiaofeng had indeed returned.
Cai Zhao happily pushed open the door. She saw Cai Pingchun with a flushed face, one hand propped on the table, the other rubbing his temples. He had drunk quite a bit. Ning Xiaofeng was muttering as she searched for hangover medicine in her medicine pouch. Looking up to see her daughter enter, she immediately asked why she wasn’t asleep yet, if she had washed up, and if little Han had fallen out of bed.
Hearing the familiar nagging, Cai Zhao’s heart finally settled.
“Dad, Mom, you’re finally back. I thought you were going to drink all night! Didn’t you say you didn’t want to bother with those people at all? How did you end up drinking so much after just greeting them?” Cai Zhao poured a cup of water from the warm pot on the table and brought the hangover medicine to Cai Pingchun.
Ning Xiaofeng sighed, “Firstly, your father wanted to ask about some things. Secondly, there were just too many people urging us to drink. We couldn’t outright refuse. Even declining ten cups and drinking half a cup was tough. Your father is doing well. Song Shijun was carried back like an upside-down turtle, completely drunk. Luckily, I noticed something was off later and mixed a lot of fruit juice into your father’s wine pot. I must say, Brother Zhou was clever. As soon as he saw something was wrong, he pretended to pass out drunk…”
Cai Pingchun swallowed the hangover medicine and drank two more cups of water before catching his breath. “It’s been such a busy day, full of people. We didn’t have time to look after you two. Zhaozao, tell Dad, is everything alright? Is there anything that’s made you unhappy? We can still go down the mountain now if needed.”
“Yes, tell us everything. I thought after more than ten years, Yin Qinglian would have improved, but as soon as I saw her, I was still full of anger, barely able to contain it! If it’s not good, we’ll leave!” Ning Xiaofeng said resentfully.
Cai Zhao was about to mention the incidents with Qi Lingbo and her lackeys, but she swallowed her words and blinked. “I met some good people, some not-so-good people, and some in between — but I can handle them all.”
Ning Xiaofeng frowned, “What kind of talk is that? Never mind, I won’t try to decipher your riddles. Anyway, stay at Qingque Sect if you can, but if you can’t, just let us know. Didn’t your uncle give you a cage of carrier pigeons? Use those to send messages quickly. If needed, I’ll send you to stay at Peiqiong Mountain Villa for a few years. The main thing is not to let anyone bully you!”
Cai Zhao pretended to look shy, “Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to live at my fiancé’s home so early? It’s not like I’m an orphan like Aunt was…”
Ning Xiaofeng deadpanned, “Then go to Xuankon Nunnery. It’s peaceful and safe…”
“No need, Qingque Sect is great with its beautiful scenery and talented people. It’s perfect, and I don’t want to change sects at all,” Cai Zhao quickly dropped her shy act.
Ning Xiaofeng pretended to raise her hand to hit her, smiling as she gave her daughter a look.
Seeing her parents, Cai Zhao felt relieved and was about to say goodnight with a yawn when Cai Pingchun stopped her, saying he had something to discuss. Cai Zhao was surprised and quickly asked what it was about.
Cai Pingchun spoke slowly, “I was planning to tell you this after the ceremony, but I think it’s better to let you know earlier. It’s about Chang Ning, Master Chang’s son…”