Ning Wei sat back in his chair and pondered on Yan Yixuan’s sleeping profile.

The rays of the late morning sun caressed the young man’s cheek and sharp chin, brushed over his furrowed brows and closed eyelids, and outlined his back in light gold as he slumbered peacefully on his folded arms. Yan Yixuan had dozed off in the middle of reviewing some documents, and by the dark circles under his eyes, Ning Wei guessed that the young man hadn’t slept the previous night again.

Ning Wei sensed someone approaching the study. He got up to preemptively open the door before the person on the other side knocked. He was unwilling to let Yan Yixuan be woken up when he was finally getting some rest.

Yan Yixuan’s assistant, Ruan Shu, stood on the other side with a raised hand. Mild astonishment flared and faded in his expression as he saw Ning Wei open the door before he could knock. “General Ning, may I be let in? I need to inform Master about the arrival of certain guests.”

Ning Wei frowned but stepped aside to make way. “He’s sleeping. Can’t this be postponed?”

Ruan Shu smiled wryly as he walked towards Yan Yixuan. “I’m afraid it can’t. Master will want to greet these unexpected guests as soon as possible.” So saying, he reached towards Yan Yixuan’s shoulder to gently wake him up.

Before Ruan Shu’s hand could touch him, Yan Yixuan awoke with a start. He peered up at his assistant with sleep still clouding his eyes. His voice was weighed with tiredness and reluctance as he asked, “Ruan Shu? Is Brother calling for me again?”

Ruan Shu felt his chest squeeze. His voice was soft and soothing as he said, “Master, your brother has been dead for years.”

Yan Yixuan blinked and his gaze cleared. “…Ah, yes.” He looked around and spotted Ning Wei, and some of the unease in his expression reduced. As long as his Ah-Ning was here, nothing bad would happen. He pushed back the disorienting dregs of sleep and sat up while rubbing his eyes.

 “Master, did you not sleep yesterday night again? You have to stop this habit of yours before the effect starts accumulating and worsening your health,” Ruan Shu chided.

Yan Yixuan yawned, his jaw cracking. Blinking the reflexive tears out of his eyes, he explained, “I kept having certain tiresome dreams, so I thought it would be better if I woke up and worked to pass the time.”

Ruan Shu sighed. His words were tinted with melancholy as he said, “Yixuan, did you have a nightmare about the past again? You know that your brother is gone and can’t come back… But I suppose it makes no difference when it comes to nightmares.” His voice was caring and intimate like that of an older brother. “Do you want me to ask Physician Fang to make you a sleeping draught again?”

Yan Yixuan didn’t mind the informal address and shook his head. “No, I’m fine. I’ll sleep today, I promise, so please don’t worry.”

Sighing again, Ruan Shu nodded.

Witnessing this, Ning Wei felt strange, as if he was intruding on a family scene not meant for outsiders. For some reason, he didn’t like feeling excluded. He realized that Yan Yixuan seemed to have spoiled him too much with his attentiveness these past few weeks.

“Is there a reason you woke me up?” Yan Yixuan asked.

Ruan Shu nodded. Shedding the feeling of familiarity, he stiffened up into a proper assistant once again. “Master, you have some unexpected and important guests.”

Trusting Ruan Shu’s judgment about the significance of these guests, Yan Yixuan stood up and straightened up his clothing in preparation to meet them. “Are they someone we know?”

Ruan Shu hesitated, then said, “Yes. It’s Third Young Mistress Yan—your sister Yan Yiwen.”

Yan Yixuan froze, his composed expression cracking. His head whipped up as he asked, “Elder Sister is here?!”

“Yes,” Ruan Shu replied. “And she is here with her husband, daughter, and…brothers-in-law.”

“I will go meet them immediately,” Yan Yixuan declared and set off, his feet quickly taking him out the door. Ruan Shu bowed to Ning Wei in passing and followed after his master.

