Both Xiyun and Qiu Lin arrived in the main room of the estate’s western wing.

Attendants stood silent near the walls. In the middle was a square table and chairs which surrounded it.

Yeon sat in one of the darkwood chairs, drinking tea. Danlu stood behind her.

Opposite, the First Madam also sat. Her eyes continuously glared at the three True Guards standing still behind Yeon’s chair.

One of the guards, Duan Sui kept his eyes forwards and masked any emotions. What were they supposed to do when everyone was peacefully drinking tea? Yeon was visibly injured, but even then they doubted that she was any weaker. Why would they start a fight when the young martial artist that treated them as sandbags every day was simply enjoying tea. The easiest course of action was to leave everything to Steward Qiu.

At this moment, Xiyun ignored everyone in the room and stopped up to Yeon and Danlu.

“How did it go?” Yeon asked first.

“You can hear from Steward Qiu.” He turned towards a closed door at the beginning of the hallway. “I expected both of you to have made it in already.”

Yeon’s smile took a deprecating shift. “Xuexu said she did not want to see me. If that is her wish, then that’s that. On the other hand, she has allowed you to enter.”

He nodded. Under gazes and without being obstructed, he walked up the door. Pushing it open, he entered.

Within the large bed-chamber, Xuexu sat on a stool beside a small tea table. Her appearance did not seem any different than usual. However, she sat perfectly still. “We can finally finish our conversation that was interrupted. Do you think I’m a hypocrite? Despite spouting about heart, regret, and action, I turn around and give up so easily? That all I can do is talk?”

“I don't see anything wrong. Giving up sounds very agreeable. It's still entirely possible. The place I planned to hide away is south.”

A small chuckle turned into a larger laugh. Xuexu’s eyes formed crescents.

Xiyun tilted his head.

Xuexu let out a breath. “You don’t get it? Do you really think that’s considered giving up? This is giving up. Remaining where we are. Doing nothing. Accepting security and well-being. This is the easiest path to take.”

Yeon said that everyone had their own perspective. Xiyun considered giving up as leaving, while Xuexu considered giving up as doing nothing. She saw the other as at least changing his heart, and herself betraying her heart.

Xiyun nodded. “I understand.”

Xuexu shook her head and turned back around. “Then, what do you want?”

"I came to ask a few questions."

“What?”

"Do you agree that the dynasty is Zhao?"

“What does that have to do with anything?”

"The era is Tianyuan?"

“So what if it is?”

"The lunar month is five?"

“Yes!”

"The current week is the first?"

“And?”

“You want to be the next head of the family?”

Xuexu immediately closed her mouth. Her mind was somehow able to match Xiyun’s insanity and understand what he was saying. “You don’t have the ability.” Once again, she challenged him.

Xiyun opened his palm and held it facing up. He gripped a fist. “The past is set in stone but the future isn’t. Until an event actually happens, all possibilities exist. Just now, I just spoke to our grandfather. As a result, the Back Manor has established the rules. The next head of the family will be decided by the ownership of revenue shares in a year. Anyone in the main family is considered, so in theory, the possibility already exists.”

She shook her head. “Why are you asking me?”

“I admit I know next to nothing about this family. It's unlikely I can change anything about how this succession will play out except for one thing I am certain of. I am confident that in the end, there is an opportunity for you to decide the direction of the family, even if you choose to give the privilege up to someone else. Even without knowing this, we are given an entire year to work.”

She stared at the floor. “I don’t know.”

Xiyun did not have anything else to say, so he decided to use Yeon’s words. “What do you have to lose? Just like viewing Luo River’s lanterns, if there really is no difference between going and not going, why don’t you try and give up at the last second.”

“Try and give up?” she mumbled. Doing something for the sake of proving you can? Nothing Xiyun said made any sense.

She imagined a dragon boat pulling ahead to first place only to stop just before the finish line. The choice was presented in front of her for the first time. Did she want to give up now or give up later? If she gave up later, she’d at least spend the remainder of the year serene instead of brooding.

She reached her answer. “Then I'll pretend. Whether or not I am willing to accept your offer doesn't matter. I’ll just act like I have and try without any expectations.”

“That’s all I’m asking,” Xiyun answered.

“Then what is your plan?”

He looked around the room. “I can’t say it. It will only work once and requires that you are actually willing, so I’ll only tell you if you agree. Until then, everything we just talked about will remain a secret.”

Xuexu thought that Xiyun never said things in a way that’s understandable. She stood up from her seat. “Let’s talk in the courtyard. The other two are waiting aren't they?”

They appeared outside.

Steward Qiu finished explaining to the First Madam the Old Master’s announcement that a messenger would later send out. Yeon and Danlu heard everything from the side. The implications did not escape them.

Xuexu bowed towards the First Madam. “Mother, I’ll be departing for a while.”

The First Madam closed her eyes and nodded. “Go on, I meant what I said the other day.”