Ning Wei debated staying here before deciding that he was too curious about this sister of Yan Yixuan’s who made him show such excitement. Getting up, he exited the study. A glance through one of the corridor’s windows facing the residence’s entrance showed a gathering of people standing just within the gates. By the time Ning Wei made it there, Yan Yixuan and Ruan Shu had already reached the group of six people.

With a glance, Yan Yixuan determined that circumstances did not seem to be as friendly as he would like. It would be inadvisable to display his closeness with his sister. Seeming to understand this, Ruan Shu also acted distant.

In truth, other than his elder half-sister, Yan Yixuan had no other relatives he was close to or cared for. His mother was an orphan who had worked as a maidservant in a wealthy household until she got into his father’s sights. She was then rendered in an even more pitiable and isolated state due to his unwanted favor. When she died, she had no one except Yan Yixuan left.

On the other hand, almost immediately after he became the head of household, Yan Yixuan had to deal with batch after batch of his father’s relations, all clamoring to get into his favor and wrench away his position with honeyed words or by assassinating him directly. However, they underestimated Yan Yixuan and were all quickly swept out the door.

The more stubborn, malicious, and shameless ones who had refused to leave had been tied into dumplings with rope and tossed out over the threshold with rice stuffed into their mouths. As they laid there struggling to breathe through the plump white grains filling their throats while saliva, tears, and snot dripped down from their faces, Ruan Shu had announced to the horrified passersby: “Let it not be said that this household’s new master didn’t feed even the most greedy and ungrateful of his guests generously with the highest quality food.”

Needless to say, word soon spread and no one dared oppose Yan Yixuan’s authority. The branch families were all soon cut off from the main family, and for all intents and purposes, Yan Yixuan did not have any family left currently except for his older half-sister. Hers was the only familial relationship he wanted to keep and protect.

However, seeing Yan Yiwen’s condition right now, Yan Yixuan couldn’t help but feel very worried, though he showed nothing of it on the outside. No matter what troubles his sister had found herself in currently, he was determined to help her out.

Yan Yixuan brought his thoughts back into order and studied his guests. The group in front of him consisted of his sister Yan Yiwen, a man he supposed was her husband, a young girl around seven years of age held in Yan Yiwen’s arms, and three hulking men standing behind the family who Yan Yixuan guessed were the brothers-in-law.

Yan Yiwen had once been fresh and beautiful like a peach blossom, but now she looked wan and withered. She wore a dull, jittery look and clutched her daughter to her tightly, her hands covering the child’s back and head as if to protect her from any unexpected blows. Her back was bowed slightly and her shoulders hunched unconsciously as if trying to shield her daughter with her body. Yan Yiwen tried to smile tremulously at her brother, but it made her look as if she was about to cry instead.

Yan Yixuan gave her a reassuring look even as he took in the others.

The child in his sister’s arms was silent and still, too well-behaved to be normal. If it were not for the occasional blinking of her wide plum-like eyes, Yan Yixuan would have thought her a lifeless doll.

Standing beside the mother and child was Yan Yiwen’s husband. He was a well-built man in his thirties with features that spoke of a gentle temperament and an innate sense of refinement unaffected by his heritage. Despite being worn-out, his clothes were immaculately clean. His bearing was outwardly calm, but one couldn’t help but notice the weariness and tension hidden under the surface. Worry and distress scrunched his brows, but he strived to keep a pleasant expression and a courteous smile as he looked at Yan Yixuan. He had wrapped one of his arms around his wife and daughter protectively, his stance showing that he felt uncomfortable having his brothers standing behind him.

Looming at the rear of the group, the three brothers were of very similar build and facial features. The only way to differentiate them that Yan Yixuan could think of was by remembering that one of them had a beard, another had a big mole on his chin, and the third one bore a vicious scar that tore up the side of his throat and jaw. The three brothers looked at Yan Yixuan with similar hungry grins and glinting eyes as if he was their prey.

Yan Yixuan took it all in within a few moments while maintaining an unwaveringly warm smile.

Turning to Yan Yiwen, he spoke, “Sister, it has been years since we’ve seen each other. I’m glad you chose to visit with your family today. Since I’ve never met them before, may I ask you to introduce them to me?”

Yan Yiwen swallowed and nodded, finding strength from her younger brother’s calm expression. Motioning to her husband with a tilt of her head, she said, “He is Lin Changyuan, my husband and the one I ran away to marry.” Then lifting up her daughter, she introduced, “This little one is Lin Meihui, our daughter.” Looking back at her brothers-in-law, she hesitated.

Not minding it, the brother with the scar began, “I’m Lin Zhishan. This one to my left is Lin Zhixin.” He pointed to the brother with the mole, then gestured towards the one with the beard and said, “This one to my right is Lin Zhiming.”

Yan Yixuan nodded, his smile unchanging. “I see. May I ask what brings you all here today?” He wasn’t going to invite these brothers-in-law of his into his house until he knew what they were up to.

Lin Zhishan, the one with the scar, acted as their spokesperson again. “We were thinking of starting some kind of business in the capital where all the rich people are at, you know? But then we realized we didn’t know where to start.” His face split into a yellow-toothed grin as he went on, “That’s when I remembered that my dear sister-in-law had family in the capital that could help us. Isn’t that right, Sister Yan?” Lin Zhishan playfully pinched and pulled Yan Yiwen’s ear.

Yan Yiwen flinched while trying to hide her fear and pain. Her husband, Lin Changyuan, pulled her closer into his embrace and surreptitiously pushed away his brother’s hand. Lin Zhishan merely chuckled as if pleased by their anxious reactions.

Something dark and vicious flashed across Yan Yixuan’s gaze, but his smile remained undimmed as he spoke to redirect their attentions. “I see. I assume you will be staying with us then. But since I was uninformed of your visit, the guest quarters nearer to the main residence is not yet prepared. I will have to trouble you to stay at a farther courtyard. Ah, but Elder Sister’s courtyard is always kept ready for your use, so you can settle there with your husband and daughter right away if you would like.”

Regret and relief flashed in Yan Yiwen’s face. How could she not understand that her brother must’ve had her rooms always kept ready while hoping for her return day after day all these years? She had a lot to make up for. But for now, she was thankful that she and her family would have a place to stay at away from her brothers-in-law’s tyranny. They could finally unwind and relax without fear.

“Why can’t we stay with them?” the brother with the beard, Lin Zhiming, asked with a frown.

Yan Yiwen and Lin Changyuan tensed.

“Because it has limited space,” Yan Yixuan replied casually. “Now, if you will follow my steward, he will show you to your rooms.”

Ruan Shu gave the three brothers a placid smile that revealed none of the hostility he felt and gestured to them. “This way, please.”

The three brothers gave Yan Yixuan and his sister’s family a final glance before obediently following behind Ruan Shu. Their hulking figures soon disappeared from sight.

Lin Changyuan let out a long sigh in relief.

Yan Yixuan offered him a soothing smile and said, “Now, let’s go to Sister’s rooms and talk about what brings you here.”

Yan Yiwen looked at the Ning Wei who had been watching everything from beneath the residence’s eaves. “What about that man?”

Having heard her despite the distance, Ning Wei raised an eyebrow. Yes, what about him?

Yan Yixuan’s smile was amused as he raised his voice to ask him, “General Ning, would you like to come along?”

Ning Wei shrugged. “If you don’t mind.”

Lin Changyuan looked at Ning Wei with surprise while Yan Yiwen frowned. Wait, that man was called General Ning? Then wasn’t he the general who led their armies to victory against the country of Xie recently? What was he doing here?

Before Yan Yiwen could ponder for long, her brother reassured her, “Don’t worry, Elder Sister. He’s trustworthy.”