No one within the room understood the words exchanged between mother and daughter. The surrounding servants were already silenced on the matter by the First Madam.

Yeon stood up and grabbed her with a one-armed hug, dragging her in the direction of the courtyard. Xuexu made an attempt to resist, but it was impossible. The strongest aspect of Yeon was her grasp on people.

…

Piled on the courtyard’s stone table was a stack of bamboo scrolls that have been previously collecting dust in an unused room.

Xiyun picked up one of the reports that Gaokang and another attendant from the Back Manor passed along over the past months. It took a moment to skim and understand the contents.

Across the table, Danlu’s brush swam over paper as he listened to Xuexu recollect relations between family members.

“Father and Second Uncle can’t reconcile with each other. Though unlike Father, Second Uncle is not aiming for the position of head, he’s supporting Third Cousin, his second-born son. Before today, I think everyone expected Grandfather to directly pass the family down to either Father or Third Cousin. That’s all I can provide,” Xuexu said.

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Danlu finished the descriptions that accompanied the family tree. After nodding, he raised his brush over the names of the masters, writing numbers. “The current split of shares from Gaokang’s mouth is as follows. The First and Second Master each possess twenty. The Fifth Lady possesses eleven. The Fourth Master, Sixth Master, Seventh Master, and Eighth Lady all possess ten. Finally, we possess the fewest, nine.”

The Third Lady’s original shares were passed over to Xiyun who sold one to Xiao Tianling, creating four ranks.

Yeon was the only one who laid back on her seat. “The plan? How do we get the shares from the other masters.”

Danlu shrugged. “If you're thinking about taking anyone’s shares, that's impossible. These things aren't physical and only Xiyun would even consider trading one. We can be sure that no one will give away revenue shares when they represent so much leverage on the future of Xiao Family. But, I don’t think this will matter anyway.”

“Why not?”

Xiyun set down his document. “People will begin to align.”

Danlu nodded in agreement. “Based on the announcement, from now on groups will form. No one will give away shares, but they will cooperate with others to form a majority.”

“I see, building allies,” Yeon said. “That sounds like what we should do.”

Danlu took a glance between Xuexu and Xiyun. “There's only one person we can support. The Fifth Lady."

Xiyun shifted forward. “You don’t think she will compromise to siding with either the First or Second Master?”

“Not at the beginning. Remember that day we met the Fifth Lady and she said that revenue shares will no longer matter once the next head is determined? This should be the fear of almost every master.” Danlu shifted on his seat when he realized everyone was staring at him. “Ahem. I’m saying, the Old Master is odd. He handed full control of respective businesses to his children for them to compete against one another. Right now everyone benefits from the status quo, but once the Back Manor changes, the entire structure of the family will change. The Zhao Code will only recognize a single person as the owner of the Xiao Family’s property. Any promises or agreements the masters can try to make are not legally binding. Coupled with what Xuexu has stated about how terse everyone’s relationships are, there is no trust.”

“Are you saying that without trust, none will align together?”

Danlu shook his head. “No, they will align, just not with trust, but with mutual interests.”

“Mutual interest,” Xiyun mouthed.

“If the Xiao Family is really a merchant family, then it has to come down to mutual interest. For example, the Fourth Master relies on the First Master’s connections. Knowing this, the First Master will have more confidence that the Fourth Master would support him as head, and in turn, the Fourth Master will have more confidence that he would preserve his base in the family. In the same vein, the Sixth Master relies on the Second Master’s shipping routes. Xiao Family businesses are all interconnected, therefore benefits from cooperation are more predictable than trust.”

Xiyun finally nodded in a new understanding. “Then who does the Fifth Lady have the most connections with?”

“That’s exactly what I want to get at. Based on what I’ve seen in the estate, the Fifth Lady is the one who cuts off the most family connections.“

At this, Xuexu finally tilted her head. “The textile industry is massive in Zhao and Fifth Aunt is the one who heads it for the family.”

Danlu creased his lips and thought about how to explain it. “Did you know that the Xiao Family currently has three transport networks? There’s the Second Master’s shipping routes, our carriage service, but also the Fifth Lady’s own personal textile transport. Did you also know that the Xiao Family does not own any silkworm farms? All the silk obtained by the Fifth Lady is based solely on her personal connections.” He glanced towards Xuexu. “She also goes on many trips to the north and east, doesn’t she? Well, merchants know that the textile industry is known to be dominated by the traditional families. If I had to guess, perhaps the Old Master originally, and now the FIfth Lady, buy their city storefronts from Guanzhong’s Surnames, another bloc of traditional families that are only slightly less distinguished than The Seven Families.”

“She does not share mutual interests with any of her siblings,” Xiyun concluded.

“The Fifth Lady went out of her way to build something only she could rely on. In any other scenario, this may have made sense. Perhaps she would have stood a chance against the First and Second Masters if the head was determined by something like profits. However, with how the Back Manor will actually determine the head, this only creates alienation. Everything she has built still belongs to the family.” Danlu held his breath before stating his conclusion. ”She faces a large disadvantage, which is why I believe she would accept cooperating with us.”