Not having the mind to wonder about it now, Yan Yiwen nodded and simply put it out of her mind. Her family’s predicament weighed on her more.

The four adults began walking towards Yan Yiwen’s courtyard with the little girl still held in her mother’s arms. Ning Wei brought up the rear to be as unobtrusive as possible while Yan Yixuan led the group at the front.

As the silence stretched, Yan Yiwen floundered to fill it somehow. There were too many things she wanted to talk about, and they all collided against each other to the point where it turned her mind blank. “Uh…Yixuan, I… I see that you’ve employed Brother Ruan.”

Yan Yixuan nodded. “I suppose you could say that. He was the one who volunteered though. However, each time I pay him for his work, I have to force the wages into his hands.”

Yan Yiwen chuckled. She could imagine. Tired as she was, her mind slowly drifted to thinking about the past.

Back when the two siblings lived together in the Yan household, Ruan Shu had been one of Yan Yixuan’s and Yan Yiwen’s very few friends. Ruan Shu was a year younger than Yan Yiwen and older than Yan Yixuan by seven years. He was the son of a small time merchant who visited the household frequently enough that she had been granted her own guest room. Ruan Shu’s mother was the only one who could acquire the type of smoking pipes that the patriarch, Yan Zhenbo, used.

But for Yan Yiwen, Ruan Shu was also one of the very few people to share her anguish of hearing Yan Yixuan’s screams echo off the walls due to their elder brother’s torment, before the walls began to echo with the dreadful silence instead that spoke of how Yan Yixuan had gotten used to his bleak life.

Yan Yiwen had later heard than Ruan Shu’s family had gone under, his parents having run away with him to evade debtors. But seeing him here in her brother’s service now, she knew that Yan Yixuan must have sorted it all out on his behalf. Knowing their friend, she guessed that Ruan Shu must have offered to repay Yan Yixuan’s help by becoming his most loyal and faithful servant. But knowing her brother, she could also guess that Yan Yixuan treated Ruan Shu more like an older brother who was a part of his family than a servant.

“We’re here,” Yan Yixuan informed as they reached the end of the path. It led to the entrance of a well-maintained courtyard with plants thriving in every place they could set down roots.

Seeing this familiar scenery that was almost exactly the way she left it, Yan Yiwen felt the urge to cry. She was exhausted and the relief brought on by this feeling of finally coming home crashed into her all too hard. In a daze, she let her feet carry her down the familiar corridors until she reached her old bedroom. The mess she’d created just before eloping with her beloved had been cleared away. Yet the little signs of inhabitation she used to leave—like a hairpin on the nightstand, the watering ladle by the window, or the stack of books on the table—remained the same.

Yan Yiwen walked inside and sat on the four-poster bed that had its curtains pulled up. She looked around with a complicated mix of emotions swirling in her eyes. Seeing the way everything seemed to have shrunken a bit, she realized that she must have grown taller than the last time she was here.

“Elder Sister?” Yan Yixuan called worriedly.

Yan Yiwen snapped out of her daze and turned to smile at him. Her eyes glistened with tears that soon rolled down in clear streams. “I just realized how much I missed this place and this…sense of safety.”

Standing by the doorway, Lin Changyuan felt his heart break. He truly wished he could somehow protect her from all the wrongs in the world, but her connection to him was what had caused her some of the biggest grievances in her life.

Holding her father’s hand, Lin Meihui studied his expression of suppressed grief silently.

Yan Yiwen raised a hand towards her husband and daughter. “Changyuan, Hui-er, come here. Sit beside me.”

The husband and daughter went over to take a seat by her. As something tight within her finally loosened after all these years, Yan Yiwen covered her face with her hands and cried softly. Lin Changyuan held her close and murmured tenderly while rubbing her shuddering back. The little Lin Meihui clambered up to sit on her mother’s lap and hugged her as much as she could with her short arms. The family of three thus huddled into a tight-knit bundle of warmth and weary relief.

Yan Yixuan and Ning Wei stayed by the door, watching the family quietly.

After a while, Yan Yiwen composed herself and looked up at Yan Yixuan, her smile more genuine and with less hesitation now. Yan Yixuan smiled back comfortingly at his sister, and Yan Yiwen’s eyes widened in surprise.

Since when had her brother been able to smile like that?

Yan Yiwen couldn’t help but think back to how her brother’s life had been when they were children.

The first time she met this half-brother of hers, Yan Yixuan had been a little boy who didn’t speak and simply looked at their family and residence with wide, liquid eyes. The adults all saw him as someone easily manipulable and moldable, someone innocent and obedient. But Yan Yiwen knew better. Maybe it was a hidden spark of sharp intelligence in his eyes, or perhaps some imperceptible sense of readiness always in his posture, but she felt that this newborn calf was more of a wild animal studying its prey while putting on a guileless front.

Needless to say, Yan Yiwen was fascinated enough into trying and befriending Yan Yixuan. The next thing she knew, they had become an inseparable pair of siblings who supported each other against their wretched family and hid nothing from one another other.

―Except for the one time when Yan Yiwen was unable to tell him her secret when it mattered the most.

Did her brother think she abandoned him? Had he felt lonely without her? She couldn’t bear to think about it.

Getting up, Yan Yiwen walked up to her brother and pulled him into her arms, pressing his head onto her shoulder with a hand. “Yixuan…Yixuan… I’m so sorry I left you so abruptly.”

Yan Yixuan turned rigid with surprise. He slowly wrapped his arms around her, his motions slightly stiff as if such an action was unfamiliar to him. “It’s alright. You’re safe and here. That’s all that matters now.”

Yan Yiwen leaned back and peered up at him worriedly. “What about you? Are you alright? Are you…happy?”

With a soft smile, Yan Yixuan nodded. “How can I not be when this room is filled with the people I love,” then turning to the Lin Changyuan and Lin Meihui still sitting on the bed, he continued, “and the people I will come to love, all of them safe and sound?”

Behind Yan Yixuan, Ning Wei leaned on the doorway with folded hands and looked at the young man strangely. It seemed Yan Yixuan had forgotten that he was also in this room. But considering the circumstances, it was understandable.

But Yan Yiwen didn’t forget. She peered at Ning Wei stealthily through her lashes, knowing that the way her brother had included him wasn’t just by some mistake. Her little brother wasn’t prone to overlooking simple things like that. However, Yan Yiwen knew that this wasn’t her place to meddle and put aside her speculations for now.

Just then, Ning Wei spoke as if to remind Yan Yixuan of his presence, “Duke Yan, if you were that worried about Third Young Mistress Yan, why didn’t you go and find her before she came to you? I don’t believe that someone like you wouldn’t have the means for that.”

Yan Yiwen sighed, already knowing what her brother would say.

Still holding his sister, Yan Yixuan answered, “In Elder Sister’s letter of farewell, she implored me to not try to find her or inquire about where she went. I simply trusted her and obeyed.”

Yan Yiwen bit her lower lip. “It was my fault for writing that without thinking. I was in a rush to escape the residence. If only I could have found you back then… But you were out running some errand for your tutor and I didn’t know where to search for you. I was afraid I would be captured and brought back by Father if I dallied around the city too long, so I had to run without you while leaving only a letter behind. When I instructed you not to pursue me back then, I had only meant to ask you not to do anything that’ll lead the family to us. I should’ve known you would take it literally and follow it to the letter.”

Hugging Yan Yixuan again, she expressed fervently, “Yixuan, I’m very, very sorry to have left you behind with those people, but I couldn’t bear it. I’d gotten pregnant with Hui-er while still unwed…not that the family would have agreed either way. I feared that Father would make me give up the child, and the only option I could think of was to flee into uncertain circumstances as quickly as possible.”