A pause passed without any continued remarks. Xiyun, Yeon, and Xuexu all stared back.

Danlu scrunched up his expression. “What’s with all your faces?”

“No reason,” Yeon said.

Xuexu spoke. “We think it's very good.”

Xiyun nodded along.

Danlu rubbed the back of his neck while glancing away.

“I also agree. Since I handed one share to the Fifth Lady, it makes sense to not waste it,” Xiyun said.

Yeon waved her hand. “There’s only one thing I have to ask. Will the Fifth Lady support the wishes of Xuexu?”

“She will,” Xuexu answered without hesitation. “I will even be the one to convince her.”

“And what’s next is where we come in, isn’t it?”

The next matter was obvious. Both the Seventh Master and the Eight Lady, Xiao Dalin and Xiao Zhurong, were apathetic to the matter of succession. These two neutral parties both possess ten shares and were just as likely to support the Fifth Lady than anyone else.

Yeon had both Xiyun and Danlu in her eyes. “I will convince Xiao Zhurong while you two have Xiao Dalin. I believe we have an advantage in all of this.”

Danlu perked up. “What advantage?”

“You talked about trust and predictability. Our interests are easy to understand. Our only goal is to wreck the plans of the First Master, and the Second Master while we’re at it. Though, in the best-case scenario, we would still constitute forty shares. It's not the majority of a hundred.”

“If it's true that both the First and Second Master can’t reconcile, then both being stuck with thirty shares would mean we have the majority.”

Xiyun no longer saw any other problems. “It’s settled. We are going with Danlu’s plan.”

“And if everything goes wrong?” She brought up her previous words in front of Xiyun.

“If all else fails, I have something in mind.”

Xiyun didn’t even say what but Yeon stood up content. “Let’s clear up the table for dinner, we’ll continue this later.”

Xuexu spoke with a shaky voice, “Actually there is something else.”

“What is it?”

“Next spring, Father requires me to go to the capital.”

“Okay, we’ll go,” Yeon said.

“What?”

“What’s the question? We’ll be going to the capital. Isn’t that right?”

Xiyun and Danlu met eyes. “Of course.”

“Of course.”

Just like that, it was decided. They would all travel to the capital next year.

Xuexu finally realized that everything within this courtyard was decided without a care. She decided to attempt it as well. “Then.” She pointed to the rightmost room on the courtyard’s northern side. “I choose that one as my room.”

“You’re staying here?” Yeon said.

“I said it the other day, didn’t I? Mother told me that I can do what I want.” She gave a dry smile and began gathering everything on the table.

As Danlu got up and made his way towards the kitchen, Xiyun also returned into his room to retrieve something. Outside, he blocked Xuexu who just left the room where they once stored the reports, handing her a book.

“What’s this?” Xuexu squinted.

“It’s the Book of Jiang. It is tradition for every successive dynasty to write on the last using court records. Coincidentally, it’s the only work by Shi Lan that I could find.”

“What do I do with this?”

“You read it fully.”

Xuexu was getting more and more confused

“This is just the most recent text, you’ll be reading the rest of the Histories after this one. We’ll skip the Canon and Scriptures, but you’ll still need to read all the Classics and the Code.”

“Eh?”

“This is a part of our agreement,” Xiyun said, referencing their conversation. Until the very end, she would have to at least pretend to try. “I can only think of this to contribute. This was how my master began teaching me, so I’ll simply recite the lessons from him. Still, you need to read everything first.”

Xuexu sighed. “I’ve had tutors before. I just need to read it right. Not memorize it?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean ‘what do you mean?’”

“Isn’t reading and memorizing the same thing?”

Xuexu’s expression pained visibly. She snatched the book from Xiyun’s hand and walked right past him. Disregarding Xiyun, she would store the book in her new room as the first item.

Xiyun didn’t understand what was wrong. After an internal shrug, he turned his head around and immediately paused.

Yeon’s hand was held directly in front of his face in the form of a fist. Her lips pressed together, perplexed.

He tilted his head. “What is it?”

“...nothing,” Yeon answered slowly. “I was just checking something.”

“Checking something?” There was only one thing he knew that was checked by pretending to punch someone without notice.

She lowered her right arm and frowned as she stared at it. “I thought I had it, but I guess I was wrong. Oh well.” Spinning around, she headed towards the kitchen to help Danlu.

Xiyun let out a small breath of relief. In truth, he didn’t perceive anything. Instead, he glanced towards his somewhat numb left arm. It stings. He redirected his gaze towards Yeon’s left arm. Probably nothing compared to the real thing.

Everything around returned to order and everyone sat back around the stone table for a meal. Although many things needed to be sorted out, time was abundant. The days would continue until the end of winter when the new year pass around.