Yan Yixuan smiled melancholically and patted his sister’s back. “Yes, I understand. I never doubted that you had a pressing reason to leave me. I don’t blame you, and I’m actually relieved that at least one of us could break free from the house.”

Yan Yiwen felt tears threatening to fill her eyes again. She faced none of the anger or hurt she’d expected her brother to show, only a calm acceptance as always. There were many people in Yan Yixuan’s life who had let him down, and she realized that she was one of them.

Lin Changyuan saw that his wife was beating herself up again and came over to hold and console her as she wept anew into his shoulder. Yan Yixuan relinquished his sister to her husband’s care and went over to crouch in front of his little niece. Lin Meihui was watching her distressed father and mother while silently sucking her thumb.

From the doorway, Ning Wei looked at the young man with a curious expression. How would the fearsome Duke Yan interact with a child?

“Meihui, I’m your uncle, Yan Yixuan,” the young man introduced himself. “I’m very pleased to finally meet you.”

Lin Meihui tilted her head and popped her thumb out. She had never received such courtesy from an adult before. This uncle of hers was strange, but not in a bad way.

Yan Yixuan didn’t mind the lack of answer and asked, “May I call you Hui-er like your mother too?”

Lin Meihui nodded.

“Then, Hui-er, may I ask if you know how to read and write?”

The little girl shook her head.            

Yan Yixuan looked thoughtful. “Do you want to learn?”

Lin Meihui frowned. In a voice gone whispery with disuse, she asked, “Why?”

Feeling his legs start to tire a bit from crouching, Yan Yixuan folded them and sat down on the floor. Smiling up at the child, he answered, “If you learn characters, then you can read books. That will help you gain knowledge and let you know many important things. You will also become eligible to go to school and be taught by educated teachers. If you learn enough, you could get an apprenticeship to gain experience before working a well-paying job and earning money. Having money means that you can become financially independent so that you wouldn’t have to ask others to buy you things. You can instead buy everything you want on your own. If that happened, couldn’t you get a lot of clothes, food, a nice house, and be able to support your parents?”

By the doorway, Ning Wei shot the young man a wry look. This was…not what he expected. But he supposed that from what he guessed about that little girl’s parents’ situation, such advice was all too appropriate.

Lin Meihui didn’t understand everything this uncle of hers said, but she understood enough to ask, “Then Mother and Father won’t have to be bullied by those three uncles?”

“Yes,” Yan Yixuan replied. “So let me ask again: Do you want to learn how to read and write?”

Lin Meihui enthusiastically nodded. “Yes!”

“Good,” Yan Yixuan praised, his smile warm. Turning to his sister and her husband who had begun watching them with wide eyes at some unknown point, Yan Yixuan asked, “Is it alright if I arrange someone to teach her?”

Yan Yiwen nodded dazedly while Lin Changyuan followed suit and added, “As long as you can promise us that she will be safe and happy, I have no objections.”

“Yes, I promise that she will be in very good hands,” Yan Yixuan solemnly stated.

Lin Changyuan nodded with approval. Yan Yixuan straightened and called out to a passing-by servant, “Miss Cen, can you please have Xiao-Heng sent over to the Jin household to invite Master Jin?”

The servant looked at him with surprise. “That instructor Jin Jianhao, you say, Master? But he…”

Yan Yixuan spoke more firmly, “Please, fetch him for me.”

The servant bowed. “Yes, Master.”

As she hurried away to do as told, Ning Wei frowned contemplatively. If he remembered right, didn’t Yan Yixuan tell him before that Master Jin had been his mentor and was a friend of his father, Ning Guang? Ning Wei vaguely felt as if he’d heard the name Jin Jianhao from his father several times as well, but that was too long ago for him to be certain.

“Now,” Yan Yixuan’s words rang in the room, snapping Ning Wei’s attention back to the present. “Elder Sister, Brother-in-law, shall we talk about your current situation?”